Discord sweetens rewarded ads: Nitro bonuses tie premium users closer to Quests, offering brands young, engaged fans.

Creator content is shaping how AI answers questions. But content that’s good at engaging audiences isn’t always what AI surfaces. That’s forcing brands to rethink their creator strategies and content formats so they can show up in AI tools.

This FAQ covers affiliate market size, publisher types, AI disruption, and what marketers should prioritize in 2026.

Snapchat’s young audience and distinct ad products keep it relevant, even as usage slips and regulatory pressure builds. Marketers should use it with strategies built for messaging, creators, and commerce.

Teenagers today are digital natives in the truest sense, but their digital lives reveal surprising nuances about device preferences, social spaces, and emerging technologies that marketers need to understand.

Esports and gaming creators represent two distinct but overlapping opportunities for marketers seeking to reach engaged audiences.

Discord is joining YouTube and TikTok in implementing stricter age verification processes, squeezing marketer access to young users.

Half its founding team is gone, raising doubts about Grok’s pace as rivals lock in enterprise AI deals.

Gen Alpha’s digital world is built around YouTube, gaming, and creator-led content. This report examines how early immersion, platform controls, and shifting norms are reshaping engagement as the cohort approaches adolescence.

Discord is preparing for its IPO; its youthful, highly engaged communities signal rising advertiser interest in participatory platforms as alternatives to feed-driven social media.

Australia has enacted the world’s first nationwide ban on social-media accounts for anyone under 16, forcing platforms like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat to remove underage users or face major penalties. Policymakers and researchers will study the effects on mental health, offline behavior, and migration to unregulated platforms—insights that could influence US policy, where similar proposals are already gaining traction. For advertisers, the implications are significant: removing millions of teen users would constrict future reach curves, shift youth attention toward gaming-adjacent spaces, raise competition for compliant inventory, and complicate early brand-building. Australia’s experiment may foreshadow US market disruption.

The news: Facebook is promoting its Pokes feature in an effort to increase user engagement. Pokes—a mainstay feature of the early Facebook experience—are regaining popularity, prompting Facebook to make it a more central part of the user experience, per TechCrunch. Users can now track their “Pokes count” with friends, essentially a streak, on top of a dedicated Poke button added to Facebook profiles. Our take: Meta relies on Facebook for the lion’s share of its ad revenues. While Pokes may seem to be a low-stakes experiment, re-engaging younger users is a high-stakes battle, and even small features can tip the balance if they create sticky user habits.

The news: Despite global cuts in ad budgets, several companies are diving head-first into their own ad offerings to diversify revenues. HP is reportedly pitching HP Media Network, an ad network highlighting laptop and desktop ads. The move includes ads on HP computers and apps, offsite ads, placements in social and email campaigns, and a free ad-supported TV service. Our take: Introducing ad offerings isn’t necessarily a lost cause—but knowing how to position new ad products is key to succeeding in a time when advertisers are increasingly hesitant to invest without measurable results.

The news: Tech company Hewlett Packard (HP) is reportedly pitching HP Media Network, an ad network focused on laptop-targeted ads and desktop streaming, per Adweek. HP Media Network will sell ads that show up on HP computers and apps, and will promote its first-party data to give adtech firms access to offsite ads. Our take: HP’s launch could capitalize on growth in the desktop and laptop ad market—but the company needs to prove its offerings as distinctly beneficial compared with competitors, or risk falling victim to advertisers’ concerns over investing in new offerings as budgets are slashed.

Gen Zers continue to overtake millennials in several prominent digital activities and platforms, including social commerce, podcasts, and Instagram.

Discord tests “Discord Orbs” to reward users for ad interaction: A broader rollout could prove successful at driving action among key demographics.

Discord’s platform is built for participation, not passive content: Brands face high standards—and high rewards if they succeed.

Discord facing lawsuit for allegedly harming minors: The case is far from the first time Discord and other platforms have faced similar scrutiny.

It's been a year since the messaging app Discord launched its own reward-based ad format called "Quests" for PC and game console users, and they're ready to celebrate its success.

Gaming opportunities for advertisers flourishing: IAB PlayFronts unveiled insights into how marketers can meet gamers where they’re at.