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The news: YouTube is facing user backlash after rolling out its AI-powered age-verification system in the US. Many users are furious, per TechRadar, citing concerns about 鈥渕ass surveillance and data control.鈥� The age-verification AI estimates a user鈥檚 age based on viewing patterns, search history, and account age. If it flags a user as under 18, YouTube automatically applies teen safety restrictions like disabling personalized ads, limiting content availability, and turning on digital well-being tools. Our take: Disabling personalized advertising for flagged accounts will disrupt retargeting models and reduce audience reach. Marketers focused on Gen 鈥痁ers on YouTube should prepare for reduced targeting precision and to shift toward context-driven campaigns or diversify across other platforms.

Our take: Regulators and lawmakers now have a stronger case to probe TikTok鈥檚 compliance posture鈥攅specially as similar investigations unfold in the US, the UK, and Australia. Persistent privacy problems could accelerate urgency for creators, users, and advertisers to seek alternatives or at least diversify to other platforms, like Instagram or YouTube.

App usage is plateauing in mature markets like the US and the UK as time spent grows in emerging regions like India, South Africa, and the Philippines鈥攁reas often underserved by current ad strategies. Our take: Independent mobile apps offer untapped ROI.

TikTok, YouTube, and Pinterest are popular shopping destinations, too, with TikTok being the top social shopping platform in the UK. While China leads in social commerce adoption, other markets are catching up fast. "It's interesting to see how social media is evolving from being a discovery channel to a full-fledged commerce platform," said Perkins. Price matters most, but trust is important, too.

GenAI and social are set to heavily influence the UK commerce and advertising landscape in 2025, while thrifty consumer behaviors persist and video viewing shifts to mostly digital.

Regions with access to expanded inventory include the US, UK, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Australia, and Germany. More advertisers, including programmatic buyers in the US, UK, India, France, and Mexico, will now have access to premium podcast inventory in Spotify Ad Exchange through industry partners like Google Display & Video 360 and The Trade Desk.

Temu slashed its budget across Meta, X, and YouTube by 31% in April, while Shein reduced its US ad investment by 19% in the same period. Temu and Shein also cut Google Shopping ad spend in April.

In the UK, bank customers ranked messaging apps like WhatsApp above mobile app notifications for fraud alerts, ID verification, and overdue payment notices, highlighting how WhatsApp has become a trusted B2C channel in the heavily regulated finance industry.

We used a third-party sample provider to survey 2,755 US and 1,440 UK personal care and beauty shoppers from May 23 to June 16, 2025. Our survey provides a deep dive into the personal care and beauty category, uncovering where US and UK consumers learn about these products, see and hear advertising about them, and discover them. The survey explores shopper behaviors during the path to purchase.

The British drama continued its momentum with another 42 million views in its second week, outperforming all other English-language shows on the platform. In the UK, "Adolescence" became the first streaming title to lead the country鈥檚 official weekly TV ratings, drawing 6.45 million viewers with its debut episode鈥攂eating long-running broadcast hits like 鈥淭he Apprentice.鈥�.

Actually, US and UK gamers are just as likely to find in-game ads helpful (32%) as they are to actively ignore them (32%), according to May 2025 data from Attest. June 26, 2025. YouTube has increased the minimum age required to live stream to 鈥�. A) 12 years B) 14 years C) 16 years D) 18 years. Creators will need to be 16 or older to live stream on YouTube, as reported by MediaPost.

Its digital audio competition with YouTube is going well鈥擲potify is the preferred digital audio brand for 47% of digital listeners ages 12 to 34, per Edison Research, and the no. 2 platform for podcasts behind YouTube. However, employee costs and a weak dollar are dragging down profits.

A Kantar study found that 26% of UK Gen Z users use the platform in a similar manner. Another report found that music content is less popular on Instagram in Japan compared with TikTok and YouTube Shorts鈥攁 gap Instagram is likely eager to address. Zooming out: TikTok recently shuttered its TikTok Music service to focus on streaming service integrations.

On today鈥檚 podcast episode, we discuss the main reasons YouTube is the most watched platform on TVs, how 鈥淧lanet YouTube鈥檚鈥� gravitational pull is disrupting other media types, and what the biggest threat to its dominance is. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Vice President and Principal Analyst Jasmine Enberg, and Principal Analyst Bill Fisher for the conversation. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

Another day, another Google probe: The company has its hands full with its search and ads divisions facing antitrust investigations in the US and the UK. Regulatory pressure from China could add credence to anticompetition claims.

Half (50%) of US and UK creators said they want to attend creator-centric events. Fewer (39%) said they want a physical location to meet like-minded creators and host meetings, per Billion Dollar Boy data from early 2024. Catch up quick: YouTube shut down its permanent creator campuses, called YouTube Spaces, in 2021, pivoting to a hybrid model with virtual programming and pop-up events.

These changes bring WhatsApp closer to platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and Twitch, which already offer monetization tools for creators. The privacy imperative: Privacy has always been central to WhatsApp鈥檚 identity, and Meta is working hard to reassure users it won鈥檛 compromise that鈥攅specially as competitors like X attempt to make encrypted messaging a selling point.

Social commerce is gaining momentum in the UK鈥攚ith sales set to double by 2028鈥攁s major brands join TikTok and as more people shop on social platforms.