U.S. Advertising and Marketing Spend to Grow to Nearly $390 Billion in 2020
Marketing and advertising spending in the U.S. is set for strong growth during 2020, according to newly-released forecast data showing a high-point of nearly $390 billion, representing a 7.2 percent increase from 2019, while online ad spend is expected to grow even more, hitting 14.5 percent, the report from Winterberry Group notes. Adweek

Google: Webpages with Featured Snippets Won’t Appear Twice on Page 1
Brands worldwide with Google featured snippets in search results pages will no longer have a second similar entry in the SERPs, Google recently announced, with featured snippets henceforth counting as one of the 10 first-page results. Search Engine Journal

LinkedIn to Grow Faster than Expected
LinkedIn (client) is on pace to grow more rapidly than expected, with new forecast data predicting the professional social media platform will hit some 66.8 million active monthly users by 2022, and in 2020 it will see nearly $1.6 billion in advertising revenue, according to the forecast data. eMarketer

Ad-Supported Music Streaming is a Growing Opportunity for Advertisers
With some 77 percent of streaming music accounts being of the ad-supported free variety, and more than 500 billion on-demand music streams in the first half of 2019 alone, digital marketers are seeing the large audiences as a growing opportunity. MarketingCharts

Twitter Is Removing the Audience Insights Element from Twitter Analytics
Twitter has announced that it will do away with the current version of its Audience Insights portion of Twitter Analytics. On January 30 the platform will mark the end of the five year old follower data tool used by many digital marketers. Social Media Today

CCPA Is Here, But Many Companies Are Still Not Compliant
On January first the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) went into effect, however newly-released data shows that only 30 percent of firms were compliant as of November 2019, with some 18 percent expecting to be compliant by the beginning of 2020. eMarketer

B2B Sellers: Marketplaces Are Here — Are You Ready?
B2B buying and selling has changed alongside similar shifts that are being seen in consumer areas, and research firm Forrester takes a look at the new center of commerce that B2B marketplaces represent. Forrester

Facebook quietly acquired a startup to build a live-shopping feature
Facebook recently confirmed that it has acquired live-shopping startup Packagd, which will augment the social media giant’s Marketplace selling feature, and eventually offer new options for digital marketers. AdAge

Pinterest CMO on Marrying Aggressive Growth with the Company’s Brand Image
eMarketer takes a look at how Pinterest’s first chief marketing officer is tackling the unique challenges faced by the image-centric social platform, as it attempts to woo greater numbers of digital marketers as well as users. eMarketer

Marketers Tout SEO’s Effectiveness As They Look to Drive Leads, Customer Acquisition
SEO has continued to be an effective tactic when it comes to driving leads and customer acquisitions, with the majority of digital marketers finding the practice more effective than traditional media, one of several statistics from newly-released survey data. MarketingCharts

New Report Looks at Which Tools and Creation Apps are Most Popular Among Instagram Influencers
The software, tools, and online image creation apps most-used by Instagram influencers have been outlined in a new survey of more than 1,200 influencers on the platform, with results showing that just 10 percent use Photoshop, nearly 30 percent use Lightroom, and some 4.8 percent work with Canva, according to the study. Social Media Today

B2B CX Trailblazers Listen to and Act on Customer Feedback
91 percent of B2B customer experience (CX) leaders utilize the input of employees to improve CX efforts, and 89 percent gather partner and distributor feedback for boosting CX, two of the traits highlighted in newly-released survey data of interest to digital marketers . MarketingCharts

Instagram influencer marketing activity jumps 48%, study finds
Instagram has seen rising influencer marketing efforts on the platform in 2019, climbing by 48 percent, and by 2022 influencer marketing spending is expected to grow to as much as $15 billion, according to recently released report data. Mobile Marketer

1 in 3 Marketers and Agencies to Increase Spending on TikTok in 2020
In 2020 marketers expect to increase spending the most on Instagram, YouTube, Google, and LinkedIn, with some 33 percent also predicting more ad spending on rising upstart TikTok, according to newly-released survey data. Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat were the platforms expected to see the most marketers decreasing ad spend on during 2020, according to the study. MarketingCharts

Twitter Will Set Up a New Team to Explore a Decentralized Social Media Network Model
Twitter has announced the creation of a team dedicated to making a new decentralized social media platform with its Bluesky initiative, which could be built using blockchain and include algorithms favoring best-answer and healthy content, Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey recently revealed. Social Media Today

New Study: 2019 Promo.com Online Video Statistics and Trends [Infographic]
A newly-released study of online video viewing trends offers a slew of statistics of interest to digital marketers, including that 49 percent of people watch more than five videos daily, 67 percent watch the most video using YouTube, followed by Facebook at 26 percent and Instagram with 6 percent. 36 percent watch between two to five videos a day, and 10 percent of respondents said that they watch too many to count, according to the Promo.com study. Promo

Brand loyalty remains high at 89%, driven by product and price rather than service
Loyal customers are the most likely to refer brands to others and to join loyalty programs, while being less likely to engage on social — two of many findings of interest to digital marketers in recently-released survey data, which also showed that product and price drove loyalty more than service. Marketing Land

Gmail app adds AMP for Email support for Android and iOS
Google has added AMP email support for iOS and Android devices using its popular Gmail app, giving brands new dynamic content options. Marketing Land

Twitter’s Testing Tweet Scheduling Built Into the Tweet Composer
Twitter has begun testing the ability to schedule tweets without the use of third-party tools. As Twitter confirms test, will third-party scheduling tools take a hit? Social Media Today

Facebook to pull location from ad set when creating new Lookalike audiences
Facebook has made several changes to how it allows advertisers to create lookalike target audiences, the firm recently announced. Advertisers should see quicker audience building and setup. Marketing Land

Instagram Removing Likes Could Boost Social Commerce and Retail Measurement
Instagram’s hiding of like counts could lead some businesses to increase their use of so-called shoppable links that focus more on direct social sales journeys, and eMarketer takes a look at recent survey data trends in the area. eMarketer

Ad buyers hopeful Twitter Topics will improve the platform’s ad targeting
After a period of testing, Twitter has launched the ability to follow up to 300 new curated topic lists, the social media firm announced, and some marketers see the change bringing with it new ad targeting possibilities. DigiDay

Wikipedia co-founder wants to give you an alternative to Facebook and Twitter
Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales has rolled out WT:Social, a new advertising-free social platform aimed at reporters, citizen journalists, and users seeking an alternative to mainstream sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Engadget

Instagram Will Begin Hiding Total Like Counts for US Users from Next Week
Instagram is slated to start hiding the number of likes that posts have acquired in a forthcoming test. In areas where it’s already been tested, total Instagram like counts have dropped, study data has shown. Social Media Today

Female marketer leadership at ‘all time high,’ says ANA study
The number of women holding leadership marketing jobs may be at an all-time high, according to recently-released study data from the Association of National Advertisers. Women accounted for 52 percent of senior-level marketers and 47 percent of CMOs among ANA member firms, the study showed. Campaign US

B2B Marketers Are Prioritizing Measurement and Analytics Technologies
83 percent of B2B marketers expect to increase their focus on data analytics in 2020, and 69 percent plan to also make measurement technologies their top investment priority next year, according to newly-released survey data from Dun & Bradstreet and Adweek. MarketingCharts

Twitter Launches New Option to Follow Specific Topics, in Addition to User Accounts
Twitter has begun rolling out the ability to follow some 300 new curated topic lists, in the form of timeline and search prompts, with a full launch slated for November 13, the social media firm recently announced. Social Media Today