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The Top Three

🏆 THE INDUSTRY’S MOST IMPORTANT STORIES TODAY

🥇 THE FTC VS. META’S REIGN

Meta’s $META ( ▼ 0.17% ) big antitrust trial kicked off today, with the American Federal Trade Commission accusing the company of illegally monopolizing social media by acquiring Instagram and WhatsApp when they were start-ups, using a "buy-or-bury" strategy to eliminate competition. The case poses a major threat to Mark Zuckerberg’s empire and could have ripple effects across the ad industry. A win for regulators could lead to a forced breakup and a shift in how tech consolidation is handled going forward. more

• The FTC argues Meta’s acquisitions deprived consumers of alternative social platforms and stifled competition.

• Meta denies the claims, citing robust competition from TikTok and others.

• Meta's legal team added that the FTC approved both acquisitions more than a decade ago, warning that undoing previously approved deals could set a dangerous precedent for future mergers.

🥈 META’S GEN Z MARKETING PLAYBOOK

👁️👄👁️ How to speak zoomer: Meta has shared new research on Gen Z's content habits and how marketers should play the game (yes, it's Meta's study... so, grain of salt). more

• Video is the group chat MVP: Nearly 70% of Gen Z users on Facebook and Instagram have shared video content with friends or family. Meta suggests brands lean into joyful, helpful content that users want to pass along.

• Short-form video is their search engine: From recipes to financial tips, more than 80% of Instagram users say they turn to the platform for self-development.

• Repetition matters: nearly 70% said seeing an ad multiple times makes them more likely to engage or buy.

🥉 TOYING WITH MARKETING

ChatGPT is turning LinkedIn users into lifeless dolls. The latest image generator trend has people transforming themselves into toy versions, like the “AI Action Figure,” where users create a plastic version of themselves in a blister pack, complete with LinkedIn-friendly accessories like a laptop, book, and coffee cup. While it started on LinkedIn, the trend has spread to Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. more

• The text-to-image feature was so popular at launch that OpenAI had to limit access to free accounts to prevent server overload.

• Some brands, including MAC and NYX, have joined in, but engagement has been minimal.

• So far, it hasn’t attracted much interest from celebrities or major influencers.

Today’s Other News

📰 EVERYTHING ELSE THAT MATTERS

Advertising 📣

• TikTok Ads launched new brand safety tools today:

  • Video Exclusion List: advertisers can now block specific video IDs from appearing next to their ads.

  • Profile Feed Exclusion List: Advertisers can exclude certain profile pages (by username) from running adjacent to their Profile Feed ads.

• TikTok also launched a new Brand Safety & Suitability Playbook that outlines all of its available tools.

• 🏎️ Driving sales… literally: Uber $UBER ( ▲ 2.98% ) is integrating Instacart’s Carrot Ads $CART ( ▲ 2.16% ) platform into its U.S. advertising system. Starting this month, CPG advertisers will be able to create sponsored product campaigns across the Uber Eats grocery and retail marketplace via Instacart Ads Manager. They will also have access to Carrot Ads’ performance and measurement tools. more

• Retail media networks, once hailed as the ad industry's silver bullet with their promise of targeted ads using first-party retailer data, are now facing growing challenges. As marketers dig deeper into the $62B retail media industry in the U.S., flaws are starting to show. Digiday has a great piece up today about how this identity crisis is fueling a talent crunch, affecting how agencies and retailers hire for crucial roles like strategists, buyers, and experts.

Social Media 📱

• Messenger has increased its file size sharing limit from 25MB to 100MB, (finally) letting users send larger text, image, and video files in DMs. Users can also attach Word docs, Excel sheets, and PDFs. more

Commerce 🛒 

• A growing trade war with China and possible tariffs on other countries are putting pressure on U.S. retailers, forcing tough decisions: raise prices, eat the costs, or cut back on inventory. The New York Times reports how smaller businesses, which rely heavily on imported goods and have less power than retail giants, are especially vulnerable. With rising material costs and few affordable domestic alternatives, many are left in limbo, unsure how to move forward as consumer confidence continues to fall.

AI 🤖 

• Meta announced today that it will soon start training its AI models using data from EU users on Facebook and Instagram, including public posts, comments, and chats with Meta AI. The move only applies to users 18+. more

  • The company said it will start notifying users in the EU this week, via in-app notifications and email, and will provide a way to opt-out.

• 🧠 Eternal Sunshine of the ChatGPT Mind: ChatGPT's memory can now reference all of your past chats, letting it provide more personalized responses based on user preferences and interests ✨forever✨.

Product Updates 🚧 

• Microsoft Clarity $MSFT ( ▼ 1.03% ) rolled out a few updates:

  • Area Maps: Now located in the left panel within the Click Maps section, with a new colour scheme and updates to how percentage clicks are displayed.

  • Page Titles Added to Heatmaps: When browsing the Heatmaps tab, you’ll now see page titles displayed for each URL.

  • Clearer Recording Navigation: Watched recordings now appear in a darker gray.

The Ticker

📈 HOW DIGITAL MARKETING STOCKS ARE DOING

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