Facebook tests ‘subscription Groups’ that charge for exclusive content
Facebook has begun testing subscription-based Groups among a select array of users, which now allow Group managers to charge monthly for exclusive content, and which will open up new possibilities to digital marketers when rolled out to all users. TechCrunch

Google Search Console URL Inspector Tool Is Still Rolling Out
Google has added several features to its beta Search Console that offer greater insight into indexed URLs, including new more detailed crawl, index, and page-serving information, the Internet giant announced this week. SEO Roundtable

Report: Employee advocacy trumps influencer marketing
Employee advocacy has gotten recommendations that are seen as more trustworthy than those of traditional influencers, while the accurate measurement of return-on-investment (ROI) remains a top challenge for social media marketers, according to interesting recent Sprout Social report data. PR Daily

With IGTV, Instagram Takes Aim at YouTube
Instagram has added the ability to upload videos up to an hour long, with the launch of its new IGTV feature, offering digital marketers a much bigger video canvas. Instagram also announced that it has broken through the one billion user barrier. Wired

Unilever stops working with digital media influencers who buy followers
Unilever has ceased working with social media influencers who buy followers, a first-of-its-kind effort to increase influencer transparency, the mega-brand recently announced. Marketing Land

Marketing-driven revenue from mobile apps has grown 80% since 2016
Marketers focusing on mobile may be on the right track, as mobile apps have driven a vast 80 percent marketing revenue expansion since 2016, according to voluminous new report data from Facebook and marketing analytics firm AppsFlyer, detailing major differences among the gaming, shopping, and travel markets. Venture Beat

Mary Meeker’s 2018 internet trends report: All the slides, plus analysis
The highly-anticipated Internet Trends report for 2018 has been released, including data bound to prove helpful to marketers for months to come. For more than 20 years venture capitalist Mary Meeker, partner at Kleiner Perkins, has researched and put out the report. Recode

Twitter Will Limit What Third-Party Apps Can Do, Starting August 16th
Twitter is gearing up for August changes that will hamper some popular functionality in third-party apps, including the elimination of streaming real-time tweets and limitations to push notifications in apps, the company recently announced. Search Engine Journal

Instagram Explains How Its Algorithm Works in New Briefing
Instagram has presented fresh insight into some of the signals that go into how its primary feed algorithm works, which could be a boon to marketers. Social Media Today

Social Media Marketing Update: Preferred Platforms and Content Types in 2018
A multitude of the latest trends in social media marketing have been detailed in a new report from Social Media Examiner, revealing that Instagram has surpassed a declining Twitter in overall popularity, while B2B marketers continue to prefer LinkedIn. MarketingCharts

Study: Millennial travelers’ Instagram use has grown 375% since 2013
U.S. millennial travelers have turned to Instagram 375 percent more than they did in 2013, according to new research on social media usage among travelers, while Google stayed the top overall travel site. Marketing Dive

Facebook Releases Latest ‘Topics to Watch’ Report, Highlighting Key Trends
U.S. marketers now have access to Facebook’s latest list of topics to watch, as the social media giant released its “Topics to Watch” list for April, 2018, including the fastest-growing conversation topics on the platform. Social Media Today

Facebook has disabled almost 1.3 billion fake accounts over the past six months
Facebook has stopped nearly 1.3 billion fake user accounts over the last six months, one of numerous statistics the company has revealed for the first time in a preliminary report announced this week. Recode

Pinterest proves popular with dads, pointing to shifting parental role
Pinterest has increased its popularity among millennial dads, with 42 percent of U.S. fathers in that demographic reporting that they find new products on the site, while nearly half of overall U.S. dads with a household income of $100K or more use Pinterest, according to new analysis data. Marketing Dive

Digital video ad spend keeps rising, with social media (i.e., Facebook) set to see most growth
Social media and digital video advertising spending will see the biggest gains over the next year, according to new IAB study data from $1M+ buyers, with two-thirds planning to move traditional video budgets to digital video. Marketing Land

Unskippable six-second video ads are coming to Snapchat
Snapchat plans to test short unskippable ads, in what would be an about-face from the firm’s traditional practices, appearing in certain Snapchat Shows content. DigiDay

Instagram is Testing Slo-Mo Videos, a Mute Button, More
Instagram has been testing a number of new features including slow-motion videos, a story archive calendar, the ability to hide unwanted users, and other changes, according to an examination of the app’s code, in a possible preview of coming enhancements. Search Engine Journal

Report: Social media use is increasing despite privacy fears
3.3 billion people worldwide use social media, an increase of some 100 million over the first three months of 2018, according to new report data from Hootsuite and We Are Social, despite a spate of recent privacy fears surrounding Facebook and other social companies. The Next Web

Google posts $31.1B in total revenue, beats top- and bottom-line expectations
Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent firm, posted better than expected revenue results, with almost $27 billion in advertising revenue for the first quarter of 2018, beating both Wall Street and analyst predictions and continuing year-over-year increases. MarTech Today

Snapchat Remains Teens’ Favorite Social Platform, Instagram Their Top Marketing Channel
Snapchat has remained the top social platform among teens, who also see Instagram as the best way for brands to communication with them, according to Piper Jaffray’s latest semi-annual “Talking Stock with Teens” survey. MarketingCharts

LinkedIn Teamed Up With Tenor to Add GIFs to Its Messaging
A feature allowing the use of animated GIF images has begun rolling out to LinkedIn users, the latest in a series of changes to add more fun to the business-oriented social platform. AdWeek

Google, Others Cut Into Facebook Share Of Consumer Time
Google’s properties including YouTube have grown more popular among U.S. adults than Facebook, with both taking up a greater share of consumer time than the properties of Verizon, Amazon, Snapchat, and Twitter, according to recently-released January 2018 Nielsen ratings data. MediaPost

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