1. Microsoft, YouTube and Google Announce Their Advertising Revenue Figures - Google leads with a 32% increase in ad revenue, compared to Microsoft and their 17% increase in ad revenue. Meanwhile, YouTube is also growing with a 49% jump in ad revenue, followed by a 86% increase in daily views of YouTube Shorts. 

2. LinkedIn’s Continued Growth Reaches 25% Revenue Increase - Since Microsoft acquired LinkedIn back in 2016, we only see brief overviews of the platform. Some of the impressive growth figures, besides revenue, include 43% increase in conversions; 29% increase in content sharing, and 80% increase in hours spent on LinkedIn Learning.

3. A Promising End Of Q1 For Facebook And A Questionable Future For Q2 - In terms of revenue and users, Facebook did exceptionally well and showed an increase in both metrics. A presentation on FB's Earnings illustrated a 2.86 billion increase in monthly active users (MAU), which is around 10% increase. However, despite this success in Q1, it is questionable what the numbers will be during Q2. Now that Apple has released iOS 14.5 and users will need to give permission to have their data and online activity tracked, there are speculations that the revenue of Facebook Marketplace will go down.

4. Pinterest Reveals What Users Are Planning, With a 96% Increase In Overall Searches - Some of the searched terms predict that people are preparing for a travel boom; looking for outfit inspirations; searching for party-related entertainment, and planning home renovations. Pinterest users all share 1 common characteristic - a positive attitude towards what is coming post-Covid19.

5. Shopify’s Impact On The Economy - According to Deloitte’s report on Shopify’s Economic Impact, the platform has provided $2 billion in funding to entrepreneurs and 3.6 million jobs around the world. Moreover, the economy has received $307+ billion from Shopify merchants, and that makes them the 7th largest company in the world in terms of revenue. 

6. TikTok Launches Lead Generation Ads - These ads will enable businesses of all sizes to create seamless interactions, gather audience information, and reach prospects in order to convert them into potential customers. Users will be able to provide their name, email and telephone number if they have an interest in a given product or service. Businesses will also be able to create fully customizable messages that are relevant to multiple customer segments.

7. How YouTube Creators Are Generating Revenue - YouTube’s efforts began 13 years ago when they launched their Partner Program. The statistics show that over 140K channels earned money from Paid Digital Goods on YouTube in December 2020, which is a 140% increase compared to December 2019. At the same time, creators on the platform earned over 4x as much revenue from channel memberships in 2020, compared to the previous year.

8. Google Updates Customer Match Lists - Customer Match help advertisers build a stronger relationship with their customers and Google has introduced some updates to improve that feature. Advertisers can now see how much of their list is usable in real-time; and they can also keep their lists up to date with Recommendations.

9. Google Gives Guidance on Apple’s ATT Policies - iOS apps submitted on or after 26 April must comply with Apple’s ATT policies and ask for permission when using certain information from other companies’ apps and websites. Here are steps that ensure a smooth transition, for advertisers promoting web-based conversion goals:

And this is how advertisers promoting iOS apps can ensure a smooth transition:

10.  Google Reports An Increase In Search Spam Detection - According to data, there is an increase of 60% in spammy pages, compared to 2019. However, Google has improved in detecting spam and blocking it as a result, from detecting 25 billion pages of scam each day in 2019.