Temperatures are rising and things are changing! Let’s dive into the latest news of the mobile world!
Google will launch an ad transparency center
Just like TikTok and Meta before them, Google is launching an ads library called Google’s Ads Transparency Center. This new tool will let users see which ads an advertiser is running, in which regions and the dates of the campaign. It’s limited to a 30-day window.
There won’t be any information about the intent of the campaign or the target audience, but the creative assets will be visible.
This tool will be accessible through the three dots menu on any ad as well as via My Ad Center. The launch is ongoing, it should be available globally in the coming weeks.
Meta users will be able to opt out of personalized ads in Europe
Because of the deadline looming to comply with both the DMA and the DSA in Europe, Meta has started to set up some solutions. So far, Meta is planning on letting European users opt out of highly personalized ads on both Facebook and Instagram.
This will only be available for users residing inside the European Union, and there is no date yet on the availability of this feature but it shouldn’t be too long now. In addition to this, Meta is also discussing a company-wide ban on political advertising in Europe. The scope of what can be defined as political advertising is still a work in progress.
Google Play opens up alternative billing in the UK
The new alternative billing should be available no later than October 2023. This comes as an answer to the UK’s investigation into Google’s practices. Google will reduce its 30% service fee to:
- 26% for those using Google Play’s systems alongside alternative billing
- 27% for those who do not offer the option to pay via Google Play
This is not such a big difference with the decried 30% commission but the UK’s CMA has stated that they would accept this solution.
Advertisers will need to subscribe to Twitter Blue to advertise on the platform
One of the latest announcements made by the social media platform, coming after a long list of changes around the Twitter Blue verification, is that only Twitter Blue accounts will be able to run ads in the app.
Previously, Twitter had already introduced Twitter Blue for companies, starting at 1000$ a month, according to the company, professional accounts that already spend over 1000$/month may be granted Twitter Blue without further fee.
However, the social media platform is not having such a great time. In protest of all the latest changes (especially the decision to put forward tweets by Twitter Blue accounts and give them more visibility than regular accounts) many users have started blocking Twitter blue accounts (and even sharing browsers extensions to help others do it), which means they’re also blocking ads.
Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision is blocked by the UK
The UK’s CMA has finally reached a decision on Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision. And just when it felt like the UK might approve, they finally decided to block the deal over cloud gaming concerns.
They fear that the Xbox Game Pass is already giving a very strong position to Microsoft, when Google Stadia was still ongoing, Microsoft owned 60-70% of the cloud gaming market. Microsoft intends to appeal the decision.
Europe announced the companies affected by DSA
The European Union finally shared the list of companies that will be affected by the DSA. Here are the 19 companies that will need to comply with the new rules by the end of August:
- Alibaba AliExpress
- Amazon Store
- Apple AppStore
- Booking.com
- Google Play
- Google Maps
- Google Shopping
- Snapchat
- TikTok
- Wikipedia
- YouTube
- Zalando
Numbers of the month
What we talked about this week
Hi there, I’m Marine (she/her), I’m a Content Manager at Apptamin. Apptamin is a creative agency specialized in app videos (video ads, app store videos, etc.).
