The Travel Vertical

Weekly stories curated exclusively for digital tourism marketers

How Destinations Use WeChat to Attract Travelers

by Leave a Comment

Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are all banned in China. Eighty percent of Chinese consumers are using Baidu as the dominant search tool; Google gets 10 percent. Note that mid-2017, WeChat introduced news feed and search functions, reported by the Financial Times as a “direct challenge to Chinese search engine Baidu.”

What one billion monthly active users in China rely on is WeChat, an all-encompassing super app for instant messaging, photo sharing, shopping and travel research, booking and payments.

To check out a new PhocusWire Q&A on how travel brands and destinations are using WeChat to attract travelers, click here.

Snapchat Ad Prices Drop From Sky High to Dirt Cheap

by Leave a Comment

In a flip-flop from its earlier, headier days, the Snapchat of today has the lowest ad prices among all its peers. AdAge reports that according to 4C, a marketing technology firm, Snapchat ads in the first quarter 2018 “cost an average of $2.95 per thousand impressions, compared with $4.20 at Instagram and $5.12 on Facebook’s app.”

Note that:

  • 95 percent of Snapchat ads are sold programmatically
  • prices were 65 percent lower than in first Q. 2017

It wasn’t always this way. What happened and what’s next? Read more from AdAge here.

It’s a New World Order: Gen Z Chooses YouTube First

by Leave a Comment

Just like soiled diapers, there’s a saturation point and it looks like Facebook needs a change. Teens like YouTube best.

In their latest earnings call, Facebook admitted that 185 million U.S. and Canadian users leaves little or no room for growth, according to Bloomberg. Among teens, 95 percent have a smartphone, 45 percent are online nearly constantly, and only 10 percent say Facebook is their preferred platform.

Facebook is no longer the dominant online platform among teens

In a new Pew Research Center poll among teens, Facebook use took a nose dive to fourth position.

(Don’t feel bad, though. Bloomberg reports that current U.S. advertising revenues at Facebook stand at a “staggering” $23.59 per user per quarter.)

“Teens, Social Media & Technology 2018” Pew Research Center findings are found here.

 

The Most Highly Anticipated Slide Deck in Silicon Valley is Here: 2018 Internet Trends Report

by Leave a Comment

Mary Meeker, a partner at VC firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, presented her annual “Internet Trends Report” at Recode’s Code Conference on May 30, 2018.

Known for always being ahead of the curve, the extensive report uses data to identify business-related trends. It’s a detailed snapshot–294 slides–on the future of the internet, a place where more than half the world now spends a lot of time.

Some of the highlights:

  • Smartphone usage:  Shipments didn’t grow at all in 2017 for the first year ever. With more than half the world online, there are fewer people left to connect, so internet user growth dropped from 12% to 7%.
  • Online time: U.S. adults clocked up 5.9 hours per day on digital media in 2017, up from 5.6 hours in 2016.  Some 3.3 of those hours were spent on mobile.
  • Mobile ads: People are shifting their time to mobile faster than ad dollars are following, creating a $7 billion mobile ad opportunity, which must be supported by safe content.
  • Crypto: Interest in cryptocurrency explodes as Coinbase’s user count has nearly quadrupled since January 2017.
  • Mobile Payments: China continues to lead the world in mobile payment adoption, with over 500 million active mobile payment users in 2017.
  • Voice: Voice technology reaches 95% accuracy. Amazon Echo and other voice-controlled products are taking off. Echo’s U.S. users grew from 20 million in the third quarter of 2017 to more than 30 million in the fourth quarter.
  • Privacy: Tech companies are facing a “privacy paradox.” They’re caught between using data to provide better consumer experiences and violating consumer privacy.
  • E-commerce: Sales grew 16 percent in the U.S. in 2017, up from 14 percent in 2016, with Amazon’s share at 28% last year. Bricks and mortar retail sales continue to decline.
  • Big tech: Competing on more fronts as Amazon moves into advertising and Google expands from an ads platform to a commerce platform via Google Home Ordering.

Get the whole presentation here.

 

But What Does GDPR Mean For Me?

by Leave a Comment

Following a two-year transition after a seven year debate, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is in effect from May 25.

The EU regulation becomes the gold standard in data protection, a milestone of the digital age.

It  gives companies a new set of rules for sharing data online.

 

A processor of personal data must clearly disclose:

  • what data is being collected and how
  • why it is being processed
  • how long it is being retained
  • whether it is being shared with any third-parties

Users have the right to:

  • request a portable copy of the data collected by a processor in a common format
  • the right to have their data erased under certain circumstances
  • be notified unless the data stolen is strongly encrypted

GDPR will refine and enshrine:

  • the “right to be forgotten” laws as the “right to erasure”
  • giving EU citizens the right to data portability
  • bolstering the requirement for explicit and informed consent before data is processed
  • ensuring that consent can be withdrawn at any time

…With some muscle behind it:

  • empowering data regulators can fine up to €20m or 4% of annual global turnover
  • data breaches must be reported within 72 hours to a data regulator
  • public authorities and businesses whose core activities center around regular or systematic processing of personal data are required to employ a data protection officer

And there’s more…

“GDPR applies only to the EU, but given the scale of the market, many companies are deciding it’s easier – not to mention a public relations win – to apply its terms globally,” reports The Guardian. Other companies are not ready.

For sure, Mark Zuckerberg was spectacularly condescending and awkward in his Tuesday testimony before the European Parliament whose members posed some tough questions…which went completely unanswered. (The Travel Vertical tuned in live for the whole darn thing.)

If your question is, “What does GDPR mean for me?” read more here. 

Staff

Laurie Jo Miller Farr, Editor
Contact us!
All Rights Reserved 2022

Categories

Archives