SEO: Facebook announced App Links at the F8 Conference. What are App Links? App Links already exist, but are fairly difficult and called mobile deep linking. Mobile deep linking works differently for different platforms like iOS and Android. Facebook already uses App Links in its own apps. Facebook, as part of the open source program, wants to make it easier for developers to circumvent an app having to open a browser to show an Instagram picture in a messenger, for example. Ideally, the picture would open up easy as one, two, three in Instagram, skipping the browser altogether. This could also be a game changer for mobile advertising.
Social Media:
Twitter has introduced language targeting this week. Why is this exciting? Because now you can chose the language you prefer to target promoted tweets and accounts in. Language targeting will be available in 20 different languages. Twitter offers more than just language to their advertisers: “For instance, a travel brand that wants to reach Spanish-speaking travelers in the U.S. can combine U.S. geo-targeting, travel-category interest targeting and Spanish language targeting to effectively connect with their target audience.”
Snapchat, a popular messaging app, has settled with the Federal Trade Commission after accusations surfaced that the wording used was deceiving their customers. The FTC stated that Snapchat was deceiving their users about their data collection policies and the fact that Snapchat didn’t alert their users that others could possibly save the messages without the sender knowing. The press release by the FTC states: “If a company markets privacy and security as key selling points in pitching its service to consumers, it is critical that it keep those promises,” said FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez. “Any company that makes misrepresentations to consumers about its privacy and security practices risks FTC action.”
As part of the settlement the press release states that “Snapchat will be prohibited from misrepresenting the extent to which it maintains the privacy, security, or confidentiality of users’ information. In addition, the company will be required to implement a comprehensive privacy program that will be monitored by an independent privacy professional for the next 20 years.”
Technology:
Two years in the making, Microsoft was granted a patent this week that could show a long term goal of the tech giant. The patent describes a form of smartwatch that is much more than just a tracker device. The watch holds options for heart rate monitoring, distance traveled and more biometric features. Microsoft’s wearable technology appears to be much more interactive with a “touch display” and interactive communication compared to what we have seen so far. As far as charging the device goes, it seems a docking device will be used similar to Samsung’s Galaxy Gear.
Sources:
- Christina Wareen. Bye-Bye Browsers: Why Facebook’s New App Links Are a Big Deal Mashable
- Nipoon Malhotra. Introducing language targeting Twitter Blog
- Federal Trade Commission Staff. Snapchat Settles FTC Charges That Promises of Disappearing Messages Were False FTC.gov Press Releases
- Pete Patchal. Patent Shows Microsoft Has Been Planning a Smartwatch for 2 Years Mashable
