Could Meta’s antitrust trial reshape the digital ads landscape?
Plus: a LOT of Meta news, and is the TikTok ban extension lawful?
The Federal Trade Commission's antitrust lawsuit against Meta, set to begin on April 14, 2025, could force the company to divest from Instagram and WhatsApp.
For those buying digital ads, this development could fragment advertising platforms further.
Currently, you can manage all of the above from the comfort of Meta’s Ads Manager tool, meaning there are strong economies of scale and automations enabling you to set up one ad running with different variants across multiple platforms - with Meta automatically optimising spend towards the best performer. That might not happen in future.
Good news for third-party ad buying tools, not so much for those with smaller budgets that need to work smarter.
There’s lots going on at the moment in the weird world of Meta; whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams (whose book your writer is very much enjoying) has claimed that Meta undermined US national security by working with China on censorship, in building a business worth $18bn. Meta has disputed this.
It’s also been in trouble this week for ‘fudging’ benchmarks to make AI model Llama 4 perform better than it actually was.
Meta also ‘officially’ ended fact checking this week, following the announcement earlier this year.
Finally, an older piece of news that I haven’t yet mentioned, but Mark Zuckerberg has said he wants to revive the old-school spirit of Facebook with a friends-only feed. If ever there were an admission that the current algorithm and people’s usage of it is flawed, you have it there.
Further Reading
US Senator Mark Warner has warned that the recent TikTok extension may not be lawful. Meanwhile President Donald Trump has said that deals around splitting out the platform into the US are still in progress despite the escalating tariff war with China.
Speaking of those tariffs, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said that the UK Online Safety Act and Digital Services Tax are both part of discussions around a potential UK/US trade deal.
Less related to digital marketing, but of interest and relevant to the tariff war, is the news that Apple has taken preventative action to stockpile devices to insulate it from escalating prices. There are reports that iPhones could triple in price.
Further afield, Turkey wants to make it easier to block social media platforms and messaging apps, as well as requiring those that operate in the country to operate a local company.
Lastly, Instagram is testing lockable posts, only openable with a secret code.
That’s it! If you found this interesting, I would appreciate it if you shared it with your friends and colleagues.
If you’re feeling particularly generous and enjoyed this edition, I won’t stop you from buying me a coffee. Otherwise, I’ll be back next Thursday. See you then! 🫶