Upload Youtube Shorts up to 3 minutes long
Get ready, Shorts creators and fans! Today we’re announcing updates to YouTube Shorts, making it easier and more fun than ever to create and connect. Whether you’re looking to discover something new or dive into creating, these tools will empower you to express yourself, get inspired, engage more deeply and keep up with the latest trends.
Starting on October 15, you can upload Shorts up to 3 minutes long.
Ecom-Gaming emerged as the top category for celebrity endorsements
According to the latest TAM AdEx Half-Yearly Celebrity Endorsement Report (January–June 2024), celebrity endorsements accounted for 32% of all television ad telecasts. Film stars led the charge, contributing to over 75% of these ads, followed by athletes at 14% and TV stars at 11%.
The Food and Beverages, Personal Care/Personal Hygiene, and Household Products sectors dominated celebrity endorsements during this period. In the Food and Beverages sector, male celebrities commanded a strong 60% share, while female celebrities held 40%. The Personal Care/Personal Hygiene sector, on the other hand, saw the reverse, with female celebrities leading at 65% compared to 35% for male counterparts.
When it came to specific categories, Ecom-Gaming emerged as the top category for celebrity endorsements across professions, closely followed by Spices.
Akshay Kumar was the most visible celebrity, averaging 22 hours per day across all TV channels, followed by Shahrukh Khan with 20 hours and Amitabh Bachchan with 16 hours, thanks to their extensive TV sponsorships.
93% of Indian consumers rely on online ads for discovering new products and brands this festival season
As the festive season approaches, consumers are gearing up for their holiday shopping, and advertisers have a unique opportunity to tap into this growing demand. The Integral Ad Science Holiday Buying India Report 2024 provides insights into how Indian consumers plan holiday purchases and how brands can align their strategies to maximize success. It also seeks to understand how consumers factor in digital advertising when purchasing products and they perceive ads next to the content they are viewing online.
This report highlights the growing reliance on e-commerce and the importance of contextually relevant advertising. With 93% of consumers finding online ads essential for discovering new products, brands have a significant opportunity to reach engaged buyers through targeted digital campaigns.
The survey reveals that 89% of consumers intend to begin their year-end holiday shopping before November, with 88% planning to increase their budgets, and 79% opting for online shopping, predominantly through mobile devices.
82 percent of Internet users shop during Diwali, followed by 51 percent in New Year
Diwali is one of the most popular festivals in India, so much so that 82% of Internet users shop during Diwali, followed by 51% who shop during the New Year and 45% shop during Dussehra and Durga Pooja, as per Meta’s festive season study. “All kinds of consumers today shop online. Categories like jewellery with brands like Tanishq, Caratlane and Mia, among other categories including electronics, and home appliances stand-out for typical purchases,” Arun Srinivas, director and head – Ads Business (India) at Meta, told BrandWagon Online.
Electronics and fashion are top categories this year, with over half of consumers intending to shop these categories in the festive season sales, the report stated. One of the standout trends from the study indicates that e-commerce is on the rise and quick commerce is expanding into new categories with one in four electronics purchasers and one in three personal care buyers purchase via quick commerce. The insights also reveal that over half of this year’s festive season, shoppers expect to shop more through e-commerce platforms. “The study shows that festive shopping trends in India are undergoing a dramatic shift with AI, the adoption of quick-commerce, the rise of micro-influencers, and the prevalence of regional language content playing a leading role in influencing festive purchases. We see strong adoption of all our key products this festive season on our platforms – from AI-powered ad formats to business messaging and Reels,” Srinivas explained, adding that WhatsApp plays a critical role when consumers have questions. The platform helps in lead generation besides handling business queries and providing auto resolution.
Smartphone Shopping Volume On The Rise; Fashion Most Popular Category
Shoppers are increasingly making purchases using smartphones, with both the share and total volume of such sales growing. In the first half of 2024, the number of mobile purchases is expected to grow by more than 10% in India and more than 15% globally, according to mobile app growth platform Mobmio. To support brands in leveraging this trend, Mobmio has launched a new platform designed to improve transparency, streamline tracking and automate the management of mobile traffic data. This platform aims to improve how businesses manage mobile sales channels, offering a more precise and efficient approach to tracking mobile marketing efforts.
The most popular product category among Indian shoppers was fashion, accounting for over 27% of mobile sales in 2024, compared to 21% of purchases in 2023. Electronics were next in line with 22% of orders, but its position in mobile sales in 2024 declined—in the first half of 2023
Google Acknowledges Content Creators on SERPs
Google has started explicitly identifying content creators in its search results, assigning labels such as “Content Creator (Medicine)” or “Content Creator (Travel)” in Knowledge Panels. This recognition reflects Google’s growing emphasis on authoritative content creators, linking them to specific topics as part of its E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) guidelines.
By linking person entities with the content they produce, Google enhances their visibility in search results and in AI-powered assistants. Optimizing both content creators and publishers will help maximize credibility, establish clear relationships between the creator and reference pages, build credibility through content association, and expand the creator’s digital presence. Reference pages to review and optimize include the About page, author pages, social profiles, the creator’s personal website, and third-party sources like Wikidata.
Google Is Emphasizing User-Generated Content in Search Results
In a recent interview with Aleyda Solis, Google Search Liaison Danny Sullivan discussed the increasing prominence of user-generated content (UGC) in search results.
Explaining the motivation behind the shift, Sullivan cites a growing demand for UGC, and a rise of “terrible” content created by marketers.
Sullivan explained that, through surfacing UGC, Google aims to provide firsthand perspectives that complement traditional webpages.