Facebook’s dominance of social media ad budgets, Twitter’s automatic verification for brands and Periscope updates, Instagram’s rapid growth continues, and LinkedIn’s Rocket Data

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Facebook owns social media ad spend

It has recently been revealed that Facebook owns 67% of social media ad spend worldwide.

According to research from eMarketer, Facebook is set to pocket US$22.3 billion in net ad revenue by the end of 2016. This is up from US$17 billion last year.

In second is Twitter, with a mere 7.9% market share. The remaining is shared throughout other sources.

The figures and growth are impressive, and with Facebook yet to monetise Messenger and WhatsApp – each of which has over 1 billion users – this is not expected to slow down any time soon.

 

Twitter launches Automatic Verification

Twitter has made it easier for brands to establish their online credentials and avoid trolls and imposters.

The feature, which is not new for celebrities and high-profile accounts, will allow brands to apply for the verified blue tick by providing images on contact details, images, website and setting tweets to public.

 

Half of the internet is (almost) on Instagram

According to research from GlobalWebIndex, Instagram’s current rate of growth means close to 50% of internet users are now Instagrammers.

This represents a giant leap since the 17% adoption rate from 2013.

With over 500 million monthly active users and growing, expect Instagram to join Facebook, YouTube and Messenger in the 1 billion club some time next year.

The news makes Facebook’s US$1 billion acquisition of Instagram in 2012 seem like an absolute bargain.

 

Periscope ups live streaming to match Facebook

Twitter’s Periscope is keeping up with the Facebook Live Joneses with its introduction of Highlights and embedded tweets.

Highlights creates a short hype reel for every Periscope broadcast.

The aim is to help viewers decide whether they want to commit to watching the full 30-minute live stream.

Periscope broadcasts can also now be viewed through embedded tweets. Users have long been able to view streams on Twitter, but by extending functionality to embeds, Periscope is increasing the places viewers can tune in.

Android users can now access an autoplay function, too, with streams muted before viewers decide to view.

 

Facebook pushes Instant Messenger

The Messenger experience just became more immersive, nabbing the popular Instant Articles feature from the Facebook app.

This latest move comes as the company continues to separate and differentiate the two apps.

The feature’s availability in Messenger may interest more publishers to take part given they could see an increase in users sharing content privately.

 

LinkedIn introduces Rocket Data

LinkedIn has created an iOS caching service called Rocket Data, promising a more efficient system for managing app data.

It built Rocket Data after finding Apple’s existing Core Data service was inadequate for the volume of information LinkedIn needs to move.

LinkedIn says its new caching system is virtually plug-and-play for developers, with very little additional code required. Users will have an app that doesn’t take extra time to pull information, preloading multiple screens ready to be viewed.

 

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