Pinterest has already attracted several big brands for its appealing Cinematic Pins while Snapchat continues to expand its content offerings. However, Google?s reported plans to launch buy buttons for mobile search and introduction of a click-to-purchase capability for video ads on YouTube bring a much-needed commerce angle to the company?s already-impressive monetization strategy. 

?Snapchat is making some strides and wise decisions by moving away form just privacy and becoming the go-to platform for young millennials,? said Guillaume Lelait, general manager of Fetch. ?Rather than broad TV advertising campaigns, the introduction of Snapchat channels provides a more targeted and better ROI approach to engage with millennial, who are watching less and less cable television. Snapchat is a platform to watch. 

?Spotify is a hot company right now and they are going the right direction by becoming more of a platform than simply a way to listen to music,? he said. ?They are bringing in more videos to their platform to compete more directly with companies like Vevo.

?This could pave the way for more creative mobile video, an area of mobile advertising that is booming right now and we do a lot of mobile video work for our clients as it gets results.?

As mobile video consumption continues to grow, YouTube introduced TrueView, enabling marketers to showcase product details and images within a video ad as well as the ability to click to purchase from a brand or retail site. With 50 percent of views on YouTube coming from mobile devices, the capability was designed to work seamlessly across mobile phones, desktop and tablets. 

The strategy reflects how consumers are increasingly watching video on their smartphones throughout the day to help them get things done, such as watching product review or a recipe how-to. Google wants to help connect the dot between the moment a person watches a video and they moment they decide to make a purchase. 

Early tests are positive, with Wayfair seeing a 3X revenue increase per impression served when compared to previous campaigns while Sephora took drove a more-than 80 percent lift in consideration and a more-than 54 percent lift in ad recall. 

In potentially significant news for mcommerce and Google, the search giant is reportedly preparing to add buy buttons to sponsored search results on smartphones, a move that could create a new mobile shopping experience while helping drive up cost-per-click rates.

If Google can help increase smartphone conversion rates by streamlining the mobile shopping process, advertisers will be willing to pay more clicks, which have been lower on mobile because of the poor conversion rates. 

A handful of big brands such as Gap, L?Oreal, Walgreens, Suave and Target are testing a unique take on visual storytelling via a new ad unit from Pinterest that seeks to make the experience less disruptive by giving users more control. 

The new Cinematic Pin is an animated Promoted Pin that only moves when a user is scrolling and is part of a bigger push into monetization from the social media network that boasts 80 percent of its users are on mobile. 

A partnership with Visa points to a commerce angle as well, with Virgin America and Gymboree brand Crazy8 among the first to offer Cinematic Pins with Visa Checkout.

Snapchat takes another step towards its goal of becoming the go-to place for millennials with the release of music videos on its Discover feature. The videos found on the Discover tab of the mobile app through the Snapchat icon. Users click the icon and a quick preview of the video pops up, advertising the new song and album. Scrolling up reveals the full music video that viewers can watch in its entirety through the app. 

Spotify introduced a redesign for mobile users with a focus on video content. The update allows the streaming service to feature original Spotify videos and video content from outside sources. Spotify?s goal is to become a 24-hour hub for all entertainment content including news, video and music. This is the first time the streaming service is introducing video into its platform. 

There will be exclusive content to Spotify as well as content from outside partners such as ABC, BBC, Comedy Central, Conde Nast Entertainment, ESPN, Fusion, Maker Studios, NBC, TED and Vice Media. The service is also creating a more personal environment for users by generating unique homepages for each consumer based off past user-history in the app. 

Several mobile carriers in Europe are reportedly considering blocking display advertising to their subscribers as tension grows between the telecommunications sector and ad technology companies such as Google. According to a report in the Financial Times, one European wireless carrier told the publication that it plans to start blocking ads to mobile subscribers by the end of the year and claims other carriers are also ready to do the same.

Meanwhile, Adblock Plus released a browser for Android in beta that automatically blocks ads, claiming to be the first browser that offers ad blocking as an integrated feature. Users can encourage better ads by allowing nonintrusive ads to display.

?There has often been talk of mobile carriers potentially blocking display advertising, but I just don?t see it happening,? Mr. Lelait said. ?The industry is talking about it in there are heated debates, but the carriers (O2, Orange, SFR, Bouygues etc.) are actually all selling ads so too it doesn?t make strategic sense.

?For example, Orange in Europe has been selling ads for a while now,? he said. ?Also mobile carriers are looking to get more involved in the mobile advertising space and have in-house teams focused on selling ads. 

?Also some carriers are owned by media holding companies (Bouygues telecom). Verizon just bought AOL with part of the decision focused on building ad revenue, so it just doesn?t make sense to me that Ad blocking will happen.?