Ecommerce News Q4 2020: TikTok + Shopify | YouTube podcast ads | more

2020 is over. We managed to get through that very unusual year, and here we are ready to start 2021 strong. What better way to kick off the year than with a little roundup?

Here’s what you might have missed last quarter in ecommerce news.

You might recall that Google Shopping ads in the US were made free earlier in the year. Well that is now being rolled out to numerous new countries and retailers across Europe, Asia, and Latin America are now able to have listings in the google shopping tab for free. Read more here.
Google Shopping Actions is also launching two new performance metrics: “Return defects” and “Delivery defects.” This should make it much easier for sellers to understand how many of their products have had issues with defects. Read more here.

YouTube is rolling audio ads to target podcast and music listeners on its platform. Though Youtube of course focuses on video, the company has noticed a rise in audio-only users. Read more here.
YouTube is also rolling out ads on videos of some creators who have opted out, and those opted-out creators will not receive ad dollars should ads run on their videos. It’s speculated this will mostly affect small channels with large viewerships, and it will be interesting to see how exactly this plays out and what comes next for Youtube. Read more here.

Facebook has decided to disable ads for ecommerce brands with low page scores. This will affect those sellers that regularly get negative feedback from shoppers, and hopefully this will help give users and browsers a much better, more reliable, shopping experience. Read more here.

Last up, we have two pieces of TikTok news. TikTok and Shopify teamed up to make it easier for Shopify merchants to advertise and sell through TikTok. Highlights include a one-click pixel for easier conversion tracking; simple TikTok campaign creation and tools for creative; and 300 dollars of free ad credits. Read more here.
And Walmart became the first major retailer to try out TikTok's in-app, live-stream shopping. Viewers had the choice between clicking on a product in real time and checkout on their mobile, or waiting until the end of the livestream to see all of the products featured. Read more here.