US ad spend dropped 8.0% YoY in February, according to a MediaPost analysis of Standard Media Index’s US Ad Market Tracker. That marks eight months of consecutive YoY decline as part of a trend that began in July 2022.

TikTok will see 11.6% global user growth this year, according to our forecast. That’s about double Snapchat’s and Instagram’s expected growth. The ByteDance-owned app will boast more than 900 million monthly users this year—if it manages to stay in the US, its biggest country.

As the possibility of a TikTok ban grows in the US, users are looking for other platforms to satisfy their short-video needs. In a Cowen survey, 26% of adult US users said they’d switch to Instagram Reels, and 21% said they’d head to YouTube Shorts. Meanwhile, 37% had no plans to use another short-video app.

An ultimatum by the Biden administration gives ByteDance no recourse but to sell TikTok—which China’s government doesn’t seem likely to allow—or risk being banned.

TikTok bans in colleges go viral: The fallout from students and teachers could be indicative of wider pushback against banning the app.

Government resistance against TikTok intensifies: The list of states banning TikTok on government devices keeps growing. Could intensifying scrutiny lead to an all-out US TikTok ban?

Deepfake AI training blocked at Google: Some face-altering AI models are being refused but others can still run in Google’s Colaboratory, revealing a porous approach to AI self-regulation.