TLDR: Social Media Headlines – 6 October 2025

• Microsoft is ending its Ads for Social Impact grant program in December 2025: This means nonprofits will need to either pause campaigns or pay for ads themselves, though they will still have access to discounted Microsoft tools and employee-supported programs.
• Google to phase out Call-Only Ads by 2027: Google will retire Call-Only Ads by 2027, pushing advertisers to shift phone lead campaigns to Responsive Search Ads with Call Assets.
• Google Analytics expands benchmarking with unnormalized metrics: Google Analytics now lets businesses benchmark absolute metrics like New Users and Total Revenue.
• Google Ads copywriting with AI: Getting the prompt right: Great ad copy depends on the input. See how clear, structured prompts – from personas to constraints – lead to stronger AI-generated ads.
• Apple Puts Hardware Chief John Ternus in the Succession Spotlight: Several of Apple’s executives are expected to relinquish their responsibilities in the near future – some of them were once seen as Tim Cook’s heir, making the future of the company uncertain. The company needs to urgently beef up its AI business, which could mean a shake-up or even an acquisition. Big changes are likely, especially as some executives don’t have obvious successors. Cook will likely remain involved with Apple in some capacity when he eventually steps down as CEO, perhaps as a board chairman. John Ternus remains the leading contender as Cook’s successor.
• OpenAI’s invite-only video generation app Sora tops Apple’s App Store: OpenAI’s new video generation app, Sora, has snagged the No. 1 spot on Apple’s App Store. The app allows users to generate short-form AI videos, remix videos created by other users, and post them to a shared feed. It is only available on iOS and is invite-based. The app gives users explicit control over how their likeness is used on the platform, but some videos have sparked debate about its utility, potential for harm, and legality.
• The Fight to Fix Prostate Cancer Care: Prostate cancer is the most common nonskin cancer among American men. Diagnostics and therapies for the disease generated about $12 billion to $15 billion worldwide last year. Smarter screening of prostate cancers can save lives without the harms of overtreatment. New techniques and treatments cut recovery time down to weeks, with fewer of the side effects that often follow surgery or radiation.
• BYD builds world’s fastest car: BYD’s Yangwang U9 Extreme recorded a speed of 308.4 miles per hour at the Papenburg facility in Germany. The vehicle’s four electric motors put out a combined total of more than 3,000 horsepower. There will be a limited production run of no more than 30 customer cars. BYD has yet to release pricing, but the queue is expected to fill quickly.
• Scaling Engineering Teams: Lessons from Google, Facebook, and Netflix: Scaling engineering teams is like raising teenagers. They grow fast, develop personalities of their own, and they need boundaries. Teams that thrive at scale tend to have structured goal-setting, a ruthless focus on code quality, and intentional culture building. This post shares lessons learned from scaling teams at Google, Facebook, and Netflix. It provides a few frameworks, metrics, and tools to help you scale to over a thousand engineers without losing your mind or your best people.
• Vercel vs Cloudflare: two philosophies of building for developers: Vercel and Cloudflare are in a race to become the default platform for building modern apps. The two companies are competing with opposing ideas on what ‘developer experience’ means. The winner will be the one who wins developer trust. Whoever balances the developer experience, scale, and trust will shape how the web will be built in the next decade.
• The stablecoin duopoly is ending: Circle and Tether together boast $245 billion in supply – 85% of the stablecoin market. A few pieces have now come together to poke holes in this duopoly. It is now much easier to create, swap, and use stablecoins. New laws are making it possible for competition. The current stablecoin market is 10 years old, and the race has only just begun.
• The Self-Taught Engineer Going Head-to-Head With Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos: Rocket Lab aims to fly its Neutron rocket, which is reusable, by the end of the year. Landing the rocket’s booster will be a challenge – only SpaceX has achieved this feat. Rocket Lab’s founder, Peter Beck, has a fixation on detail and form that has guided his course as an entrepreneur. The company’s newly constructed launchpad is an example of this – it needed to be able to withstand 1.5 million pounds of thrust, but Beck added another requirement: it also had to look beautiful.
• How GDP Hides Industrial Decline: GDP is a very complicated statistical construct made by government bureaucrats – the public doesn’t really have a way to replicate, audit, or verify assumptions.
• Pay yourself first: Do the work that actually means something to you first, or you’ll never get through the endless list of work that could be done.
• Instagram tests video-first Home tab.
• Snapchat launches WooCommerce integration for promotions.
• Jeep and Hasbro partner to turn Monopoly money into $500.
• DeArrow is an open-source browser extension that takes aim at YouTube’s never-ending cycle of clickbait. Basically, it lets the community (100k+) crowdsource more accurate titles and thumbnails for videos. Users can submit and vote on clean, context-driven alternatives, which helps restore some sanity to the YouTube experience.
• Loyalty falls globally as tariffs and rising prices pressure consumer pocketbooks: More than one-quarter of U.S. consumers said they can “no longer afford to be loyal” due to tariff-caused price hikes, SAP Emarsys found.
• Companies are falling short on using AI for personalization: Most CX leaders see the potential to better connect with customers using AI, but few say they have the knowledge to act on its potential.
• Retail’s love affair with incentivized reviews: The beauty sector relies on incentivized reviews to attract attention — and sales — while some consumers grow skeptical of their authenticity.
• A Dutch court has ruled that Meta needs to offer users more control over their in-app experience.
• TikTok’s making a push to win over more US creators.
• Threads has added an option to hide individual post replies from the activity tab, giving you another way to control relevant engagement within the app.
• X is giving its video player UI a refresh, as it looks to lean into video consumption in the app.
• TikTok has added a new “Shop Ads” category to its approved Marketing Partners line-up, which is a directory of third-party providers that can assist with all aspects of your TikTok marketing process.
• American Express debuts ad network boasting contextual targeting prowess: Tumi, which piloted Amex Ads, saw return on ad spend 30% higher than its targets while reaching more Gen Z and millennial customers.
• Jack in the Box launches AI-powered in-app game to deliver value: DealQuest: Revenge of the Munchies offers bigger rewards the deeper players get into the game, potentially attracting cash-crunched consumers.
• Dr. Squatch makes masculinity fun again in ‘Manlandia’: The Unilever-owned men’s grooming brand tapped hunky “Reacher” star Alan Ritchson to address male malaise.
• Most marketers were barely experimenting with AI two years ago. Today, 60% use it every day.
• Instagram has expanded its pin comments feature in a way that creates new opportunities for marketers to guide their audience’s attention and actions. Previously, the platform only allowed users to pin comments from other people on their posts and reels. Now, creators can pin their own comments on both posts and reels.
• For marketers who conduct business through Instagram’s direct messages, the platform has introduced several new inbox management tools that significantly improve organization and efficiency.
• Threads Launches ‘Communities’ to Spark Interest-Based Conversations: Meta is introducing Communities on Threads—casual, public hubs for people to explore shared interests. Each community features its own Like emoji, a pinned presence in your feed, and public membership visibility on your profile. With over 100 test groups already live, Threads plans to roll out contributor badges and enhanced ranking in feeds to keep the most relevant conversations front and center.
• YouTube Pilots Open Call for Branded Content Deals: YouTube has introduced Open Call, a new BrandConnect pilot that offers Shorts-focused sponsorship opportunities to eligible U.S. creators in the Partner Program. Aimed at those new to brand deals, Open Call allows creators to submit uneditable Shorts for potential brand use, with earnings up to $3,500. Submissions and payment are managed through the YouTube Studio app, and selected content may be used in ads for up to 180 days. The pilot runs through December 2025.

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