What happened in Marketing - AI Firewall, TikTok-Trump Stickup & Meta's Talent Heist
This week: Cloudflare protects web from AI, Trump-TikTok deal nears, WhatsApp advertising begins, Meta ‘Superintelligence’ group, YouTube vs mass-produced content &...
This week’s newsletter is sponsored by our friends at Tracksuit, who’ve got a playbook to help marketers land brand investment and prove long and short-term ROI.
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Cloudflare will now, by default, block AI bots from crawling its clients’ websites.
Trump says he has group of ‘very wealthy people’ ready to buy TikTok.
Google's AI Overviews hit by EU antitrust complaint from independent publishers.
Meta introduces centralized marketing campaigns, expanded AI support and calling options for businesses using WhatsApp.
YouTube to revise monetisation policy to target mass-produced and repetitive content.
OpenAI leadership responds to Meta’s Talent Heist: ‘Someone Has Broken Into Our Home.’
Urgent bid lodged with UK regulator to stop Google AI Overviews ‘stealing journalism’.
Microsoft to lay off around 9,000 workers in its largest cuts since 2023.
Tinder pilots facial recognition security feature in California.
Paramount will pay $16 million to settle Trump lawsuit over ’60 Minutes’ interview with Kamala Harris.
NASA+ is launching on Netflix this summer, bringing live streams of rocket launches, astronaut spacewalks and more.
Google brings Veo 3 to all Gemini app ‘Pro’ subscribers worldwide.
In partnership with Tracksuit
Brand is your (legal) performance enhancer. But…
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Sometimes, there’s barely enough time for a brand campaign to shift market share or earn a place on the balance sheet, yet the CMO is dismissed, and the marketing budget is slashed.
According to The Board-Brand Rift, a report by the Financial Times and IPA, more than half of business leaders rate their understanding of brand-building as “average” or “poor.” If CEOs and CFOs aren’t investing in their brands, maybe that’s on us. They often empathize with our ideas and collective efforts to grow a brand. But empathy isn’t enough. You need the right language and data to market marketing and secure the long-term spending + patience.
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California Legislators pass bill expanding state’s film and TV tax incentives.
Unilever’s personal care CMO on upskilling marketing for ‘social-first’ future.
AMC Theatres is putting more commercials before Screenings. It cheapens the moviegoing experience and hurts the film business.
Barclays downgrades three advertising giants after recent meetings, while other analysts said artificial intelligence could increase demand for ad services eventually.
New smart glasses block out all real-life advertising.
More than a dozen groups have focused on the tiny Florida market, often with ads praising the U.S. president.
Lululemon files lawsuit against Costco, claims company is selling 'dupes' of some of its products.
Tech firms face demands to stop illegal content going viral.
Airbnb tests 'Reserve Now, Pay Later'.
Meet Soham Parekh, the engineer burning through tech by working at three to four startups simultaneously.
Figma just filed for IPO, revealing its financials for the first time publicly.
Google to propose Price-Comparison Box in Search to appease EU.
UK Gov’s partial ban on alcohol advertising allegedly ruled out after industry criticism.
A conservative crackdown on advertisers has forced a 'brand safety' reset.
G/O Media sells Kotaku to Gizmodo owner Keleops.
Macau proposes comprehensive ban on all gambling advertising.
83% of U.S. adults use streaming services, far fewer subscribe to cable or satellite TV. About nine-in-ten adults under 50 ever watch programming on streaming services. But majorities of older adults do, too.
About half of streaming users under 30 (47%) say they use someone else’s password, compared with 26% of users 30 to 49 and 15% of those 50 and up.
Liberty Media completes €4.2bn MotoGP acquisition.
Netflix in talks with Spotify on projects like music awards, live concert series (report).
US agencies’ science journal subscriptions canceled. A spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services said that taxpayer money should not be used on 'junk science.'
Trump says Fed Chair should ‘Resign Immediately’.
Fed would have cut US interest rates by now if it weren’t for Trump’s tariffs, says Jerome Powell.
Giorgio Armani posts 24% core profit drop in tough 2024, steps up investments.
From cake shops to Japanese knife sellers, small business owners are getting bombarded by online/AI scams.
AI ‘Band’ the Velvet Sundown officially confirm they’re AI — and a ‘Provocation’.
Temu resumes Meta, Google ad spending in US.
In the Hamptons, a $20 celebrity chef smoothie gets a VIP line.
U.S. economy adds 147,000 jobs in June, defying slowdown expectations.
TikTok Shop launches in Japan as app faces uncertainty in US.
TikTok cuts more e-commerce workers as rolling layoffs continue.
TikTok and Tomorrowland ink global partnership.
Racist videos made with AI are going viral on TikTok.
TikTok Shop Mall launches 30-Day free returns for authentic branded products.
TikTok pushes deeper into AI-powered ads amid uncertainty over U.S. ban.
TikTok partners with Japanese Wrestling League Sukeban for Anime Expo.
59% of luxury shoppers on the TikTok say their main reason for buying is to reward themselves. Hashtags like #selfgifting have seen a 110% surge in video views, highlighting the emotional motivations driving this new mindset.
A 113% YoY increase in comments on luxury fashion content underscores a shift towards participatory brand dialogue rather than top-down storytelling.
Startups are ditching LinkedIn for TikTok to announce funding rounds.
TikTok to remove the “People who open or send links to you" setting and replace with a new one, “Display profile when sharing links".
TikTok provides an overview of its new brand consideration ads.
Here are the letters that let Apple and Google ignore the TikTok ban.
Threads introduces Messaging and Highlighted Perspectives, Meta’s feature to highlight trending conversation.
Stanford paid 35,000 people to find out if quitting Instagram makes you happier.
Instagram now lets you share Spotify songs with sound to Stories.
Meta proposes that teens should need parental approval to download all digital apps, not just social platforms. Their support for an EU-wide Digital Majority Age is not an endorsement of government mandated social media bans.
Meta calls €200M EU fine over pay-or-consent ad model 'unlawful'.
Meta users say paying for Verified support has been useless in the face of mass bans.
Facebook and Instagram users complain of account bans.
Meta adds Copyright Check into the Reels Composer on Facebook.
Meta’s AI climate tool raised false hope of CO₂ removal, scientists say.
Leaked render reveals Meta's Hypernova smart glasses and wristband controller.
Meta criticises the European Commission's approach to de-designating Facebook Marketplace.
Report: Meta is developing chatbots that will send unsolicited messages to users.
Zuckerberg debuts Meta ‘Superintelligence’ group.
Ilya Sutskever becomes CEO of Safe Superintelligence after Meta poached Daniel Gross.
Meta announces updated requirements for securities and investments ads in India.
German court awards Facebook user €5,000 for data protection violations.
WhatsApp Beta for iOS adds Multi-Account Switching feature.
YouTube provides more tools to help grow channel audiences.
YouTube calls for greater recognition and support for creator economy, backed by nearly 10,000 creators.
Google unveils first ever YouTube creator series to promote ad solutions.
YouTube is rolling out an accessibility-based feature that allows vertical Shorts videos to play in a landscape orientation.
YouTube Shorts absolutely dwarf TikTok with 200 times the daily views.
Data: BBC Studios leads UK in YouTube, TikTok Engagement.
AI virtual personality YouTubers, or 'VTubers,' are earning millions.
YouTube tests “Answer found in video” search feature.
Google rolls out June 2025 Core Update.
Google undercounts its carbon emissions, report finds
Google issues company-wide AI coding guidance to software engineers.
Google releases new Search Console Insights report
Belgian media group wants €832 million over Google ad monopoly
Gemini sparkle icon getting the four-color Google treatment.
Google to enforce phone number verification for Message Assets in ads.
California jury orders Google to pay $314 million over data transfers from Android phones.
Google will soon ban ads for tablet or pill presses.
Google testing a new way to conduct broad match keywords experiments and A/B testing.
Google embraces AI in the classroom with new Gemini tools for educators, chatbots for students, and more.
Tax settings no longer needed in U.S. Google product feeds.
Google Ads rolls out AI Max search match type.
Google AdSense adds new universal opt-out mechanisms and privacy controls due to new laws they must adhere to.
Google Ads rolls out built-in video analytics.
Google makes first foray into fusion in venture with MIT spinoff Commonwealth Fusion Systems.
Google tries to appease publishers amid AI search damage—here’s why experts say it’s not enough.
Elon Musk says he is launching new political party.
X is the UK’s ‘most hated brand’ as of 2025, research reveals.
Advertisers push to move Elon Musk’s X Corp lawsuit out of Wichita Falls in Texas.
X adds AI Notes Writer bot to Community Notes and other functions of the app.
Musk's xAI raises $5 billion each in fresh debt and equity, Morgan Stanley says.
"A win for free speech in Australia." — This is what Elon Musk's lawyers have said after overturning government orders blocking a post claiming transgender people belonged in a mental institution.
X replaces Google Translate with Grok translation for foreign language posts.
Nikita Bier, creator of Gas App joins X as Head of Product.
The subscribers of X’s highest tier of Premium product with ad-free perks are reportedly seeing ads on their feed.
Grok 4 benchmarks leak with 45% score on Humanity Last Exam.
‘Facts over feelings’: Elon Musk’s Grok AI blames him and Trump for deadly Texas floods that killed at least 51.
xAI data center gets air permit to run 15 turbines, but imaging shows 24 on site.
🔌 Report Break: 61% of B2B Buyers prefer a Rep-free buying experience. Many buyers report frustrations with inconsistent or conflicting information. In fact, 69% of B2B buyers report inconsistencies between information on the sales organization’s website and that provided by sellers.
IAS launches first-to-market AI-powered social attention measurement for Snapchat.
Reddit adds new recommendations and Optimization Score to ads manager.
Tumblr pauses fediverse integration, WordPress switch.
Amazon to shut down Freevee streaming TV service in August.
Prime Video now broadcasts France Télévisions channels and content.
New 24/7 Anime streaming channel set to give Netflix & Crunchyroll competition for North American Fans.
Social-media app WeAre8 is holding a virtual music festival.
Nudify app’s plan to dominate deepfake porn hinges on Reddit, 4chan, and Telegram, docs show.
Grammarly to acquire Superhuman to accelerate its AI productivity platform.
Spotify revamps its Discover Weekly playlist after 10 years.
Activist Investor Starboard Value takes $150 Million Stake in Tripadvisor.
Substack’s video bet could be a growth hack for small creators.
Substack is expanding its live streaming features.
Senate strikes AI regulatory ban from GOP bill after uproar from the states.
European Commission says it won’t delay implementation of AI Act.
New Study: People dislike AI-labeled products.
ChatGPT referrals to news sites are growing, but not enough to offset search declines.
Nestlé and IBM’s AI tool proposes ‘entirely new’ packaging materials.
Channel 4 begins testing GenAI ads.
Bright Data beat Elon Musk and Meta in court — now its $100M AI platform is taking on Big Tech.
Scale AI CEO stresses startup’s independence after Meta deal.
Scale AI's bigger rival Surge AI seeks up to $1 billion capital raise, sources say.
Amazon launches a new AI foundation model to power its robotic fleet and deploys its 1 millionth robot.
Google testing video overviews and Studio Panel upgrades for NotebookLM.
Agencies create specialist units to help marketers’ solve for AI search gatekeepers.
NYT to start searching deleted ChatGPT logs after beating OpenAI in court.
AI voice startup ElevenLabs pushes global expansion as it gears up for an IPO.
China’s Baidu declares war on OpenAI and others by open-sourcing Ernie chatbot.
Pinwheel introduces a smartwatch for kids that includes an AI chatbot.
Law360 mandates reporters use AI “bias” detection on all stories.
Microsoft releases its Microsoft Advertising trust and safety report.
Microsoft leaves Pakistan but promises customers won't notice the change.
LinkedIn quietly updated its Link Engagement feature.
Microsoft Authenticator is ending support for passwords.
Windows 11 should have been an easy upgrade - Microsoft chose to unleash chaos on us instead.
Microsoft is deprecating Publisher, so here's 5 tools I could replace it with.
Microsoft Advertising Target CPA and Target ROAS going away on August 4th.
Microsoft shifting data center focus away from Ireland due to lack of power availability.
Harvard Business Review: They determined that the systems have modest impact, they’re not achieving their expected performance results, and almost half of martech systems go unused.
Pentaleap strikes deal with Skai to make it easier for advertisers to buy retail media.
Mad//Fest underway as London swelters in heatwave.
RB Leipzig to introduce virtual perimeter advertising for the 2025/26.
GIC teams with private equity on stake in healthcare marketing agency Klick.
Peec AI raises €7M to empower companies to improve their visibility through AI search.
IP Österreich becomes RTL AdAlliance in Austria.
Berlin’s Talon.One raises €114.7M to scale its platform for promotions, loyalty and gamification.
Partnerize acquires Konnecto as Talon.One secures $135m investment.
TGI extends Mediapro virtual advertising deal.
CloudTV partners with Magnite to roll out Connected TV Advertising Platform.
Starting this August, Nielsen in Germany is launching CTV ad spend tracking with Nielsen Ad Intel.
MNTN and ZoomInfo announce partnership to revolutionize B2B advertising on television.
Lebom social media ads ruled in breach of UK advertising rules.
Cityflo partners with Signpost India for transit advertising management.
Alibaba.com and Wix announce strategic partnership to accelerate global growth for SMEs.
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