May proved to be a productive month in terms of social media updates.
Facebook unrolled some new ways to consume and search for content; Twitter introduced some new search-related updates both in terms of how tweets are indexed in Google as well as searching within Twitter itself; and YouTube released some fascinating data plus new integrations for product listing ads.
Read on for all the details!
Facebook is testing its own in-app search engine capable of crawling the web and retrieving content for Facebook users without the need for them to visit Google. This new feature will be an extension of Facebook’s status updates.
Learn more: Facebook is Testings its Own In-App Search Engine, A Possible Threat to Google
Facebook debuted Instant Article, a new way to read and consume content. Instant Articles is a tool that can load articles as much as ten times faster than standard mobile web articles. On the publisher side, Facebook will allow them to sell ads in their articles and keep the revenue.
Learn more: Facebook Introduces Instant Articles: A Faster, Richer Content Reading Experience
An update to Twitter’s iOS live streaming app, Periscope, introduces the ability for users to sign in without the need for a Twitter account. Previously, in order to use Periscope you had to sign in via Twitter. Now you can create an account on Periscope using your phone number, and get access to all of its features without the need to link your Twitter account.
Learn more: Periscope Uncouples Itself From Twitter, Twitter Account No Longer Required
Periscope is also now available on Android.
A redesigned version of Twitter’s search results interface is rolling out to all logged-in web users. In addition to a more streamlined look and feel, the new Twitter search will allow you to filter results to show only top tweets, live tweets, accounts, photos, videos, news and so on.
Learn more: Twitter’s Redesigned Search Experience Hits the Web
Tweets have returned to Google search on mobile devices. When searching on either the Google mobile app, or on a browser on your smartphone or tablet, you will now see tweets indexed in real-time right in the search results pages.
Learn more: Indexed Tweets Are Now Live in Google Mobile Searches
YouTube
Google announced an integration between its product listing ads and YouTube videos in a feature its calling TrueView for shopping. TrueView for shopping allows marketers to take full control over the ads that appear alongside their videos, right down to the product images, details, and calls to action.
Learn more: Google Product Listing Ads Come to YouTube Allowing Retailers to Promote Own Products
Google released data highlighting that, when it comes to searching for how to do something, 91% of smartphone users rely on their devices to find that information. This has resulted in a 70% year-over-year increase in “how-to” searches on YouTube.
Learn more: “How-To” Searches on YouTube up 70%, More Than 100M Hours Watched So Far in 2015
P.S. If you missed last month’s SEJThinkTank webinar I did on social media for big brands, a recap of the webinar’s contents, along with the slides and recordings, can be viewed here.
All images from their corresponding blog announcements.
