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The FTC is looking to break up Meta's business by forcing it to separate from Instagram and WhatsApp, while Amazon and Apple face their own antitrust challenges. The timing is particularly significant as Google is in the remedy trial for its search case. 鈥淭here's a good chance that the remedies in both of these cases will be intertwined,鈥� Mitchell-Wolf noted.

In January 2024, Meta complied with DMA requirements to let EU users decouple their WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram accounts. Paths to compliance: Fines are the EC鈥檚 main hammer when pushing companies to comply with laws like the DMA, but sometimes the threat of a complicated investigation process is enough to change a Big Tech player鈥檚 decisions.

The monopoly trial, which started earlier this month, takes aim at Meta鈥檚 acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. Depending on the outcome, Meta could be forced to offload Instagram and WhatsApp鈥攖he former of which will be its primary source of revenues in the US this year, per our forecasts. Instagram will drive more ad revenues than Facebook this year.

The agency argues that Meta鈥檚 acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp were designed to neutralize competition. The trial, set to begin April 14, could have far-reaching implications for the ad industry. If the court agrees, Meta could be forced to divest or make sweeping changes to its ad platform.

Meta's WhatsApp brought in over $1 billion in business revenue in 2024, per our December 2024 forecast. For Discord, their association with video game players has proven to be both a strength and a challenge when approaching how to fold in advertising. 44% of US teens who self-identify as gamers use Discord, according to Pew Research.

Its AI is also available across form factors in Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram apps. Our take: The transition to Gemini may be seamless for Google Assistant users, especially since the voice prompts to wake up the assistant remain the same. All of the Big Tech companies seem to be replacing their traditional assistants and searches with AI-only solutions.

Key stats: 69% of millennials, 57% of Gen Zers, and 54% of Gen Xers worldwide prefer messaging apps like Skype and WhatsApp for customer service, per Genesys, indicating that the audience exists for Skype but Microsoft once more missed out on capitalizing on an  opportunity.