YouTube Shorts is bringing its Shorts Fund to over 30 new countries: The platform is stressing the importance of original content as it goes up against TikTok for creators.

Every quarter, we compile the most important product, commerce, and monetization developments for the major social platforms and explain what they mean for marketers.

Digital video viewership, time spent with the medium, and video ad spending are all reaching new heights in Canada.

YouTube is the most popular platform for non-TV video content in the US, with 65% of the country’s short-form video viewers using the service to watch user-generated content, video game livestreams, and the like.

Spotify is still expanding its podcast listenership in the US, while Apple Podcasts’ has essentially stagnated. In fact, Spotify will narrowly surpass Apple in this metric by the end of this year.

Advertisers aren't confident that their digital ads are working: A shift to digital channels in 2020 coincided with changes to tracking and privacy that have shaken advertiser faith.

On today's episode, we discuss Facebook's new Ray-Ban smart glasses, whether time spent on TikTok actually surpassed YouTube, what branded gaming on Roblox looks like, how to get noticed as a marketer, whether selling Super Bowl ads early is a good move, how to make friends while working from home, how two people reversed climate change in their hometown, and more. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer principal analyst Suzy Davidkhanian, director of reports editing Rahul Chadha, and analyst at Insider Intelligence Blake Droesch.

Around the world, mobile is the No. 1 device for watching YouTube, capturing 63% of the platform’s video views in Q2 2021.

Twitter’s Super Follows isn’t to attract new creators—it’s to keep the ones it has: As the platform slowly sheds US users, new monetization options and better anti-harassment features are the least it can do.

US children are getting their dose of advertising from YouTube. In April 2021, 70% of those ages 2 to 12 said they had recently seen ads on YouTube, far more than the 36% who reported the same of TV.

There will be 23.6 million YouTube Premium subscribers by the end of the year, which is up a healthy 18% over 2020.

We project the number of paid digital audio subscribers in the US will hit 121.9 million this year, up 11% over 2020's total.

On today's episode, we discuss how the pandemic changed how we buy electronics and how omnichannel marketing and operations are evolving. We then talk about whether YouTube is living up to its potential, ESPN+'s sports rights strategy, and whether DAZN can shake up sports TV. Tune in to the discussion with head of ecommerce at Samsung Electronics Argentina Guido Shama, eMarketer senior analyst Matteo Ceurvels, and director of forecasting at Insider Intelligence Oscar Orozco.

Although a growing percentage of ad spending around TV content is happening through addressable, programmatic, and connected TV channels, making advertising more accountable, holistic campaign metrics that cut across the linear and digital domains remain elusive.

YouTube’s on top and on the go

On today's episode, we discuss Google's Q2 performance, how YouTube got on, and why the tech giant continues to accelerate. We then talk about YouTube improving its CTV ad offerings, what GDPR taught us about privacy upheavals, and why CMOs need to demonstrate the value of their work now more than ever. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer senior forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence Eric Haggstrom.

Read on for three new things to know from Insider Intelligence.

US influencer marketing spending will rise by 33.6% in 2021 to $3.69 billion. Our inaugural forecast shows that US marketers will allocate nearly $1 billion more to influencer marketing this year than they did in 2020, representing the strongest spending growth in the industry since 2019.

Google exceeds expectations: Based on Tuesday's earnings, we anticipate another upward revision of Google’s ad revenues in our US digital ad spending report, out this fall.

TikTok’s rapid rise during the pandemic has been well-documented, but until recently, its fate had been uncertain due to increasing government scrutiny in several countries.