Global Marketing News – 28th June 2016
Instagram to embrace translation technology
Instagram is due to implement translation technology into its service in the coming months.
The feature will be available in the options tab under each image, and will translate comments, descriptions and user biographies into the user’s chosen language using machine translation.
Instagram said in their announcement post that it had become “more global” than they had ever imagined, and that, as a user, you would be able to “understand the full story of a moment, no matter what language you speak”.
However, it is noted that not all languages spoken around the world will be supported.
Whilst Facebook, Twitter and other major social media sites have been using machine translation for some time now, the new addition will bring Instagram fully up-to-date with its competitors by July.
Marketers increase reliance on agency partners
Recent research from SODA, an organisation that puts out an annual report on the state of marketing innovation, has shown that marketers are increasing their reliance on agency partners.
In an increase from the past two years, 52% of marketers said in the survey that they now partnered with two or even three agencies in 2016.
One factor this was put down to was the increasingly technologically-complex techniques that digital marketing is currently employing.
Supporting this statement were results from another study from SODA, that reported that over 60% of marketers said that the largest skills gap areas were user experience and executive management.
This data sheds light on why marketers might look to agencies to help them with products and driving long-term strategies.
Top ecommerce sites in Sweden revealed
Research on Swedish ecommerce has unveiled the most popular international and domestic websites amongst consumers.
Netflix, Ebay and Amazon’s international sites make up the top three internationally, with Amazon and Ebay’s British sites appearing in the top ten list, along with Amazon’s German site.
On the domestic front, Blocket.se was the most popular Swedish ecommerce site, with Ikea.com appearing fifth in the list and H&M’s international site coming seventh.
Netflix had around 75 million hits in the six months before the study, whilst Blocket.se had 125 million hits, putting it almost 100 million hits above its nearest competitor in the domestic market.
US introduces new laws for commercially-run drones
The US government has unveiled new laws that pave the way for more freedom for commercially-run drones.
In a hope to open up opportunities for new businesses inspecting crops or taking aerial photography, the regulations also open the door for faster ecommerce delivery.
When Amazon introduced drones to its delivery system last year, they were met with a strict set of rules to keep people on the ground safe.
President Obama said that “We are in the early days of an aviation revolution that will change the way we do business”, but added it was still important to keep people safe.
However, the Federal Aviation Administration said that ecommerce deliveries would require a different set of regulations, but said that such activities would be permitted under a waiver program, whist promising to make the process as streamlined as possible.
Google Fiber acquires Webpass
And finally, Google Fiber has announced the acquisition of the high-speed internet company Webpass.
With Google Fibre now launched in five major cities around the US and with plans to grow, the fact that Webpass operates its own gigabit network will help Google approach residential markets to take on established providers.
Regarding the acquisition, the President of Webpass, Charlie Barr, has assured current customers that “nothing will change in the foreseeable future regarding the day-to-day operation of our business, your service or pricing”.
With Google Fiber looking to bolster its presence around the US, and currently looking to expand into a further 20 cities, the move could prove essential in becoming an established high speed internet option.
Webcertain’s global marketing news bulletins are daily 5-minute videos, providing marketers with the latest international digital marketing news in an easy-to-digest format.
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Cal O'Connell
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