Q3 wasn’t an easy quarter for Meta. Snap is in a tough spot. TikTok was the elephant in the room amid its rivals’ disappointing Q2 earnings calls.

In this report, we look at the most important updates for social platforms in Q3 and how those changes will affect marketers. For the first time, we’re including updates for YouTube as well.

Creators and influencers are looking for ways to diversify platforms in order to increase audience outreach, foster community, and assure they’re not at the whims of any single social media algorithm.

Major streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ dive into advertising while more viewers cut the pay TV cord.

YouTube is toying with its ad strategy. The platform is beefing up Shorts by including ads; it tested users’ ad tolerance by running as many as 10 unskippable ads before videos. The experiment has been a headache for users, but the central question isn't new: How many ads and ad breaks will users put up with?

In the US, 52% of Facebook users reported seeing more ads on the social network, while nearly half of YouTube and Instagram users said the same of their respective platforms. Across the social platforms we studied, less than 10% of users felt ad load had decreased.

As Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram chase TikTok’s success in cornering short-form video, the race underscores just how important video has become as a marketing channel.

On today's episode, we discuss how social commerce is evolving, how many Americans buy things on social platforms, and the importance of native checkout. "In Other News," we talk about the significance of YouTube turning on the money hose for Shorts and how long TikTok can preserve its image as a fun app. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Jasmine Enberg.

YouTube tests user patience: Some viewers are being treated to as many as 10 consecutive ads that can’t be skipped.

User trust in the major social platforms is down this year, according to our sixth annual benchmark survey, especially in the areas of privacy, safety, and ad relevance. Trust affects ad engagement, and in a year when ad revenue growth is slowing for many platforms, it’s imperative that they stem the declines.

We detail how YouTube, Search, and Fitbit are tackling health literacy and information as social determinants of health.

Reports that Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok are abandoning some of their shopping features are not a reflection of the platforms’ overall commerce ambitions. But as social commerce buyer growth slows, brands should focus more on reengaging existing customers and less on direct buying capabilities like native checkout.

Last week, Twitter finally announced a “share” button for its Android app. The feature’s already standard in iOS, making Twitter really, really late to its own game. It’s just the latest example of a social media platform chasing revenues from competitors. Apps aren’t above copying off a classmate’s paper to get ahead.

On today's episode, we discuss Facebook's plan to be cool again, Amazon testing a TikTok-style feed, what to make of the price of Netflix with ads, WhatsApp's superpowers in India, TikTok and YouTube making TV their new home, an unpopular opinion about ad-free social media, the most livable cities in the world, and more. Tune in to the discussion with our director of reports editing Rahul Chadha and analysts Evelyn Mitchell and Max Willens.

TikTok and YouTube are taking short-form video to CTVs: Strong viewer growth is making TV screens the next battleground for digital video dominance.

The power of creators is alive and well—despite reports suggesting the opposite. Marketers are increasing, not cutting, their influencer spending, particularly on TikTok. But creator partnerships may not be right for every marketer, as challenges from brand safety to measurement persist.

Influencer marketing has a disclosure problem: The Crypto market in particular has seen top creators push what turned out to be scams, costing followers millions.

When it comes to online shopping, 61% of US consumers begin their product hunt on Amazon, close to half on a search engine like Google, and 32% on Walmart.com.

Among US companies investing in digital video advertising, the share that did so exclusively on YouTube increased from 47% in Q4 2021 to 60% in Q1 2022, for a total of roughly 9,300 companies in the US.

On today's episode, we discuss where young folks are searching instead of Google, what to make of the company's Q2 earnings, and the significance of YouTube's growth slamming on the brakes. "In Other News," we talk about the most interesting part of programmatic advertising and why Google is delaying the deprecation of third-party cookies again. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Evelyn Mitchell.