15th December 2025
Signal 1: EU users get a real opt down on personalised Meta ads
Meta will give EU users a choice to share less data and receive less personalised ads from January 2026.
My take: Performance in Europe gets harder. Brands will need stronger creative and stronger first-party data.
Signal 2: South Korea mandates labels on AI-made ads
AI-generated ads will require clear labelling in South Korea from early 2026.
My take: AI disclosure becomes a mainstream compliance problem. Global brands will standardise creative workflows around it.
Signal 3: Fake political video networks hit 1.2 billion views on YouTube
Over 150 channels pushing fake UK political content reached around 1.2 billion views in 2025.
My take: Brand safety now includes narrative risk, so your media plan needs adjacency checks, not only CPM targets.
Signal 4: OpenAI pulled in-app promos after users treated them like ads
OpenAI turned off app promotion messages inside ChatGPT after backlash from paying users.
Signal 5: Threads adds algorithm control testing and comment sorting
Threads added comment sorting and continues testing an Algorithmic Control feature, plus more group chat mechanics via invite links.
My take: Threads shifts toward managed conversation. As always, community builders who set norms early will win
Signal 6: Discord sped up large uploads with new Rust retry logic
Discord rebuilt upload retry logic in Rust and added upload resumption, improving latency around 15% overall.
My take: Faster sharing increases the amount of content that stays inside the server.
Signal 7: UK adults spend 51 minutes a day watching YouTube
Ofcom data shows YouTube reaches 94% of UK adult internet users and averages 51 minutes per day on phones, tablets and PCs.
My take: YouTube is default media. No one can afford to treat YouTube as a side channel anymore.
Signal 8: Amazon’s Alexa Plus will auto-buy items when prices drop
Alexa Plus can watch prices and purchase automatically once a target price hits.
My take: Erm, it’s a no from me dawg.
Signal 9: Amazon Ads adds Nielsen audience segments into Amazon DSP
On the topic of Amazon, Nielsen audience segments became available in the Amazon Ads marketplace via Amazon DSP and Amazon Marketing Cloud.
My take: Retail media keeps maturing into full-stack advertising. Measurement and targeting get less optional.
Signal 10: YouTube measurement and planning gets consolidated into “total video” stacks
Cadent acquired VuePlanner to integrate YouTube planning and measurement alongside linear TV and CTV.
My take: YouTube budgets will move with TV budgets. Teams that split video planning across silos will lose efficiency.
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