Vanishing Views

Today In Digital Marketing is a daily podcast and daily newsletter showcasing the latest in marketing trends and updates. This week, Tod touches on:

TWITTER: In a surprising turn, Twitter has decided to eliminate view count metrics from videos.

SECURITY: A Captcha has begun asking users to identify objects that do not exist.

AR: Snapchat continues to build its reputation as an AR powerhouse by introducing enhanced AR try-on tools.

Twitter Secretly Removes Video View Counts

Since Elon Musk's takeover, Twitter has been pushing metrics. First came the public 'view count' for tweets, and more recently 'bookmark counts' were added.

A Missing Metric

But now, it seems the platform is removing one of its most significant metrics for marketers: Video view counts.

Several users have reported that videos on Twitter no longer display the number of times they have been viewed.

It's unclear if the change is intentional, or if it's another glitch. Twitter recently updated its video player to include playback speed and a picture-in-picture style mini-player. However, some users noticed the missing view counts more than a week ago.

Advertiser Concerns

Yesterday, Mashable reported that Twitter had stopped showing video view counts on the iOS app and the Twitter site. Video views were still visible on Android.

Quoting Mashable:

If the video view count metrics removal is indeed on purpose, this would make Twitter the least transparent social media platform when it comes to video... It's also an extremely important metric for advertisers, as this helps them decide how to run ad campaigns on these platforms.
The removal of this metric forces users to depend on a different one that often paints videos uploaded to Twitter as more successful than the clips actually are.
As previously mentioned, Twitter does show "tweet views," but that's just the number of impressions on a tweet. As tweets are regularly recommended by Twitter's algorithm, users are often served content they don't necessarily have any interest in. If such a tweet has a video embedded in it and the user does not play the clip, then the tweet view count does not accurately reflect how many users actually watched the video.

Images: Twitter

AI is Corrupting Captchas

Do you know what a 'Yoko' is? No? Good. Because it's not real. But to captcha it is.

Captcha, the visual puzzle used by sites to make sure humans are filling in online forms and not bots, is now asking users to identify objects that don't exist. This trend, of course, could pose a big problem for consumers trying to access your brand’s web page.

Vice recently reported that some Discord users were asked to identify a 'Yoko,' which appears to be a snail-like yoyo hybrid. The picture of Yoko and the other images in the captcha appear to have been generated by AI.

This problem seems to be limited to Discord, where captchas are managed by a company called hCaptcha.

Quoting Vice:

The issue with hCaptcha’s strange AI generated prompts highlights two issues with machine learning systems. The first is that the AI systems require an enormous amount of human input to not be terrible. Typically image labeling is outsourced to foreign workers who do it for pennies on the dollar.
The other is the issue of data drift. The longer these machine learning systems run, the more input they require. Inevitably, they begin to use data they’ve generated to train themselves. Systems that train on themselves long enough become AI Hapsburgs, churning out requests to identify incomprehensible objects like “Yokos.”

Images: Twitter / Discord / Vice

Snapchat Nails Enhanced AR Try-On Tools

Snapchat is upping its AR game with the launch of enhanced Try-On tools.

As part of this development, the platform has partnered with beauty brand OPI to create a new nail polish testing experience within the app.

The updated process lets consumers test nail polish shades using the Snapchat camera, applying polish and other 2D effects onto a user's nails. Brands can add textures, designs, or track 2D colors to a consumer's nails.

Snapchat previously offered similar nail polish try-on experiences. However, this new variation is more responsive and realistic, and it also provides new ways for brands to showcase nail products through AR in the app.

Image: Snapchat

Credit to Tod Maffin and the Today In Digital Marketing podcast, Produced by engageQ.com