Weekly Digital Roundup (1.20.14)

We've got quite a cross-section of industry updates today, from game-changing litigations to hijacking hotels' profiles. Without further ado, here’s what we found to be the biggest news, so you may comfortably remain snuggled under a rock.

Subway Does it Gifferently

Subway is leveraging the power of GIFs for its #januANY special, promoting those infamous $5 foot-long sandwiches a social media campaign from Giphy and 360i. They’ve already shared 73 of these lovable media-bites, and plan to release a Tumblr page to showcase all from the campaign. Too bad neither of these kingpin social platforms support GIF files!

P.S. If you love GIFs as much as we do, follow PRPL Labs’ latest product venture, Gifn, on Twitter and Facebook! #shameless

Facebook Trending Topics

Facebook recently launched a “trending” feature that prominently displays popular headlines and themes discussed in users’ Newsfeeds. Marketers are speculating that this new centerpiece could develop some new, highly sought-after ad format opportunities, and would allow Facebook to reposition itself as a portal for content discovery. The battle with Twitter for this coveted advantage continues, but point: Facebook.

Love and Libel

Could Courtney Love have a hand in the future of Twitter law? She’s currently being sued for a tweet claiming that her former attorney Rhonda Holmes had been “bought off.” Her case has the potential to reshape the laws surrounding online defamation, so this will be an intriguing dispute to keep a pulse on as it progresses to a verdict.

Crowdsourcing Snapchat

In an effort to expand social reach, Wet Seal hired 16-year-old video blogger, Meghan Hughes, to run the brand’s Snapchat account over a weekend. Meghan shared photos and videos throughout the weekend following her adventures of baking Christmas cookies and playing with her dog. Her posts brought in over 9,000 new followers and 6,000 views, which is quite an accomplishment for Snapchat marketing. Seems Wet Seal is shaking off their dry spell!

Marketers Will Find You on Twitter

Twitter ads are on the up and up! Marketers can now provide email addresses or other customer data to Twitter in order to find those user profiles on the social network. The new ad retargeting tools released this week help marketers retarget customers via Twitter, in case they weren’t getting through to you enough already.

Hacking Hotels

Google+ hotel pages were not so lucky this week, but providence will have its way. Thousands of hotels’ Google+ pages were hijacked and pointed at third-party booking sites, in turn upsetting the hotels’ social media presence, search results, and Google Maps listings. The third-party sites deny having a role in the hijacking, yet have been negatively affected by being penalized by Google’s search algorithms. Don’t mess with the omniscient Google.

Look alive, Mondayers!