1. Facebook Launches Live Audio Rooms - Live Audio Rooms is way to host an audio event on Facebook, like a live radio show with an audience. The feel of the Live Audio Room is like a live event attended by an audience with interactive elements included like hand raising and the ability to be invited to speak or ask questions at the live event. The creators of the live events will be able to create Live Audio Rooms via an iOS app while the audience can participate in the event via Android or iOS devices.

At this time Facebook is rolling out the Live Audio Rooms for public figures who are invited to participate and “select” Facebook groups. The host can invite people to the Live Audio Rooms and broadcast up to fifty speakers. There is no limit to the size of the listening audience.

2. 4 New E-commerce Features from Facebook - Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp are gaining new features that will help retailers get their products in front of more customers and drive sales. The 4 New Features are:

3. Twitter Accepting Applications for Ticketed Spaces and Super Follows - Twitter is moving ahead with the next phase of its creator monetization push with users now able to apply to test its coming Super Follow and Ticketed Spaces options. Twitter has been developing both options for some time, with the platform first announcing the expanded monetization tools at its Analyst Day overview back in February.

First, on Ticketed Spaces  users will be able to charge for exclusive access to audio Spaces sessions, with variable ticket price options.

While Super Follows, meanwhile, will also enable users to charge a monthly fee to give fans access to a range of additional content and engagement features, like newsletters, exclusive live-streams, product discounts, etc.

Both will facilitate new opportunities for creators, and incentivize them to establish a stronger presence in the app, which will help Twitter improve engagement overall, and ideally, grow its audience significantly over the next few years, in line with its stated targets.

4. iOS Twitter Users Can Now Share Their Stories Directly to Instagram Stories - Skip the screenshots –– sharing Tweets to Instagram Stories right from the share menu is out for  everyone on iOS!

Tap the share icon on a Tweet and select “Instagram Stories”. Once your Instagram app opens, you can resize/reposition the Tweet sticker before posting.

5. Twitter Adds 15-Second Views as a New Objective for Ad Campaigns - Twitter is providing  advertisers with more options to maximize their video ad campaigns, with a new 15-second view bid unit, which will prioritize reach to users who are more likely to consume video content. As explained by Twitter: 

"To better meet the needs of advertisers who rely heavily on quality video views and video completion rates, we’re rolling out a ‘15-second (15s) view’ buying model that prioritizes for engaged, longform views on their content. This new bid unit is built to optimize for delivering 15-second or completed views, whichever comes first, and early testing has shown that it drives Twitter’s highest video completion rates yet."

6. TikTok Jump Allows Creators to Add Third Party Apps & Services - TikTok has announced the launch of a new feature called 'Jumps', which will enable creators to link to third-party owned mini-programs and services from their video clips, including recipes, quizzes, and more. 

The 'Jumps' are displayed as links on the screen. When tapped, the links then take users through to a selection of approved, third-party experiences, which users are able to add to their clips within the upload process.

This is very similar to Snapchat's recent expansion of its developer tools to facilitate support for third-party apps within Spotlight, its own version of TikTok.

Not all users will be able to add Jumps to their clips straight away, though TikTok notes that it is opening up broader access to the option over time. In addition to this, TikTok is also giving more developer access to its Jumps creation program, which will enable it to add in more creative options for additions to your TikTok clips.

7. Google May Suspend Merchant Sites that Show Invalid Product Availability - Google Merchant Center has a new policy named “Inaccurate availability” that is caused “due to inconsistent availability between the landing page and checkout pages on your website,” the company said. This policy replaces the existing “Delivery issues” policy violation and goes into place on September 1, 2021.

What is the inaccurate availability policy? Google explained that a Google Merchant Center account can receive a warning or a suspension when “one or more of your products show as unavailable for purchase at checkout even though they’re displayed as being in stock on your landing pages.” If you are showing users that a product is available on the product landing page but when they click to add it to the cart, it changes that availability as not available, that can lead to violating this policy.

8. YouTube is Adding Detailed Info for Policy Violations - YouTube has announced a new test designed to improve the process of addressing policy violations in video clips. 

The new process will provide a direct, time-stamped linked to the section of your video which YouTube's system has identified as potentially breaching its rules, while the alerts will also include specific details about the relevant Community Guideline and links to related help resources.

9. YouTube Introduces New Tools & Resources for Small Biz Owners - As part of Google’s International Small Business Week Event, YouTube on 24th June has published a free step-by-step guide designed to help business owners launch a channel, establish an online presence, and reach new customers. The guide covers the following topics:

Also, YouTube reported that 79% of small businesses with a YouTube channel agree that publishing videos help with getting found by customers. And currently there are over two billion monthly users on YouTube watching a collective one billion hours of video a day. 

10. Google Simplifies YouTube Ad Creation Process - Taking a cue from the Facebook post Boost feature, Google launched a simplified ad creation workflow for video ads on YouTube. In the new workflow, which is now available globally on mobile and desktop, advertisers can launch a campaign by adding a video, selecting the audiences they want to reach, and designating a budget. 

Previously, advertisers had to use Google Ads Dashboard to launch a video ad campaign on YouTube, which may have been an intimidating prospect for some SMBs. This new workflow makes it easier for advertisers to get their campaigns up and running with a user interface that may be more appropriate for their needs and experience level.