What happened this week: Google vs marketers, US’s $30 response to Deepseek and Meta's weird future

This week: Google's MMM model, OpenAI's mini-response to Deepseek, Mr.Beast & Roblox buying TikTok and Future of Journalism.

Oscars are going through a ton of drama, trade of Luka Dončić and Anthony Davis trade has everyone in the NBA shocked and….

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Top 5 Updates of the Week

• Google opens up Meridian Marketing Mix Model, helping marketers measure across channels. (AR)

• Meta AI will use its ‘memory’ to provide better content recommendations on IG & FB. (CT)

• OpenAI releases o3-mini, a free and their first small reasoning model. (read)

• LinkedIn lawsuit over use of customer data for AI models is dismissed. (NB)

• Senators revive bill to ban kids under 13 from social media. (read)

Trending 🗞️

• DeepSeek App holds top global spot in downloads, led by India.

• Pinterests shares a guide to the top Pinterest marketing moments for 2025.

• F.C.C. Chair orders investigation into NPR and PBS sponsorships. (read)

  • Trump fires CFPB head Rohit Chopra.

• Billionaire Ambani's Reliance brings Shein back to India after 2020 app ban. (AK)

• Majority of US teens have lost trust in Big Tech. (read)

  • 64% of surveyed U.S. teens don’t trust Big Tech companies to care about their mental health and well-being and 62% don’t think the companies will protect their safety if it hurts profits.

• Nielsen pushes new Big Data + Panel TV ratings product in the US, flags end of panel-only ratings. (read)

• Rhode to Retail - The Brand’s entry to Sephora delayed by partnership politics and more. (read)

• Amazon launches new tool for AI-based TV audience building. (SP)

• Is internet-induced brain rot a myth? (read)

• Google at the big game: YouTube AdBlitz, 50 small business stories and more.

  • Google’s AI Super Bowl ad is wrong about cheese.

• Your next apartment rental may also be a marketing campaign.

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• Attribution headaches: Was that sales spike driven by Facebook ads or your holiday email campaign?

• Missed opportunities: Without a unified view, real-time optimization is almost impossible.

• Budget black holes: How do you know where your dollars worked hardest?

One retailer I spoke to struggled to connect offline and online data during their Christmas campaign. In-store purchases couldn’t be linked back to their digital ads, leaving them in the dark about what truly drove sales.

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• Creative Directors: Glenn Martens goes to Maison Margiela and Kim Jones steps down at Dior.

• JBL is going mega-viral on TikTok, thanks to Fetty Wap’s Again, viral track and memes. (TR)

• Paramount brings live shoppable ads to the NFL playoffs. (CL)

• WhatsApp says journalists and civil society members were targets of Israeli spyware. (AK)

• Bluesky adds a video tab to user profiles. (AX)

  • The platform has reached 30 million users.

  • Bluesky’s science takeover: 70% of Nature poll respondents use platform.

• OpenAI, Microsoft, Trump admin claim DeepSeek trained AI off stolen data. (TG)

  • Meanwhile DeepSeek R1 is now available on Azure AI Foundry and GitHub.

• UPS shares tank 14% after weak guidance, plan to slash Amazon deliveries by more than half. (NS)

• White House says it is opening briefing room to “Podcasters, Social Media Influencers and Content Creators”. (DK)

• M&S targets family shoppers in renewed value push.

• Ipsos acquires Melbourne's Where*to* Research to bolster public sector expertise. (read)

• Inside a network of AI-generated newsletters targeting “small town America”.

• The World's Most Admired Companies: How They Stack Up. (List)

Also, Trending

• Amazon secretly tracked consumers through their cellphones, lawsuit alleges.

• Co-op preloads app on Samsung O2 Telefónica phones. (view)

• AI research team claims to reproduce DeepSeek core technologies for $30 — relatively small R1-Zero model has remarkable problem-solving abilities. (TR)

• Louis Vuitton Is revved up about its Formula 1 Partnership. (Read)

• Dentsu and Adobe speed up client AI content production with Adobe GenStudio Dentsu+. (RT)

• LinkedIn’s ongoing efforts to woo video creators paid off, according to new figures. (TF)

• Fragmentation comes to search advertising as marketers grapple with shifting search behavior. (read)

• NFL doubles down on creator spotlights with a Kai Cenat vs IShowSpeed Super Bowl pre-game. (WD)

• McDonald’s teams up with Basketball Champion Angel Reese for first-ever female athlete meal. (DX)

• Crackdown on tariff exemption snares U.S. E-Commerce retailers. (WT)

• Sky News to overhaul newsroom around paid-for content.

• KFC is taking “open 24/7” to a new level by removing the doors from its restaurants. (AP)

• American public vs Politics: 3 in 5 (60%) U.S. adults said that DEI initiatives are either “very” or “somewhat” important to the success of most businesses, and this share was even higher (67%) among those who are currently employed full-time. (TC)

• System 1 and ITV name UK’s best ads of 2024. (watch)

• McDonald’s U.S. Marketing Chief steps down. (read)

• Copyright law doesn't cover art made solely by AI, according to new decision.

• Macy’s ends program that offered tuition-free college degrees to employees.

• How hopelesscore became even more hopeless. (Read)

TikTok 🎶

• MrBeast and the CEO of Roblox are trying to buy TikTok for over $20 Billion.

• TikTok partners with EE BAFTA Film Awards 2025.

• Trump says Microsoft eyeing TikTok bid to keep app in the US. (AR)

• TikTok launches Behind the Breakthrough content campaign. (read)

• TikTok tells advertisers they are not breaking the law by running ads. (DW)

• Pence says Trump should uphold TikTok Ban, allow US Steel Deal.

• TikTok testing a new IG-like buttons layout in Edits section.

• TikTok launches 2025 Marketing Calendar.

• TikTok to invest $3.8 bln in Thailand data hosting project, investment board says.

• TikTok limits access to its beta app.

• TikTok introduced new resources in recognition of Holocaust Remembrance Day. (read)

• How TikTok is preparing for the 2025 Federal Election in Germany.

• TikTok celebrates Data Privacy and Protection Day.

• TikTok’s traffic bounces back despite being pulled off app stores, fears of shutdown. (read)

• TikTok Studio app gets Inspiration and trending tabs added to app’s homepage. (DT)

• TikTok joins Tech Firms establishing a presence in Zurich.

• TikTok star Khaby Lame appointed UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. (read)

• Perplexity AI revises Tiktok merger proposal that could give the U.S. government a 50% stake.

Instagram & Threads 🗂️

• Instagram updates insights with ‘View rate’ for reels and other old but official releases.

• Threads adds another 20M monthly users since December, reaching 320M.

• Instagram improves translation feature in the DMs. (AM)

• Instagram adds Transparency Labels to Business Chats.

• Threads adds a ‘media’ tab and the ability to tag people in photos. (TF)

• Instagram is finally testing a Reels pause feature that works easily. (AT)

• Threads continues to improve search function.

• Instagram shares notes on Stories Ranking.

• Threads experimenting with spoiler tags and post templates. (ST)

• Twitch adds built-in exporting to Instagram.

• Leaked Instagram deals reveal Meta is offering TikTok creators as much as $300,000 to post. Read the contract terms.

• Instagram publishes new carousel about post dimensions.

• Meta's Threads is getting a feature you'd have thought it already had. (Tagged)

Meta 😅

• Mark updates audience targeting options for Advantage+ catalog ads. (FB)

• Meta to pay $25m to settle Trump lawsuit over ban. (CT)

• Meta's Safety Advisory Council says It's prioritizing Politics over Safety.

• Meta considers testing Chinese AI Models in its Generative AI tools for advertisers.

• Meta’s pullback on fact-checking puts brand safety back in the spotlight.

• Reflecting on Meta’s $8 billion investment in Privacy.

• Facebook testing Partnership ads, your partners can run ads, add your testimonials and access the audience.

• Meta in talks to reincorporate in Texas or another state, exit Delaware, WSJ reports. (read)

• ICYMI: Meta posts sharply higher Q4 profit, revenue, topping Wall Street's expectations.

• Meta blocked news in Canada. Ads for scams are taking its place.

• WhatsApp testing ability to create and share events in individual chats.

• WhatsApp for iPhone warning: Don’t use view once feature without updating. (TC)

• Meta sues EU antitrust watchdog over $831.7 Million marketplace fine, Bloomberg says.

• Mark Zuckerberg teases a 2025 return to ‘OG Facebook’.

• Meta AI launches in Middle East, extends support for Arabic language.

• Meta says end of fact-checking hasn’t impacted ad spend.

• Meta’s Reality Labs posts $5 billion loss in fourth quarter.

X (Twitter) 🕹️

• X reveals new partnership with Visa for digital payments. (DS)

• Why Didn’t Netflix check Karla Sofía Gascón’s Twitter History?

• X expands lawsuit over advertiser ‘boycott’ to include Lego, Nestlé, Pinterest, and others.

• Amazon raises its ad spending on X/Twitter, in major reversal. (ST)

• X’s Grok 3 seemingly went live for some users. (TC)

• X is working on a new feature called ‘X CHAT’. (TG)

• xAI is working on Grok Pro.

Youtube & Snapchat

• YouTube’s new Discord-like Communities are rolling out to more creators. (FT)

• YouTube testing cost-per-hour masthead. (SL)

• Nickelodeon takes on CoComelon with first original animated series on YouTube.

• You can now tag products in YouTube posts.

• YouTube publishes new video explaining how algorithm works in 2025.

• Snapchat now allows users to promote their snaps.

Google

• Google's new 'Ask For Me' AI tool calls businesses to get your questions answered.

• Google offers tagging support appointments for advertisers. (SJ)

• Google updates Demand Gen campaigns with additional placement options and new experiences.

• Google expands AI overviews in AI circle to Search. (ST)

• Google to migrate all reCAPTCHA services to cloud platform. (SL)

• Google tests AI-generated backgrounds for Shopping Ads.

• Google confirms Alt text is not primarily an SEO decision.

• Google reverses stance on Performance Max campaign controls.

• Google testing new-look search results in EU. (SL)

• Google expands Site Reputation Abuse enforcement to German websites.

• Google loses bid to dismiss US states' lawsuit over digital ads. (ST)

AI 🤨

• OpenAI in talks to raise funding that would value AI startup at up to $340 billion. (SJ)

• Sensitive DeepSeek data exposed to web, Israeli cyber firm says. (MG)

• Google quietly announces its next flagship AI model. (TC)

• Books written without AI can now receive new ‘Human Authored’ certification. (XD)

• you.com & Perplexity AI deploys USA-hosted DeepSeek AI model. (SR)

• ChatGPT’s mobile users are 85% male, report says. (TC)

• AI startup Perplexity sued for alleged trademark infringement. (TV)

• OpenAI launches ChatGPT Gov. (NT)

• Copilot's powerful new 'Think Deeper' feature is free for all users - how it works.

• OpenAI used this subreddit to test AI persuasion. (TC)

• The US Copyright Office’s new report on AI. (read)

• Hugging Face makes it easier for devs to run AI models on third-party clouds.

• LinkedIn cofounder launches Manas AI with $24.6M for AI drug discovery. (VB)

• Block's new open-source AI agent 'goose' lets you change direction mid-air.

• Anthropic’s CEO says DeepSeek shows US export rules are working. (TC)

• AI tools used for child sexual abuse images targeted in Home Office crackdown.

• Alibaba releases AI model it says surpasses DeepSeek.

Microsoft & LinkedIn

• Microsoft makes OpenAI’s o1 reasoning model free for all Copilot users. (SL)

• Microsoft stock moves lower after Q2 earnings report, cloud revenue miss.

  • LinkedIn reaches record engagement.

• LinkedIn removes accounts of AI 'Co-Workers' looking for jobs. (read)

• Microsoft Performance Max testing LinkedIn targeting, measurement tools.

• LinkedIn updates ‘Top Voice’ badge requirements.

• Microsoft tests ‘scareware blocker’ for Edge that uses computer vision to detect scams.

• LinkedIn expands Top-of-Feed News Banner Test.

• Microsoft’s AI business is booming — Xbox, not so much. (BA)

• Introducing new Surface Copilot+ PCs for Business.

Marketing &….

• How Amazon Prime Video made itself an essential pick for brand media plans.

• Elementor rolls out WordPress AI site planner. (SJ)

• CHEQ acquires Deduce, expanding Go-To-Market security platform with identity graph for Human and AI-Generated fraud prevention. (RT)

• Walmart Canada to invest more than $4 bln to expand stores, supply chain. (BN)

• Yahoo testing new AI Search features.

• The MIT Grad whose prediction market can reveal what Netflix show will be #1.

• Marketing automation vendor Act-On acquired for $53 million. (TM)

• Brands are set to win the Super Bowl, Fox’s ad sales chief explains why. (AK)

• Deloitte acquires SimplrOps, a leading SaaS tech company. (JG)

• Rakim is helping Notes startup ensure artists get paid in full.

• USIM partners with IRIS.TV to enhance CTV campaign precision and engagement.

• Fuji TV leaders resign amid sexual misconduct case. (NR)

• EU to make Temu, Shein and Amazon liable for 'unsafe' goods, FT reports.

• Prophet integrates Influencer discovery feature within ‘Taylor’, its AI-powered journalist discovers and content creation product. (NG)

• Consulting IQ and Mastercard easy savings specials come together to empower micro, small and medium-sized businesses with AI-driven solutions.

• Marketing automation vendor Act-On acquired for $53 million. (MP)

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Content Opportunities / Ideas of the week

• 3 Feb: Elmo’s Birthday / National Golden Retriever Day / National Carrot Cake Day / National Sickie Day / St. Blaise’s Day / American Painters Day / National Wedding Ring Day.

• 4 Feb: International Day of Human Fraternity / Transit Equity Day / World Cancer Day / Torture Abolition Day / National Sweater Day / National Hemp Day / Facebook’s Birthday / Farmer’s Day.

• 5 Feb: National Weatherperson’s Day / World Nutella Day / World Read Aloud Day /Global School Play Day / Western Monarch Day / National Signing Day / National Girls & Women in Sports Day.

• 6 Feb: Pay a Compliment Day / National Chopsticks Day / National Chopsticks Day / World May Thai Day / New York Fashion Week begins / Optimist Day / Waitangi Day.

• 7 Feb: Rose Day / National Ballet Day / National Bubble Gum Day / Number Day / National Periodic Table Day / National Woman’s Heart Day.

• 8 Feb: Opera Day / National Boy Scout Day / Global Movie Day / National Iowa Day / International Snowmobile Ride Day / Prešeren Day / UFC 312.

• 9 Feb: Super Bowl LIX / Chocolate Day / National Pizza Day / World Marriage Day / Frevo Day / Super Chicken Wing Day / National Toothache Day / Autism Sunday.

The Pulped; Market Data & Studies of the week

• 42% said the stress of working in New Business or on pitches had made them think of changing job. An alarming 33% have considered leaving the industry because of ‘the stress of working in New Business or on pitches’. (Adworld)

• As President Trump advances his agenda through executive orders, 74% of Americans, including 73% of Republicans, believe that President Trump should "always follow the Constitution, even if means he sometimes can't get things done." (read)

• Americans to consume 1.47 billion chicken wings watching the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles battle for the Lombardi Trophy. (read)

• Tripadvisor’s research shares mentions of skincare treatments are up 87% in Tripadvisor forums and beauty bookings are up 400% + searches for bookings containing words like 'astrology,' 'tarot' and 'full moon' have shot up over 500% in the last two years. (read)

• January's fall in U.S. consumer confidence was led by consumers under 55 years old. By income group, the sharpest decline in confidence was seen in households earning over $125K, while consumers at the bottom of the income range reported the strongest gains. (MR)

• Google AI Overviews Found In 74% Of Problem-Solving Queries. Telecommunications had the highest percentage of keywords linked to AI Overviews at 56%, while Beauty and Cosmetics had the lowest at 14%. About 33.3% of non-brand searches show an AI Overview, while only 19.6% of brand searches do. (read)

• Only 63% of shoppers said they ‘never’ failed to scan an item when using self-checkouts. A third (32.5%) also admitted to having weighed loose items incorrectly, while 38% had put through an incorrect loose item. (UK)

• Digital advertising expenditure increased by 10.8% in 2024 reaching €1,011.1 million, representing over 65.5% of total advertising revenue. In Northern Ireland, the print market fell by approximately 11% in 2024, recording a spend of £6.3 million (€7.45 million), a decline of 8.7%. (Outlook)

• One in three (36%) digital experiences are actively failing people, creating a divide between what brands promise and what they deliver online. (DX Index)

• D1A’s must-read study “Life Actually, A No Bullshit” shares 29% of their respondents fall into the bucket we're calling Neo-Traditionalists, 33% of the respondents, has existed for as long as we’ve talked about generations. This moderate, thoughtful, slightly cautious person takes a pragmatic approach to life. 38%, takes what some might call a modern approach to life, Internet-Age explorer.

• The median wealth of older US millennials, between the ages of 36 and 45, was 37% above expectations. The wealth of younger millennials and older Gen Zers, or those aged 26 to 35, exceeded expectations by 39%.

• The individuals who maintain relationships with luxury brands for early access (69%) also insist those brands demonstrate environmental leadership (77%). And while 73% value being the first to own a new release, an equal percentage insist that their luxury benefits local communities. (Luxury Consumer Study)

• The Handmaid’s Tale for Gen Z - How BookTok made a dystopian novel from the ’90s into an indie best seller.

• Over the course of the concert dates in Toronto (Nov 14-24), spending at restaurants near the arena in Toronto increased by 31% compared to what spending levels would be if the event never occurred, while spending at hotels in Toronto rose by 45%. (Taylor Swift)

• You are what your feeds make you: A study of user aggressive behavior on Twitter

• More than 8-in-10 (81%) California voters support the legislation, and 63% want the state to expand and improve its recycling infrastructure to find ways to give a new life to plastics. That compares to only 27% who prefer the state eliminate single-use plastic and stop manufacturing new plastics.

• According to a survey conducted in December 2024 on actions to reduce waste among Generation Z in Indonesia, 50 percent of female respondents stated they brought their own food containers to reduce waste. In comparison, 42 percent of male respondents also did the same to reduce waste.

• More than 50% of respondents cite cost as the most influential factor in their purchasing decisions, while around 30% prioritize quality. Sustainability is a primary consideration for only a small fraction of travelers, ranging from 7% to 11%, even within the most environmentally conscious segments. (Travel)

• 67% of gen z say they like the idea of escaping to a different reality using technology (Reality Shift, 1), reflecting desire for agency and optimism in a chaotic world + All generations, and especially gen z, are embracing of solo travel for self-discovery (Destination Solitude, 22) and contrasting trends such as Social Saunas (82) and Agrihoods (47). (Future 100)

• Nearly half of Gen Z men (45%) believe that ‘we have gone so far in promoting women’s equality that we are discriminating against men’ and 44% think women’s equal rights have gone far enough. (Gen-Z Trends & Truth)