Big Tech’s Burn Book
Influencers and content creators are still feeling the sting as social platforms integrate AI into their advertising products.
For instance, Instagram implemented a feature called “Shop the Look” that tags and sells products from content creators’ posts. Which sounds well and good. Except it does so without the creator’s permission and without any form of compensation. TikTok and Pinterest implemented similar features.
Julia Berolzheimer, a social creator, tells Business Insider that Instagram’s superimposing of shopping links felt like stealing. A Meta spokesperson says the feature was part of a limited test and the company receives no commission either. But then who does?
Other features, like Meta’s Influencer AI chatbots and TikTok’s AI avatar tools, which let fans interact with simulated versions of creators, have also caused a tizzy for influencers as AI creeps further into their creative workflow and revenue stream.
“I think the tech is really cool, and I think it’s going to help humans make really beautiful things,” says Patreon CEO Jack Conte. “But that doesn’t give people carte blanche to roll it out in a way that just creates a bloodbath for the world’s creative people.”
The Certainty Of “Uncertainty”
Ulta Beauty is reducing its growth forecasts as American shoppers pull back on luxe brands and discretionary purchases, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Except, the Journal also reports that Dollar General, ostensibly the recipient of penny-pinching dollars, is also feeling the pinch from US consumer “uncertainty.”
So the storm clouds are everywhere.
On Ulta’s earnings report last week, senior analyst Olivia Tong Cheang, from Raymond James & Associates, asked about US consumer sentiment in the most Wall Street investor-y way imaginable: posing a question regarding “new challenges to the consumer environment that we perhaps didn’t have a couple of weeks ago.” (Meaning the war in Iran and closure of key energy and shipping lanes.)
UIta spent more on marketing last year and planned for a big 2026. But investors want caution. “You’ve obviously done a lot to improve promotional cadence, but it seems like the state of the consumer is evolving,” Cheang said.
Ulta CFO Christopher DelOrefice defended the marketing budget, which he said has gone up as a share of overall sales because it’s particularly effective. He cited the company’s “supply-chain optimization” and ability to target higher-quality inventory as accretive to the company’s net growth and margin.
Starting Strong?
Ad spend is on a strong growth trajectory – as long as the US-Iran war doesn’t end up revising that optimistic forecast.
Madison and Wall’s latest forecast pins expected US advertising growth at 8.1% year over year – an increase from the consultancy’s previous forecast of 6.6% growth. But geopolitical uncertainty related to the war outbreak in Iran may cause “stagflationary potential,” the report reads, which is code for imminent belt-tightening.
This year, “growth should be front-loaded, followed by gradual deceleration throughout the rest of the year,” the report reads. And the Winter Olympics last month isn’t the only reason for the disparity. The second half of 2026 will see comparatively slower growth because international crises don’t always have immediate impacts on domestic ad budgets, Digiday writes.
On a more optimistic note, compared to previous global disasters (like the COVID-19 pandemic, to name just one), brands now have more flexibility at their fingertips. As the business and infrastructure of advertising digitizes, brands can be more reactive in pausing, moving or turning off spend as needed.
The report notes that last year’s major growth drivers, particularly social media and commerce media, should continue sustaining ad spend growth this year.
Here’s to remaining optimistic.
But Wait! There’s More!
Target will reduce its prices in an attempt to lure back disenchanted customers. [PR News]
Google’s AI search results love to refer back to Google. [Wired] And the data: Google.com and YouTube are the domains with the most links in Google AI Mode searches, according to a recent study. [SE Ranking]
The new influencer marketing play: Talent agencies are courting the “alternatively influential,” or experts in their fields who carry clout but have a limited social media presence. [WSJ]
A super PAC called Democracy Unmuted is paying influencers $1,500 per negative post about Illinois Congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh. Ironically, the pitch advises using Abughazaleh’s success as an influencer as a criticism. [MS NOW]
Nielsen is pushing back its March Gauge report by a week, after Nielsen revealed to clients that the results would show a downturn in streaming audiences. [Variety]
You’re Hired!
Jennifer Tang is named SVP of Programmatic at DAX US. [release]
Chrissie Hanson is the new North America media practice CEO and Carat global brand president at Dentsu. [release]
