YouTube Ads Are Getting Longer
The ads marketers run on YouTube are getting longer, with the number of 30-second ads rising from 19 percent in January 2018 to 24 percent in January 2019, bucking the notion that shorter is always better with video, one of several video trends shown in a new MediaRadar report. MediaPost

Survey Report: Landing Page Habits of Marketers
30 percent of marketers expect average landing page conversion rates of 10 percent or less, and more than half expect a rate of 20 percent or less, according to new survey data on landing pages and their lead generation performance. SmartBrief

Facebook warns advertisers ‘Clear History’ tool may impact ad targeting
The reach and precision of Facebook’s ad targeting SDK, API, and Pixel business tools are likely to decline once the social media giant implements its upcoming user site browsing “clear history” features, also affecting certain analytics reports, and Marketing Land takes a look at how the changes may impact digital marketers. Marketing Land

Google Shares Top 3 SEO Factors
Google Webmaster Trends Analyst Martin Splitt recently shared insight into some of the SEO factors that can affect how Google chooses the most relevant search results, including inclusion of best-answer content users are seeking. Search Engine Journal

Facebook Ad Relevance Score Updates: What Marketers Need to Know
Facebook is refining its existing ad relevance diagnostics tools with a forthcoming update rolling out in the coming months that offers more information about how the ads digital marketers place on the platform are performing, the social media giant recently announced. Social Media Examiner

Adobe Study: Voice Commerce Rises As Top Priority
94 percent of companies in a new Adobe (client) survey plan to invest more in voice search technology in the next year, an area 71 percent see as helping to improve user experience and 64 percent see as increasing customer loyalty, some of several new survey results of interest to digital marketers. CMO

Google announces new ‘discovery’ ad formats, revamped Shopping experience, native placements at Google Marketing Live
Google’s annual Marketing Live event saw the firm announce expanded mobile-first native ads that display in a more visually-rich view across multiple Google feed environments, along with mobile-only gallery ads and several other features of interest to online marketers. Search Engine Land

Snapchat Publishes New Report on Optimal Ad Frequency to Drive Recall and Action
Snapchat has released research aimed at improving how businesses advertise on the platform, including that the most effective ad exposure frequency rates may in some cases be as low as two per week. Social Media Today

Is DNA analysis the future of personalized marketing or a false positive?
The hyper-personalised advertising brands can deliver with the nascent efforts at merging DNA analysis with marketing may be uncharted waters, but some marketers have been testing the genetic marketing waters, and Marketing Dive recently took a look. Marketing Dive

2019 Social Media Marketing Industry Report
Social Media Examiner recently released its eleventh-annual social media marketing industry report, offering 46 pages of statistical data gathered from surveying over 4,800 marketers, offering insight and interpretation on how a variety of social media platforms and practices are working for marketers today. Social Media Examiner

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE:

A lighthearted look at 5 stages of digital transformation by Marketoonist Tom Fishburne — Marketoonist

The pun-loving computer programs that write adverts — BBC

TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:

• Lee Odden — Influencer Marketing Trends for 2019 – A live interview with TopRank’s Lee Odden — Rival IQ
• Lee Odden — 49 million Instagram influencers hacked. (Are there really that many?) — Josh Bernoff

Have you found your own top new influencer marketing or digital advertising stories from the past week?

Thanks for joining us, and we hope you’ll return again next week for more of the most relevant digital marketing industry news, and in the meantime you can follow us at @toprank on Twitter for even more timely daily news. Also, don’t miss the full video summary on our TopRank Marketing TV YouTube Channel.

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