President Trump delayed TikTok’s ban until December 16 and claimed Rupert Murdoch, Lachlan Murdoch, Michael Dell, Larry Ellison, and Marc Andreessen are among investors preparing to acquire its US operations. The potential buyer group—stacked with conservative media and tech moguls—raises concerns over political bias on a platform where left-leaning influencers currently dominate. For advertisers, TikTok’s massive 116.6 million US user base remains critical, but ownership politics could shift user trust and open the door for rivals.

Despite economic uncertainty, 77% of consumers plan to spend the same or more this holiday season, but their shopping timelines and behaviors are shifting. Klaviyo’s 2025 BFCM Forecast shows why brands must rethink peak-season campaigns with omnichannel and AI-driven personalization.

Social media is intertwined into Gen Zers’ day-to-day lives, used for everything from entertainment to messaging to searching. But they’re posting less than older generations and want to spend less time on it, though that’s easier said than done.

The Trump administration announced on September 15 that a TikTok sale deal has finally been reached with China after months of uncertainty, allowing TikTok to remain operational in the US. That means TikTok’s future in the US isn’t as uncertain as it recently was. FIs that set aside plans to build up their TikTok following or reach target customers via campaigns or finfluencer relationships should now move full steam ahead on TikTok. This is the moment to restart those efforts with a renewed focus on authenticity and education. FIs should create specific content that speaks to Gen Z’s financial realities.

Microdramas—episodic series made for vertical viewing on phones—gained popularity in China and are now taking off in the US. Using techniques like product placement and creator partnerships, brands are figuring out how they can use this new genre.

TikTok’s US operations may soon be spun off into a new entity majority-owned by American investors, with Oracle, Andreessen Horowitz, and Silver Lake leading the deal. The framework, aimed at complying with the 2024 divest-or-ban law, would give US investors roughly 80% control while ByteDance retains under 20%. The sticking point remains TikTok’s algorithm—whether ByteDance licenses its technology or a US-controlled version is rebuilt. For marketers, continuity is key: any disruption in recommendation performance, targeting, or data oversight could alter ad outcomes on one of their most important platforms.

YouTube is making livestreaming a central pillar of its platform with its most sweeping update yet. More than 30% of logged-in viewers watched live video in Q2 2025, and new features aim to boost engagement and monetization. Updates include YouTube Playables, dual horizontal and vertical streaming with a unified chat, AI-generated highlight Shorts, and side-by-side ad formats that don’t interrupt streams. The company is also enabling midstream exclusivity for members. For creators, livestreaming is now easier to scale and monetize; for brands, it’s a fresh avenue to connect with highly engaged audiences—and increasingly, to drive commerce.

YouTube creators aren’t just publishing more TV-like content; they’re reinventing the TV medium. Brands can’t just shift TV budget to YouTube; they must also shift their thinking about what “television” is.

The Trump administration stated Monday that a TikTok sale deal has finally been reached with China after months of uncertainty, allowing TikTok to remain operational in the US. TikTok’s US operations may be safe for now, meaning brands can continue investing in the platform for its massive reach without immediate disruption—but caution is still warranted until details emerge on how its critical algorithm will be handled.

Our third annual Path to Purchase survey looks at how consumers discover, research, and ultimately purchase new brands and products.

TikTok shared new data to highlight the potential of its search ads for driving action. TikTok showed that activations with dedicated search campaigns led to 2 times higher purchase lift overall, while enterprise advertisers saw 2.2 times higher purchase lift and higher incremental return on ad spend (ROAS). TikTok’s success with search ads is promising, but advertisers ultimately need answers about the platform’s longevity in its core market. Questions about data security, content moderation, and political pressures are still casting a shadow.

In-store product discovery still reigns supreme among US Hispanic shoppers. But their path to purchase is highly digital, influenced heavily by price comparison and social media videos.​

40% of US adults say most or some of the health information on TikTok is trustworthy—the highest rating among major platforms, according to July data from KFF.

Ahead of an impending US sale deadline, ByteDance-owned TikTok has announced significant growth in Europe, adding 5 million active users YoY and seeing over 200 million EU users monthly. Even as TikTok grows in the EU and other key markets, the platform faces an uphill battle to reassure advertisers amid persistent uncertainty over its US regulatory future.

Our exclusive data explores how social commerce and AI are reshaping the beauty path to purchase for US consumers.

The news: Facebook is promoting its Pokes feature in an effort to increase user engagement. Pokes—a mainstay feature of the early Facebook experience—are regaining popularity, prompting Facebook to make it a more central part of the user experience, per TechCrunch. Users can now track their “Pokes count” with friends, essentially a streak, on top of a dedicated Poke button added to Facebook profiles. Our take: Meta relies on Facebook for the lion’s share of its ad revenues. While Pokes may seem to be a low-stakes experiment, re-engaging younger users is a high-stakes battle, and even small features can tip the balance if they create sticky user habits.

This is the first installment of our annual “Canada Ad Spending Benchmarks” series, which helps ad buyers and sellers calibrate their spending and revenue mix against the market.

This is the first installment of our “Canada Ad Spending Benchmarks” series, which helps ad buyers and sellers calibrate their spending and revenue mix against the market.