Happy Tuesday! My missive comes to you a little earlier than usual this week, as your writer will be away from his desk for a few days. Given it’s only been a few days since I last landed in your inbox, this is a relatively short one, but we’ve still got some exciting news from TikTok and relating to Meta, both on the future of ad targeting.

TikTok announces Smart+

TikTok announced this week a new suite of automated tools and targeting options designed to compete with Google’s PMax and Meta’s Advantage+. The announcement comes just in time for retail advertisers’ busiest time of the year.

It is nothing short of impressive to think of how far TikTok’s ad offering has come in just the time I’ve been a freelancer. Indeed, TikTok has been bullish about how these automated ads have performed in testing; then again, so have Meta and Google about their offerings, and overall, IRL, we’ve seen very, very mixed results.

While I’d certainly embrace TikTok ads if you aren’t already and your audience lives there, I might want to dip the toe in the water on these automated versions, rather than throwing all your budget at it.

Meta can’t target based on sexual orientation in EU, court rules

Meta’s ever-dwindling targeting options took another hit this week with the news that the EU’s top court ruled it can’t utilise users’ public statements about their sexual orientation for online advertising.

This signifies a broader trend away from demographic profiling and towards interest-based targeting, and from an ethical and moral standpoint, it’s a welcome one. If you’re a marketer playing in this sandbox and you aren’t already focussing on interest-based targeting, it really is time to start focusing more on that pillar.

If I were a Meta shill, at this point I would be telling you that Advantage+ is the ideal way around this. I’m still not 100% convinced, but it certainly seems to be the direction of travel.

Further Reading

Adobe has launched a set of tools designed to protect creators from being mimicked by AI.

A US judge this week ordered Google to open up its Android app store to competitors for at least three years, signalling the next development in a long-running saga with Epic Games (the makers of Fortnite) and others.

Better news for Google is the launch of its AI-organised search result pages in the US. Starting with recipes, you’ll see a “full page experience” utilising the best the web has to offer. I look forward to seeing it in action!

YouTube shorts are likely to get longer. Obviously.

And finally, a survey this week revealed that 83% of Instagram content creators use AI as part of their process. Hardly a shock, but an insight into how prevalent Generative AI is becoming.

After last week’s feature-heavy edition following numerous platform announcements and updates, today’s edition features some major financial concerns for X, as well as multiple lawsuits and a (somewhat creepy) look at what the future of advertising might look like on Meta. Let’s get to it!

X estimated to have lost 79% of its value

It hasn’t been a great week for Elon Musk and X. Firstly, there was the statement from Fidelity that it’s cut its estimate of X’s value by 79%. 

Yes, 79%. So, every $100 is now worth $21. You’d be distraught if your new car lost that value over the course of several years – but when it’s a $44 billion dollar acquisition, it must surely cause a level of anxiety unimaginable to anyone except, well, Elon Musk.

Then, perhaps less surprisingly, the FT reported that X has seen a significant decline in active users in both the US and the UK.

With plenty of alternatives available, and with Meta rumoured to be planning on introducing ads to Threads, I wouldn’t be placing too much emphasis on Twitter ad spend for a little while yet.

Snapchat sent back to earth following alleged inaction on abuse

After a decent few months of revenue/user growth and some interesting new features, it was a pretty rotten week for Snapchat. This week, the company has been under fire for issues around child safety. Worse, employees have been well aware of these issues and, well, not exactly prioritising solving them.

That said, there was some positivity, with a survey this week showing Gen Z is shopping more on Snapchat than on Instagram or TikTok. It’s hard to argue that if you’re pushing the type of product where your audience lives on Snapchat, it remains a viable option. But just be watchful of further negative headlines coming out – this feels like we’re about two wrong moves away from some advertisers receiving pressure on spending there.

Meta’s testing a feature which puts AI-generated images of you in your feeds

As social media lurches more and more towards something from Minority Report, this week we learned that Meta is testing a new feature that creates AI-generated content for you based on your interests or trends. Some of these images will incorporate your face.

So, not only will you see ads for a shirt you browsed a few days ago – you might now see an AI-generated version of yourself wearing said shirt. This feels pretty next level. It’s only in the testing phase at the moment, but it’s going to open a can of worms when it nears reality. One to watch.

Further Reading

Away from sci-fi and back to reality, Meta was also fined over $100m this week for a 2019 data breach which exposed hundreds of millions of passwords.

Over at TikTok, the platform announced new ‘flip’ stories this week, meaning creators can create a second ‘side’ to each story.

Elsewhere, Bing is continuing to improve its generative search offering, which now works for informational queries (for example, “how can I run a one-on-one meeting”). These little micro-updates might not sound exciting, but they’re building up to overhauling how search works.

Pinterest is also embracing AI advertising like never before (although later than most other social networks), announcing a raft of new features this week.

The WordPress vs. WP Engine situation escalated further this week, from a slightly overdramatic beef to a federal lawsuit, with WP Engine filing against WordPress alleging attempted extortion. Yikes.

That’s it! If you found this interesting, I would appreciate it if you shared it with your friends and colleagues. 

If you’re feeling particularly generous, I won’t stop you from buying me a coffee. Have a great weekend, and I’ll see you next week!

There are lots of bits and pieces this week, with some potentially game-shifting product news from TikTok and plenty going on at Meta Connect. Plus, there’s a slightly odd battle in the world of WordPress, content moderation news from X, and TikTok’s latest craze. Let’s go!

TikTok launches keyword-targeted search ads

One of the common observations over the last couple of years has been how people are increasingly using TikTok as a search engine. Indeed, according to TikTok, 23% of users search for something within 30 seconds of opening the app. So, it might be slightly surprising then that it’s only now that TikTok is launching keyword-specific search ads, enabling advertisers to target a selection of keywords.

This is far more nascent than the more established Google Ads offering, and we probably shouldn’t expect the same level of planning or analysis capabilities just yet. The most significant difference from its existing Search Ads in format is giving advertisers more control over placement.

It offers enormous opportunities, and if your audience lives on TikTok, it is certainly worth investigating further.

The platform also announced more access to enhanced services for a broader range of content creators this week.

Meta announces new features at Meta Connect

Meta Connect is now well underway, with a few new announcements – the headlines have so far been grabbed by a Judi Dench-voiced chatbot and by Orion, its next foray into smart eyewear.

First to Orion – essentially, they look almost like a normal pair of glasses, but this brings Augmented Reality out of headsets and into glasses. It’s still in the prototype phase, but is an excellent insight into what’s coming down the line. The Verge have written up a great hands on article.

Meanwhile, it’s brought in a diverse range of celebs to voice its new AI assistant chatbot, including the likes of Judi Dench, John Cena, Keegan-Michael Key, Kristen Bell and Awkwafina.

Probably the biggest news for us is the expansion of Meta’s business AI chatbots to those running click-to-message ads on messaging apps Messenger and WhatsApp (where Meta AI usage is heaviest), which opens up a raft of engagement options beyond just driving to a landing page or instant experience. Initially, this will only be available to English-language users.

Further Reading

There has been a bizarre and pretty difficult skirmish this week in WordPress-land, resulting in thousands of WP Engine customers being banned from using the platform. WP founder Matt Mullenweg had previously labelled WP Engine a “cancer” to WordPress.

Meanwhile over at Meta, the firm has now acquired Threads.com, meaning the desktop version should be easier to find online.

Elon Musk v Brazil looks to be reaching an end, with X agreeing to appoint a legal representative in the country, pay its fines and take down user accounts as requested by the local government.

X released its first transparency report since rebranding to X. And, surprisingly, the actual volume of removals is not too dissimilar to pre-Elon Twitter. However, its looking to remove account blocking functionality in the app, which feels like a significant step backwards in terms of winning over sceptics.

And finally, we’ve moved on being demure; the internet’s (who are we kidding, TikTok’s) newest sensation is a baby pygmy hippo, Moo Deng from Thailand, who has sparked a makeup craze. These newsletters get wilder every week.

That’s it! If you found this interesting, I would appreciate it if you shared it with your friends and colleagues. 

If you’re feeling particularly generous, I won’t stop you from buying me a coffee. Have a great weekend, and I’ll see you next week!