Meta submitted a motion on Friday to dismiss the FTC’s monopoly charges, which contained information about how much advertising money Instagram has generated in recent years.

The Verge reported that in 2021 alone, Instagram earned $32.4 billion in revenue, outperforming YouTube, which earned $28.8 billion.

Business Insider has noted its advantage over YouTube, stating that it gives away 55% of each advertising dollar it generates to content owners who submit films, whereas Instagram gives up much less.

According to Bloomberg, the percentage of Meta’s revenue derived from Instagram increased from 26 percent in 2020 to around 30 percent in the first six months of 2022.

Total sales at British supermarkets increased by 5.4% year on year in the four weeks ending March 23, as falling inflation encouraged buyers to spend more, according to research firm NIQ market figures released Wednesday.

The growth was slightly larger than the 5.3% rise reported a month earlier, reported Reuters.

Mike Watkins, NIQ’s UK head of retailer and business insight, stated that a drop in food costs in March and supermarket competition helped sales.

“However, overall consumer spend remains under pressure as many household bills continue to increase above (inflation) and this is reflected in the continued weak consumer confidence,” he said, according to the report.

YouTube has released three new improvements for video creators that aim to provide them with a better insight of their audience and improve the user experience they deliver.

The updates include: Live stream reaction analytics; Breakdown of impressions from new and returning viewers;
The ability to live-stream to YouTube in HDR, reported Search Engine Land.

To get this information, go to your content and select the overview tab. This functionality is currently only available on Studio web and mobile.

YouTube’s product lead for homepage and recommendations, Todd Beaupre, stated on X that YouTubers should not “delete videos unless you have a very, very good reason.”

“When you delete a video, you delete your channel’s connection to the audience that watched that video. If you want to maximize your growth, keep your videos public or unlist the[m] if you must,” he added.

Elon Musk, the owner of X, posted on Thursday that “Meta was also falsely claiming credit for sales that actually originated from X” after advertisers filed a $7 billion lawsuit against Meta.

The advertisers accuse Meta of allegedly inflating ad viewership, reported Search Engine Land.

Advertisers allege they were unlawfully charged excessive prices to advertise on Facebook and Instagram.

The advertisers suing Meta claim that the Potential Reach statistic used by the company to calculate advertising expenses is based on the total number of social media accounts rather than individual users, noted in the report. They claim this strategy is problematic since it may contain bots and phony accounts, resulting in advertisers paying more money to deliver their ads to bots.

Meta rejected the allegations, stating that the price advertisers pay is based on performance measures, not the Potential Reach metric, as the case claimed.

US individuals would spend 55 minutes daily watching digital video rather than traditional TV in 2024, according to EMarketer’s February 2024 projection.

The drop in TV time spent will be more moderate than previously anticipated, even as time spent with digital video increases.

“Growth in time spent with digital media is slowing, but it’s still increasing faster than time spent with traditional media is declining,” noted EMarketer.

According to their projection, time spent on mobile phones in the United States will be 50 minutes higher than time spent watching connected TV this year.

According to an October survey by Snap Inc. and IPG Magna, social media users in select nations (the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, France, and Saudi Arabia) trust brands more than influencers regarding finance, fashion, and skincare. This trend is especially prominent in finance.

“Brand-let creator communities are a happy medium for gaining consumer trust. These communities, in which select creators are backed by brands, could win points from both those who trust brands more and those who trust creators more,” according to EMarketer.

Despite receiving much financial advice from TikTok, Generation Z is cautious when selecting financial products. Influencers in this field must demonstrate some level of authority to get trust.

Chinese e-commerce merchants looking to sell products on TikTok Shop in the United States as an alternative to Amazon are concerned about measures the short video app has taken to strengthen enforcement of its regulations for overseas sellers launching stores on the site.

According to Reuters, TikTok, which faces the prospect of having to divest its US operations or being banned, has recently taken a tougher stance on enforcing its internal rules, according to five Chinese vendors on the site and an industry association that represents 3,000 Chinese stores selling products online.

TikTok is mandating that US organizations be 51% US owned and chaired by a US passport holder, according to the vendors and Winnie Wang, executive chairman of the Shenzhen Cross Border E-Commerce Association, China’s largest seller association situated in the manufacturing heartland.

Many Chinese vendors were recognized as US merchants on the platform, but the laws now require them to be re-registered as international sellers, which they claim receive less prominence and assistance, placing them at a disadvantage compared to US TikTok sellers, reported Reuters.

Google’s John Mueller responded to a concern regarding whether adding a “contact page” and/or a “about page” was a good idea because Google considers them significant.

Mueller explained why the contact and about us sections were valuable.

The Search Engine Journal summarized Meuller’s answers, stating that identifying who is responsible for a webpage is easier when an about page outlines the individuals behind the website and why site users should trust them.

Meuller tweeted: I can think of good reasons for some sites to have these kinds of pages, but, after double-checking, there’s nothing in our search developer documentation that suggests this is needed.

“And the reality is that the length of content is not a ranking factor or an influence on ranking, it simply doesn’t matter to Google. The only thing that matters is if it’s useful or helpful and offers a good and satisfying experience for users,” summarized the Search Engine Journal.

YouTube now asks creators to indicate whether their videos contain AI-generated or altered content that could be mistaken as genuine.

Google announced on its blog that disclosure labels will appear in the video description or on the player, with some exclusions for unrealistic or small changes.

The change is intended to promote openness and trust and help users understand AI’s expanding role in content development.

“And while we want to give our community time to adjust to the new process and features, in the future we’ll look at enforcement measures for creators who consistently choose not to disclose this information,” Google stated.

“In some cases, YouTube may add a label even when a creator hasn’t disclosed it, especially if the altered or synthetic content has the potential to confuse or mislead people,” the company added.

In addition, as previously disclosed, Google is working on a new privacy policy that would allow anyone to request the removal of AI-generated or other synthetic or altered content that resembles an identifiable human, such as their voice or face.