Lane Ellis

Influencer Marketing Has Hit Cryptoworld
The proliferation of cryptocurrencies over the past several years has led to a sharp recent increase in the number of paid influencers hired to help promote and legitimize both small and large players in the cryptoworld. Digiday

Google launches Reach Planner for YouTube & video ad forecasting in AdWords
Google is offering a more powerful video campaign reach estimate tool called Reach Planner, aimed at YouTube and Google Display Network advertisers, and featuring reach data to help find the best video product mixes. Marketing Land

80% Lose Trust in Local Businesses if Online Information is Incorrect
Businesses that have incorrect or inconsistent information online lose trust among 80 percent of consumers, while even out-of-date or poor quality photos cause 50 percent of consumers to have diminished trust, according to a recent report. Small Business Trends

Brands Fail to Meet the ANA’s Diversity Goals, Too
Progress has been strong in CMO gender balance while ethnic diversity continues to face significant shortfalls, according to new research from the Association of National Advertisers and its inaugural CMO scorecard. While 45 percent of top marketer positions examined in the ANA member data were female, only 13 percent were people of color. AdWeek

Instagram Makes Stories Advertising Easier with Automatic Full-screen Support
Instagram advertisers can now have square or landscape ad photos or videos automatically reformatted for full-screen utilization, one of several new features the firm recently announced as part of an effort to improve Instagram Stories. Marketing Land

Google AdWords Releases New Keyword Planner Tool
An updated and more feature-rich Google AdWords Keyword Planner tool has been released, including a newly-designed forecasts area showing a unified overview and the ability to add multiple keywords in bulk, all now available to anyone with access to the latest iteration of the AdWords experience. Search Engine Journal

Forecast: Digital Advertising Pulling Away From TV on Global Basis
New research from Zenith forecasts big gains for global digital ad revenue, increasing a lead built last year and pointing towards a 44.6 percent share of total ad revenue by 2020. With the U.S. and China leading the 2017 through 2020 adspend growth forecast, mobile will be the biggest contributing medium. Marketing Land

Roughly One in Four Americans is Online ‘Constantly’
More than a quarter of U.S. adults consider themselves online “almost constantly” according to survey data recently released by the Pew Research Center, a figure that jumps to nearly 39 percent for younger people in the 18-to-29-year-old age group, and Kurt Wagner looks closely at some of the survey’s fascinating statistics. Recode

Facebook Introduces ‘Store Sales Optimization’ and Other Ad Improvements for Retailers
Facebook has added three new options for retailers, announcing its expanded store sales optimization, tabs for Canvas, and product categories for dynamic ads, all aimed at improving mobile and offline conversions. Greg Sterling takes a look at some of the details. Marketing Land