Facebook Takes Scissors to Paper App

Facebook’s stand-alone Paper application, which debuted amid much fanfare in February 2014, will be sent to the recycle bin after July 29.

Paper enabled users to see their Facebook content in themed, customizable sections, and the social network said in a Newsroom post introducing the app:

Your Paper is made of stories and themed sections, so you can follow your favorite interests. The first section in Paper is your Facebook News Feed, where you’ll enjoy inspiring new designs for photos, videos and longer written posts. You can customize Paper with a choice of more than one-dozen other sections about various themes and topics—from photography and sports to food, science, and design. Each section includes a rich mix of content from emerging voices and well-known publications.

Paper was one of the apps developed by Facebook Creative Labs, which was shuttered in December along with three of the other apps it created: Slingshot, Rooms and Riff.

Facebook Creative Labs apps that are still thriving include Facebook Mentions, Groups and Moments.

Paper users saw this message upon logging into the app Thursday:

Thank you for using Paper: In 2014, we launched Paper, a stand-alone app designed to give people a new way to explore and share stories from friends and the sources they care about. Today we’re announcing that we are ending support for the app, and users will no longer be able to log into the app after July 29.

We know that Paper really resonated with you—the people who used it—so we’ve tried to take the best aspects of it and incorporate them into the main Facebook app. For example, the same team that built Paper also built Instant Articles—a fast and interactive experience for reading articles in News Feed—using many of the same tools, design elements and fundamental ideas as Paper. Our goal with Paper was to explore new immersive, interactive design elements for reading and interacting with content on Facebook, and we learned how important these elements are in giving people an engaging experience.

We know not all the features you love will move over to Facebook, but we hope you’ll continue to notice elements from Paper improving the Facebook experience for everyone. We can’t thank you enough for using the app and exploring Paper with us over the past couple of years.

Readers: Did you ever use Paper? What did you think of it?

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Facebook’s new algorithm sucks — here’s how to beat it and see whatever you want

News of Facebook’s algorithmic shift to favor friends and family over publishers sent a bit of panic through the online community earlier this week, and rightfully so. The same people that liked or followed your Facebook account are now being told that they should care more about the content their friends and family produce rather than the sites they signed on to follow. For some, this is going to be great news. For others, the decision being made for them — even when they might prefer to see content from publishers they’ve subscribed to — has them up in arms over…

This story continues at The Next Web

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SearchCap: Dynamic search ads, Google Keyword Planner & e-commerce SEO

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. The post SearchCap: Dynamic search ads, Google Keyword Planner & e-commerce SEO appeared first on Search Engine Land.

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Square Enix, gumi Launch Final Fantasy Brave Exvius on Mobile

Square Enix and gumi announced the release of Final Fantasy Brave Exvius on mobile. The turn-based RPG follows Rain and Lasswell, two knights from Grandshelt, on a quest to save the world.

In Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, players complete level-based missions, which cost energy to enter (new users can enter missions for free until they reach rank five). Energy recharges automatically over time, or players can purchase additional energy instantly using Lapis, the game’s premium currency.

During battles, players can tap their heroes’ names at the bottom of the screen to trigger their basic attacks. Users also have the option to cast spells, trigger their characters’ special abilities, guard against oncoming attacks or use items (like healing items) on each turn. Gamers can also toggle auto-battle.

As players complete battles, their heroes will earn experience points, and they will become stronger as they level up over time. Users will also collect crafting materials as they defeat enemies. Gamers can use these materials to create new equipment and abilities for their heroes.

Finally, users can summon new heroes for their teams over time, and they can customize their teams between missions. As players collect unwanted or excess heroes, they can fuse these extra units into those they’d like to keep to increase their stats.

Outside of main story missions, users can complete special dungeons, including event dungeons, to earn rewards.

Final Fantasy Brave Exvius is available to download for free on the iTunes App Store and Google Play.

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Google says Dynamic Search Ad targeting will soon get better

Query matching set to improve over several months. The post Google says Dynamic Search Ad targeting will soon get better appeared first on Search Engine Land.

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New Facebook Tool Will Allow Users to Fundraise for Nonprofits

Facebook is releasing a tool allowing users to fundraise on behalf of U.S.-based 501(c)3 nonprofits.

This follows the social network’s debut last August of “Donate Now” call-to-action buttons on page posts and link ads from nonprofit pages, as well as improvements to the donate button and a fundraisers tool, which were rolled out last November.

Facebook told Megan Rose Dickey of TechCrunch that the new feature is initially available to only about 1 percent of U.S. users, and it is set to go countrywide “in the next few weeks,” adding that while only U.S. users will be able to create donation pages, donations can be accepted from more than 20 countries.

Facebook said in a post on the Nonprofits on Facebook page:

We’re introducing a new tool to enable people to raise money for U.S.-based 501(c)3 nonprofits directly on Facebook.

Fundraisers allow nonprofit supporters to set up a dedicated page to share their story, tell others about a nonprofit’s mission and rally around a fundraising goal.

We can’t wait to see how people support the causes they care about most. Learn more at http://ift.tt/1SYfgrj.

And vice president of product management for social good Naomi Gleit spoke with Matt Petronzio of Mashable, saying:

Before we actually disburse funds to (nonprofits), depending on how much money it is, we’ll do some more quality control. We just want to make sure there’s no fraud, so there’s an additional layer of vetting.

We want to open this up to everyone in the U.S. to create a fundraiser and donate to any nonprofit in the U.S. So, (this is) in order for that to be sustainable and safe. This is all at cost. We’re not trying to make money.

People are already using Facebook to fund for causes—it was already happening even before we built this tool. I just see this as making it even easier. I think people will continue using those other products, and this will just be additive.

Readers: What are your thoughts on this new fundraising tool?

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Snapchat and Tumblr: Platforms for Innovation in Social Media Marketing (Report)

Startups are usually the home of the most innovative outlooks in social media. Any startup with a different approach or technology, like Instagram and Periscope, is often bought up by the larger networks. But others, like Snapchat, choose to go it alone. The 2016 State of Social Marketing report from Simply Measured gives us an insight into how these services are leading the industry in different ways.

The report notes that Snapchat’s innovative approach has led it to a unique position in the market, making it:

[A] hub for robust brand content and discovery, event-based interaction and visual communication, Snapchat is an extension of many brands’ identities, and it is emerging as a core component of the social strategy for brands … Its most recent evolution came in March with what the network deemed “Chat 2.0,” including features like auto-advancing stories, instant video and audio chatting and sticker enhancements.

Snapchat recently crested 150 million daily active users, and it has a 100 percent mobile audience. Despite being relatively young, it has managed to tap into the market by offering an experience that no other network was offering at the time, and we’ve since seen most of the other networks scramble to catch up. To do well on Snapchat, your business must be like the service: open to change, agile and ready to move quickly with the demands of your audience.

Social blogging site Tumblr has been around since 2007, but it was acquired by Yahoo In 2013, and it has also been a testing ground for new marketing tactics. The site has 550 million active users and is one of the most trafficked websites online. Despite the quick amplification power and high engagement on Tumblr, only 54 percent of the Interbrand 100 use the site and only 30 percent post monthly. However, brand adoption on the network grew 15 percent since last year, partly because brands are starting to understand the platform better.

Tumblr’s strengths lie in its focus on highly visual, sharable content. Marketers that create GIFs, capitalize on Tumblr trends or just behave strangely enough to be intriguing can rally a very loyal user base that’s itching to share their latest content. Posting the same content to Tumblr as you do to all your other networks is a wasted opportunity on Tumblr, and it likely won’t have enough originality to see vital shares.

Each time one of these more agile services makes a change, we see others pivot in order to follow them. While it may seem like a risk to invest in less proven services, marketers that get it right early can really capture audiences and write the playbook for an emerging network.

For more insight, read the full 2016 State of Social Marketing report, or view our previous coverage.

Image courtesy of Wachiwit/Shutterstock.

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What the heck is going on with Google Keyword Planner?

Technical glitches and close variants (sometimes) come to Keyword Planner The post What the heck is going on with Google Keyword Planner? appeared first on Search Engine Land.

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Reliance Games Launches The BFG Game on iOS, Android

Reliance Games and Amblin Partners announced the launch of The BFG Game on iOS and Android. The match-three puzzle game is based on the upcoming film The BFG, which hits theaters July 1. In the game, players join Sophie and the BFG as they travel through London, the Dream Country and more.

Each level of The BFG Game asks players to complete a different objective before running out of moves. For instance, one stage may ask players to earn a required number of points, while another stage may ask users to clear wooden tiles from the board by creating matches on top of them.

As players create matches with four or more symbols, or matches in special T, L or square shapes, they’ll create power-up symbols that can be used in future matches to trigger special effects on the board. For instance, one power-up may clear an entire row or column of symbols when activated, while another may clear every symbol of a single color from the board, and so on.

If users need help finishing objectives, they can purchase and activate special booster items during stages. The net booster, for instance, can be used to clear one chosen symbol from the board.

Users will lose lives if they fail to compete levels before running out of moves. These lives recharge automatically over time, or players can purchase lives instantly with premium currency. Users can also ask their Facebook friends to send them free lives.

The BFG Game is available to download for free on the iTunes App Store and Google Play.

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