What happened in social media & marketing: Pinterest suffers, Instagram for creators & YouTube lite..

This Week: Pinterest vs AI slop, FCC loves Big Tech, Social media regulation chaos in Australia, Tariffs and other updates you probably missed.

Experiment. Boredom. Instagram.

Top 6 Updates of the week

• FCC chair says U.S. will defend interests of its tech giants as European rules stoke tension.

• Meta’s CMO announces CLICK HERE: The Art and Science of Digital Marketing and Advertising. (Book)

• Pinterest is being strangled by AI Slop. "Is this platform dead?"

  • The company plans to expand GenAI content labels in the coming months to combat spam content.

• Google Sheets launches new features for AI-powered data analysis and visualisations.

• LinkedIn tests alternate feed of updates from only your connections.

• Supermetrics publishes 2025 Marketing Data Report: Trends, challenges, and opportunities.** (read)

• YouTube brings its more affordable ‘Premium Lite’ subscription to the US.

**classified ad from our partner.

Trending

• Social media firms criticise ‘irrational’ exemption of YouTube from Australia’s under-16s ban.

• IPG finalizes R/GA sale to management-led group backed by True Capital.

• Microsoft lures brands to advertise in Chatbot Copilot with new formats and AI agents.

• Trump's tariffs begin.

  • Trump’s Mexico tariffs could raise produce prices in the next few days, Target CEO says.

  • The tariffs could cause Virginians to pay more on everyday goods.

  • Trump says a ‘little disturbance’ from tariffs is OK, as markets reel from trade war fears.

  • Latest: Trump could water down tariffs on Canada and Mexico.

• Pat McGrath becomes Creative Director of Louis Vuitton’s first makeup line.

• Ramp, a 6-year-old fintech startup, has more than doubled its annualized revenue to $700M.

• Google urges DOJ to reverse course on breaking up company.

• Reddit Co-Founder wants to acquire TikTok to bring it to Blockchain.

• Google announces new updates to Display Ads.

• Alexa Plus explained: 9 things you need to know about Amazon's new AI-powered assistant.

• TikTok, Reddit and Imgur to be investigated over use of children's data. (UK)

• Ben & Jerry’s founders want their ice cream — and their voice — back

  • Rivian teams up with Ben & Jerry’s on an electric ice cream truck

• Visa reimagines “Everywhere You Want to Be,” a brand platform that reconnects the company to its heritage.

• Amidst a crumbling media industry, the journalist-in-your-inbox model shows promise.

• Sweetgreen is putting fries on its menu for the first time.

• T-Mobile has held talks to buy location-based ad startup Blis.

• Google has pulled nearly 200 apps due to extensive android ad fraud scheme.

• After a reported ratings dip, Disney now says Oscars grew to 19.7 Million viewers.

  • Advertisers inadvertently blocked 56% of Oscars content due to blunt keyword blocklists

• The End of Children — Birth rates are crashing around the world.

• Target reports soft store sales but optimistic ad revenue.

• Stability AI announces investment from WPP.

• Apple introduces iPad Air with powerful M3 chip and new Magic Keyboard.

• McDonald’s honors Connor McDavid by temporarily renaming two Canadian locations.

• Amazon is pitching a tool that automates big parts of running TV ads.

• FTC workers are getting terminated, including consumer protection and antitrust staff

• Eventbrite reveals vibrant brand refresh.

• Firefox deletes promise to never sell personal data, asks users not to panic.

• NBC News developing video news subscription service.

• The Teen-Disengagement Crisis — If you ask them how school was, their usual answer tends to be: Meh.

• Taboola targets a $55 billion opportunity as it moves beyond content recommendation widgets.

• More than 75,000 digital subscribers to The Washington Post have cancelled since Jeff Bezos’ overhaul of the opinions section last week.

  • Meanwhile Wired gained 62,500 new subscribers in the United States during the first two weeks of February alone. All thanks to their coverage of Elon Musk & Company.

Also, Trending

• About half of workers (52%) say they’re worried about the future impact of AI use in the workplace, and 32% think it will lead to fewer job opportunities for them in the long run, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.

• Adidas forecasts higher profits this year as retro sneaker demand surges.

• Hinge users can now share private details with matches.

• New Apple technology could allow social media apps to tell whether users are under 16.

• Modelo’s college basketball ad spend jumps 48% as championship fever hits.

• ADP National Employment Report: Private sector employment increased by 77,000 Jobs in February; Annual Pay was Up 4.7%.

• Havas reports 0.8% drop in revenue for 2024 as UK and US weigh down performance.

• The AI community is absolutely smitten with Original Source’s first ad since 2019. And honestly? It uses AI visuals pretty darn well.

• DoorDash to pay $16.8 million to workers for pocketing their tips. (read)

• OpenAI is hiring a social media manager. You need 7+ years of experience to earn a $240k salary plus equity.

• Where Pharma’s $12B TV ad budget could go next. (read)

• Nordstorm’s net earnings for the full year increased 119% to $294m with EBIT of $495m.

• Concert ticket prices are soaring, and busting Gen Z’s Budgets: 86% admitted to overspending on live events. Fear of missing out, or FOMO, was cited as a top reason.

• Adobe uses Sean Baker’s Anora Oscar win to promote Premiere Pro.

• Did Ryan Reynolds’s legal woes play a part in Mntn’s sale of Maximum Effort?

• The B2B Marketing Benchmarks: Over a third of companies still track MQLs as a top-three metric, while only 15% monitor Marketing CAC ratio. And just 8% measure awareness.

TikTok

• TikTok improves Desktop experience with new features and UI changes.

• TikTok plots local services expansion to the U.S.

• The platform published their fourth transparency report on content moderation in Europe.

• TikTok launches Organic API.

• TikTok blasts Australia for YouTube carve-out in social media ban.

• Samsung SG launches shop on TikTok.

• ByteDance valuation rises in latest share buyback, sources say.

• TikTok Shop is entering Brazil and Japan.

• TikTok insights now available within the Meltwater platform.

• TikTok publishes “Commerce Redefined” report for businesses.

• The viral TikTok algorithm points system image is possibly fake.

• TikTok Live is projected to reach $77 billion in sales by 2027, but other shopping hubs want a piece.

• U.K. Creators’ TikTok Problem. (read)

• TikTok sunsets its creator marketplace for TikTok One, a broader solution with AI tools.

🤨 Report Break: Despite its growing presence, only 49% of marketers are able to measure the ROI of their AI investments, revealing a gap between adoption and the ability to track its impact.

Instagram & Threads

• Instagram published a new blogpost explaining changes they have made to support small creators and improve content recommendations.

• Instagram may launch Reels as separate app.

• Instagram encourages users to schedule messages send late at night for later.

• ICYMI: Meta says it fixed ‘error’ after Instagram users report a flood of graphic and violent content.

• The strange repulsion of Instagram Reels. (VOX)

• Threads gave the Oscars a dedicated tab.

• Instagram will have a tag similar to TikTok's to highlight that a video is made with the Edits app.

🐸 Report Break: Instagram registers a 28% YoY decrease in engagement, standing at an average engagement rate of 0.50%.