Sharing Isn't Just Caring

[00:00:01] It's Friday, April 25th. This week, shares are the new legs. Meta admits engagement is slipping. Google backpedals on cookies. Threads ads get the side eye. AI is eating your clicks. And on X, drag Elon, lose reach. I'm Steph Gunn sitting in for Tod Maffin. Here is your wrap up of the week in digital marketing.

[00:00:29] We start as always with the news that broke in advertising this week. In a major U-turn, Google announced that it will keep supporting third-party cookies in Chrome and won't roll out a new standalone prompt for them, meaning ad tech companies can still use targeting tech in the world's most popular browser.

[00:00:47] While this marks a shift in Google's Chrome cookie deprecation strategy, the Privacy Sandbox project will continue, with upcoming initiatives like the IP protection for incognito users slated for Q3.

[00:01:00] Google's Q1 results are in, with ad revenue climbing 8.5% year-over-year, totaling $66.9 billion. While this marks a slight slowdown from the previous quarter's 10.6% growth, it still exceeds analysts' expectations. YouTube's ad revenue was up 10.3% from last year, reaching $8.93 billion in the first quarter of the year.

[00:01:26] Overall, Alphabet reported $90.23 billion in revenue, a 12% increase surpassing analyst forecasts. AI overviews now have 1.5 billion users per month. Checkout on Merchant is now available for demand gen campaigns in the U.S., letting shoppers go from finding a product to adding the product to their cart or checking out on the merchant site. The feature is now available for campaigns on YouTube in-stream.

[00:01:54] Merchants can enable this by adding a URL template of the checkout or cart page in Google Merchant Center. Alternatively, enable it at the product level by providing the checkout link template attribute in your product feed in GMC. This is available to all U.S. advertisers using product feeds. Podcast ad revenues in the U.S. surpassed $2 billion last year, increasing 26% year-over-year, per a new IAB report.

[00:02:20] This is a significant jump compared to 2023, where podcast ad revenues grew by only 5%. This growth comes despite broader ad industry pullbacks, with total digital ad revenues rising 15% year-over-year. As time spent with social networks flatlines, eMarketer forecasts podcasts will continue to thrive. 90% of listeners have taken action after hearing a podcast ad. Time spent with podcasts continues to grow, and companies are tapping into the trend.

[00:02:50] YouTube is excelling as listeners' preferred podcast platform. Netflix is reportedly exploring video podcasts. And Spotify has expanded its partner program to stay competitive. Threads, now reaching 300 million monthly active users, is opening its feed to ads. Image-based ads will appear between posts as part of a global rollout, and Meta is also expanding access to its inventory filter.

[00:03:17] The new Threads feed placement will be automatically enabled for new campaigns using Advantage Plus or manual placements. Advertisers can opt out of the Threads feed via manual placements. Ads will be delivered in select markets at launch. Meta will also integrate its brand safety and suitability controls on Threads, and users will have ad control options.

[00:03:40] And ads on Threads might be here, but Digiday reports today that advertisers aren't exactly racing to test the new placement. While some are eager to test the new placement, most are taking a cautious, measured approach. Advertisers see potential in reaching new audiences, expanding creative testing, and possibly lowering CPMs, but for now are keeping a close eye on performance before shifting spend.

[00:04:06] One marketer sees Threads as a promising upper funnel tool to test reach and engagement before committing more budget. Still, most agree conversions will be a tough sell in the early days. As a result, some advertisers plan to keep the majority of their Meta ad spent on Facebook and Instagram, at least until Threads proves it can deliver. And on another note, Threads now has a new web address, threads.com. Meta has acquired the domain and is redirecting users from the previous, threads.net.

[00:04:38] Now over to social media. How does your brand's social performance measure up to the competition? Dash Social released its 2025 social media benchmark reports, analyzing KPIs across 12 industries on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. According to the data, this year, it's not about who's watching, it's about who's sharing. Shareable content is driving results. In the last quarter, TikTok shares are up nearly 60% and 12% on Instagram.

[00:05:08] Posting consistently on TikTok also pays off. Brands with a steady cadence are seeing 25% more views and 70% more shares than they were six months ago. Frequency is linked to engagement. Instagram growth is shifting. While follower growth has slowed, engagement remains strong. Top-performing brands are now prioritizing impressions and shares to track success.

[00:05:35] Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently admitted that time spent on Facebook and Instagram has gone down meaningfully. This comes as the company defends itself in an FTC antitrust case over its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, with Zuckerberg undergoing days of questioning in federal court. He said that users are shifting direct interactions with friends to messaging apps, a trend Meta has avoided addressing until now.

[00:06:02] While the company once flexed daily user engagement, reporting about 50-plus minutes per day across its apps in 2016, it stopped sharing those numbers soon after. That silence now seems telling, especially as TikTok usage continues to rise. Recent data shows that American TikTok users now spend an average of 108 minutes per day on the app. Facebook users average about 63 minutes per day, and Instagram's average has dropped to 48 minutes.

[00:06:31] How do you get more businesses to pay for the blue check? Start warning users that non-verified pages might not be legit. Meta is testing an in-app pop-up that flags business profiles as potentially untrustworthy if they haven't subscribed to MetaVerified. It's a calculated move to boost subscription numbers, especially since most businesses haven't opted in yet.

[00:06:57] MetaVerified starts at $21.99 per month for Facebook or Instagram, or $34.99 per month for both. The company will start testing these prompts and labels over the next few months. Meanwhile, Blue Sky is bringing back the OG Twitter-style blue check marks. The platform has launched its new official verification process, which combines platform-issued badges with a decentralized option for trusted organizations. The rollout will be gradual with a public request form coming soon.

[00:07:27] For now, priority goes to government officials, journalists, news orgs, and celebs. Instagram is working on a new feature called Storylines, which lets users collaborate on stories with their connections. With Storylines, friends you follow back can add related content to your story, creating a larger shared narrative. For example, if you host a brand event, your connections can contribute to their content to build on your original story. These stories can be seen by your followers, and if posted publicly, others can add to the chain.

[00:07:58] And Instagram finally launched Edits this week. It's new all-in-one video editing app and direct rival to TikTok's CapCut. This app lets users manage multiple projects, add notes for future videos, and film clips up to 10 minutes long. It's like a pretty CapCut, but without all of CapCut's features. Other features include multi-channel editing, trending reels and audio search, video effects like green screen cutouts, and AI animations for still objects,

[00:08:27] and users can also export videos watermark-free, post directly to Instagram, or download videos for other platforms. Edits also includes auto-captions, royalty-free music, and content performance analytics. To the evolving world of AI. Several recent studies have found that Google's AI overviews are killing click-through rates. Danny Goodwin covered two of these studies on search engine land,

[00:08:54] noting that AI overviews are significantly decreasing clicks to traditional organic listings, especially for non-branded informational queries. One study shows a 35% drop in average click-through rates for top-ranking pages with AI overviews, compared to similar informational keywords without them. Another report indicates a 15% average click-through rate decline when AI overviews are on the page.

[00:09:20] Similar web data shows 20% fewer clicks on search results with AI overviews. Meanwhile, Google's AI overviews are coming to YouTube. Sort of. Instead of text summaries, YouTube is testing a new video results carousel with AI-picked snippets. When users search for certain topics, the platform will surface clips from videos it thinks are most relevant. YouTube said the AI overviews are most likely to appear for product-related searches,

[00:09:49] as well as location-based queries. First it came for search, now its browser? If the DOJ forces Google to sell Chrome, OpenAI might be first in line to buy it. ChatGPT's head of product told a judge the company would be interested in snapping up the browser. The comment came during the remedies phase of the U.S. antitrust case, where the court is considering breaking up Google's dominance in online search.

[00:10:22] Now for marketing in a trade war. E-commerce giants Timu and Xi'an have confirmed price hikes for American shoppers starting today, due to President Trump's tariffs, with China now facing tariffs up to 245%. Xi'an had urged customers to shop now at today's rates to secure the best deals before the price increases, which will start today, due to rising operating costs.

[00:10:47] Both companies will also be hit by the removal of the de minimis exemption starting on May 2, which previously allowed shipments under $800 to enter duty-free. Starting June 1, retailers will also reportedly have to pay $150 tariffs on each package. While tariffs are up, values are down. As the Trump administration continues to target DEI efforts across the U.S.,

[00:11:13] two major ad agencies, WPP and IPG, have scaled back their initiatives. Marketing Brew reports that both companies have recently removed diversity-focused language from their websites. WPP deleted a paragraph from its Belongings webpage, which had emphasized a commitment to building a diverse workforce and promoting gender balance and racial equity. IPG removed a section from its Diversity and Inclusion page, detailing how CEO compensation was tied to diversity goals,

[00:11:43] with consequences for failing to meet them. Now over to the psychology behind the buy. Research shows that products with multiple related benefits generate 40% more sales than those with just one. The study recommends presenting benefits that are closely related. For example, a cream that hydrates and softens your skin. Consumers are more likely to choose and recommend products with multiple related benefits,

[00:12:12] rather than those with just a single benefit, or with unrelated benefits. The researchers suggest that when we see a product with multiple related benefits, we see the benefits as connected and reinforcing one another. This leads us to believe that the product will be more effective at achieving its main goal than a product focused on a single benefit. On the other hand, when a product offers multiple unrelated benefits,

[00:12:39] we tend to think its effectiveness is diluted, as it attempts to address different needs. And finally, after trolling Elon Musk in December, a far-right influencer's reach on X plummeted. This wasn't an isolated incident. Several other users experienced a sudden drop in visibility following their public feuds with Musk.

[00:13:06] The New York Times reports that these accounts saw a dramatic decline in engagement overnight, raising concerns that Musk might be using his power to punish critics, contradicting the expectations of free speech advocates. So, speak freely, but not about him. That's your digital marketing roundup for the past five days. Want news sooner? Get it delivered straight to your inbox every weekday at 5pm Eastern. It's free.

[00:13:36] Sign up at todayindigital.com slash newsletter. I'm in the hot seat for Todd today because he's super busy with his big Nanaimo infusion weekend. If you haven't been following along on Todd's socials, the premise is simple. He invited Americans to come to Canada for the weekend to basically support the economy. And they delivered. So, the big event is going to be tomorrow at 1pm Eastern. He told me he will be live streaming it on his YouTube channel, which you can find at Todd Maffin Video.

[00:14:06] I'm on the other side of the country from Todd, so I will just be fangirling from home following along on his socials. I hope you have a great weekend. I'm Steph Gunn. Thanks for listening. We will talk to you next week.