Ahead of an impending US sale deadline, ByteDance-owned TikTok has announced significant growth in Europe, adding 5 million active users YoY and seeing over 200 million EU users monthly. Even as TikTok grows in the EU and other key markets, the platform faces an uphill battle to reassure advertisers amid persistent uncertainty over its US regulatory future.
On today’s podcast episode, we discuss what will happen now that the new ESPN app has hit the market, if it can become the “default home” of sports, and what will happen to sports rights in the future. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host, Marcus Johnson and Vice President of Content, Paul Verna. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.
The news: Atlassian—maker of Jira, Confluence, and Trello—willbuy Arc and Dia creator The Browser Company for $610 million in cash, per TechCrunch. The deal could transform Arc from a niche experiment into an Atlassian-owned gateway for enterprise work, much like how Chrome became a container for Google’s services. Our take: Chrome’s continued dominance could lead to a more concentrated browser market—pushing competitors to seek smaller niches to control. With over 300,000 customers worldwide, Atlassian has the reach to seed Arc across enterprises as the “work browser.” If it succeeds, the shift could pressure Chrome’s dominance, at least for business use, and signal a broader redefinition of browsers from neutral gateways to productivity ecosystems.
The news: Apple will reportedly launch an AI-enabled web search tool powered by Google’s Gemini, potentially accelerating long-awaited software improvements and helping Apple enter the AI search race, per Bloomberg. The “answer engine” would be integrated with Siri and could help Apple compete with OpenAI and Perplexity. The feature, internally called World Knowledge Answers, will aggregate information from across the web into AI Overviews-esque summaries. It may eventually be added to Safari and Spotlight. Our take: Apple’s pivot toward external AI partnerships highlights how unready it is to compete head-to-head in foundational AI or search. While a Gemini integration could improve Siri and add powerful search capabilities, it could threaten Apple’s core advantage: total control over the user experience.
Meta will allow advertisers to exclude specific words or phrases from AI-generated ad copy to protect and align with brand image as it accelerates its AI advertising push. While barriers to adoption remain, Meta’s continued push toward AI ad automation signals where the future of advertising is heading: One where AI will increasingly balance scale with control to give marketers confidence in experimenting with automated campaigns.
The news: OpenAI will acquire product-testing startup Statsig for $1.1 billion as it expands its applications division. Statsig CEO Vijaye Raji, formerly vice president and head of entertainment at Facebook, will join OpenAI as CTO of applications. OpenAI said the deal, pending regulatory approval, will help it develop “even better, more responsive experiences for the people and businesses we serve,” per a press release. Our take: This deal positions OpenAI to launch entirely new categories of AI-powered experiences—personalized content feeds, collaborative AI tools, or productivity suites.
The news: Instagram’s latest updates to direct messaging could help brands and creators better organize communications, making the platform a go-to for striking brand partnerships and engaging with customers. Meta added several filtering options to Instagram, including the option to sort DMs by unread or unanswered messages as well as by the senders’ follow count and verification status. Creators can also streamline inbox management with new folders. Our take: These are more than just admin updates—they’re features that pave the way for a future where DMs are central to engagement. Investing time and resources in intentional messaging workflows can help treat DMs as a high-impact channel and a meeting point between companies and consumers.
Instagram is currently testing a picture-in-picture (PiP) viewing option for Reels that will allow users to watch the short-form service outside of the Instagram app. Instagram is reportedly prompting a small number of users to test the option, which includes a toggle for PiP in Instagram’s playback settings. While it’s a late move for Instagram, PiP Reels will extend the platform’s role beyond active scrolling, letting advertisers reach consumers during passive moments, unlocking a critical advantage in a crowded social landscape.
Snap debuted a new ad suite for marketers and developers, offering an “App Power Pack” that includes new bid strategies, ad formats, optimization strategies, and targeting capabilities to boost ROI, per MediaPost. Snap’s ad suite is an important step in the company’s efforts to cement its strength in advertising and curb slowing growth. We forecast the platform’s ad revenues will continue falling in the low single digits through 2027. But with competitors already offering similar products, Snapchat needs to go a step further to stand out.
The news: IDC has nearly doubled its worldwide smartphone forecast for 2025. Once projected at 0.6%, growth is now expected to hit 1%, fueled by iOS momentum, replacement demand, and a premium-device push, per 9to5Mac. Our take: Smartphones are entering a new cycle of innovation and moving upmarket. AI-first features and foldables will reset consumer expectations, open premium price tiers, and change which brands consumers choose and build loyalty toward. Advertisers and marketers should plan for richer, device-native experiences. Build campaigns that tap into AI-driven personalization, visual search, and generative content creation.
The news: ChatGPT’s referral traffic to websites plummeted 52% in a single month after a fundamental shift in how the AI model operates. OpenAI manually reweighted its system to prioritize sources that provide direct, helpful answers, per Search Engine Land. Our take: Declining web traffic means declining revenues. For marketers and publishers, the mandate is to adapt to GEO or risk invisibility in a world where AI answers, not clicks, dominate. Reshaping web content to be more answer oriented could help surface it in ChatGPT, but that’s easier said than done for publishers with legacy content. Companies that move early to understand and influence AI citation patterns will secure a competitive edge as this new content distribution landscape takes shape.
The news: Skylight is a new short-form video app like TikTok, but instead of using algorithms to decide what videos users see, it lets real people create and share their own video feeds, similar to Pinterest’s curation model. Built on Bluesky’s decentralized and open protocol, Skylight has clocked 240,000 downloads and 100,000 video uploads since April, per TechCrunch. Our take: Skylight’s reliance on creator-led feeds gives marketers a glimpse at what post-algorithm engagement could look like. But it remains to be seen if users take to an alternative way of consuming short-form video.
The news: Spotify added direct messaging to its free and premium tiers, marking a major step toward the streaming platform becoming a more social destination. Messaging is available one-on-one on mobile devices, and users can only start conversations with people they’ve already shared content with—like a collaborative playlist or participating in a Blend or Jam. Our take: For marketers, this opens up greater potential for content virality, social-driven campaigns, and integrations with creators and communities. Brands should explore building shareable, collaborative music experiences, like sponsored playlists or interactive audio experiences built for DM sharing.
The news: Snap is seeking outside funding for its AR Spectacles as it struggles to compete with Meta platforms and TikTok, per The Information. Our take: Bringing in outside capital could help Snap accelerate AR development without draining its core business. The possibility of gathering outside investment also highlights how critical Snap’s AR bet has become and how high the stakes are. Staying competitive requires Snap to prove Spectacles can evolve past a niche hardware play and compete with strong AI alternatives. If it can’t, Snap may get stuck in the middle, overshadowed by platforms that are faster, bigger, and richer.
The news: 46% of US adults check their phones between 10 and 50 times per day, per a YouGov survey, presenting brands with a strong opportunity to create sticky, habit-forming mobile experiences. Sixty-four percent of survey respondents have at least one paid mobile app subscription, showing that consumers are willing to pay if apps provide solutions to users’ needs. Our take: B2C marketers looking to drive subscriptions or paid features need to ensure apps deliver immediate, ongoing value that users will turn to daily. For apps that can’t hit the bar of essential utility, a freemium or ad-supported model can offer more realistic monetization paths.
Google will soon unveil an AI-powered personal health coach for the Fitbit app. Powered by Gemini, the health coach will be available to Fitbit Premium subscribers. Google will roll out a preview in October with the latest Fitbit trackers, Fitbit smartwatches, and Pixel Watches. Our take: The AI arms race has hit the health app and wearables space, and Google/Fitbit beat rivals to the punch with an AI personalized health coach. Highly customized health recommendations will be a must-have in the next iteration of digital health tools. Players in this space must ensure their AI-delivered guidance is reliable, while not turning off consumers with pricey subscription requirements.
The news: Audio ad platform Odeeo and content creation platform Wondercraft today announced an in-game audio ad partnership that will allow advertisers to craft audio ads in multiple languages in minutes. The partnership will integrate Wondercraft’s AI-powered creative production tools with Odeeo’s in-game audio solutions, with features to craft, localize, and personalize content. Our take: Odeeo and Wondercraft’s collaboration promises potential, capitalizing on the steady trajectory of time spent with gaming while accounting for gamer preferences for ads that are non-intrusive and integrate with the game’s environment.
The news: AI dominated Wednesday’s Made by Google event, where the company unveiled its Pixel 10 lineup. Google pitched Gemini as “personal intelligence,” framing it as a universal AI assistant across smartphones, wearables, smart homes, and connected cars. The showcase feature, Magic Cue, anticipates user needs by pulling data from Gmail, Calendar, and Messages to suggest timely actions. Our take: If features like Magic Cue prove indispensable, Google gains a recurring revenue stream and deeper ecosystem lock-in. If they fade as gimmicks, Pixel risks remaining a niche brand, especially if competitors can provide similar apps or services.
The news: TikTok is experiencing massive growth among older generations, with adoption for users 45+ growing 1,200% between 2019 and 2025, per CivicScience—suggesting its stickiness across demographics and emphasizing older consumers’ buying power. Our take: A successful social advertising strategy will strike a balance: Valuing younger demographics for their growing influence while accounting for the enduring importance of older generations for driving digital purchases as social media adoption skyrockets.
The news: A federal appeals court upheld $92 million in fines against T-Mobile and Sprint for illegally selling customer location information (CLI) without proper consent or safeguards. Our take: When building campaigns that use location-based targeting or CLI, marketers should treat consent and transparency as not only legal checkboxes but also strategic imperatives. Brands that clearly communicate how data is collected and used will build trust and better maintain customer loyalty.