Lights, Camera, LinkedIn
LinkedIn is loving video.
To keep up with the growing popularity of B2B creator marketing, LinkedIn is expanding access to BrandLink, its video ad tool. BrandLink now allows creators to place video ads within posts, whereas it previously only supported ads in publisher posts, Ad Age reports.
BrandLink is LinkedIn’s first ad revenue sharing program for creators. As video content takes the lead across social media platforms, tools like this are a draw for B2B creators who might have previously overlooked LinkedIn but can now repurpose and monetize existing content on the platform.
Case in point: Influencer marketing agency Creator Authority expects to launch three times as many B2B creator campaigns on LinkedIn in 2025 than it did in 2024.
Since BrandLink’s launch in June 2024 (under the name the Wire Program), video completion rates on LinkedIn have increased by 130%, and view rates by 23%.
Still, some B2B brands prefer to stick with images and written posts, citing consistency and creativity as the main drivers behind their success. So at least video hasn’t killed the blog star… yet.
Stop Making AdSense
Google is expanding its AdSense for Search network to begin showing ads in conversations with AI chatbots, Bloomberg reports.
AdSense for Search is a product that publishers can use to monetize their own website’s search function. Essentially, it causes ads to appear at the top of a search results page the same way it would if a user were typing their query directly into Google rather than a third-party site.
According to an anonymous source who spoke with Bloomberg, Google started conducting chatbot-related tests last year with startups like iAsk, a free mobile app that markets itself as an “advanced AI search engine,” and Liner, an “academic research” platform that can write MLA-formatted essays based on user-provided examples. (So, not really beating the “AI helps kids cheat on their homework” allegations anytime soon.)
This is an obvious play for Google, which is in danger of losing search engine market share to AI companies like OpenAI and Perplexity.
The heavy hitters still haven’t figured out how best to monetize their own LLMs – if Google can crack monetization first and make it available to smaller startups, maybe it can tip the scales back in its favor through sheer scale alone.
Fee At Last
Apple received a crushing decision from US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who ruled Apple cannot collect fees on sales outside its iOS ecosystem, Bloomberg reports.
Epic won that right in 2021. But since then, as judge Gonzalez Rodgers notes, Apple has willfully ignored those legal orders. For one thing, it bumped its 30% iOS fee to 27% fee for sales off iOS.
This is a big mobile growth opportunity. Stripe promptly announced new functionality for web-based payments linked out from iOS apps [H/t Eric Seufert].
Another important development is that Apple execs were referred to the US Attorney’s Office for potential criminal prosecution, because at least one person lied under oath. Tim Cook gets an uncomfortable call-out for making the decision to move forward with a plan to knowingly disregard the court’s orders.
As AdExchanger’s Daily newsletter has noted, Apple has made a practice in recent years of malicious non-compliance – which is to say, it willfully flaunts court orders.
Big Tech companies like Apple, Google and Meta have played it fast and loose with their disinterest and disregard for decisions made by judges and lawmakers who oversee tech products.
A little fear of the law would be a healthy development in Silicon Valley.
But Wait! There’s More
Ad agency Madwell is shutting down, with CEO Chris Sojka alleging financial impropriety by former executives and citing a “press narrative blaming me for our financial instability” as the reason the agency lost its largest client, Verizon. [AdWeek]
Reddit is considering legal action against the University of Zurich researchers who ran an unauthorized persuasion experiment on the platform using AI chatbots. [404 Media]
Instacart acquires Wynshop, a provider of online storefronts for grocers. [TechCrunch]
Gaming news site Polygon was sold by Vox Media to Valnet, and much of its masthead has been laid off. [Kotaku]
Minority-focused CTV network Revry adds REVOLT to its ad exchange and takes more shots at The Trade Desk’s data sales. [AdMonsters]
Social-focused digital media brand Gallery Media acquires fashion site Coveteur. [WWD]
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says AI chatbots are the solution to the loneliness epidemic. [Social Media Today]
You’re Hired!
Market research firm MarketCast appointed Amy Fenton and Paul Forgue as co-presidents. [AdWeek]
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