TIME TO OPEN YOUR CHECKBOOKS. 2020 HAS THE OLYMPICS & ELECTION
Did I lose half of you by referencing a “checkbook?” 🙃 Total media spend in 2020 is expected to grow by 7.2% with most of that growth going to digital. Despite the gains, offline will still outspend online to the tune of $223M offline and $166M online.

BEFORE WE COULD EVEN TELL YOU ABOUT IT, GOOGLE CHANGED THEIR MIND
Last week Google added favicons (those small square icons you see right now in your browser tabs) to the organic search results and the #internets went crazy. "They look like ads ! " " Too much clutter." "I hate it!" Google heard the feedback and reversed the change. Now everyone can calm down about the Google organic results and focus their outrage on the impeachment proceedings.

PINTEREST NOW HAS MORE USERS THAN SNAP IN THE US
Wait, didn't Pinterest always have more? 🤔 I guess not. In Q3 Pinterest's 82.4 million US users beat Snapchat's 80.2 million but with quarterly earnings being released in Feb we'll see who comes out on top in Q4. Either way both platforms continue to see healthy growth and challenge the FAANG. ( F acebook, A mazon, A pple, N etflix, G oogle).

I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M TALKING ABOUT TIKTOK AGAIN
In addition to a self-serve ads UI that's being released this year TikTok also announced a "Creator Marketplace" so you can waste more money trying to get influencers to wear your sustainable yet sleek workout gear. Marketers are asking for the usual: a conversion pixel, better metrics, and a data API. We'll see if TikTok can deliver a well-rounded ad platform in 2020.

BABY YODA GETS ETSY IN HOT WATER WITH DISNEY
Etsy got hit with a takedown notice from Disney due to sellers offering unlicensed Baby Yoda merch. But that's just the clickbait title. The real news here is that Etsy hit some speed bumps with their Google Ads partnership. They hoped they could sign sellers up to promote products seamlessly across Etsy and Google. Instead Etsy heard from angry sellers saying they were paying for traffic that wasn't converting. Sound familiar? It's almost like Google can't automate everything and need us pesky marketers to help build high-converting campaigns for small businesses. 🤓