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In this issue: The zero-sum AI drama continues with an entire country threatening to unravel Meta's latest AI moonshots. 

This week in data

ROAS has rebounded, and YouTube is back in a big way. Spend is mostly down week over week (not in the chart) across all platforms, so this is a real lift in performance. Even so, more budget share is leaking away from the lower platforms week by week and Meta continues to gain. 

At this point, the increased dominance of Meta and the lack of increased budget share to the other platforms is against all predictions I had last year. This consolidation is probably from a few different trends: Manus entering the fray, oil prices... the list goes on. 

Still, there's joy in zigging when others zag. TikTok's new leadership was at NewFronts this week sharing their commitment to amazing new ad placements. Axon is pushing into generative AI ads (which I have complicated feelings about, but it's true that this lowers the barrier to entry.) 

But, China is deciding to interfere - the country announced that it's investigating the sale of Manus under China's investment rules. Seems most likely that Meta doesn't lose control of Manus, more likely that a settlement of some kind is reached, similar to TikTok's sale. Still, keep an eye on this. 

🗞️ Discover what makes our incrementality one of a kind. Read our new whitepaper for the deets. 

🍏 Apple went unhinged on TikTok. To sell things to a specific culture, you must meet that culture where they are. 

⁉️ Is Meta banning ad accounts for using Claude? Better to stick with Manus if you don't want a permaban, but this isn't officially confirmed. 

👹 TikTok and Meta are permitting harmful content to rise up through feeds because it drives engagement. Whistleblowers stating the obvious - have you ever watched cable?

🤖 Manus is officially in Ads Manager. I'm sure y'all have already been thriving with this, but now the normies have access. 

🚨 JOB: Senior Paid Search and YouTube Manager / Grüns / Remote: how about a gig at the fastest growing DTC brand in the world?

🚨 JOB: Senior Designer, Marketing Brand and Creative / Northbeam / remote: join me in making amazing content for social and this newsletter!

🚨 JOB: Partnership Marketing Specialist / Qualia / remote: a travel-focused affiliate role that seems exciting. 

🚨 JOB: Senior Amazon Growth Manager / Qualia / remote: Amazon-focused role at this excellent supplement business. 

🚨 JOB: Head of Growth / Javvy Coffee / Remote: join the best marketers in the game, $5m budget, and freedom to make infinite scale happen. This is one of the most exciting roles we've seen in a while. 

🚨 JOBS: Comfrt is hiring a ton of marketing specialists. Great opportunities at a rapidly scaling business we love. 

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