TikTok

WPP’s GroupM is getting a new name; there’s no such thing as a TikTok ban at NewFronts; and Meta’s ad growth prospects might be plateauing.

PayPal embraces off-site media but says no to data sales; Google pivoted on cookies again, but what about the Google Ad ID?; and gen AI bots are blowing up publisher server costs.

Criteo dives into video ads; after 20 years, YouTube might be the world’s biggest media brand; Threads opens up for advertising.

Although Olaplex is still in its “nascent days” when it comes to data-driven analysis, CMO Katie Gohman says understanding the digital marketing ecosystem is now a core part of how her team operates.

CTV advertising has made great strides, but it still lags behind social platforms in one critical area: optimizing campaigns based on outcome data. Here’s how standardized conversion API integrations for CTV can help.

Forecasters expected tariffs would impact advertising growth projections. But that was before we knew exactly how steep these tariffs would be – and now that we do, it doesn’t bode well.

Does AI kill authenticity? Or is it just another evolution of content creation? And does it even matter? After all, consumers say they care about authenticity, but their actions don’t always match their words.

Daily Mail’s ad-light subscription soars; YouTube Shorts takes another cue from TikTok; and MAGNA predicts an ad spend slump due to tariff-induced uncertainty.

Meta introduces new ad placements, promo opportunities and AI prompts; an influencer campaign prompts right-wing influencers to oppose RFK Jr.’s soda crackdown; and transcription platform Otter launches an AI assistant.

Alphonso shareholders won their lawsuit against LG Ads, clearing the way for an IPO. Then, as TikTok counts down the days until its stay of execution expires, Oracle might buy a minority stake.

Companies are now leaning toward slick, scripted video series ok TikTok. Plus, expect any future OpenAI ads to be less than traditional.

Oracle’s TikTok bid is a warmed-over Project Texas; Amazon’s ads biz has its sights set on Google; and gen AI search is a good traffic source for retailers, but bad for news pubs.

Canadian tech investment firm Redbrick has acquired Paved, a programmatic newsletter platform for publishers that specializes in native ad formats.

PMax has joined Search as what Google dubs “the power pair.”  Plus, TikTok usage and ad spend are still dropping.

YouTube advertisers prefer long-form videos to Shorts; Microsoft tests an ad-supported version of its Office suite; and Chegg sues Google over lost traffic from gen AI search.

US judge rules generative AI has no fair use claim; Snap sets its sights on SMBs; MMM comes to CTV; and Disney introduces ads in live TV, even for paid users.

Chinese advertisers and ecommerce companies have become a force in American shopping. What happens now?

Google’s open-source MMM product goes live; Amazon Prime Video’s ad biz turns one; and teens don’t trust Big Tech and have doubts about AI.

Sen. Ron Wyden shared his stance on a federal privacy law, consumer data brokers and, for good measure, his thoughts on Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg cozying up to President Trump. (“I thought it was god awful,” he said.)

For many advertisers and agencies, returning to TikTok this week felt a bit like remote working through a natural disaster: Business as usual, except not really.

The first half of this decade has left publishers reeling from a pandemic jab and an AI uppercut that rearranged our reality and knocked us to our knees. Here’s how pubs and their ad tech partners can punch back in the years ahead.

TikTok was granted a 75-day stay of execution this week. We discuss what’s next for the social media platform, why it was classified as a threat to national security and how advertisers are responding.

P&G pumps the brakes on paid media and turns to product innovation to drive growth; with TikTok’s fate unclear, Snap and Reddit offer credits for new advertisers; and brands are following news audiences and journalists to Substack.

Retail media might not ruin retail, but the strikes are adding up. Plus, TikTok throws its support behind Trump.

As a brand, the social media platform TikTok has only existed for about seven or eight years. Yet during that short time, it’s completely taken over the minds of users, business owners, advertisers, and, most notably, elected officials. And now, despite generating billions of dollars in annual revenue, it might be on its way out.

AI-generated slop content is growing exponentially online. Plus, publishers and new organizations are strategizing for a post-TikTok future. 
 

AI chatbots entice users into subscriptions with free trials; non-pornographic content creators are raking in ad bucks on PornHub; and the US TikTok ban has Americans flocking to other China-based apps.

Would the internet be a better place if it weren’t run by billionaires? Plus, more brands are cutting out the ad tech middlemen.

Nobody is acting like TikTok will actually be scrapped from American smartphones. Plus, Venu Sports got benched – for good.

Google plans to create an “AI Mode” for its web search engine users. Plus, the social media vultures now circling the air above TikTok.