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Rivalries, bots, teens and recycled posts are all getting new house rules this week, and your campaigns have to play by them too.
Meta has banned TikTok ads across its apps. The ban covers the US, Canada, Japan and four other markets, and it goes beyond TikTok’s own ads: third-party ads that link to TikTok or other ByteDance properties are out too. If you are sending Meta traffic to TikTok Shop, it is time to reroute.
Meta and Sierra want to open the gates to AI shopping agents. The two companies are designing an open protocol so websites can authenticate Muse agents and watch what they do. Amazon already blocks Muse, and there is a real trade-off here: bot shoppers could breeze straight past your upsells and display ads.
Florida wants Meta to stop serving third-party ads to under-18s. The state’s attorney general has asked a judge to bar all third-party ads for minors on Meta’s apps, along with age checks, a ban on under-14 accounts, a 60-hour monthly teen usage cap and limits on so-called “addictive” features. There is no ruling yet, and Meta is calling the whole thing meritless.
Threads is handing out Gems to original posters. Public posts and direct replies that spark real discussion with an original take now earn Gems automatically. Crossposts do not qualify, and it is US-only for now.
LinkedIn is showing how it filters AI slop. LinkedIn’s Tim Jurka explained the system: user reports train large “teacher” models, which then train smaller detectors. LinkedIn now checks every post shown beyond your immediate network at 94% precision, which is the reach you actually post for.
The skip button still shows up at 5 seconds, but Google no longer calls that an engagement. Plus new settings to check before your next report.
In-stream ads now need 10 seconds watched to count as an engagement. Until recently, 5 seconds was enough. Clicks still count, as does a full view of a shorter ad, but your old engagement and CPE numbers will not line up with the new ones. Footnote anything from before the switch.
Demand Gen’s new Overlay on videos setting puts your text assets on your videos. It appears to be switched on by default, so check it before your next campaign goes live.
Video reach campaigns can now run without a bid. The beta lets Google adjust bids to spend your full budget. The warning: a narrow audience plus a big budget can push CPMs up, so keep an eye on delivery.
DV360 bulk uploads can now target people near a business chain’s locations. The feature arrives with SDF v11, and versions before v10 shut down in January 2027, so plan your migration.
PMax can now send clicks to a Google-hosted Business Profile instead of your website. Conversions may shift toward calls and directions, which changes what your reports show.
Google’s Local Coupons pilot connects search ads to store sales. Shoppers can save deals they find on Search to their mobile wallet and redeem them in store. Retailers pay only on redemption, which ties a search ad directly to a store sale.
Your page says “windbreaker.” Your customer is thinking “something for the scooter ride to work.” When the two do not match, fewer people buy.
Three extra words lifted purchase intent by up to 9.5%. Science Says tested broad descriptions against use-specific ones across four experiments, run by researchers at Dalian University of Technology. “Sleep-aid scented candle” beat “scented candle”: people were up to 9.5% more likely to say they would buy it, and rated it 9.7% more useful. A broad name makes the shopper figure out where the product fits their life, while a narrow one hands them the picture: the scooter commute, the 3am wake-up, the rainy walk to the office. The lift was biggest for people actively searching for a specific product, so start with the titles that meet searchers: shopping ads, marketplace listings and your own site search. One warning: do not narrow to an audience of four. “Traveling scented sleep candle for moms of newborns” is precise and nearly unsellable. Name one clear job, and say who the product is not for too: The North Face names one backpack for its use, and adding “not for multi-day hikes” to a daypack helps the right buyer feel more sure. The caveat: this is stated intent, not checkout data. But a title change costs almost nothing, so it earns a test.
They are not giving up the fun. They are doing it on a smaller budget.
Spending less on experiences is the only cutback that grew. New Ipsos data asked US households which money-saving moves they made in the past six months, and compared with a year ago. Cutting spending on experiences like travel and dining out rose to 63%, up from 57%. Everything else eased: skipping a trip or vacation entirely fell to 33% from 40%, delaying a home purchase fell to 14% from 21%, and skipping medical treatment fell to 24% from 30%. 69% of households still cook at home more, and 20% still struggle with rent or mortgage payments. Shoppers are easing out of crisis mode but still counting every dollar: they want the experience at a lower price, a shorter getaway, a cheaper dinner, a staycation. The actionable play: offer budget-friendly versions of what you already sell. Smaller bundles, off-peak deals and “lite” tiers could be your Q4 and Q5 wins.
Four smaller stories worth knowing before the week ends.
Anthropic is banning fake sources for AI answers. Using Claude to plant fake independent sources is now explicitly banned: from November 12, the usage policy prohibits feeding search engines or AI systems content that lies about who wrote it or who is behind it, including site networks posing as unrelated sources. That includes commercial work, so review your GEO setup.
Some late-September ranking drops may not be real. SEOmonitor says Google returned incomplete results to automated searches from September 26, which regular searchers never saw. The spam update took nearly 14 days, running September 24 to October 8, so check your Search Console clicks and impressions for that period before blaming the update.
Ads under AI Mode answers are looking more like regular search results. In one test, ad titles switched from black to blue, the colour people associate with links. Another test dropped the grey box and added favicons and site names. If it rolls out, check how your favicon and site name look.
Shopify’s Catalog API now shares your compare-at prices with AI shopping agents. The API returns your compare-at price when it is higher than the current price. Stores that hide compare-at prices from EEA buyers will not share them with those buyers. If you use that field for MSRP, check that sharing is switched off in Catalog Mapping.
