Accurate as of: 28 April 2021
UK Media & Consumer Market Update
Current UK status
Visit https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/ for all official information.
- As of 4pm on 28 April 2021, a total of 150,101,360 coronavirus (COVID-19) tests have been conducted in the UK. 4,411,797 people have tested positive.
- 33,959,908 people have had their first dose of the vaccination, while 13,581,076 have been fully vaccinated.
- 151,243 patients in the UK who tested positive for COVID-19 have died.
- Guidance for the current lockdown rules in England can be found.
UK travel restrictions:
Visit www.gov.uk/government/organisations/foreign-commonwealth-office for all official information.
- Boris Johnson has laid out a roadmap out of lockdown, with key touchstones to further open up the country on 17 May and 21 June.
- Currently, UK residents can only travel internationally where they first have a legally permitted reason to leave home. In addition, they should consider the public health advice in the country they are visiting.
- In order to enter the UK, a negative Covid-19 test must be completed 72 hours before travel and presented to staff on planes, trains, and ferries in order to board. A further two tests must be completed at the travellers’ expense during their quarantine before they can return to day-to-day life.
- People entering the UK from high-risk countries, or “red” countries, will have to quarantine in a hotel at their own expense for 10 days.
- A travel “green list” is expected to be announced by the government in early May.
Latest updates:
- Boris Johnson has said there is now a “very good chance” of ending coronavirus restrictions completely in the UK on 21 June in his most optimistic assessment yet. The Prime Minister said that he still expects a third wave of the virus but vaccination had built “some pretty robust fortifications” against it. (Times)
- Compulsory Covid status certificates to enter pubs and restaurants are now off the menu and the government’s review is likely to recommend that documents are required only for larger events. (Guardian)
- Which? Have warned that private Covid testing facilities for travel could be overwhelmed when international travel restarts (Travel Weekly)
- A concert in Barcelona showed that mid-sized cultural events of 5,000 attendees could be held safely despite the pandemic, organizers said. Before the event, attendees were screened and tested for coronavirus using antigen tests. The crowd was also instructed to wear FFP2 masks, with the organizers limiting bathroom capacity. (com)
- Germany is implementing an ‘emergency brake’ system to stop the spread of Covid, closing schools and enforcing curfews. (VOA News)
- Pfizer’s Covid-preventing pill could be available by the end of the year if human trials in the US and Belgium are successful. (Daily Mail)
- EU member states plan to start testing digital ‘green’ health certificates next month. (MSN)
- Vaccinated Americans could be let into Europe this summer with a mutually recognised vaccine passport, though the UK has not been invited to join these talks. (The Guardian)
- Spain plans to welcome visitors from June, following a pilot trial of digital health certificates at all 46 Spanish airports in May. (Travel Weekly)
- Portugal’s ambassador to the UK has raised hopes holidaymakers will be able to visit the country as early as mid-May. (Evening Standard)
Social media:
- It’s been a long time coming and, as we mentioned last week, iOS14.5 has finally arrived. Apple’s newest update will clamp down on app tracking across iPhones — partly because Apple’s launching an ad platform of their own. Expect higher CPMs, less relevant ads, and strange new floating numbers in Ads Manager because now Facebook is modelling, not directly attributing, conversions.
- Beyond just Facebook — who are bearing the brunt of the focus of the media attention on the change — App Tracking Transparency affects every app on iOS that wants to see what you do so they can better advertise to you. See how TikTok is responding here.
- As part of a new series of in-stream ad options, including audience targeting that’s close to YouTube’s Affinity Audiences, Facebook’s begun premiering Reels ads. Like TikTok ads, they appear in between Reels clips and can be up to 30 seconds long. Reels ads are being tested in India, Brazil, Germany, and Australia for now.
- As Facebook continues to develop its partnership with the premiere music streaming service, they’re looking to allow direct postings of songs onto your Facebook Feed that other users with Spotify can play straight from your post as they scroll without having to open another app. Get ready for some vibey scroll sessions courtesy of your more musically-inclined friends.
- In a livestreamed conversation between Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram chief Adam Mosseri, the two tech giants revealed that Instagram’s developing a new suite of tools, like creator shops, affiliate commerce, and a branded content marketplace, to create a “creator middle class.”
- Related, Facebook is launching new legal action in partnership with Gucci over the sale of counterfeit products across its services. This particular case is against one individual who used various Facebook and Instagram accounts to circumvent filters that would otherwise have caught the person in question.
- As quarterly results start to roll in, LinkedIn is first up. According to Microsoft, LinkedIn continues to see ‘record engagement’ with a 22% revenue growth. There’s no a lot of specifics around this ‘record engagement’ so take it with a grain of salt but it remains no surprise that social media platforms continue to benefit from the ongoing pandemic. LinkedIn especially likely benefited from the new financial year in some territories, like the UK, as businesses began advertising for new roles.
- Pinterest’s Q1 results show strong global growth, with 30% more global users year-on-year but only 9% more US users year-on-year. This means the visual search engine is up to 478 million monthly active users which is worth paying attention to if you’re in a visually-led industry like interiors or fashion or makeup. That said, Pinterest doesn’t consider itself a ‘social media network’ but however you split those hairs, 78% revenue growth to $485 million is a good result — but it reveals around $1 of revenue per user.
- Snapchat enjoyed a 22% bump in users year-on-year, now boasting 280 million daily active users. Most of this growth came from Rest of World — that is, not North American or Europe — where it saw a 57% increase. For the first time, it reported most of these daily active users were Android users as part of the long-tail of its 2019 Android update. 40% more Snapchatters also used AR Lenses during Q1 which helped contribute to a 66% YoY revenue increase to $770 million. However, its Cost of Revenue also increased 64% to $404 million, largely related to its $90 million investment into its $1 million-per-day Spotlights (think TikTok) payouts. But that’s still a nice $350 million profit.
- Meanwhile, Twitter is experimenting with Super Follow and tipping options for profiles. Think of Super Follows as being like Patreon but for Twitter, while tipping is exactly the same as that most American of practices.
