Major Recent Updates to YouTube, Meta, Threads, and TikTok

Bold moves on the part of YouTube, Meta and TikTok on this week’s Marketing Minute!

YouTube Advertisements

First up, in an effort to support advertisers and creators, YouTube moved to counter ad blockers, disabling playback of videos for users with ad blockers enabled. This forces viewers to either disable their ad blockers or subscribe to YouTube Premium to get around the ads. It will be interesting to watch Google attempt to strike a balance between driving revenue and user experience. If too many people choose YouTube Premium, advertisers could be left in the cold, and if users leave in response to the new restrictions, then everyone loses.

Threads Emerges to Challenge Twitter

Meta launched their Twitter competitor, called Threads, getting over 30 million downloads in less than 24 hours, and passing 100 million over the first weekend. While advertisers want to get started, Meta has no timetable for monetization, choosing to focus first on user experience so any initial marketing efforts will have to focus on organic content. Here’s the thing, if Twitter is failing because of their leadership, then Meta could turn Threads into a success. On the other hand, if there just aren’t enough users who want a text-forward social media platform, then Meta should probably focus on making Instragram feel more like TikTok.

TikTok Shop’s Explosive First Quarter Sales

Finally, in the first quarter this year, TikTok generated over $1 billion in in-app spending, making it the first platform to achieve such a feat in a single quarter. Users purchase TikTok Coins, enabling them to support their favorite creators and express their appreciation through virtual gifts. TikTok’s immense popularity and its ability to monetize the platform are remarkable. When combined with TikTok Shop and their recently announced private label products, TikTok as a shopping platform looks more and more like a coming reality.

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