APAC Digital Digest - 19 June 2020

APAC Digital Digest is a fortnightly round-up of what has been happening in APAC in under 3 minutes.

Here is what has been happening:

Alibaba taps international influencers to sell more globally

Alibaba, one of the pioneers of shoppable videos in China, has big plans to attract and train up international influencers — so it can sell more around the world through AliExpress. The platform is one of Alibaba’s marketplaces for international consumers, which altogether claim 180 million annual active consumers.

Source: Tech Crunch

Twitter puts Fleets to test in India

Microblogging platform Twitter is testing out a new feature in India called Fleets which will enable people to put their fleeting thoughts on the platform. Fleets posts will disappear after 24 hours and there will not be any likes, retweets, or public replies on them.

Source: Economic Times

LinkedIn Adds Retargeting by Video Views, Lead-Gen Forms

Brands on LinkedIn will soon get some new retargeting options, and those using LinkedIn Audience Network now have new ways to scale their campaigns. The ability to retarget by video views and lead-gen forms will be added to Campaign Manager.

Source: Ad Week

YouTube Adds New Analytics Report, Alerts for Merchandise Sales Within Live-Streams

YouTube has announced a new analytics listing, while also adding a new way to promote merchandise sales within live-streams. Businesses can now promote merchandise sales during live-streams, while also boosting their fundraising efforts.

Source: Business Fast

Google Ads More Video Ad Options to Cater to Evolving Viewing Behaviors

The recent lockdowns have changed the way people are consuming media. In order to help the advertisers find the best deals for their campaign objectives, Google has created a dedicated TV section in its ad Marketplace "specifically for publishers and inventory that let you reach TV audiences across devices." In addition to this, Google's also adding new ‘ready-to-buy’ options, making it easier for brands to run streaming ad campaigns.

Source: Social Media Today

1. Facebook, PayPal invest in Indonesia’s ride-hailing firm Gojek

Facebook has invested in Indonesian ride-hailing and food delivery company Gojek underscoring its efforts to help bring small businesses online. Gojek competes with Singapore-headquartered Grab across Southeast Asia in areas such as ride-hailing, payments and food delivery.

Source: CNBC

Facebook introduces Business Inbox in Messenger

Facebook has launched the new business inbox in Messenger to help businesses respond to customer messages and easily toggle between their personal and business accounts in the Messenger app. The new business inbox in Messenger will make it easy and convenient for businesses to respond quickly.

Source: Messenger News

Facebook Looks to Prompt More Comments with New Comment Engagement Stats

Facebook is now looking to highlight the exact impact that your personal comments on a post can have on subsequent reach and engagement. When you tap through to 'See more insights' on the impact that your comments have had, Facebook will show you a percentage figure related to how many more reactions and impressions your posts have achieved when you've added a comment, based on data from the last 28 days. These indicators can be displayed on both personal or Page updates.

Source: Social Media Today

Facebook Test Wikipedia Powered Information Panels Similar to Google in its Search Results

Facebook is now piloting an updated version of Facebook Search that displays factual information when users search for topics like public figures, places and interests — like movies and TV shows. This similar to the automatically generated Knowledge Panel format Google uses for these same types of searches and the information is gathered from publicly available data, including Wikipedia.

Source: Tech Crunch

Facebook Tests Email Marketing Tools for Business Pages

Facebook is testing a new set of tools that will allow business pages to send marketing emails through the Facebook platform. Business pages on Facebook may soon have the ability to send marketing emails with a new set of tools that are currently being tested. The tools will allow small-to-medium-sized businesses to upload contact lists and compose marketing emails in a user-friendly interface.

Source: Search Engine Journal

Facebook Updates Controls Over What Posts and Content is Displayed on Your Profile

Facebook is looking to make it easier for users to manage what people can find out about them via their Facebook profiles with an updated, simplified 'Manage Activity' process, which enables bulk archiving or deletion of past questionable updates and images.

Source: Social Media Today