Weekly Digital Breakdown – 7.2.20

CCPA Compliance Now Being Enforced

The California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) has been a law since the beginning of the year, but the 6 month grace period meant to allow time to create and refine measures to meet compliance officially ended June 30th. Enforcement will now go into effect which could result in big fines for those who failed to prepare. 

The law was created in an effort to protect the privacy of user’s personal information online and would reduce the ways companies can track and target for marketing purposes. It would also allow users to inquire about how and why their data is collected, and would require consent for companies to utilize information in any way. Consumers would ultimately be given more control when it comes to the collection of their personal information.

Being the first of its kind in the U.S., CCPA will continue to be refined as needed. There is currently a ballot initiative for November’s general election to eliminate the 30-day grace period for businesses to rectify any violation of user data. While only effective in California as of now, many expect other states will eventually adopt similar privacy regulations. 

For more information on CCPA compliance regulations and steps to protect your business, check out our webinar, “Digital Marketing in a Data Privacy World.”

https://marketingland.com/ccpa-enforcement-starts-today-and-most-companies-are-ready-280266?

Facebook Undergoing Brand Safety Audit

Facebook has announced a partnership with the Media Rating Council (MRC), a nonprofit organization that certifies the reliability of audience measurement services in an effort to review their partner and content monetization policies and brand safety controls. 

The council previously tried to get Facebook to undergo the evaluation based on their brand safety standards, but was unsuccessful until recently. It’s not clear if this was part of Facebook’s original timeline or the review was prompted by advertiser pressure to evaluate their policies and enforcement on hate speech on the platform. 

The audit will include in-stream, instant Articles or Audience Network according to an announcement on their website. It’s uncertain whether this will extend to Instagram as well. Its purpose is to continue to evaluate how users and their information are protected on the platform. 

https://www.adweek.com/digital/boycott-pressure-facebook-brand-safety-audit/?

Google Free Product Listings Extends to Search Results

Google is expanding it’s offering for businesses to sell on the platform – for free. In addition to allowing free merchants products listings, brands can now also list products in the search results with no cost. The free listings, which previously required advertisers to pay for the sponsored positions, will be rolled out for mobile first in an effort to help boost ecommerce sales as businesses continue to struggle. For retailers that are now limited entirely to online sales, this could be a tremendous opportunity to drive website traffic and revenue.

The expansion of free listings in Google search results gives products more visibility and increases the likelihood of consumers discovering brand offerings. Since adding the free listings to Google Shopping, impressions for ads and listings have increased 130% in the U.S.

The free product listings in search results is another effort by Google to expand their ecommerce focus as Amazon continues to gain ground with its digital advertising offerings. Amazon remains the top starting point for product searches and Google hopes to work to shift these consumer patterns. 

https://www.retaildive.com/news/google-extends-free-product-listings-to-search-results/580798/