Impressions vs. Reach

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Full Disclosure

The Federal Trade Commission is cracking down on influencers. According to NPR, the FTC doesn’t think that a simple “#ad” hashtag on a sponsored post is adequate. "Many consumers rely upon influencer recommendations in making purchasing decisions, and they should know when a brand paid an influencer for an endorsement, because it affects the weight and credibility the consumers may give to that endorsement," says Michael Atleson, a staff attorney for the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. For a deep dive into the new guidelines, check out Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers.

Likes Ban

It’s tough out there for influencers. Not only is the FTC cracking down, but now, Instagram is taking away their “likes.” The goal, says Instagram, is to improve the mental health of users. But influencers worry it will reduce engagement – and as a result make it much harder for them to attract brands. But some think it’s not so bad. “The hiding or removal of likes shouldn’t negatively impact how brands work with influencers in developing successful content,” Dave McNulty, vice president of marketing at vodka brand Stoli, told eMarketer. “Successful content is a result of brands building real relationships with credible influencers and giving them the creative license to be authentic with their audience.”

Outbrain Out

For years, Outbrain and Taboola have battled for the online advertising throne. But Taboola has emerged victorious. The company bought Outbrain recently for $250 million. “The combination could have a big impact on publishers, which have long leaned heavily on content recommendation companies that appear at the bottom of articles, for a sizeable and reliable portion of their online ad revenues,” writes Digiday. “[The company] believes the new Taboola can ‘double and triple’ revenue for publishers, as a bigger entity should encourage more advertisers to consider switching a portion of their search and social spend to advertising on the open web.”

Impressions vs. Reach

Hubspot has a handy guide to these important social media metrics. Kayla Carmichael writes: “Even though these two terms are pretty cut and dry, different social media sites have their own rules for how they count impressions and reach, and if you want to measure one over the other, it's important to know what you're looking at.”

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