We all get busy and sometimes important items pass us by. Every other week, Carousel30 will be collecting important stories for communicators that you may have missed while crunching on a deadline or taking a much-needed vacation before the you spend all your time preparing for Black Friday deals.

Here’s what happened while you were out …

News Flash: Facebook’s New[s] Future

Facebook found yet another way to extend reach audiences beyond solely social media. It started with Instant Articles and was followed by Search FYI. More recently however, Facebook launched an entirely new app, Notify. This comes on the heels of Facebook announcing third-quarter 2015 results which showed that ad revenue, video capabilities, and daily user growth performed much better than predicted. Taking it a step further, much controversy has come as a result of Facebook blocking all mentions of social network competitor TSU. Facebook’s venture into the world of news sharing has consolidated a strong user-base and pushed the company to one of their highest-grossing quarters.

Google’s Forecast: Crystal-Clear with a Chance of High Visibility

Google announced the broadening of options for advertisers measuring viewability on YouTube. Advertisers now have the option to choose from third-party vendors along with Active View to understand viewability. Since Google’s release of Active View in-house visibility verification system in 2013, there has been backlash from users stating that Google should provide more transparency as Active View provided minimal data to users. In a push to increase transparency, Google announced that the accommodation of third-party analytics will now be available. Speaking of pushing towards transparency, will Facebook need to do the same? The company was just busted for tracking non-users in Belgium which is raising some questions.

Join Your Ads in a Workout with AdPushup!

Advertising ROIAs marketing ROI becomes more of a priority, companies have been pushing towards solutions. AdPushup, a new technology startup, has created a platform to help Google Adsense users optimize ad layouts across devices through A/B Testing. This platform will help give insight to potential ROI based on ad size and placement, a feature that Google Adsense does not yet provide. Appnext, a London-based app distribution platform, also recently launched a Cost-per-Install ad-serving solution that helps publishers accurately track ROI. Even Google has updated cross-device conversion data to show conversions at the keyword-level.

GroupM’s Major Marketing Merge

The international media conglomerate GroupM acquired the prominent media-buying agency, Essence. Although Essence will continue to be independent of GroupM, the purchase means that Essence will now have access to a wider clientele base. With an already extensive client list influenced by Google including EA Sports, Netflix, and many more, Ad Age named Essence as an agency to watch. But don’t forget that GroupM is known for their continuous relationship with Google as well as their controversial methods of using non-disclosure agreements, meaning the media buying field could become an increasingly more blinding climate.

Location, Location, Location

Last year Facebook announced local awareness advertising, allowing businesses to target location-specific audiences. The capability was proven successful, which led to the company’s recent release of two new tools that will focus on businesses with multiple locations. Now, if you’re thinking about advertising with Facebook, it’s been suggested that the Carousel ad formats increase performance. Looking further, Periscope, right behind Facebook, has also increased location-specific activity through an iOS update that allows users to target a region and replay videos up to 24 hours after posting.

The Artificial Take on Technology

Parallel to Google’s RankBrain, the company has released TensorFlow, a machine learning platform built by Google’s Brain Team. This is the platform that Google used to build their search capabilities within Google Photo, and now is available for open-source use in custom applications. Take note of artificial intelligence and its power as Siri just beat Google in search result accuracy and efficiency. Not convinced yet? Tinder is using machine intelligence to help you pick out your new relationship before you even knew you had one, and Microsoft’s recently announced Emotional API can examine your emotion and age in an image.

The Offline Version of Online Advertising

Google’s done it again by transforming the advertising platform to be more customized than ever before. The company just announced a new AdWords capability to use SMS texts as an ad format. While in Beta, the ad format can be activated by users through subscribing on Google. The Google AdWords Ad Preview and Diagnosis Tool has also been updated within the advertiser console, giving advertisers an upper hand in understanding search terms. Taking a shift from the internet to the streets, check out Google’s DoubleClick online advertising on the streets of London.