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🍪 Google is getting ready to unveil how Chrome’s cookie opt-in model will work.

👀 Facebook switches to “views” as its primary metric.

🤝 Brands are finding engaged, niche audiences on Substack.

💰 Perplexity brings ads to its platform.

▶️ Spotify is doubling down on video.

🎅 Target debuts a weirdly hot Santa character for holiday ad push.

🍯 beehiiv is investing millions on a hunch that newsletters are the next newsrooms.

👑 Funyuns, now with edible glitter (for some reason). Check out The Princess Bag.

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Here are four major changes that reshaped Instagram in 2024:

1. Reach. Reels are still your best bet for reaching non-followers, and this applies particularly to smaller or newer profiles. That said, Instagram is trying to address creators’ concerns by redistributing reach back to other post formats. For that reason, carousels and photos are performing much better recently.
2. #NoMoreHashtags. Hashtags are a breeding ground for spam, which is why social media platforms hate them. They’re hard to manage. Instead of throwing them at the wall to see what sticks, look to optimize your Instagram SEO in order to rank better.
3. Links are dead. “Link in bio” and Story links typically don’t perform well—naturally, Instagram would prefer that users stay put. But DM automation has changed the game, connecting leads more directly to your offers.
4. Collabs are back. Collabs are the best way to gain targeted traffic organically, lifting your average engagement and boosting account growth. When things slow down, set up a collab.

Check out more from Marketing Harry on IG.

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Who doesn’t love clip art?

Google Workspace is rolling out a Gemini-powered AI image generator directly in Google Docs for some paid accounts.

If you have access to the new feature, you can find it under Insert > Image > Help me create an image.

Then, type in a description, select an art style and size, and generate your image.

Place a Classified Ad in a Friday edition of The Daily Carnage for just $99.

What you get:

• 200 characters 📣
• An internal link 🔗
• Your ad lives on our site indefinitely 💛

Let’s get it on the calendar.

Coca-Cola has put a new spin on its “Holidays Are Coming” ad from the nineties—with the help of AI.

Just as in the original, a fleet of decorated Coke trucks spreads the holiday spirit through a wintry landscape.

But this time, the uncanny world is full of AI-generated animals, including the iconic Coca-Cola polar bear.

The internet was quick to criticize the spot, calling it a “cheap imitation” of the original. Some users even called for a boycott.

Not to mention the campaign’s theme song, which proclaims “It’s always the real thing.”