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The Marketer's Playbook

A weekly round-up of the most important marketing news and strategies.

Written By

Drew Schweppe

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🗞 YouTube Hands Creators an AI Sidekick, LinkedIn Splits the Feed & ChatGPT Tracks What You Do Next

Sep 30, 2026

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4 min read

🗞 YouTube Hands Creators an AI Sidekick, LinkedIn Splits the Feed & ChatGPT Tracks What You Do Next

YouTube gives creators AI tools that analyze performance, test video openings, and edit Shorts by voice command. LinkedIn splits the feed into "For You" and "Network," so you can choose between discovery and catching up. ChatGPT's new pixel lets advertisers see what you do after you click an ad.

Drew Schweppe

🗞 Meta Charges Up to $499 for Social Media, Streaming's Biggest Rivals Join Forces & Google Has Begun Paying Publishers (Barely)

Sep 23, 2026

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3 min read

🗞 Meta Charges Up to $499 for Social Media, Streaming's Biggest Rivals Join Forces & Google Has Begun Paying Publishers (Barely)

Meta One bundles paid social and AI features from $7.99 a month up to $499 for business tiers. Amazon, Netflix and YouTube set their rivalry aside to lobby Washington together. Google has begun paying publishers when their content feeds its AI answers, though early checks are tiny.

Drew Schweppe

🗞 Amazon Brings Its Ad Machine to ChatGPT, Google Drops Language Targeting & U.S. Ad Budgets Keep Climbing

Sep 15, 2026

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3 min read

🗞 Amazon Brings Its Ad Machine to ChatGPT, Google Drops Language Targeting & U.S. Ad Budgets Keep Climbing

Amazon is making it easier for advertisers to buy ads in ChatGPT. Google is taking another targeting option off the table. U.S. ad spending is growing faster than expected, with social, CTV and commerce media leading the way.

Drew Schweppe

Previous Editions

Sep 30, 2026

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4 min read

🗞 YouTube Hands Creators an AI Sidekick, LinkedIn Splits the Feed & ChatGPT Tracks What You Do Next

Drew Schweppe

Sep 23, 2026

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3 min read

🗞 Meta Charges Up to $499 for Social Media, Streaming's Biggest Rivals Join Forces & Google Has Begun Paying Publishers (Barely)

Drew Schweppe

Sep 15, 2026

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3 min read

🗞 Amazon Brings Its Ad Machine to ChatGPT, Google Drops Language Targeting & U.S. Ad Budgets Keep Climbing

Drew Schweppe

Sep 8, 2026

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3 min read

🗞 ChatGPT Ads Pass $1 Billion, Instagram Cuts the Reach of Unlabeled AI Accounts & YouTube Auto-Labels Undisclosed Brand Deals

OpenAI's ad business hits a $1 billion annual run rate as it expands to more users and markets. Instagram cuts the reach of accounts that post AI content without labeling it. And YouTube starts flagging paid promotions creators didn't disclose.

Drew Schweppe

🗞 YouTube Pays Creators Millions to Beat Netflix, Apple Maps Gets Ads & LinkedIn's Slop Button Cuts the Junk 40%

Sep 1, 2026

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4 min read

🗞 YouTube Pays Creators Millions to Beat Netflix, Apple Maps Gets Ads & LinkedIn's Slop Button Cuts the Junk 40%

YouTube breaks its own rev-share model and pays creators directly to keep them off Netflix. Apple opens Maps to advertisers in the US and Canada. LinkedIn reports its anti-slop button has been used a million times.

Drew Schweppe

🗞 ChatGPT Ghosts Reddit, YouTube Inflates Everyone's View Count & Meta AI Becomes Your Campaign Analyst

Aug 26, 2026

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3 min read

🗞 ChatGPT Ghosts Reddit, YouTube Inflates Everyone's View Count & Meta AI Becomes Your Campaign Analyst

Reddit's visibility in ChatGPT drops roughly 90% after an OpenAI search change, YouTube starts counting views from the first frame today, and Meta AI arrives in Ads Manager to analyze and optimize campaigns.

Drew Schweppe

🗞 Instagram Rebrands After 10 Years, Spotify Lets You Skip Podcast Ads & YouTube Raises the Bar for Creators

Aug 18, 2026

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3 min read

🗞 Instagram Rebrands After 10 Years, Spotify Lets You Skip Podcast Ads & YouTube Raises the Bar for Creators

Instagram cleaned up its logo in its first refresh since 2016. Spotify's new skip button jumps past podcast ads, but only the ones creators sell, not Spotify's own. YouTube makes it harder for new channels to get paid.

Drew Schweppe

🗞 Disney Hands Its Characters to TikTok, Nielsen Buys DoubleVerify & AI Sends Shopify a Wave of Buyers

Aug 11, 2026

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3 min read

🗞 Disney Hands Its Characters to TikTok, Nielsen Buys DoubleVerify & AI Sends Shopify a Wave of Buyers

Disney lets select creators use Mickey, Marvel, and Star Wars characters on TikTok for the first time. Nielsen buys DoubleVerify to combine audience measurement with ad verification. And AI-driven traffic and orders to Shopify stores triple year over year.

Drew Schweppe

🗞 Meta's AI Bet Pulls In $59 Billion, X Ends Its Advertiser War & LinkedIn Adds an AI Slop Button

Aug 4, 2026

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3 min read

🗞 Meta's AI Bet Pulls In $59 Billion, X Ends Its Advertiser War & LinkedIn Adds an AI Slop Button

Meta's AI push drives ad revenue to $59.4 billion in a single quarter. X ends its highest-profile legal fight with the ad industry. And LinkedIn finally gives users a way to hide AI slop.

Drew Schweppe