Today’s Insights

• 🔍 Instagram Tests AI Search

• 🌍 Google Broadens ‘Search Max’

• 📹 Bluesky Extends Video Limits

• 🚀 Digg Prepares for Relaunch

• 💰 TikTok Live Hits $1.7B

Feature

Influencer Marketing is No Longer Just Organic—It’s Becoming an Ad Strategy

Influencer marketing spend is projected to exceed $10 billion this year in the US, according to eMarketer.

But creator content has evolved beyond organic reach.

Major platforms are bringing influencer content directly into their advertising tools.

Google Ads is being integrated with BrandConnect in select markets.

This lets brands:

• Easily use sponsored YouTube videos as creative for Google’s paid ad campaigns

• Track creator partnerships with the same analytics used for standard ad campaigns

Other platforms have already been moving in this direction too:

LinkedIn → Thought Leadership Ads
Meta → Partnership Ads
TikTok → Spark Ads

Collectively we’re seeing the shift from creator content as a purely organic strategy to a more measurable, scalable advertising approach.

Google & Meta

🔍 Meta is recommending a Google Analytics integration for ad tracking

Some Account Managers are seeing a prompt Meta Ads Manager to integrate Google Analytics and get “early access to a new ad system”.

🔍 Instagram tests delivering search from the comments section

When users click a prompt, they’re directed to a new search results page. This page pulls in summaries created by Meta AI from the web, Reels, and posts from different sources.

📈 Facebook Marketplace outpaces Amazon and eBay in resale market

Facebook Marketplace has grown to 1.1 billion users across 70 countries.

💰 Facebook adds Stories to its creator monetization program

Creators can now earn money from views and engagement on their public Facebook Stories. Currently invite-only, the program is expected to open for enrollment later this year.

🌍 Google expands Search Max beta to more advertisers

The feature expands search term matching beyond selected keywords. It also auto-pairs landing pages with optimized ad copy and incorporates AI-generated assets.

🔍 Google explores bringing ads into AI Mode in Search

Google will “explore bringing ads into” its new AI Mode, the company told ADWEEK. AI Mode, rolled out in beta recently, can conduct multiple searches at once to serve up in-depth, multi-step responses to complex user queries.

More Headlines

🤖 eBay and Etsy adopt AI-driven personalization to stay competitive

The marketplaces are adopting social media-like features used by TikTok, Instagram, and Pinterest.

📹 Bluesky expands video uploads to 3 minutes

Users can now upload videos up to three minutes long, up from the previous 60-second limit.

🚀 Social news platform, Digg set to relaunch

Digg’s original founder, Kevin Rose, and Reddit co-founder, Alexis Ohanian, have reacquired the platform.

💰 TikTok Live made $1.7B globally in one quarter of 2023

Bloomberg reports that over $400 million of the TikTok Live revenue came from the U.S. TikTok expects global sales from TikTok Live to reach $77 billion by 2027.

📈 LinkedIn expands Predictive Audiences with new AI targeting tools

The update introduces company list targeting and additional retargeting sources for predictive audiences.