I showered and dressed first thing this morning (not the norm in my pandemic life) in one of my favorite pink sweaters, I snagged a limited edition Meanwhile Back on the Farm raspberry pink tote (the stuff my handbag dreams are made of) this morning, the sun is shining, my kids are getting their first vaccine shot tomorrow morning, we (fully vaccinated folks) don’t have to wear masks anymore for the most part, and I’m having crabs for dinner tonight AND tomorrow. Life is so good! The news you can use this week is not earth shattering, however, it is nonetheless informative. I’m serving up a great article on the lumber shortage along with updates on that issue, plus statistics on the adoption of Apple’s app tracking transparency as well as a few Google Ads updates.
HOW MUCH WOOD WOULD A WOODCHUCK CHUCK IF A WOODCHUCK COULD CHUCK WOOD?
I vote that he chuck all the wood and solve this lumber shortage. I know I’ve written about this a ton, and I know you know about it, but an article this week really made it clear how the problem started and what it looks like now. What can I say, I’m a visual learner and this article by Visual Capitalist, made it all clear for me.
The good news is that the Commerce Secretary has pledged to make this a priority and help bring down the prices.
RUH ROH SHAGGY
It turns out people really, really, really don’t want to be tracked by apps on their phone, at least that’s what data collected from a Verizon Media analytics platform called Flurry says. According to them and the one million apps that use Flurry, only 6% of people are allowing tracking to transpire. 😱No bueno for the Facebook. Like super duper no bueno. However, as someone who has installed iOS 14.5 on her phone, I’ve yet to be asked to opt into tracking on any single app, so it’s been kind of a slow roll out. At any rate, if this statistic pans out, personalizing ads to users based on websites they’ve visited will surely be difficult for Facebook to accomplish. Womp Womp.
GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY
I’m really coming in hot with references to cartoons of years past and I’m particularly pleased with this one if I’m being honest. Google Ads has announced a few changes to help offset any data loss from privacy tools. Google Analytics 4 which is the latest version of analytics, will now use machine learning to fill in any data holes created by privacy tools. They also added some tweaks to Consent Mode for United Kingdom and European users. Last but not least, they’ve added Enhance conversions to also fill in privacy data gaps using first party and consented data. Seems like super timely and pertinent given the info about Apple’s ATT.
That’s all for this week. Tune in to Homefiniti and Beyond for our season finale today at noon or check back here for the recap next week. Megan and I will be talking about a formula you can use to tailor your media spend and help with lead management. Then I’m gonna go pick some Maryland 🦀 and live my best life. Oh I forgot that I also get to eat my best friend’s 15 year old son’s homemade pulled pork bbq tomorrow too. He calls his business Semper-Q and he donates a portion of his proceeds to Catch-a-Lift. Shameless plug for any local Baltimoreans to check it out.
