Snapchat’s Snap Map plots Stories by location but not ads (yet)

Snapchat launched Snap Map, the new feature reveals user’s locations on a map for others to see what photos/videos are shared from that specific location. Snap Map displays heat maps around areas where many Stories are posted. Users can share their location with everyone, limit it to certain friends, or enable Ghost Mode to view the map without sharing a location. According to a spokesperson, Snapchat will not run ads through Snap Map. However, it could be beneficial for Snapchat to eventually extend its ad business to Snap Map. Ads within Snap Maps could be better positioned to get people to go to a brand-related location than ads placed elsewhere in Snapchat.

Facebook Previews New Rules For Publishers On Audience Network

Facebook wants publishers to attain more regular monetization with Audience Network, which lets advertising clients extend the reach of their messages by delivering ads on sites outside of Facebook.

Publishers will have to abide by some new rule, including:

• Cache ads for 60 minutes or less – ads must be requested less than 60 minutes before appearing to the viewer; ads that appear after 60 minutes will not be considered viable for revenue-generating purposes.
• Organize ad placements in the “ad spaces” feature – enable better reporting and analytics by using “ad spaces’.  Publishers will gain better understanding of how their ads are fare with their audiences.

Google Fined $2.7B By EU; Not All Agree With Penalty

After a seven year investigation, Google is fined $2.7 billion after European Union antitrust regulators ruled it had abused its authority by promoting its own shopping comparison service on its own Internet property at the top of search results. This may pressure Google to reshape how it presents its products and services search results in Europe. News Corp, Oracle, and Yelp sent a letter to the EU stating they are in favor of “decisive action” to reestablish competition, innovation, and growth to the Internet.

Confirmed: Google rolls out local highlight icons & price labels for hotel results

Google will launch two new local search features: highlight icons in local search listings and price labels in hotel search results. Highlight icons portray the amenities a local business has: quick service, healthy options, etc. Price labels in the hotel results let you quickly see the price of the hotels in that area on the map.