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Google Opens Meridian To All Users 🚪 YouTube Testing Cost Per Hour Masthead ⏲️ Threads Is Getting Ads 🧵

Also: Meta AI Will Use Its 'Memory' To Provide Better Recommendations

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🗞 Marketing News

Google Opens Meridian, Its Marketing Measurements Tool, To All Users [3 min read]

Google has made Meridian publicly available as an open-source solution after testing it with hundreds of brands, aiming to help marketers better measure and allocate their marketing budgets across different channels. The tool addresses limitations of traditional marketing mix models by better measuring digital advertising (especially search), considering reach and frequency metrics, and incorporating real experimental results through Bayesian causal inference that combines historical data with real-world outcomes. Meridian integrates with Google's MMM Data Platform and offers customizable features including access to core metrics like impressions and clicks, with support available from over 20 certified measurement partners to help companies implement the tool.

YouTube Testing Cost-Per-Hour Masthead [2 min read]

YouTube is testing a new Cost-Per-Hour (CPH) Masthead advertising option that allows brands to purchase its premium ad space by the hour, giving them 100% share of voice across all YouTube devices during their chosen timeframe. This new offering complements YouTube's existing CPM (cost per thousand impressions) model and is specifically designed for time-sensitive marketing moments like product launches, major announcements, and cultural events. The CPH model uses flat hourly pricing rather than impression-based pricing, providing advertisers with more predictable budgeting and precise timing control for their campaigns across desktop, mobile, connected TV, and tablet devices.

Threads Is Getting Ads [1 min read]

Meta has begun testing ads on Threads with a limited rollout in the US and Japan, marking a significant change to the platform. These new ads will be displayed as images between posts in users' home feeds, with Meta planning to monitor the test's performance before any broader expansion. The ad targeting will leverage multiple data sources, including users' activity on both Threads and Instagram, their email addresses, and their activity from non-Meta platforms, though users will have options to customize, skip, hide, or report ads they don't want to see.

🤖 AI

Meta AI Will Use Its 'Memory' To Provide Better Recommendations [2 min read]

Meta is broadly rolling out an AI chatbot memory feature that remembers user preferences and details from conversations, now available across Facebook, Messenger, and WhatsApp in the US and Canada. The AI will use both explicit information that users tell it to remember and implicit information it picks up from context, such as adjusting future recommendations after learning about dietary preferences. The chatbot will also leverage personal data from users' Facebook and Instagram accounts including age, gender, location, and viewing history to provide more personalized recommendations, with Meta not currently offering an opt-out for these personalization features as they believe "the best experiences are personalized."

What Did DeepSeek Figure Out About Reasoning With DeepSeek R1? [4 min read]

Their key innovation lies in their training approach, which uses reinforcement learning where the model learns to reason step-by-step through mathematical problems and receives feedback based on verifiable correct answers, making the training process much more efficient than traditional fine-tuning methods. While this approach is more cost-effective and could potentially lead to better reasoning capabilities, it has a significant limitation in that it can only be trained on problems that can be mechanistically verified like coding and mathematics, and cannot currently handle more subjective reasoning tasks like legal analysis or logical word puzzles, though there's a possibility that mathematical reasoning skills could transfer to other domains in the future.

Which AI To Use Now: An Updated Opinionated Guide [10 min read]

Today's AI landscape offers three main choices for general users - Claude, Gemini, and ChatGPT - each costing around $20 monthly for their most capable versions, with specialized alternatives like Grok, Copilot, and DeepSeek available for specific use cases. These AI models are differentiated by key features including Live Mode for real-time interaction, reasoning abilities, web access, image generation, code execution, and their ability to process various types of documents and media, with each platform having distinct strengths in these areas. While ChatGPT leads in comprehensive features but can be complex to navigate, Gemini excels in search integration and media generation, and Claude offers fewer features but stands out for its insightful responses through its 3.5 Sonnet model, though users are encouraged to start experimenting with available options rather than waiting for future improvements in this rapidly evolving field.

🧠 Hacks & Tactics

How To Create An Editorial Calendar In Ten Minutes [6 min read]

An editorial calendar is a strategic tool that organizes content creation and aligns it with business objectives, distinguishing it from a more detailed content calendar. Using an editorial calendar offers numerous benefits, including improved organization and consistency, enhanced team collaboration, and strategic alignment with key dates and campaigns. Also, implementing an effective editorial calendar involves a structured process with clear steps and the use of various tools to optimize content strategy and achieve marketing goals.

Generational Divides In Email: Are Marketers Missing Their Mark? [4 min read]

Different generations exhibit distinct preferences and responses to email marketing. Baby Boomers tend to feel overwhelmed by high volumes of emails, whereas Gen Z is less sensitive to email quantity. Also, promotional and transactional content garners higher engagement across all age groups, especially among younger consumers who also value personalized content and are more open to data sharing, while older generations prioritize data privacy. These differences suggest that marketers should customize their email strategies to align with each generation's unique preferences and concerns.

7 Subcultures To Target Instead Of Demographics [5 min read]

Horizon Media is shifting marketing strategies from traditional demographic targeting to focusing on specific subcultures based on interests and passions, expanding beyond Gen Z to include cross-generational communities. Their latest report identifies seven key subcultures—such as dirt trackers, biohackers, and professional snackers—each with unique behaviors and brand preferences, enabling marketers to effectively target specific niches. This approach fosters greater consumer trust and engagement by creating personalized and authentic campaigns, ultimately leading to stronger brand loyalty and improved market penetration.

⚙️ Machine Shop

Get The Most Out Of Your Sign-Up Forms [8 min read]

Gain better insights through accurate data collection, build stronger brand connections, and map high-value customers who are more likely to be loyal and recommend the business. Use data and heuristics to identify friction points, applying UX and CRO principles to improve user experience, and leveraging persuasion techniques like reciprocity and social proof to encourage sign-ups.

How SEO Can Capture Demand You Create Elsewhere [7 min read]

SEO can enhance demand generation by ensuring your product, service, or innovation is easily discoverable through clear and relevant naming that aligns with how customers search. Also, owning as much real estate on search results pages as possible helps protect your brand’s visibility from competitors and maximizes exposure. Finally, leveraging search data to track branded searches, discover new keywords, and monitor competitive visibility allows you to measure the success of your demand generation efforts and make data-driven adjustments to stay ahead.

An In-Depth Snapchat Marketing Guide For Businesses [12 min read]

Successful strategies on Snapchat involve authentic, creative content tailored to the platform’s spontaneous and interactive nature, while establishing clear goals and maintaining consistent engagement. Also, Snapchat provides diverse advertising options with enhanced targeting and analytics, enabling brands to craft engaging, story-driven campaigns that resonate with their audience and drive both awareness and action.

🔮 The Future

5 Ways AI Will Change Social Media Marketing [10 min read]

AI will transform social media as Meta plans to integrate AI-generated profiles, boosting engagement metrics while raising concerns about the psychological impact of human-AI relationships. AI tools now make content creation more accessible and have minimally impacted election misinformation, though advancing technology could quickly change this landscape. The rise of AI agents will revolutionize how brands connect with consumers by making decisions on users' behalf, yet genuine human connection and authentic brand relationships will continue to drive meaningful engagement.

Stem Cells Used To Partially Repair Damaged Hearts [4 min read]

German researchers have developed a promising new approach to repairing damaged hearts using patches made from stem cell-derived heart muscle and supportive tissue, showing positive results in both macaques and initial human trials. While the patches successfully integrated and improved heart function without causing tumors or rhythm problems, the research also revealed challenges including incomplete tissue maturation, occasional immune responses, and limited blood supply integration. Though these results mark important progress in stem cell therapy for heart repair, further research is needed to address the remaining challenges and gather more human trial data before the treatment can fully realize its potential.

The X Everything App Will Launch This Year [3 min read]

The concept draws inspiration from China's WeChat, which evolved from a simple messaging app into a comprehensive platform that enables Chinese users to do everything from paying bills to booking doctor appointments within a single app through a system of "apps within an app." The first phase of X's financial features will launch with Visa as its initial partner, focusing on peer-to-peer payments and basic wallet functionality like funding an X Wallet and bank transfers, though broader features such as in-store or online business payments aren't yet included in this initial rollout.

Google's Latest Chrome Update Leaves Third Party Cookie Phase Out As Unclear As Ever [4 min read]

Google's latest Chrome update introduces a "one-time global prompt" for third-party cookie tracking consent, though the industry finds this change unclear and insufficient, particularly regarding user education about cookies. Additionally, Google announced a new feature allowing users to hide their IP addresses in incognito mode, though this has garnered little attention since privacy-conscious users already employ VPNs. After five years of investment in cookie alternatives, there's mounting industry frustration and skepticism about Google's approach, with many ad executives suspecting that the company's slow rollout and unclear timelines may be intentionally designed to drive users away from third-party tracking - a move that would ultimately benefit Google's own walled garden while disadvantaging other advertising players.

👩‍🏫 Vocab

Content Marketing: A strategic approach to creating and distributing valuable, relevant content to attract and retain a target audience. Instead of directly pitching products, it focuses on delivering information that makes buyers more informed. Content marketing builds trust and establishes your brand as an industry authority.

Example: Red Bull creates extreme sports videos and a lifestyle magazine that appeal to their audience, rarely mentioning their energy drink directly.

Content Strategy: The planning, development, and management of content throughout its lifecycle. It defines how content will be created, published, and maintained to achieve business goals. Content strategy ensures all content serves a purpose and reaches the right audience at the right time.

Example: A fitness brand plans content around New Year's resolutions in January, beach body preparation in spring, and holiday fitness tips in December.

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