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The Top Three

🏆 THE INDUSTRY’S MOST IMPORTANT STORIES TODAY

🥇 SHARING > LIKES

🔁 If it’s not getting shared, it’s not working: How does your brand’s social performance measure up to the competition? Dash Social released its 2025 Social Media Benchmark Reports, analyzing KPIs across 12 industries on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. According to the data, this year, it's not about who's watching... it's about who's sharing. more

• Shareable content is driving results: In the last quarter, TikTok shares are up nearly 60%, and 12% on Instagram.

• Posting consistently on TikTok pays off: Brands with a steady cadence are seeing 25% more views and 70% more shares than they were six months ago. Frequency is linked to engagement.

• Instagram growth is shifting: While follower growth has slowed, engagement remains strong. Top-performing brands are now prioritizing impressions and shares to track success.

🥈 GOOGLE’S Q1 AD REVENUE

📈 Ad revenue still on the up: Google’s $GOOGL ( ▼ 0.83% )  Q1 results are in, with ad revenue climbing 8.5% year-over-year, totalling $66.9 billion. While this marks a slight slowdown from the previous quarter's 10.6% growth, it still exceeds analysts' expectations. more

• YouTube's ad revenue was up 10.3% from last year, reaching $8.93 billion in the first quarter of the year.

• Overall, Alphabet reported $90.23 billion in revenue, a 12% increase, surpassing analyst forecasts.

• AI Overviews now have 1.5 billion users per month.

🥉 THREAD LIGHTLY

Ads on Threads $META ( ▲ 0.45% ) are here, but Digiday reports today that advertisers aren't exactly racing to test the new placement. While some are eager to test the new placement, most are taking a cautious, measured approach. Advertisers see potential in reaching new audiences, expanding creative testing, and possibly lowering CPMs, but for now, are keeping a close eye on performance before shifting spend.

• One marketer sees Threads as a promising upper-funnel tool to test reach and engagement before committing more budget.

• Still, most agree conversions will be a tough sell in the early days.

• As a result, some advertisers plan to keep the majority of their Meta ad spend on Facebook and Instagram, at least until Threads proves it can deliver.

Today’s Other News

📰 EVERYTHING ELSE THAT MATTERS

Advertising 📣

• Meta has updated Advantage+ catalog ads with new "dynamic overlays" that display product details like prices, discounts, and free shipping as sticker-style elements on product images. These overlays will currently only appear in the Facebook feed. more

• Snapchat $SNAP ( ▲ 3.4% ) is looking to boost ad sales with the launch of its new "Snapchat Affiliate Program,” while also luring creators with a new way to earn money. The new affiliate program will pay creators a commission for referring other brands to Snap ads. more

• Microsoft Advertising $MSFT ( ▼ 0.18% ) has temporarily suspended client connection requests from agencies. Now, agencies must contact support and wait 5-7 days before they can manage client ad campaigns. The delay, which Microsoft confirmed is due to fraudulent activity, is a temporary measure they’re working to resolve. more

• Bing is now displaying two rows of shopping ads at the top of search results, with the option to expand and show more ads. more

• Microsoft revealed that it created a minute-long ad using generative AI... but here's the catch: it went unnoticed for nearly three months, gathering about 40K views, without anyone realizing that it was AI. more

Social Media 📱

• Threads now has a new web address: Threads.com. Meta has acquired the domain and is redirecting users from the previous Threads.net. Along with the domain change, there are a few new updates to the site:

  • Custom feeds now display in the same order as on mobile.

  • Liked and saved posts are now accessible from the main menu instead of pinned columns on the homepage.

  • Threads is testing a feature to upload a list of people you follow on other apps (starting with X) to find their profiles on Threads.

• 🤫 The Silence of the Spams: AI-generated spam is a big problem on Facebook, and Meta is rolling out new measures to prevent inauthentic accounts from gaming the engagement algorithm. more

  • Meta will limit reach and remove monetization for posts with irrelevant captions or excessive hashtags.

  • Spam networks using duplicate content across multiple accounts could see their reach drop and monetization cut off.

  • Comment downvotes are back on Facebook to help filter out low-quality or spammy replies.

The Ticker

📈 HOW DIGITAL MARKETING STOCKS ARE DOING