A federal judge handed Meta one of its biggest legal wins in years, ruling that its Instagram and WhatsApp acquisitions do not violate US antitrust law. The decision leaned heavily on how TikTok and YouTube now compete for the same user attention Meta once dominated—proof, the court said, that the company cannot be considered a monopoly. The ruling arrives just as Reels accelerates across Instagram and platforms converge on short-form video and AI-driven discovery. For marketers, the outcome underscores a simple reality: user attention sits across the big three video platforms, and planning must follow that distribution.

Luma AI has secured a $900 million funding round led by Humain, pushing its valuation above $4 billion and marking one of the largest investments to date in AI-generated video. As agencies, studios, and brands increasingly adopt AI for editing, narration, testing, and full video generation, Luma’s raise signals a shift: AI video is becoming the creative backbone for modern advertising, powering faster iteration, scalable personalization, and multi-format production across every screen.

Podcast hosts are the most influential creators among weekly listeners, with 56% saying hosts have the greatest impact, per a Cumulus Media and Signal Hill Insights report. Recognizing the unique ability of podcast hosts to drive outcomes compared with other influencer types is critical—but as the podcast space becomes more saturated, brands need to seek hosts with specific attributes.

TikTok is letting users control how much AI content appears in their feeds with a slider to dial genAI content up or down depending on preference. The feed-filtering option is only as good as TikTok’s ability to detect genAI content, so the platform is also testing invisible watermarking that adds labeling only TikTok can see. Marketers should monitor how users adjust their AI content preferences and tailor creative accordingly to prioritize transparency and authenticity where AI skepticism is high. Pressure-test TikTok media plans to ensure campaigns consistently appear alongside content that reinforces trust.

Earlier this month, celebrity and influencer Shay Mitchell launched rini, a line of “clinically backed” and “scientifically proven” beauty face masks for kids. Although rini has attached itself to rising beauty trends, consumers and marketers across social platforms are criticising the way the brand is targeting an audience who might still be mastering their ABCs.

Engagement and reach are now top priorities for social marketers as brand awareness sinks to the bottom of the list. Last year, 76% of marketers named brand awareness their No. 1 priority; this year, that number plummeted to 22%, per PhotoShelter. The sharp pivot from brand-building to performance indicators suggests marketers are under growing pressure to prove ROI in fast-moving social environments, even at the expense of longer-term brand health. To balance reach and awareness, brands should build dual-track strategies, measure brand lift, and optimize for both attention and actions.

Meta added content theft protections to Facebook Reels, giving creators more control over their work. The offering is automatically available to qualifying creators in Facebook’s Content Monetization program. Users that enroll with the content protection program will get notifications when content that’s similar to or identical to theirs is posted on Facebook or Instagram. Brands should encourage partnering creators to enroll in the program to safeguard content. The offering could lower the risk of inadvertently using stolen content, making compliance easier and ensuring creators have full rights to the assets that brands invest in and amplify.