蘑菇AV

Reddit. Roku. Snap. Taboola and Qualtrics. Warner Bros. Discovery.

The news: Digg is making a comeback nearly 13 years after it was first sold in a deal backed by founder Kevin Rose and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. The revival, which will be led by CEO Justin Mezzell, is an attempt to bring 鈥済ood vibes鈥� back to the internet, per Rose.

AI licensing deals are off the table, according to Graber, differentiating Bluesky from platforms like Reddit that have signed lucrative deals with AI firms. Learning from mistakes: Though Bluesky has a far smaller user base than X and Threads, its recent surge has turned it into a platform of interest for investors and advertisers.

Rapid user growth highlights demand for decentralized, ad-free feeds, but scalability and monetization remain critical hurdles for long-term success.

Reddit, however, could be an unexpected winner among the smaller platforms. Its rising prominence in Google search results, growing user base, and new ad formats have put it on marketers鈥� radar over the past year, and they may choose to stick with it if they鈥檙e seeing results.

Reddit launches AMA Ads and Pro Trends: New tools enable branded Q&As, real-time insights, and improved brand safety for advertisers.

AI is revolutionizing B2B SEO. Many AI tools are included in established SEO tools. The tools are integrated into SEO tasks, including keyword research, competitive analysis, and performance tracking. This helps marketers gain deeper data insights into user search patterns and behaviors, which can inform more-effective SEO strategies.

Among social media platforms, Facebook (excluding Facebook Messenger), Instagram, and TikTok users spent less time on the social media apps in June 2024 compared with the year prior, per data by Comscore.

YouTube鈥檚 anti-ad blocking campaign sparks a user outcry: The company is raising ad-free pricing in multiple markets shortly after banning ad blockers.

Obviously it's a smaller scale, because Reddit is smaller users, but-. Marcus Johnson (12:59):. True. Good point. Paola Flores-Marquez (13:00):. ... but also, our Reddit number's only track logged in users too, so it's very possible that there's a lot higher degrees of use. Marcus Johnson (13:08):. True. And then two other platforms, WhatsApp. 37% of people on WhatsApp are Millennials.

In January, a user on the Instacart subreddit noted that the images Instacart was using alongside some of its recipes were a bit strange. One image showed two cooked chickens conjoined at the shoulder. Another featured a hot dog with the interior texture of a tomato. The recipes themselves were also created by AI, with some similarly baffling results like 鈥淗ot Dog Stir Fry.鈥�.

Social platforms like Meta AI could easily surpass ChatGPT in monthly users. Myth 2: Only the biggest players will succeed. Reality check: Significant growth opportunities exist beyond Google, Meta, and Amazon. Nearly $30 billion in new ad spending between 2025 to 2027 will be available outside the triopoly. Consolidation is helping smaller players compete, with 116 M&A transactions in Q1 2025.

X still faces tough competition from Meta, which has long been the top choice for SMB advertisers on social media, as well as other platforms like Reddit, Pinterest, and Snap that are also courting SMB ad dollars. Click here to view our forecast for worldwide X users. Still, the diversification of its advertiser base is a win for X.

Reddit. Roku. Snap Inc. Walmart.

The same drive for authentic product recommendations is leading consumers to turn to Reddit. 鈥淧eople just want real stuff,鈥� said our analyst Minda Smiley, who pointed out that consumers appreciate that Reddit isn't an influencer platform in the traditional sense. Listen to the full podcast episode. This was originally featured in the 蘑菇AV Daily newsletter.

TikTok is rolling out its Shop feature to all 100 million US users (per our May forecast), using a tab on the home screen to drive users to the marketplace and allowing videos directly containing purchase links, in order to drive in-app ecommerce traffic.

Facebook, TikTok see growth among niche groups, but the core user base remains stable. Social network users are increasing their use of Reddit more than any other channel. Digital media makes up nearly two-thirds of consumers鈥� total time spent with media. TikTok can鈥檛 count on Gen Z for big gains in time spent anymore.

Transparency will be particularly crucial as agentic AI鈥攕ystems that can make decisions and take actions on behalf of users鈥攂ecomes more prevalent. Consumers will need assurance that AI agents are selecting products based on their best interests rather than commercial relationships. What retailers should prioritize now.

The same strategy for improving search functionality and making answers more readily available was adopted by Reddit this week, when it launched an AI-powered conversational chatbot called Reddit Answers. Competition in the field: Yelp鈥檚 Review Insights offer a summary similar to Google鈥檚 AI Overviews by giving consumers a consolidated view of the information they鈥檙e looking for.

YouTube pause ads grow with smart TV rollout: As YouTube explores passive ad formats, it must balance ad revenue with audience satisfaction amid mixed reactions from users.

Reddit was the fifth highest-visibility domain in Google鈥檚 organic search results in July 2024, up from No. 68 in July 2023, according to Sistrix. And since going public in March 2024, the company has introduced new ad products and search improvements.

It is catering to those users, by promoting posts and videos in its 鈥淟inkedIn News鈥� feed, for example. Still, many journalists can鈥檛 fully quit Twitter, mainly because they鈥檝e spent years building their presence on the platform and there is no exact replacement. New apps like Post, however, are vying to change that. Reddit is a natural fit for some Twitter users.

Reddit. The only one they don't over index on is Reddit. Marcus Johnson:. Okay. Paola Flores-Marquez:. But that's us tracking Reddit logged in users, so they might not just be logging in, but yeah, in general, they spend 10% more time with CTV than the general population and of the time they spend with TV, half of that time is spent streaming. So they're very active digitally.

But advertisers shouldn鈥檛 discount smaller platforms like Reddit, where Gen Z use is accelerating, or Pinterest, where the number of US Gen Z users will rival that of millennials by 2028, per our forecast. Though Gen Z鈥檚 VR use lingers behind any other form of media, activity is on the rise, and advertisers should keep a close eye on the tech as applications become more accessible. Use this chart:.