A new report from Forrester, “Twitter Isn’t Canceled; It’s Downgraded,” stresses that Twitter is far more relevant to users than advertisers and provides suggestions on how marketers should treat the platform moving forward.

Forrester data reveals that 22% of online adults in the U.S. used Twitter weekly in 2022, well behind Facebook (63%) and Instagram (40%).

The company said in the introduction to its report, “Twitter ranks highly on the cultural relevancy scale but low on the advertiser priority list. It’s where news breaks, politicians debate, activists organize and niche communities meet. And despite Twitter users threatening to leave the platform, application downloads are up since Elon Musk took over. No other social media platform—not even Reddit, Mastodon or Hive—can replace Twitter for consumers.”

Principal analyst Kelsey Chickering delved further into the advertising side in a blog post, writing, “The advertising community has given Twitter more oxygen than it deserves since Elon Musk took over. The reality is that Twitter has never been a critical media channel in the overall media mix, comprising just 1.3% of 2022 digital ad spend based on Forrester’s 2022 Advertising Forecast, U.S. Why? The ad experience on Twitter has never quite caught up with other ‘legacy’ social media platforms such as Meta’s family of apps. According to media buyers and social media strategists who spoke with Forrester, Twitter doesn’t quite deliver on lower-funnel performance.”

Forrester said in the report that advertising executives it spoke with believe Twitter’s direct-response ad products pale in comparison to those from Meta when it comes to meeting lower-funnel media goals, and they only rely on Twitter for mid- to upper-funnel media goals like awareness and consideration.

Advertisers also told Forrester Twitter’s targeting and personalization capabilities are less mature than those of other social media platforms.

Forrester suggested that marketers treat Twitter as an emerging channel within the advertising maturity spectrum, breaking out that spectrum as follows:

Always on:

• Meta: Ad formats for every part of the customer lifecycle and proven performance

Campaign-dependent:

• Pinterest: Original Pin formats still useful but finding its way in video and commerce
• Snap: Leader in augmented reality and advanced in providing creative resources to brands
• LinkedIn: Top channel to capture consumers when they’re in a business mindset

Test and learn:

• Reddit: Rising star in advertising capabilities and advanced in brand safety
• TikTok: Social media’s darling but hard to succeed without creator partnerships
• Twitter: Unevolved ad experience and growing brand safety concerns, but still offers a unique experience for live updates and news

The research firm added that marketers should consider the following questions when planning for the remainder of 2023:

• Will my brand consistently appear in a space that complies with our safety guidelines? Forrester noted that Twitter’s policy on brand safety and moderation is a moving target at best, suggesting that as these policies change, brands should evaluate them against their own overall digital media brand safety guidelines.
• To what degree is my target audience spending significant time on Twitter? Forrester said even if an advertiser’s target audience loved Twitter before, they may be shopping around, so brands should determine if their time on Twitter is growing or waning and whether they’ve transferred that time to other platforms.
• What share of social media spend has Twitter historically held on my media plan? If Twitter hasn’t taken up a large portion of a company’s media spend to date, the dollars are probably easily absorbed elsewhere.
• What material impact has Twitter had on our business results? Forrester believes advertisers should look at whether they have seen a dip in brand health metrics or sales after shifting their Twitter budget to other channels.
• Does Twitter deliver an ad or user experience that’s not available on other platforms? Forrester suggests keeping a pulse on Twitter’s changing ad experience and whether other channels can deliver on a brand’s goals and audience.

Chickering wrote in the blog post, “Advertisers such as Chevrolet and Chipotle paused their Twitter spend for fear of appearing beside extremist, racist and inflammatory content. The Washington Post found ads for over 40 advertisers on white nationalist Twitter pages recently reinstated by Musk. At the same time, not every major advertiser has decided that Twitter is unsafe. Amazon continues to run paid media on the platform. Musk also introduced a ‘flash sale’ in an attempt to lure lost advertisers back.”

She suggested that brands that are not comfortable with Twitter in its current state under Musk:

• Refrain from posting any brand content to Twitter. Direct social media teams’ efforts to other channels that meet brand safety requirements.
• Monitor and respond to customer-service-related questions. If customers are reaching out for help or have questions about products, continue responding in order to ensure a positive customer experience.
• Listen for relevant cultural trends or product feedback. As usage continues on the platform, use social listening tools to find out what trends are popping and how consumers are talking about your company’s category to inform your marketing strategy.
• Test other social media channels. Twitter has downshifted into a social media startup rather than an established platform. Roll your previously dedicated Twitter dollars into a pool of test dollars for channels including TikTok, Reddit and Snapchat.

Finally, Forrester shared the reasons cited in a survey last November of 101 adults in the U.S. who stopped using Twitter or planned to do so in the next month:

• 31% found content on the platform to be too hateful
• 29% said there were too many bots or fake accounts
• 28% found content on the platform to be too political
• 21% didn’t like the amount of misinformation being spread
• 21% thought the platform’s moderation process was too strict
• 18% felt they needed to stop for their mental health
• 17% don’t support Musk as Twitter’s new owner and CEO

WhatsApp allows each user to create an avatar to represent them throughout the messaging application. Once a user creates an avatar, they can create a profile photo featuring their avatar to use in the app.

Our guide will show you how to create an avatar profile photo in the WhatsApp mobile app.

Note: These screenshots were captured in the WhatsApp app on iOS.

Step 1: Tap “Settings” in the bottom-right corner of the WhatsApp app.

Step 2: Tap “Avatar.”

Step 3: Tap “Create Profile Photo.”

Step 4: Tap your desired avatar pose.

Step 5: Tap your desired background color for the profile photo.

Step 6: When you’re done customizing your profile photo, tap “Done” in the top-right corner of the screen. Note: Once you tap “Done,” your profile photo will be updated in the WhatsApp app.

Snap Inc. is pulling the plug Jan. 25 on its Snap Camera desktop application, which debuted in October 2018 as a way for Snapchatters to use the platform’s filters during video calls on other platforms.

The company said in a support post that the desktop app will no longer be available for download or use as of Jan. 25, adding that people can still use lenses on their PCs via Snapchat for Web and suggesting that users uninstall the app, go to their video settings and change the camera source from Snap Camera to their default camera.

Snap further clarified in a tweet from the Snap AR account, “We’re adjusting our web-based investments for the augmented reality creator and developer community to focus on expanding access to Camera Kit for Web.”

WhatsApp allows users to create an avatar that can be used to represent them throughout the messaging application. Once a user creates an avatar, they can update it in the future if they want to change its appearance, clothing and/or accessories.

Our guide will show you how to edit your avatar in the WhatsApp mobile app.

Note: These screenshots were captured in the WhatsApp app on iOS.

Step 1: Tap “Settings” in the bottom-right corner of the WhatsApp app.

Step 2: Tap “Avatar.”

Step 3: Tap “Edit Avatar.”

Step 4: Make your desired changes to your avatar.

Step 5: When you’re done updating your avatar, tap “Done” in the top-right corner of the screen.

Step 6: Tap the “Save changes” button on the confirmation window that appears.

Step 7: Tap the “Next” button at the bottom of the screen to finish this process.

Pinterest detailed a new partnership with LiveRamp Data Hub at CES 2023 in Las Vegas Thursday, under which LiveRamp will pilot clean rooms for select Pinterest advertising partners, starting with grocery company Albertsons.

The integration enables a protected, third-party space where brands can combine their own first-party data and data from Pinterest in a secure environment, with the clean room keeping that data private and providing aggregated insight into ad performance.

Pinterest stressed that neither party’s personally identifiable sales and campaign data is visible to the other party.

The platform wrote in a blog post Thursday, “The digital advertising industry has relied on cookies as a measurement tool for years. But as consumer behavior evolves, marketers have to evolve with it. So as the industry migrates away from collecting third-party cookies, we’re looking for new ways to sustain our clients’ success while reducing reliance on identifiable data. We’ve routinely invested in forward-looking solutions that help marketers connect the dots between their first-party data and their customers’ actions on Pinterest. Now, we’re piloting our next big development for secure data solutions.”

The clean room for Albertsons will be an ongoing initiative to deliver closed-loop reporting for brands that participate in the grocer’s retail media network, Albertsons Media Collective, and it will kick off with a winter healthy eating campaign, with crucial metrics, such as return on ad spend, to be measured.

Albertsons Media Collective senior vice president of retail media Kristi Argyilan said in the Pinterest blog post, “Data privacy is a priority for Albertsons Media Collective, and we’re excited to pilot this new clean room initiative with a trusted partner. We believe using clean rooms can provide our clients with the data they expect to make informed decisions about their advertising in a privacy-preserving manner. While our initial test pilot focuses on enabling closed-loop measurement, this partnership will ultimately provide our team a more holistic view of our customers’ digital footprint to unlock more advanced measurement capabilities, like incrementality and MTA (multi-touch attribution), down the road.”

Pinterest and LiveRamp are starting off their partnership with retail media networks, saying that they often need custom option for reporting campaign effectiveness on a granular, brand-by-brand basis.

The platform said LiveRamp’s data collaboration environment offers additional, configurable privacy controls such as aggregation thresholds, enabling both parties to further limit how their data can be accessed, joined, queried or shared.

LiveRamp senior vp of product Kimberly Bloomston said in Pinterest’s blog post, “It’s an exciting opportunity to meet both the strict privacy requirements of media owners like Pinterest and the advanced analytics needs of retailers like Albertsons. LiveRamp’s interoperable data collaboration technology allows us to do just that by maximizing data utility without compromise. We look forward to continued innovation with thought leaders such as Pinterest and Albertsons to support the future of privacy-safe data collaboration and measurement.”

Pinterest said it will continue testing clean rooms with additional partners.

Chief revenue officer Bill Watkins said in a statement, “As the industry evolves, we will remain proactive with solutions that add value for marketers while maintaining trust with consumers. Together with LiveRamp, Pinterest is invested in expanding the possibilities for brands like Albertsons to help them better understand and measure the impact of their campaigns.”

The Trade Desk has centralized a number of its tools into a hub, making it as easy for marketers to activate against their own first-party data sets as it is to use the current currency of digital advertising, third-party cookies, which are set to disappear next year.

Galileo, which The Trade Desk is announcing at tech industry conference CES, is not new tech. Rather, it centralizes all the existing tech the demand-side platform offers, such as the onboarding of data, frequency capping, and layering on additional data sets for measurement, in one first-party data hub, a simplified process for tasks that previously had to be done separately.

“The technology exists to do all of this. It’s just a matter of making it easier to activate and optimize against,” said The Trade Desk chief strategy officer Samantha Jacobson. “We’re just trying to put the toolkit together to make it as easy for [marketers] to use at scale and across campaigns as possible so that it’s not as manual.”

Galileo marks The Trade Desk’s latest tactic to articulate its vision for a post-cookie open internet. The company has spent energy advancing UID2, the alternative identifier it backs, inking partnerships with companies like AWS and most recently Paramount. Galileo is designed for identity solutions that rely on first-party data, a category that encompasses UID2 but is solution agnostic.

With Galileo, The Trade Desk has built direct integrations with CRM, CDP and clean room providers, including Adobe, Amazon Web Services, InfoSum, LiveRamp, Salesforce and Snowflake.

Still, Galileo, which The Trade Desk will not charge extra for, is a flywheel for the DSP’s main line of business. An IAB survey of buy-side ad investment decision makers found 53% were planning to increase their level of focus on placing ads with publishers with first-party data in 2023, a higher percentage than those increasing focus on buzzy areas like retail media networks or data clean rooms.

As buyers new to first-party data look to learn the ropes, The Trade Desk wants to be the simplest place for them to go.

“We found a lot of advertisers weren’t as aware of how to use their first-party data,” Jacobson said. “We want the same accountability for first-party data that we have in place for cookies.”

Market distinction

The Trade Desk’s pitch to marketers with Galileo is not only the simplicity of its now-centralized tech but how it differs from competitors.

“With most walled gardens’ onboarding proposals, advertisers do not get a transparent view of how their data is performing, and therefore how their campaigns are performing,” Jacobson said in a press release announcing Galileo.

Specifically, The Trade Desk is interested in contrasting itself with Google’s demand-side platform Display & Video 360, which in October 2022 released Publisher Advertiser Identity Reconciliation, or PAIR. The tech confines the space of data sharing between a particular advertiser and a particular publisher, and not across all digital publishers who have access to the users’ first-party data.

When advertisers use The Trade Desk, aided by Galileo, they have access to opted-in user data across publishers, which Jacobson said allows for more control and transparency.

“With the way Google’s approached it … advertisers can’t control when they’re marketing to me, Samantha, across different sites. They can’t understand reach. They can’t control frequency capping,” Jacobson said, while acknowledging The Trade Desk supports PAIR’s prioritization of email-based identifiers. “Google made it a black box and removed the understanding from the advertisers.”

A spokesperson for Google pointed out that the primary use cases for PAIR are showing relevant ads to known audiences and measurement, not frequency capping. Further, DV360 has introduced a solution called Exchange Provided Identifier to manage frequency capping.

By contrasting itself with Google, The Trade Desk is flexing what has always been part of its value proposition and that of digital advertising writ large: buying audiences across media, said Alex Cone, co-founder of ads privacy learning platform Coir.

“They’re highlighting that they’re still a DSP,” he said.

Still, while The Trade Desk may allow for more scale than Google, its focus on email-based first-party identifiers is limiting, said Mike Woosley, COO of identity ad-tech firm Lotame.

“That pretty much limits its effectiveness to authenticated traffic, which is usually at most 20% of web traffic,” he said.