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TURNER Weekly Download 8.28.2015

Allyson Pavone : August 28, 2015

TURNER Weekly Download

Where digital meets travel + lifestyle. A collection of can't-miss news from this week

Facebook testing Siri-ly similar personal assistant for Messenger

Facebook messenger is about to get a lot more personal. The company is testing an A.I.-based personal assistant feature nicknamed 'M.' M can book travel, make purchases and schedule appointments all within Messenger. "Unlike other AI-based services in the market, M can actually complete tasks on your behalf," says Facebook's Messenger chief David Marcus, "It can purchase items, get gifts delivered to your loved ones, book restaurant, travel arrangements, appointments and way more." The service would be a direct competitor to Apple's Siri, Microsoft's Cortana and Google Now, and it could explain the increasing emphasis on Messenger as a standalone service over the last year.

Tweets will appear in Google search results

A partnership between Twitter and Google will allow for tweets to appear on all English searches and mobile results pages. This means brands will now have the opportunity to rank more than once on a results page. Twitter agreed to give Google access to the streaming social content users publish on the platform, offering users - with and without Twitter accounts - access to breaking news and trending events.

It's no longer hip to be square on Instagram

If you can't possibly fit all of the awesomeness of your Instagram photos into that perfect square, this will give you a reason to rejoice. Instagram just announced it's letting you upload landscape and portrait-oriented photos and videos. The standardized aspect ratio has been a creative buzzkill, forcing users to download third party apps and get MacGuyver with screenshots. With the square reign of terror finally over, brands are already embracing their newfound photo orientation freedom.

Marketers are allocating more of their budgets to social

The digital world continues to expand -- and along with it, budgets are expanding too. According to a study conducted by Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, spending on digital marketing will increase 12.2% over the next year, "with some of the largest growth being seen in social, mobile and data analytics." Even further into the future, the study predicts that in five years "social media spending will account for 23.8% of total marketing budgets."