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The Top Three 🏆

The industry’s most important stories today.

🥇 TIKTOK PLANS FOR IMMEDIATE SHUTDOWN

Shit’s getting real: TikTok's about to go dark. The Information reports that the company plans to abruptly shut down its app for U.S. users on Sunday, the same day a federal law is set to ban it—unless the Supreme Court steps in. more

• The app won't work, even if it's already installed.

• Users will be redirected to a website with details about the ban.

• TikTok plans to give users the option to download their data.

• 🚨 Here's your reminder: download all your content before Sunday.

🥈 WINNING GEN ALPHA AFTER TIKTOK

TikTok's potential shutdown has marketers and influencers racing to find new ways to reach Gen Alpha, 45% of whom used TikTok daily last year.

A great think-piece up on ADWEEK today asks: can brands pivot quickly? Or should this disruption prompt a pause to reflect on how brands engage with this hyper-online, values-driven generation? more

• With platforms like Snapchat and YouTube poised to capture TikTok’s audience, brands have the chance to create responsible, self-expression-focused content.

• But, switching platforms won't be enough: the real challenge lies in earning their trust and loyalty. Gen Alpha values creativity, sustainability, and authenticity.

• The end of TikTok presents an opportunity to embrace a new era of responsible, thoughtful engagement.

🥉 META TURNS OFF MISINFORMATION CONTROL

More brand safety issues coming: Meta has quietly dismantled the system that prevented misinformation from spreading in the U.S. According to an internal document obtained by Platformer, machine-learning classifiers that once identified and limited the reach of viral hoaxes have now been switched off. more

• These classifiers, which had identified viral hoaxes, were effective in reducing their reach by over 90%.

• The removal of this system means that false claims—like the “Pope Francis endorses Trump” and Pizzagate hoaxes—can now spread on Facebook, Instagram and Threads.

• Meta declined to comment on the changes.

Today’s Other News ☑︎

Everything else that matters.

Search 🔍

• Can click-through rate (CTR) manipulation hack Google rankings? Briefly, yes, but it's a short-lived illusion. Sterling Sky’s experiment showed brigaded clicks push a restaurant's ranking higher, but over time its ranking slowly dipped back to where it started. Plus, if Google detects fake clicks, they could drop your ranking instead of boosting it. more

  • 🧑‍⚖️ The verdict: it’s risky, unsustainable, and not worth it.

Social Media 📱

• Weird flex: Yesterday, X shared that users spent 24 minutes in the app per user in 2024. That’s down from 30 minutes in March and 38 minutes pre-Musk. more

• Bluesky is launching its own photo-sharing app, called Flashes, powered by its AT Protocol. While it won’t be an Instagram clone, Flashes will support photo posts (up to 4 images) and videos (up to 1 minute). more

  • Posts will also sync with Bluesky, including comments and DMs.

• Pissed off tech advocates and celebs, including Mark Ruffalo and Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales, are taking on Mark Zuckerberg by raising $30M for a new social network. Their project, called Free Our Feeds, aims to build an independently hosted social infrastructure on Bluesky’s AT Protocol, creating a people-first ecosystem of interconnected apps. more

TikTok 🎵 

• Viral brands are prepping for a post-FYP world with TikTok's ban looming in just 4 days. Duolingo, with 14M followers on the app, told Digiday it plans to "double down" on brand content, ramp up multi-platform campaigns, and experiment with new storytelling formats. more

• For the most part, agencies have remained calm about a potential TikTok ban in the U.S.—until now. After the Supreme Court raised doubts about its legality last week, several agencies told ADWEEK their contingency plans are now well underway, with a handful advising clients to pause spending on the platform. more

Legal ⚖️ 

• A Motion to Intervene has been filed in the WP Engine lawsuit against Automattic and Matt Mullenweg, raising 15 claims and seeking monetary damages and changes to WordPress.org's governance. The motion, filed by Michael Willman, a WordPress developer and CEO of Redev, calls for the creation of a WordPress Oversight Board. more

• Honey, the browser extension owned by PayPal, and Capital One Shopping are both facing separate class-action lawsuits from creators who claim the companies swapped affiliate links to pocket commissions. The dispute involves last-click attribution, a common sales tracking method. Both companies deny the allegations, with PayPal defending last-click attribution as an industry standard. more

B2B Marketing 🧑‍💼 

• A new survey from Sopro looks at the top challenges B2B marketers face in 2025 and their strategies to overcome them. Lead generation remains the primary focus for most, but tighter budgets at prospect companies are making it harder to stand out, and win business. more

Product Features & Updates 🆕 

• Google is making its AI features free in Workspace apps like Gmail, Docs, Sheets and Meet. Previously, if you wanted to use these features you needed to spend an additional $20/month to be part of its Gemini Business plan. But, there’s a catch: all Workspace plans are getting a price hike of about $2 more per month per user. more

• Google Analytics has introduced a centralized Consent Settings Hub in Admin. This hub lets you manage consent signals, view the collection status of consent signals across your property’s streams, and review and address consent-related diagnostics. more

  • To access it, go to Admin > Data Collection and Modification > Consent Settings.

• WhatsApp is adding more camera effects with new backgrounds, filters and effects for photos and videos in chats. You can also turn your selfie into a sticker and double-tap messages to react faster, easily accessing your most-used reactions. more

In the News 📰

Places where we’re quoted in the media

Meta says new rules prioritize freedom of expression, but even civil liberty advocates have mixed feelings

CBC News • January 15, 2025

Advertisers could be concerned about their messages showing up next to negative posts referring to women or queer people with insulting language, because of how many companies advertise on Facebook and Instagram.

"Meta is a powerhouse," said Tod Maffin, host/editor of the podcast and newsletter Today in Digital Marketing. "Advertisers have a lot to worry about here."

That is, at least in part, because it could be difficult to block an advertisement for, say, laundry detergent from showing up on a post that calls lesbian youth mentally ill.

Maffin pointed out that tools advertisers use to restrict and control where their ads show up often do not work as promised, in his experience.

His own podcast tried to prevent being associated with content about guns, but then he got a message from a listener asking if he was aware that ads for gun silencers were appearing on the show. "It turns out that they had grouped that ad not in the guns category, but in the hunting category, which we had not blocked," he explained.

Maffin pointed out it will take time to see if marketers decide to leave because of these changes, and that will depend on how — and if — many users leave Facebook and Instagram as a result.

"The brands that are on the progressive side will leave, and then the rest of the market will wait," he said.

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