Social platforms want a bigger role in search ad budgets, but user habits lag behind. As search expands beyond traditional engines, these platforms must turn occasional behavior into intent-driven activity to grab ad dollars.

68% expect social to deliver the most value, pairing low costs with AI and UGC to rival bigger brands.

Fan remixes are turning into an attention engine, and brands that design for reinterpretation stand to win.

In place of the monthly retailer rankings, “Behind the Numbers” has launched the Unofficial Monthly Retailer Awards (UMRAs). Each month, the awards will spotlight retailers that stand out in three key categories: Most impactful campaign, best in-real-life initiative, and best under-the-radar move. Analysts will nominate standout brands, and host Suzy Davidkhanian will select the winners based on their cases.

"Retailers are reinventing the ways that they connect with their customers in real life," said our analyst Blake Droesch during a recent “Behind the Numbers” episode. "The D2C revolution that we saw play out online has now really reached its limitations, giving way to a disconnection between brands and their customers."

Disney will invest $1 billion in OpenAI and allow Sora users to create short-form videos featuring more than 200 Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars characters. User-generated material opens a new potential spigot of low-cost content for Disney+, which is under increased pressure to compete with YouTube. The move marks a major shift for a conglomerate that has historically held its IP close to the chest.

Authenticity (35%) and track record (32%) are the top two factors US adults consider when deciding which online product reviewers to trust, according to Ipsos data from October 2025.

The news: Gamers are more involved in gaming content than ever before, thanks in large part to titles like Roblox, Minecraft, and Fortnite. And they’re not keeping that interest solely on-platform. 46% of gamers say their time spent creating in-game video game content has somewhat or significantly increased over a year ago, per Bain & Company’s Gaming Report 2025. About 20% say they spend less time. 27% of gamers’ social media time and 25% of their streaming video time is spent focused on gaming-related content. Our take: The gaming audience is growing, and it’s not focused on a single platform or console. Gamers’ interests reach through the game and into social media, streaming, TV, and audio, giving marketers a wide path to reach gamers where they are.

The news: Last week, credit unions and their customers participated in the annual #ILoveMyCreditUnion social media campaign, per America’s Credit Unions. During last year’s campaign, over 1,000 organizations across all states and 15 countries reached more than 4 million people. Our take: The industrywide social media blitz underscores the importance of collective action and unified messaging. In a competitive landscape where individual credit unions often lack the marketing budgets of large banks, coming together for a coordinated campaign can amplify their reach exponentially. This collaborative spirit is a core differentiator for credit unions, helping them demonstrate their unique, member-centric value proposition to millions of potential new members.

A new Adalytics investigation reveals that YouTube served ads from major brands like Disney, HBO Max, and Hulu alongside thousands of pirated films, live TV broadcasts, and exclusive streaming content—racking up over 250 million views. The report highlights systemic failures in YouTube’s content moderation and ad placement transparency, leaving advertisers with little visibility and minimal recourse for refunds. Worse, some studios may have inadvertently paid to retarget users who pirated their own content. As copyright enforcement lags and automation is gamed, brands and rights holders face financial, reputational, and legal risks in one of digital media’s biggest ecosystems.

The trend: Gen Z is opting out of both traditional pay TV and ad-supported streaming tiers, signaling deeper changes in viewing behavior. Just 42% of Gen Z subscribers use ad-supported SVOD, while less than half of all US households now maintain a pay TV subscription. Our take: Streaming’s future depends on reaching the next generation, but current models—especially ad-supported tiers—aren’t meeting Gen Z where they are. With only 1.3 hours of streaming and 0.8 hours of traditional TV per day, Gen Z prefers social video, gaming, and music. To stay relevant, platforms must prioritize native formats, interactivity, and creator integration over legacy ad models.

The news: Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled that social media platforms must be held accountable for illegal user-generated content (UGC), marking a major shift in digital regulation, per Reuters. Six of 11 justices backed fines for non-removal, putting the pressure on platforms to police their content. The decision to place accountability on platform owners could undermine the business and advertising strategies of Meta, YouTube, X, and TikTok. Key takeaway: When governments crack down on platforms, ad environments change fast. If Brazil’s ruling becomes the norm, social platforms may shift from open forums to tightly controlled spaces—risking user engagement, discoverability, algorithmic reach, and ad effectiveness.

We explore how banks can best leverage popular platforms to reach potential customers.

Generative AI is revolutionizing marketing and advertising, allowing brands to create personalized and highly engaging content with unprecedented speed.

Sephora-related content resonated best with Gen Z consumers, but legacy brands like Neutrogena struggled to maintain relevance. Cultural moments like Pride and back-to-school drove Q3 UGC, while video tutorials on platforms like TikTok provide more effective ways for brands to connect with Gen Z. Here are four insights into how beauty brand-related, UGC performed among Gen Z consumers in Q3, according to research firm dcdx’s Gen Z's Top 50 Beauty Brands Report Q3 2024.

Last month, JCPenney announced it was partnering with Bazaarvoice Visual Syndication Network to collect and post user-generated content (UGC) on its website’s product display pages. The department store is hardly the first retailer to recognize the value of UGC—over a quarter (28.4%) of ecommerce marketers in North America believe that images/video from real customers (aka UGC) is the type of visual content that impacts purchase decisions the most, according to a May 2023 survey from Nosto.