蘑菇AV

The news: 88% of mobile app ad spend is concentrated on Google and Meta, per Moloco鈥檚 Performance Through Independence report, despite high user engagement with independent apps. Advertisers who diversified their ad mix beyond the two Big Tech giants saw return on ad spend (ROAS) improve by up to 214%. Our take: Independent mobile apps offer untapped ROI. Reducing reliance on Google and Meta by diversifying mobile app spend could boost reach, hedge against platform risks, and better align with user behavior, especially as privacy challenges threaten to reshape targeting and measurement.

Elon Musk plans to sell paid placements within Grok鈥檚 AI-generated answers, marking his first major advertiser pitch since Linda Yaccarino鈥檚 departure. Grok, X鈥檚 in-house AI assistant built by xAI, will integrate ads directly into responses, offering brands high-intent, context-driven targeting. The move comes as X鈥檚 global ad revenues, projected at $2.26 billion in 2025, remain roughly half of pre-Musk levels. Musk says Grok will eventually automate the full ad-buying process, from creative grading to personalization, aiming to improve efficiency and performance. With user growth declining in every major region, the strategy hinges on whether brands trust Musk鈥檚 AI-led vision enough to re-engage.

Pinterest reported a breakout Q2 2025 with $998 million in revenue, up 17% YoY鈥攂eating guidance and analyst expectations. Monthly active users hit an all-time high of 578 million, with profitability improving and ARPU rising globally. Gains were driven by GenAI tools like auto-collages, stronger commerce integration via Instacart, and a lean ad tech approach powered by Magnite. Pinterest鈥檚 ad business continues to grow steadily, with advertiser spending up and margins expanding to 25%. While still underweight in media plans, Pinterest is proving itself as a differentiated, performance-ready platform with rising traction among Gen Z and global users.

The news: More than one-third of Pinterest鈥檚 570 million global users are men (30.4% in the US), driven largely by Gen Z, per the company鈥檚 first Pinterest Men鈥檚 Trend Report. Their searches鈥攕panning fitness, grooming, parenting, and finance鈥攗pend stereotypes and signal new ad opportunities. Our take: Advertisers have an opportunity to plug into Pinterest鈥檚 male-centric expansion with the following strategies. Launch campaigns via the 鈥淧interest Man鈥� hub and align creative with top categories (fitness, skincare, parenting). Partner with male creators to boost authenticity, engagement, and time spent. Use Pinterest鈥檚 gender-specific analytics and trend reports to optimize ad timing and targeting.

In an 蘑菇AV interview, Reddit COO Jen Wong shared optimism following the platform鈥檚 strong Q2, highlighting its focus on delivering ad outcomes over increasing ad load. Despite capturing just over 1% of US social ad spend, Reddit is growing ARPU through investments in machine learning, creative tools like Memorable AI, and advertiser infrastructure. Wong emphasized Reddit鈥檚 auction model supports full-funnel goals, while global expansion is underway through localized insights and self-serve adoption. She spotlighted Reddit Community Intelligence as a milestone, enabling brands to tap into decades of authentic discussion data. The company鈥檚 long-term bet: authenticity will outperform algorithms.

The news: Instagram鈥檚 latest updates to direct messaging could help brands and creators better organize communications, making the platform a go-to for striking brand partnerships and engaging with customers. Meta added several filtering options to Instagram, including the option to sort DMs by unread or unanswered messages as well as by the senders鈥� follow count and verification status. Creators can also streamline inbox management with new folders. Our take: These are more than just admin updates鈥攖hey鈥檙e features that pave the way for a future where DMs are central to engagement. Investing time and resources in intentional messaging workflows can help treat DMs as a high-impact channel and a meeting point between companies and consumers.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will publish its final print edition on December 31, 2025, before becoming a digital-only outlet on January 1, 2026. Publisher Andrew Morse said the move will allow resources to flow into newsletters, podcasts, video, and a new mobile app. The 157-year-old paper has already posted double-digit digital subscription growth and expanded statewide reach. The shift mirrors broader industry trends: nearly half of US adults never read print newspapers, while digital ad spend continues to climb. AJC鈥檚 farewell to print underscores the inevitable math: audiences and advertisers are digital, and adaptation is survival.

The news: As newsletter platforms battle for creator loyalty, Substack is positioning itself as a social network, not just a writing platform. As more creators jump ship from platforms like Patreon, they鈥檙e pointing to Substack鈥檚 community tools and discovery features as drivers of subscribers and revenues, per Digiday. Our take: Substack isn鈥檛 just for sending emails anymore鈥攊t is quickly becoming a social network for writers and brands alike. Brands and creators should think of it less like a newsletter option and more like a growth channel for community: a crucial aspect of discovery and engagement.

The news: Meta and Midjourney formed a partnership to bring more image-generation tools to Facebook and Instagram. Meta is licensing Midjourney鈥檚 鈥渁esthetic technology鈥� for users and brands, Meta chief AI officer Alexandr Wang posted on Threads. He implied that the agreement may go past licensing and involve collaboration with Meta鈥檚 research teams to integrate Midjourney into future models and products. Our take: Brands should experiment with Midjourney to streamline content creation for Meta campaigns. However, they should also monitor outputs carefully for quality and copyright issues, especially considering Midjourney has faced allegations of IP misuse. Fast creation is only an advantage if it doesn鈥檛 trigger legal or reputational backlash.

The news: Snap is seeking outside funding for its AR Spectacles as it struggles to compete with Meta platforms and TikTok, per The Information. Our take: Bringing in outside capital could help Snap accelerate AR development without draining its core business. The possibility of gathering outside investment also highlights how critical Snap鈥檚 AR bet has become and how high the stakes are. Staying competitive requires Snap to prove Spectacles can evolve past a niche hardware play and compete with strong AI alternatives. If it can鈥檛, Snap may get stuck in the middle, overshadowed by platforms that are faster, bigger, and richer.

The news: Many marketers and salespeople doubt AI鈥檚 ability to boost company revenues or customer satisfaction. Some even believe it adds to their workload, signaling a disconnect between AI adoption and employee confidence. Only 39% of marketers and sales professionals in the US and UK are confident that their departments鈥� use of AI drives revenues, per General Assembly鈥檚 AI in Marketing & Sales report. Nearly half (46%) believe AI only somewhat improves the customer experience or doesn鈥檛 at all. Our take: Organizations that prioritize tailored training and tie outcomes to KPIs like team efficiency and customer satisfaction could help employees feel empowered and translate AI investments into measurable impact.

The news: Child safety concerns are mounting as several platforms face heightened scrutiny over lacking moderation capabilities. Google settled a lawsuit on Tuesday over claims that it violated children鈥檚 privacy through YouTube by collecting personal data for targeted ads without parental consent, though the company denied wrongdoing in its decision to settle. Our take: Heightened scrutiny over where advertisers spend and what they promote is a must-have amid current concerns over child safety online, and brands must practice caution when implementing strategies that could be perceived as targeting minors.

The news: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is warning of a growing AI investment bubble. 鈥淎re we in a phase where investors are overexcited about AI? My opinion is yes,鈥� Altman said during a dinner with a group of reporters, per The Verge. Still, he emphasized that AI remains 鈥渢he most important thing to happen in a very long time.鈥� Our take: Altman鈥檚 warning about an AI bubble applies to marketers too. The temptation to chase every shiny new AI tool is real, but teams should develop an AI experimentation roadmap with clear outcomes to avoid wasting resources. Pushing vendors for case studies can help maximize budgets.

MS NOW rebrand targets broader news reach: MSNBC aims to scale beyond its niche as TV audiences fragment globally.

The news: Instagram is testing a feature that lets users select their favorite movies, books, TV shows, games, and music to encourage intentional sharing and discovery. The offering, called Picks, then surfaces overlapping interests between friends to drive engagement. It鈥檚 still an internal prototype and isn鈥檛 being tested externally yet. Our take: Effectiveness will depend on user adoption, stickiness, and whether shared Picks sparks meaningful interaction or is perceived as just another data-harvesting ploy. If Picks launches, brands should be ready to experiment with interest-based messaging but prepare to navigate privacy sensitivities.

The news: Openvibe, an aggregator for social networks including Threads, Mastodon, and Bluesky, is broadening its scope, giving brands and publishers a fresh channel to build visibility without relying on algorithms or paid reach. The ad-free platform is adding support for RSS, a web standard that lets users subscribe to updates from blogs, news outlets, and other publishers in real time. This opens the door to tracking sources like Substack, Medium, and other independent media, all in one place. Our take: With no algorithm to boost weak or low-signal content, publishers should write strong and descriptive headlines to encourage engagement. Brands should consider publishing blog versions of social media and newsletter content to get on more RSS feeds and cross-post across social networks to maximize reach.

The news: Instagram added a host of new features for connecting with friends. The offerings could expand brands鈥� peer-to-peer visibility and location-based content and boost their chances of going viral. Our take: Brands should lean into organic discovery by creating engaging, visual-driven content that encourages reposts and peer engagement. Prioritize geo-aware promotions to tap into Instagram鈥檚 shift toward real-time social discovery and exploration.

Almost half (49%) of US Gen Zers are much more likely to pay attention to ads that make them laugh or use music they like, per a June report from Edison Research and SiriusXM Media.

The news: Direct messages (DMs) are becoming a key channel to reach consumers as follower growth, once the gold standard for social media success, declines. The average number of shares for brands on TikTok increased 60% quarter over quarter in Q1, per Dash Social鈥檚 2025 Social Media Trends report, showing a pivot toward private content distribution. At the same time, average monthly follower growth for brands on TikTok dropped 27% YoY. Our take: The rise of DMs as a preferred engagement channel signals a deeper shift in social media strategy鈥攆rom public broadcasting to private conversation鈥攖hat requires brands to prioritize intimacy to maintain trust and drive meaningful outcomes.

On today鈥檚 podcast episode, we discuss why Ms. Yaccarino left X, the expectations for its advertising business in the short and long term, and how realistic its chances are of becoming an 鈥渆verything app鈥�. Join our conversation with Senior Director of Podcasts and host, Marcus Johnson, Vice President and Principal Analyst, Jasmine Enberg, and Analyst, Marisa Jones. Listen everywhere you find podcasts and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

The news: Reddit is positioning itself as a full-fledged search engine, with over 70 million weekly active users (WAUs) using its search functionality. As part of its strategy to house a full-fledged search engine within its website, the company is expanding its AI-powered conversational interface, Reddit Answers, and making it a central feature on the platform around the world. Reddit Answers has grown to 6 million WAUs from 1 million in December. Our take: If Reddit succeeds in becoming a self-sustaining search platform, it will become an even more valuable asset for marketers looking to target niche audiences and get in on the consumer purchase journey early. Advertisers should start identifying specific subreddits where their audience are already active, experiment with Reddit鈥檚 ad formats, and optimize content to surface in the platform鈥檚 search results.

LinkedIn posted 9% YoY revenue growth in its June-ending quarter, fueled by rising engagement, B2B ad demand, and AI-powered tools. Despite soft hiring trends, sessions rose 11% YoY as more creators and professionals use LinkedIn for content, networking, and branding. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella emphasized the platform鈥檚 evolution from a resume archive to a dynamic business hub. AI continues to drive efficiency and creativity across features, benefiting both users and advertisers. With strong identity data and a trusted audience, LinkedIn is carving out a stable, differentiated space in social media鈥攑ositioning itself for long-term relevance beyond recruitment cycles.

The news: Gamers are more involved in gaming content than ever before, thanks in large part to titles like Roblox, Minecraft, and Fortnite. And they鈥檙e not keeping that interest solely on-platform. 46% of gamers say their time spent creating in-game video game content has somewhat or significantly increased over a year ago, per Bain & Company鈥檚 Gaming Report 2025. 蘑菇AV 20% say they spend less time. 27% of gamers鈥� social media time and 25% of their streaming video time is spent focused on gaming-related content. Our take: The gaming audience is growing, and it鈥檚 not focused on a single platform or console. Gamers鈥� interests reach through the game and into social media, streaming, TV, and audio, giving marketers a wide path to reach gamers where they are.

Meta鈥檚 Q2 2025 earnings showed the company thriving despite softening engagement in mature markets. Revenue surged 22% YoY to $47.52 billion, largely driven by better ad pricing, AI-optimized performance tools, and growing monetization via WhatsApp. Although user growth was modest, Meta demonstrated strong pricing power鈥攅specially in North America and Europe鈥攁nd continues to see big potential in Asia-Pacific. Operating margins remained healthy at 43%, even with record AI investments. As Meta extracts more value per user and expands monetization across platforms, its performance proves that engagement isn鈥檛 the only growth lever鈥攊t鈥檚 how well each session gets monetized.

The news: More than half (51%) of customer service journeys start on search engines and third-party platforms like Google, YouTube, Reddit, and ChatGPT鈥攔ather than company websites鈥攑rompting businesses to meet customers where they are, per a recent Gartner survey. Our take: Brands need to research and identify the platforms their customers rely on and establish fast, responsive service on those channels. The goal isn鈥檛 to pull users back to official websites鈥攊t鈥檚 to meet them where they already are, with the answers they need, when they need them. Using generative engine optimization (GEO) best practices to boost customer service answers in genAI outputs could help younger consumers get digestible, fast answers in their preferred channel.