You’re listening to Digital Drop. Our monthly round-up of digital trends to keep you and your digital up-to-date. This month we are catching up with Google, LinkedIn and Instagram, the changes they’re making and how it will affect you.

First up, you know those pesky pop-ups that interrupt your browsing every time you enter a new website? Well, whether you go to the trouble of managing your settings or simply click accept all cookies – this one’s for you. The main aim of that process is to gain access to your data and the right to sell that data onto advertisers. This information allows companies to track your activity across various sites and build up a profile of your interests with the purpose of delivering targeted ads that they know you’ll like. Although this is great for marketers, it might not be considered great for individuals and their privacy.

With that bit of backstory out the way, let’s talk about how Google has thrown a spanner in the works. The search engine powerhouse has decided to phase out the use of cookies, replacing it with their own alternative titled the Privacy Sandbox. Although testing has been extended until 2024, marketers need to plan for a cookieless world.

Going forward, first-party data will be crucial – making CRM databases more valuable than ever. Tune in next month for a more in-depth look at Google’s Privacy Sandbox and its promises.

Next up, LinkedIn. The platform is testing a very exciting new addition – a Discovery tab. A feature you might recognise from Instagram. This will allow you to see content from people

you don’t already follow as well as daily news stories and the top 10 daily conversations. This will be great for expanding your network, joining new conversations and keeping up-to-date with your industry. On to the next update from Google, this time to its search algorithm. Content that provides no real value to users and is made with only SEO tactics in mind, will now face new consequences. The ‘helpful content update’ is for English users and will down rank

unoriginal and low-quality content in search – focusing on content made “by people, for people”. This is a win for those of us already creating people-first content and is a win for users.

Finally, let’s quickly check in with Instagram and its continued identity crisis. You might remember last month’s episode discussed their trial of a full-screen feed, a step that was a clear response to TikTok’s success. Well after heavy criticism from users and none other than the

Kardashians, the platform went back to the drawing board. They’re now testing this as an optional feature, allowing users to choose between the rolling feed they are used to and the TikTok-esque full-screen view. We will see what becomes of this going forward.

This has been Digital Drop. We’ll see you in the next one.