Facebook Bans Cryptocurrency Ads: Newsletter February 2, 2018

ImageFacebook announced in a blog post on Tuesday that the platform will no longer allow advertisements for cryptocurrencies or Initial Coin Offerings. In their ongoing attempt to limit scams and false information for users, the social media company has been increasing regulations to their advertising guidelines. As part of this effort, cryptocurrencies and ICOs have been categorized as untrustworthy since they are “frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices.” This news comes in what was an event-filled week for cryptocurrency investors, with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission issuing subpoenas to Bitfinex and Teather, and falling values which amounted to hundreds of billions of dollars in lost market caps.

Elsewhere in the social media world, Instagram has released a new feature which allows for post scheduling. The feature is not available directly in the app, but through an API like HootSuite or SproutSocial. This means that for the time being only larger businesses that use third-party programs to manage Instagram posts will be able to take advantage of the feature. Instagram plans to roll out a capability for smaller operations to schedule posts in early 2019.

In e-commerce news this week, Amazon recently reported a Q4’17 profit of nearly $2 billion, the largest ever in the company’s history. Net income more than doubled to $1.86 billion (or $3.75 per share), exceeding the average analysts projection of $1.85 per share, largely attributed to their gargantuan holiday earnings. Amazon captured nearly 50% of e-commerce spend this holiday season, according to GBH Insights analyst Daniel Ives, a 38% rise in sales to $60.5 billion in the period from Thanksgiving through New Years, exceeding estimates.

Entrepreneurs and other frequent travelers will be interested to hear that Google has added two new features to its flight results search function. Using historical data and machine learning, Google will notify users if a flight they are considering purchasing is 80% likely to be delayed (according to Google’s algorithm), and will now show hidden fees encompassed in basic economy fares (like checking bags or choosing a seat). Google also this week released its beta Search Console to all users after a brief testing period with a select group. Users will now be able to click on “Search Properties” to see a year’s worth of data in performance reports, while still having access to the old version.

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And finally, we would like to thank everyone that came to our Boston E-Commerce Meetup this past week to discuss the Best Ad Strategies for E-Commerce Businesses! If you were not able to attend, check out the official panel video here. Next week our founder, Thomas Smale, will be attending SaaStr Annual on February 6-8 in San Francisco, where he will be hosting a get-together for valued clients and attendees. Follow the link or get in touch for more information.

Continue reading below for more on Facebook’s banning of cryptocurrency ads, Google’s release of the Search Console Beta, updates to Google flight search info, Instagram’s new scheduling capability and Amazon’s Q4’17 earnings report.
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In the News…

Facebook Bans Cryptocurrency Companies from Advertising

On Tuesday, Facebook announced in a blog post on the company page that they would be prohibiting ads that use “misleading or deceptive promotional practices.”

Facebook has categorized ads for cryptocurrencies and Initial Coin Offerings as they are “frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices.” The idea is to get rid of companies promoting binary options, ICOs and cryptocurrencies with operations that aren’t in good faith. In the blog post, Rob Leatham, Product Management Director, notes that this announcement is currently intentionally broad while the company works out the specifics of the ban: “This policy is intentionally broad while we work to better detect deceptive and misleading advertising practices, and enforcement will begin to ramp up across our platforms including Facebook, Audience Network and Instagram.” Leatham also stated that the company is aware they may not catch every ad for cryptocurrency related offers, and has encouraged users to report content that violates their Advertising Policies.

The policy is intended to make it harder for scammers to take advantage of users on the platform.

Google Releases Search Console Beta to All Users

Google recently released a beta for everyone with a verified email address for Google Search Console.

Google had not too long ago released a beta version of their Search Console for selected users, but appears to have released the beta for anyone with a qualified email address to the account. For users to access the beta, simply navigate to the Search Console, and click on the “Search Properties” button to see your verified sites available in the new beta. While Google brings more features from the old Search Console into the new version, users will still be able to toggle between the old and current Google Search Console with a link at the bottom left of the interface.

It was reported that some users might not have had immediate access to the beta while it was rolling out but should now be able to access the new console.

Google Offers Insight into Flight Booking Process

Google has just added two new features to its flight booking service to help users more accurately plan their trips.

For searches on American, Delta and United Airlines flights, Google flights will inform you what amenities you may be missing out on if you book basic economy, to help flyers know what they may have to pay for later on. For instance, there are certain seats that cost less but will come with a hefty price tag for checked bags, so it may not necessarily be worth the slight discount if you’re going to have to pay $60 for a checked bag anyway. In addition, the updated service will include more information on flight delays, provide an explanation for the delays and work to predict which flights will be delayed based on historical data and machine learning. Through these two methods Google reportedly forecasts possible setbacks, but only alerts users to it if it passes a threshold of 80% certainty that the flight will be delayed. Google will reportedly also show its prediction for whether a flight will be delayed, as well as why.

Entrepreneurs and other frequent fliers will likely welcome the increased visibility into the exhausting flying process, especially if it provides insight into areas that come with increased charges.

Instagram to Introduce Post Scheduling to API

Instagram announced on Wednesday that they have added a function allowing businesses to schedule future posts.

Previously, publishers could save posts in drafts and set a third party reminder to publish the post at a certain time, but were never able to physically schedule out a post. Crucially, this update doesn’t come to the Instagram app itself, but its API. This means that publishers won’t be able to schedule posts in the app itself, but instead will have to do so through a third-party scheduling app like Hootsuite (one of the first to implement the new API) or Sprout Social. Hootsuite CEO Ryan Holmes said in a statement, “The scheduling and publishing of Instagram content has been the number one request for our 16 million customers.” The fact that this update is only for the API means many small businesses likely won’t be able to take advantage of the new functionality as of right now.

Instagram has said, however, that non-API support for smaller business profiles is planned for an early 2019 release.

Amazon Reports Largest Quarterly Profits in History

Amazon’s Q4’17 earnings report showed the largest profit in the company’s history.

Amazon reported a profit of nearly $2 billion, the largest in its history, following a bullish strategy involving Prime fast-shipping for the holiday season, forays into new technology and an investment in Prime-only television. Assisting their substantial rise is the recent change to the US tax code, granting the company’s profit a $789 million boost, though net income itself reportedly doubled to $1.86 billion. This came out to be $3.75 per share in the fourth quarter, surpassing analysts’ predictions of $1.85 per share. The retail giant sought to capture 50% of e-commerce, and was indeed incredibly successful over the holidays, with the period from before Thanksgiving through New Years coming in as Amazon’s biggest ever by revenue. During this period, sales rose 38% to $60.5 billion. Month to month Prime plan costs have increased affecting nearly 30% of subscribers, so the company is still expecting a rise in revenue in the coming quarter. Of the recent success, founder Jeff Bezos noted, “Our 2017 projections for Alexa were very optimistic, and we far exceeded them. We don’t see positive surprises of this magnitude very often — expect us to double down.”

Amazon is continuing to expand in a wide selection of areas, including India as well as video content spending.