Google Merchant Centre introduces three new changes
In April, Google announced a ‘pause’ attribute to temporarily pause shopping ads without needing to use the ‘out of stock’ attribute. In addition to this, later this month all items with the ‘backorder’ or ‘preorder’ attribute will require an ‘availability date’ when back in stock. Google also announced that effective of this month, it has updated its unsupported shopping content policy to include a change to how motor-powered bicycles are listed.
Why is this important?
While these changes are fairly small, the failure to adhere to the new rules could potentially stop products from showing. The ability to quickly pause product ads has been a nice touch that bypasses the previously needed workarounds.
Love Island’s eBay styling could change second-hand buying habits
eBay is the new partner for Love Island 2022. This year the viewers of the show will be able to access a “shop the look” tab via the Love Island app or eBay website where they can buy similar items to those seen on the show. Although eBay sells both second hand and new clothing, it is confirmed that anything seen on the show, will be second hand.
Why is this important?
According to Oxfam 13 million items of clothing go to a UK landfill every week with clothes in Europe having the fourth-highest impact on the environment and climate. Eve Williams, chief marketing officer at eBay, this partnership will hopefully "inspire the nation to think differently and make more conscious choices" when it comes to their wardrobes.
Twitter adds audio translations to charts for the visually impaired
Twitter is once again expanding its accessibility tools, with a feature being added to translate visual charts into audio elements gradually being made available. This new feature will enable visually impaired users to listen to charts by translating data into pitched sounds which will also be accompanied by an audio description of the chart’s properties.
Why is this important?
The addition of this feature shows that Twitter is putting effort into becoming more accessible. As social media becomes more integral to our everyday lives it is increasingly important that everyone has the opportunity to use these platforms without unnecessary exclusion, regardless of any impairments they may have.
Campaign of the Week: Sport England’s ‘This Girl Can’ teams up with Strava to launch “Make your comeback” campaign
Fitness brand Strava has launched a new campaign with the help of Sport England’s ‘This Girl Can’, which will aim to encourage women who have stopped exercising to get active again. The campaign comes in response to the finding that one in three British women have stopped exercising and thus wants to create a sense of community and empowerment around getting moving again.
Three short films have been created as part of this effort, each telling the story of an individual and their return to sport. This comes as part of an effort to normalise the breaks that people may have taken in their exercise regimes, instead of allowing those breaks to be a source of discouragement.