Whilst much of the world comes to a standstill, it seems that Facebook aren’t immune from personnel issues arising from the virus. All contract workers (including those who review ad content) have been sent home as part of government advice, which means warnings have been pushed out over Facebook’s blog as well as in Facebook Ad Manager that ad reviews will be taking longer than normal – worth considering when pushing last minute campaigns live over the coming weeks. Read more about it here.

The spread of inaccurate information has been rife since coronavirus began spreading across the world. Leading politicians continue to provide detailed insights, whilst platforms Facebook and Twitter are actively promoting NHS guidance to ensure users are provided with the most accurate information possible. Google, the first port of call for many searching for coronavirus related news, have also actively pushing fact checked resources from reputable sources. Read more here.

In the coming months, Google plans to provide support targeted at advertisers, health workers and government organisations in the form of ad credits to reduce advertising costs, whilst also expanding ad grants for COVID-19 announcements. These credits will be available to use through 2020, and can be redeemed on Search, Display and YouTube, which will prove to be a huge relief for many businesses in the coming months. Learn more here.

Reddit have launched a fresh ad unit in March to rival those seen on Twitter with Trending Takeovers. These ads will appear within Reddit’s ‘Popular’ feed, an area that Reddit says is most popular, alongside the search tab. Like Twitter, campaigns will last a maximum of 24 hours. Placements will include the second position on Trending, as well as the second position in Trending Today within the search tab. Read more here.

Facebook are pushing their product development resources towards Live Streaming as, as expected, usage has spiked since the government enforced lockdown. Facebook plans to extend Facebook Live features, including the ability to watch a live stream without a Facebook account, automatic closed captioning and toll free numbers for charity streams to take live callers. Read more about it here.