44% of Hypercasual Gamers Opt In for Ads

The release of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency protocol could have been a death knell for many industries because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up making it impossible to target users with ads. However, it seems that the opt-in rate for ads is growing. Data that was just released by Adjust revealed that 37% of app users on Apple devices are opting in for ads with all things having been considered and taken into account.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that hypercasual games perform even better in this metric. 44% of people that play games of the hypercasual variety prefer to opt in for ads even though this may result in a decreased level of privacy than might have been the case otherwise.

The gaming industry in general is doing well at enticing users into opting in for ads and allowing the developers to gain access to their personal data. The sports gaming sector saw a 44% opt in rate as well, with racing games enjoying a 40% opt in rate.

This just goes to show that the gaming industry is offering good incentives that make the opt in worthwhile for users across the board. Players of these games are acutely aware of the benefits of targeted ads, namely that they can aid them in finding the next game that they would like to play.

Now, according to Adjust, there are certain tactics that can be implemented to drive the opt-in rate even further up than it currently is. For example, experimenting with cross promotion can yield exceptional results, with opt-in rates potentially reaching 59% or even beyond this.

Instead of trying to work around ATT, marketers would do well to factor it into the equation. Sweetening the deal for users can lead to mutually beneficial data sharing, so in a way, Apple was successful in its attempts to make the industry less unseemly and force things to happen over the table instead of under it which was how it used to be done.

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Threads In The Spotlight: How Is Meta’s Popular App Doing Now And What Its Future Has In Store

It’s safe to say that the success that Meta’s Threads arrived with could never be estimated.

Nobody had the slightest hint that the figure for signups would cross the 100 million mark in less than a week. Moreover, it’s taken some leading corporations months to achieve what Threads did in a couple of days.

Today, the platform has close to 150 million downloads and it just keeps on getting better. But after the explosive start, new stats claim that engagement and growth of the popular texting platform have declined. However, it’s too early to predict anything just yet.

At the start, we saw Meta’s employees take part in an interesting question and answer session yesterday. This is where a lot of things were put into perspective including the types of Thread posts that were first put out by leading names in the industry.

They were briefed about what some celebs and prominent personalities had to say after arriving on the app and how the platform attained a whopping 70 million downloads in just a span of 48 hours.

We have to agree that it was a major victory for a firm that failed to roll out any kind of successful platform from the start. But the thing that really caught our attention as well as our eye at the launch was how the head Adam Mosseri described in detail the manner in which the app was designed.

It came about with the assistance of three top-of-the-line product managers, a group of 50 engineers, and also only three designers. These creative minds put their heads together and gave us a brilliant final product in just five months.

Keeping in mind such constraints, any firm in the tech sector could relate to how that’s near to impossible but the way it happened is fabulous. So what’s next is a question on people’s minds and the answer is simple. It’s got to do with how to keep users entertained and make sure they retain on the app.

As it is, Zuckerberg is currently celebrating Facebook reaching a whopping 3 billion users each month. This also happens to be the first time that we’ve seen the app’s usage among the younger lot increase after so many years. So as you can see, Facebook is not falling behind and as the platform’s head mentioned yesterday, they’re in it to win it.

So Zuckerberg is really reigning supreme and must be keen on making Instagram and Threads get the same type of success soon. But remember, it’s been a tough climb for Facebook and won’t be easy for Meta’s other apps but it’s the efforts worth a mention here.

The latest stats proved that there were more than 70 billion impressions. Then the current figure for posts is more than 450 million while likes are hitting the 4.5 billion mark. Yes, that’s remarkable but it’s just the start.

More details unveiled by Threads showed how it’s doing the best in the US and showing great acceptance in Brazil as well. But Instagram’s chief Adam Mosseri says he’s trying to make the entity a place that people will come back to after a month because signups are simple but making sure users return is just as difficult. And that’s where the company’s focus is right now, ensuring great retention.

H/T: The Verge

Read next: New Study Shows Over 16 Billion Accounts Have Been Breached Around the World
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Unveiling the Ripple Effects: How Inflation is Reshaping US Consumer Landscape

The outbreak of the Ukraine War disrupted the United States' path to economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. This global conflict caused supply chain disruptions in various industries. As a result, it increased energy and manufacturing costs that impacted consumers' budgets. It also caused a decline in digital spending and changes in consumer behavior.

According to a report by Similarweb, there has been a 6% decrease year-over-year in desktop Converted Visits for the top 2251 e-commerce websites across different industries. McKinsey's recent findings support this. It indicates a drop in consumer spending for the second consecutive month in May 2023 compared to the previous year. Furthermore, a survey of 2,507 participants found that 43% of customers are saving less money than the previous year. At the same time, 87% of them blame inflation for this decrease in extra spending money.

Generational differences have become more evident during this time of inflation. Younger consumers, particularly those in the Gen Z age group, have been less affected by the cost of living crisis. This is attributed to many factors. These include smaller households and living with their parents to save on rental expenses.

In contrast, price hikes have had a higher effect on older individuals. It is because they tend to have larger households of three or more people. Survey results show that 46% of Gen Z Americans reported having more disposable earnings than the previous year. In comparison, only 27% of consumers aged 55 and above have reported the same.

Various industries have seen changes in consumer behavior amid inflation. Fashion retailers, auto parts suppliers, and cosmetics and beauty retailers have experienced an increase in Converted Visits year over year. The increase in auto parts purchases indicates that consumers seek to reduce repair expenses by performing the work themselves.

But, fashion brands have seen a decline in brand loyalty even after increased consumer purchases from fashion retailers. This highlights the necessity of establishing brand loyalty programs to draw and keep customers.

Furthermore, the travel and experiences sectors also witnessed a growth in Converted Visits year over year. Tours significantly increased by 62%, while cruises and tickets/events saw respective increases of 23% and 8%.

In contrast, industries such as meal kits, restaurants, and food delivery services have faced a significant decline in Converted Visits due to rising food prices. Similarly, financial services and consumer electronics have experienced a drop in consumer interest.

Despite the challenges, opportunities still exist in the market. Direct-to-consumer (DTC) channels have obtained positive feedback, with high-tech appliance DTC sites surpassing the market in the consumer electronics sector. Athletic apparel brands have witnessed a decrease in Converted Visits by 35% YoY but have seen growth in their DTC sites by 27%.

Consumers have also adopted strategies such as exploring inexpensive alternatives or convenient financing options to deal with the rising cost of living.

A new trend among Gen Z consumers involves seeking out inexpensive copies or dupes of well-known and often pricey items. This trend has gained momentum on TikTok, where young Americans share their experiences. As of early May 2023, the hashtag #dupes on TikTok generated over 2.5 billion impressions. This contributed to a 9% year-over-year increase in traffic to the top 100 beauty industry websites.

Additionally, consumers are becoming more accepting of retailers' private label brands, which are cheaper than national brands. Recognizing this opportunity, Amazon has launched its range of private-label brands in various categories.

Despite rising living costs, the "Buy Now, Pay Later" trend has gained popularity among US consumers. Visits to airlines' "BNPL" departments have increased by 64% year over year. This shows a strong desire of US consumers to keep traveling with flexible payment options.

Questions continue to linger about a possible recession in the US. The future success of e-commerce industries relies on their capability to recognize and take advantage of new trends. It is crucial to understand customer behavior and know opportunities are still available.

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by Syeda Maleeka Zehra via Digital Information World

New Study Shows Over 16 Billion Accounts Have Been Breached Around the World

The breaching of accounts is a thorny issue for internet service providers because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up leading to security getting compromised. A study conducted by Surfshark recently shed some light on the number of accounts that have been breached so far. Based on the findings in this study, well over 16 billion accounts have been breached around the world since 2004.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that people often use the same email address for multiple services. This allows malicious actors to gain widespread access to numerous accounts after breaching just a single email address, which has certainly increased the numbers in this regard.

In terms of total account breaches, the US came out on top with an estimated 2.7 billion American accounts having been compromised so far. In spite of the fact that this is the case, the US did not see the highest number of accounts being breached per capita. That dubious honor belongs to Russia, where just under 2.3 billion accounts have been breached.

For the US, around 833 accounts were breached per 100 people. That means that the average internet user there has seen 8 breaches apiece so far, but in Russia things are nearly twice as bad. For every 100 Russians, there have been a whopping 1,573 breaches with all things having been considered and taken into account.

Over in China, the numbers show just 71 breaches per 100 individuals. However, China has still seen the third highest number of breached accounts, with a grand total of just over a billion. France came in fourth with 512 million breached accounts, or 785 per 100 people, followed by Germany with 476 million.

One area where China is actually performing spectacularly is in terms of decreasing the quantity of account breaches. The East Asian nation has managed to see a 97% decline in account breaches, although the country that performed best by this metric was South Sudan where a 99% decrease was seen quarter over quarter.

On the other end of the spectrum, Taiwan was the worst performer by a large margin. The East Asian nation saw account breaches increase by a massive 1,986% within the span of a single quarter, coming up to 3.8 million accounts.

Over in South Korea, a 1,138% uptick was seen. That means that just under 1.2 million accounts were compromised in a three month timeframe. South Africa also performed poorly, with a 954% increase bringing bringing its total to a little over 420,000.

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Repetitive Ads Can Ruin a Brand’s Reputation, Here’s Why

Brands have a tendency to streamline various processes, but in spite of the fact that this is the case, sometimes this can do more harm than good. A recent study conducted by IPG and Nexxen revealed that repetitive ads, which are often used to cut down on costs, can make a consumer’s purchasing intent lower than might have been the case otherwise. This is mostly due to the damage that it can do a brand’s reputation.

According to the survey that was conducted as part of this report, 48% of people find repetitive ads to be annoying. 33% went so far as to say that they were a serious disruption that ruin the immersion that they are looking for in terms of their viewing experience. While it could be said that brands are not aware of how repetitive their ads are becoming, 83% of the people that responded to this survey were of the opinion that this was an intentional move on their part.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that 68% placed the blame for this repetition squarely on brands themselves, although 44% said that streaming services also shared at least some of the blame.

The study also revealed that seeing an ad six times or more led to 92% brand recall, which might be useful because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up keeping the brand in the customer’s mind. However, it can also have a damaging effect, since most of these customers would form a very negative opinion of the brand. Given the high level of recall, this negative perception will not end up going away anytime soon.

All in all, the brand recall came at the expensive of purchasing intent with all things having been considered and taken into account. The study noted a 16% decline in purchasing intent for those customers who were forced to see an ad half a dozen times, so the cons definitely outweigh the pros in this regard.

It can also be detrimental for streaming services, since customers are not likely to want to stick around if they are shown the same ad repeatedly. There is a chance that these consumers would get fed up of the streaming service, thereby leading to them turning to other platforms in order to satisfy their content consumption needs.

This highlights just how necessary it can be for both brands as well as streaming service providers to partner with companies that can diversify the ads that customers will see. Six exposures do have the undeniable advantage of boosting recall, but if these occurrences happen too closely to one another, the decline in purchasing intent can become an unavoidable eventuality.

It will be interesting to see how this study impacts the performance of ads across the world. The enormous saturation of the digital ad landscape is posing numerous problems, and with third party tracking and personal data getting ever harder to come by, digital ads need to change for the better. Steps must be taken to ensure that the proper cadence is attained when it comes to ads being shown.

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

86% of Consumers Are Willing to Share Their Email Address, Here’s Why That Matters

Most brands nowadays are facing a similar problem in that they are struggling to ascertain what information consumers will be comfortable enough sharing with them. The App Tracking Transparency protocol implemented by Apple, coupled with the deprecation of third party cookies by Google and other tech companies, has made it ever more difficult for marketers and brands to get their hands on this all important data.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that there is one type of information that customers are willing to share. This comes from a survey conduced by Airship, and it revealed that as many as 86% of customers said that they would not mind sharing their email address with brands. That can be important because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up allowing brands to communicate offers and promotions more effectively than might have been the case otherwise.

Interestingly, 78% of customers stated that they are willing to provide data pertaining to their interests as well with all things having been considered and taken into account. 77% will provide their name, 70% said that they can offer their preferred mode of communication, and two out of three consumers, or 66% to be precise, mentioned that they will allow brands to see what they perused on their website.

These are the top five bits of info that brands can obtain from customers. In spite of the fact that this is the case, other pieces of data are far less accessible, such as location tracking. Just 43% of customers feel comfortable with brands being able to track their precise location, so this might not be the most ideal area for brands to explore. Social media profiles are also closely guarded, with the majority of customers, 56%, saying that they would never allow brands to get their hands on anything of this sort.

All in all, brands must be aware of what they can and can’t ask for. This will help forge stronger relationships with customers.

Read next: Mobile App Economy Surges: Global In-App Expenditure Skyrockets to Record $67.5 Billion In H1 2023
by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

79% of Corporate Strategists Say AI is Essential

As of right now, an estimated 15% of activities related to strategic planning and the execution of these plans involves any heavy amount of automation with all things having been considered and taken into account. In spite of the fact that this is the case, 79% of strategists working in the corporate sphere are of the opinion that automation and AI will become absolutely critical over the next couple of years.

This information comes from a recent Gartner survey which polled 200 advisors and strategists working in the field. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that around 50% of all activities can be automated if there is enough of a desire to do so. This will triple the amount of automation that is currently being seen, so the optimism of corporate strategists does seem to hold some weight.

As practically every single sector continues to grow, there will be more data to collect and analyze. AI will be able to get this done faster than might have been the case otherwise, and it might force corporations that were hesitant to hop on the AI bandwagon to give it a change.

72% of the people that responded to this survey stated that they are using descriptive analytics, with 62% saying the same for diagnostics. However, predictive analytics are only being used by 42% of respondents, and just 26% stated that they are using prescriptive analytics as well.

This seems to suggest that the more experimental uses for AI are having a tough time getting a wider range of acceptance in the corporate strategist community. Machine learning and natural language processors are also seeing a similar rarity in terms of acceptance, being used by just 20% and 23% respectively.

The shift to AI is clearly under way, but it may take some time for the full effects to come to light. Until then, it will be interesting to see how many strategists and the corporations that they work for are willing to experiment with this brand new form of tech that can transform so many processes.

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World