The news: Google is turning search results into a customizable, algorithmic feed. The search giant is rolling out Preferred Sources, which allows users to select their favorite blogs or news outlets to appear the most in the “top stories” section. The feature aims to help users see more content from their favorite sites, per Google. Our take: If search results become a more limited discovery engine, news sites and blogs may need to rely more heavily on traffic through alternative sources. Joining blogging sites like Medium and Substack could help maintain visibility and surface new readers who will add them as preferred news sources, considering the platforms’ focus on content discovery.
The news: Nvidia is facing a new obstacle in its ability to sell chips to China—Chinese authorities are urging ByteDance, Alibaba, Tencent, and others to halt purchases of Nvidia hardware. This follows an agreement between President Donald Trump, Nvidia, and AMD that requires the two companies give the US government a 15% cut of Chinese chip revenues in exchange for permission to sell hardware there, per Bloomberg. Our take: ability to develop and deploy AI models for things like algorithm recommendations, content moderation, and generative AI (genAI) features. Marketers should diversify their AI-powered marketing tools to stay ahead if TikTok’s ad products and UX features develop more slowly.
The news: 88% of mobile app ad spend is concentrated on Google and Meta, per Moloco’s Performance Through Independence report, despite high user engagement with independent apps. Advertisers who diversified their ad mix beyond the two Big Tech giants saw return on ad spend (ROAS) improve by up to 214%. Our take: Independent mobile apps offer untapped ROI. Reducing reliance on Google and Meta by diversifying mobile app spend could boost reach, hedge against platform risks, and better align with user behavior, especially as privacy challenges threaten to reshape targeting and measurement.
The news: The release of OpenAI’s long-awaited GPT-5—a frontier model the company originally expected to launch in summer 2024—hit turbulence almost immediately. Despite high expectations, early users reported the model felt sluggish and less capable than GPT-4o, labeling it “kinda mid.” It’s a surprising letdown for what was billed as a major leap forward. Our take: Marketing and communications remain stubbornly human domains for now. If AI could fully replace them, OpenAI’s own product announcements would run like clockwork. Instead, the debut of one of the world’s most advanced AI models was labeled an avoidable public relations headache, showing that even cutting-edge technology may be remembered less for what it can do and more for how it was introduced.
The news: Meta’s strategy of hiring its competitors’ top AI engineers reflects the industry’s urgency to ramp up capabilities and get to artificial general intelligence (AGI) first—CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that was the company’s objective in “delivering personal superintelligence for everyone,” per ZDNET. Our take: Meta is betting big—on people, not just products. This strategy offers speed, proprietary insight, and technical capacity. But it also raises scrutiny from investors and customers expecting it to pay off. Marketers should track Meta’s progress and watch how it integrates newly acquired AI knowledge. If successful, this shift could reinvent ad targeting, creative automation, and user modeling at scale.
The news: Content demands are growing faster than budgets, pushing marketers toward AI as a way to keep up. Even as automation increases, ad agencies remain crucial partners for executing and scaling campaigns. Two-thirds (67%) of global employees working in marketing and communications use AI for content creation frequently or all the time, per 10Fold’s AI-First, Buyer-Ready report. That surge in AI adoption is accompanied by ambitious output goals: 91% plan to increase their content output this year, and nearly half (45%) expect to produce three to five times more than before. Our take: The future of content marketing isn’t AI versus agencies—it’s a combination of both. Hybrid models that combine in-house human and AI-powered creation with agencies’ expertise in strategy, distribution, and optimization can help maximize budgets, maintain brand voice, and keep up output as demand rises.
The news: Apple Intelligence could integrate OpenAI’s GPT-5, its latest model that combines traditional ChatGPT capabilities with deepo3-series reasoning, as early as next month, per 9to5Mac. Updates for a more personalized and intelligent Siri, originally expected in the iOS 18.4 update, were delayed in March until sometime “in the coming year.” GPT-5 could accelerate that timeline and give Apple a more robust foundation for a truly conversational, autonomous assistant Our take: Marketers and publishers should prepare for reduced visibility through traditional search if assistants like Siri can effectively answer user queries directly. Focus on generative engine optimization (GEO) for conversational AI discovery—think FAQs on websites and succinct answers that large language models (LLM) can easily surface.
The news: Openvibe, an aggregator for social networks including Threads, Mastodon, and Bluesky, is broadening its scope, giving brands and publishers a fresh channel to build visibility without relying on algorithms or paid reach. The ad-free platform is adding support for RSS, a web standard that lets users subscribe to updates from blogs, news outlets, and other publishers in real time. This opens the door to tracking sources like Substack, Medium, and other independent media, all in one place. Our take: With no algorithm to boost weak or low-signal content, publishers should write strong and descriptive headlines to encourage engagement. Brands should consider publishing blog versions of social media and newsletter content to get on more RSS feeds and cross-post across social networks to maximize reach.
The news: President Donald Trump said he will enact 100% tariffs on all chips imported into the US, exempting companies that have promised to build or have begun building in the US. The plan was announced during a White House meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook, who said Apple will invest another $100 billion in US manufacturing and jobs, bringing its total commitment to $600 billion, per The Financial Times. Our take: Brands should prepare for new marketing challenges and opportunities tied to supply chain visibility, patriotic manufacturing narratives, and potentially longer product cycles if companies reshore production. Keeping an eye on where key suppliers are building and how quickly they can pivot to US-based operations will be crucial in forecasting product costs and shaping future campaigns.
The news: Instagram added a host of new features for connecting with friends. The offerings could expand brands’ peer-to-peer visibility and location-based content and boost their chances of going viral. Our take: Brands should lean into organic discovery by creating engaging, visual-driven content that encourages reposts and peer engagement. Prioritize geo-aware promotions to tap into Instagram’s shift toward real-time social discovery and exploration.
The news: Cohere wants to ease enterprise concerns around AI adoption with the launch of North, its new flagship platform. North is a privately deployable agentic platform that lets companies create, manage, and deploy AI agents entirely behind their own firewall. Our take: With the frenetic pace of AI model launches and the pressure for quick enterprise adoption, data governance and security can’t be an afterthought. Platforms like North give enterprises a path to adopt powerful AI tools without giving up control over sensitive information.
The news: Startup ElevenLabs launched Eleven Music, a platform that gives brands and creators copyright-safe tools to generate custom music and audio. Users can enter prompts in plain English—such as “make me an upbeat disco track with background vocals”—and get a track within minutes, per The Wall Street Journal. Our take: Services like ElevenLabs can democratize music creation for video campaigns and empower smaller brands to create original campaign content with minimal effort. But with growing concern over AI’s role in creative industries, brands should remain transparent about AI use, keep human creatives on staff as backstops, and use AI when it can complement rather than replace human work.
The news: OpenAI is bringing its newest models to Amazon Web Services (AWS) for the first time, marking a major milestone in the ongoing battle for AI cloud dominance. Its open-weight models, gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b—available via Amazon Bedrock and SageMaker AI platforms—are able to handle complicated text-based operations and integrate into cloud-based systems. Our take: OpenAI’s models are getting easier to access, meaning lower costs and fewer technical hurdles to trying powerful AI tools. AWS customers should start testing oss-120b and oss-20b for things like generating subject lines, social copy, and campaign variations and explore ways to fine-tune the models with company data.
The news: Direct messages (DMs) are becoming a key channel to reach consumers as follower growth, once the gold standard for social media success, declines. The average number of shares for brands on TikTok increased 60% quarter over quarter in Q1, per Dash Social’s 2025 Social Media Trends report, showing a pivot toward private content distribution. At the same time, average monthly follower growth for brands on TikTok dropped 27% YoY. Our take: The rise of DMs as a preferred engagement channel signals a deeper shift in social media strategy—from public broadcasting to private conversation—that requires brands to prioritize intimacy to maintain trust and drive meaningful outcomes.
The news: Roku launched Howdy, a streaming service for just $2.99 per month. It will initially be available through the Roku platform, with further rollout on mobile and beyond in the works.Our take: With 2.5% of all TV watch time—more than any other FAST provider—Roku has the audience to promote Howdy effectively. It must ensure that Howdy feels essential, not disposable, and that its content delivers real value. Still, with price sensitivity increasing and tolerance for ads shrinking, Howdy has clear appeal—especially among users seeking affordable streaming without sacrificing experience. If Roku executes on distribution and content strategy, Howdy could quietly scale into a meaningful revenue stream. Our take: With 2.5% of all TV watch time—more than any other FAST provider—Roku has the audience to promote Howdy effectively. It must ensure that Howdy feels essential, not disposable, and that its content delivers real value. Still, with price sensitivity increasing and tolerance for ads shrinking, Howdy has clear appeal—especially among users seeking affordable streaming without sacrificing experience. If Roku executes on distribution and content strategy, Howdy could quietly scale into a meaningful revenue stream. Our take: With 2.5% of all TV watch time—more than any other FAST provider—Roku has the audience to promote Howdy effectively. It must ensure that Howdy feels essential, not disposable, and that its content delivers real value. Still, with price sensitivity increasing and tolerance for ads shrinking, Howdy has clear appeal—especially among users seeking affordable streaming without sacrificing experience. If Roku executes on distribution and content strategy, Howdy could quietly scale into a meaningful revenue stream.
The news: Big Tech’s Q2 2025 earnings reveal Microsoft, Alphabet (Google), Meta, and Amazon are expected to spend up to $364 billion to $400 billion collectively on capital expenditures in their 2025 fiscal years, with the vast majority targeted toward AI-related infrastructure, per The Wall Street Journal. Our first take: Big Tech is doubling down on generative AI (genAI) as its next growth engine. This massive buildout is already squeezing cloud margins, straining data center capacity and igniting a talent arms race.
On today’s podcast episode, we discuss why Ms. Yaccarino left X, the expectations for its advertising business in the short and long term, and how realistic its chances are of becoming an “everything app”. Join our conversation with Senior Director of Podcasts and host, Marcus Johnson, Vice President and Principal Analyst, Jasmine Enberg, and Analyst, Marisa Jones. Listen everywhere you find podcasts and watch on YouTube and Spotify.
The news: Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed plans to “significantly” increase AI investments, including acquisitions. The iPhone-maker acquired seven firms this year, some focused on AI, and remains open to deals of any size to boost capabilities, per Business Insider. Our take: Apple’s focus on efficiency and partnerships suggests incremental but impactful AI-driven tools will emerge, especially around privacy-first and device-dependent personalization. Prepare for evolving Apple AI features that emphasize user privacy. Balance campaigns between Apple’s controlled environment and more open, AI-reliant ecosystems like Google’s and Meta’s to optimize reach and precision.
The news: YouTube is giving connected TV (CTV) users the ability to skip to the most-viewed part of a video, helping them avoid slow moments or sponsored content. The feature was previously available on mobile and web for Premium subscribers and is now rolling out to Premium users who watch YouTube on its CTV app, per Android Authority. Our take: Influencer sponsored content spots are becoming more invisible and avoidable. Brands should pivot toward native product integrations within core content or have creators place sponsorships in pre- and post-roll messaging, which may be less likely to be bypassed by AI. The era of passive viewing is over. Viewers have more control, and brands need to adapt to stay visible.
The news: Amazon plans to put ads in its AI-powered Alexa+ voice assistant to boost product discovery and profits. Our take: If Amazon rolls out sponsored answers to Alexa+ user queries or in-conversation ads, the voice assistant’s vast trove of personal user data will help marketers target consumers on a micro level. However, if hallucinations arise and lead to irrelevant or inaccurate product recommendations, Amazon risks eroding both user trust and brand confidence.