The Top Three

🏆 THE INDUSTRY’S MOST IMPORTANT STORIES TODAY

🥇 INSTAGRAM TESTS “SUGGESTED” COMMENTS

🤖 More auto-comments are coming: First it was LinkedIn, then YouTube… Now, Instagram is testing AI-generated comments on posts. Some users are now noticing a “pencil with a star” icon next to the comments field. more

• Tapping the icon generates a list of suggested comments that users can choose from when replying to a video or image.

• The options seem pretty generic with comments like "Love the cozy atmosphere" and "Great photo shoot location"... In other words, things you'd never actually comment.

• $META ( ▼ 0.07% ) is also working on a feature that will let users create an AI bot versions of themselves, which can then engage with other users based on selected personality traits and responses.

🥈 YOUTUBE PUSHES SHORTS FOR BRAND CAMPAIGNS

YouTube is continuing pushing brands toward Shorts. The platform has a new report looking at the platform's potential for brand promotions, positioning it as a prime destination for reaching Gen Z. more

• 96% of Gen Z respondents watch both long-form and short-form videos on YouTube.

• Daily Shorts viewership among logged-in users is up 25% year-over-year.

• The data suggests partnering with creators, who already have established audiences, is the most effective way to engage shoppers via Shorts clips, with influencers driving nearly half of all social purchases.

🥉 META ADDS 1-DAY ATTRIBUTION

Meta now lets advertisers optimizing for maximum value in Sales campaigns to include 1-day view attribution, lettings advertisers track conversions that occur within one day after a user views your ad. more

• To use "Maximize value of conversions," create a new Sales campaign with "Website" as the conversion location.

• Purchases must be tracked with values via the Meta Pixel / CAPI.

• Note: Not all advertisers qualify. Ad accounts must have generated at least 30 attributed optimized click-through purchases with values in the past 7 days.

Today’s Other News

📰 EVERYTHING ELSE THAT MATTERS

Advertising 📣

• 👎️ W for consumers, L for brands: Reddit now lets users block all ads from a specific advertiser for a year with a new “Hide” option in the ad dropdown menu. After a year, users can re-hide ads from the same brand if they choose. more

• Google $GOOGL ( ▲ 0.2% ) has updated BrandConnect, its platform for connecting creators with sponsored content, by adding a new central management hub to facilitate brand partnerships. Within Google Ads, you can now view potential collaborations in the "Creator Partnerships" tab, which displays videos featuring your brand that creators have made eligible for sponsorship. more

  • By linking assets to your campaigns, you can measure partnership ad performance and create audience segments based on organic viewers of any sponsored content you’ve worked on with the creator.

• President Trump’s volatile tariff war has marketers on edge, with nearly 60% of U.S. marketers and agency execs "extremely concerned" about the impact on their businesses. Some agencies, like WPromote, are exploring responses with clients, including shifting or cutting media spend. However, Digiday reports many execs are holding off on decisions, waiting to see how political developments unfold.

• 🤳“Keeping Up with the CPG Brands”: Unilever $UL ( ▲ 0.63% ) is adopting an "influencer-first" strategy, allocating half of its ad budget to social media and working with 20 times more influencers. The company’s new CEO sees this shift as a way to build trust with consumers wary of traditional advertising. Unilever’s investment in influencer marketing will increase from about 30% to 50% of its total ad spend. more 

• Target's $TGT ( ▲ 0.69% ) ad business saw a promising 25% revenue increase to $649M last year, but it still lags behind giants like Walmart $WMT ( ▲ 3.1% ) and Amazon $AMZN ( ▼ 1.28% ) , whose ad revenues reached $4.5B and $50B, respectively. The retailer is making moves to compete, with new self-service tools and a second-price auction model, which could attract more ad spend. Digiday has a great piece up today looking at whether Target has the potential to become a true retail media powerhouse.

Search 🔍

• 🥣 "No reservation for you!": Google is replacing restaurant booking systems with its Assistant calling feature, creating problems for some businesses. Instead of directing users to a restaurant’s preferred system, like OpenTable, Google's Assistant will try to call... but if no one answers, it assumes no reservations are available, preventing potential bookings. more

  • One restaurant tried disabling Assistant in the settings, hoping to restore the OpenTable booking link, but instead, it displayed: “This merchant is not accepting reservations through Google at this time.”

Social Media 📱

• Several top YouTube creators will host their own upfront-style event later this month in a move to lure more ad dollars from traditional TV to creator-driven content. The Spotter Showcase, happening March 27th, will give brands a behind-the-scenes look at upcoming content, audience data, and more. more

  • Confirmed participants include MrBeast, Dude Perfect, Rebecca Zamolo, Colin & Samir, and more.

Podcasts 🎙️ 

• 🎥 Gen Z hates video podcasts: A new study has found 75% of Gen Z prefer audio-only podcasts, with just 5% primarily watching video podcasts. more

  • When it comes to platforms, 60% use Spotify as their main podcast app, with 90% of them sticking to audio.

  • On the other hand, YouTube has a smaller share, with only 20% using it for podcasts, but more than half of that group watch video podcasts some or all of the time.

Workplace Trends 💼

• Amid an executive exodus, TikTok is dealing with employee burnout. The company is reportedly giving U.S. staff an ultimatum: choose between a performance improvement plan (PIP) or a severance package. more

  • This comes as a previous report revealed widespread burnout among U.S. employees. With threats of a national ban bringing a doomsday vibe to TikTok, some teams have reportedly seen up to 20% of their workers go on mental health leave at the same time.

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