TikTok booms in Europe - and isn’t going anywhere in the US
It’s been a pretty quiet summer in the world of digital, but the landscape has been dominated by TikTok news this week.
In Europe, the app is booming - record growth, bigger ad budgets, and an entrenched spot in youth culture. Yet across the Atlantic, the US sell-off debate rolls on. Donald Trump has hinted the looming shutdown deadlines will “keep getting extended,” while The White House has just launched a TikTok account. It’s safe to say they’re pretty confident that it’ll last a while, then.
It isn’t all good news though - in the UK, TikTok told hundreds of moderators their jobs are at risk as the company leans more heavily on AI moderation. The timing isn’t exactly ideal - the UK’s Online Safety Act has just come into force, placing strict obligations on platforms to police harmful content.
Like Meta, X and YouTube before it, TikTok’s thinking is clear; the benefits of automating moderation massively outweigh the risks, despite plenty of reports to the contrary. I’ll take a look at this issue in more depth in the coming weeks.
There’s more to life than TikTok…
A few other things you may have missed while ByteDance grabbed the headlines:
Google’s AI Overviews are still confusing users. Users continue to report that the summaries are either untrustworthy, or just don’t make sense. It seems like maybe this was all rolled out too soon - not exactly reassuring, given its forcing massive changes in SEO strategy, forcing SEO teams into rewrites and experiments.
LinkedIn is doubling down on video. I know, we could have said that any time in the last 2 years, but the platform has moved recently to increase ad inventory, as well as giving creators and publishers more control over who advertises against their videos. It’s growing up so fast.
Ad giant Dentsu is looking at selling off its international business - a sign that AI is having a major impact on AdOps.
That's it! It’s been a fairly quiet summer on the digital marketing front, but we do start to see more announcements, changes and also trends pieces as we get into the final stretch of the year.
From the archives this week:
5 things every marketer should know about SEO in the age of AI
7 in 10 people now use AI Overviews - and don’t click through
If you found this interesting, I would hugely appreciate it if you shared 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 see you next week 🫶