The boys are back and the buys are heating up. Food-delivery startup Wonder purchased Tastemade, now boasting content creation to meal preparation to delivery all in one. Is more on the way? We think so. Spotify paid $5 billion dollars to indie creators last year. Is it better to go outside the labels than sign with a big agency? And Unilever ups their social media budget to 30 to 50 percent of total marketing budget...all for targeted local influencers. But did they forget about employees? Marketing winners and losers include Southwest Airlines and CMO tenure. Rants and raves include Substack ..read more

Big news this week as leaked Google search API documents are released into the world. The TLDR? Google has been lying about how it formulates search results. What do we know? Google manipulates content like an editor of a media company would. But does it even matter? AI scams are hitting a tipping point as we get closer to the US elections. OpenAI inks two more content deals and Elon raises money for xAI. Hits and misses include a home appliance store and Cheez-Its.  Rants and raves include marketing agencies and GaryVee's commencement speech. ----- This week's links: The Google API Docum ..read more

The boys are back with commentary on the death of media. It's a sad case on both political spectrum. And the opportunity in the future belongs to non-media brands. Let's see what happens. In other news, more and more creators are going full AI. How close is it to real, or does that even matter? Marketing winners and losers include Disney and Trump's Gold card. Rants and raves include travel within the US and Meta testing out agents in advertising. This week's links: The Media's Credibility Has Bottomed Creators Are Now Going Full AI Disney Starts Killing Off News Media Trump's Gold Card Meta T ..read more

The boys kick off the show with Dow Jones news and their AI content marketplace of 5,000 publishers. The real news? Vertical content opportunities using proprietary LLMs may ultimately steal the show for B2B content creators. Differentiation is the key coming from B2B speakers at a recent marketing event. The move from company creators to individuals is in full force. And is Substack the new Instagram for smaller creators? Winners and losers include bars in Key West, Levi's and UTC. Rants and raves include MSNBC's big shift, Jeff Bezos, X and Forrester. This week's links: Dow Jones and Content ..read more

Reddit announced quarterly results and the stock got hammered. Is Google's changing algorithm to blame? And, if it is, could Google be primed to acquire the 9th largest website on the planet? In other news, episodic video programs and shows are getting more opportunities for syndication. But with so many shows out there, should brands look at partnering with a creator before creating their own content? Winners and losers include Allstate and Kai Cenat. Rants and raves include the Associated Press and Major League Baseball. This week's links: Reddit's Growth Problems Create a Series Is the New ..read more

Our Super Bowl predictions were dead on, as Joe predicted an Eagles win and Robert predicted a Kendrick Lamar controversy. But more importantly, who were the advertising winners and losers? And...is the Super Bowl the last remaining moment where everyone comes together to watch television at the same time? In other news, BuzzFeed launches a social media network called BF Island. We already predict extinction. And do paywalls work? They do...sort of. Marketing winners include partnerships and ChatGPT. Rants and raves include the end of book blurbs and Welch's content marketing. ----- This week ..read more

It's Super Bowl week and the boys make their predictions. Speaking of the Super Bowl, the boys talk about the ads, the value, and what a Super Bowl ad truly costs. And...will there be any winners? Robert does a comparison between OpenAI's deep research and the corresponding Google product. Which one is better and what should marketers do? Winners and losers include Nielsen and Hertz communications. Rants and raves include AMO and Trump Coin. ----- This week's news links: Super Bowl Winners Deep Research Next Big OpenAI Move Influencer Marketing Rises Cable News as We Know It Nielsen Ends Panel ..read more

Man you cappin'. This week, DeepSeek shocks the AI industry (and the world) with its cheaper more efficient model. What comes next for the industry? The buyers line up for TikTok, but is the US Government playing favorites? And Substack is paying cash for TikTok creators to make the switch. Marketing winners include Timothee Chalamet and the TGL golf league. Rants and raves include Chris Sacca (on the Tim Ferriss pod), creating moments, and the return of Nike. ----- This week's news links: The Real DeepSeek Why Is Everyone Freaking Out Over DeepSeek? Trump, TikTok and Socialism White House In ..read more

The boys return with a cornucopia of news.  TikTok returns (or did it?). We discuss what is really going on with the Chinese-owned app, whether a US company will buy them, and which one actually will. In other news, Instagram is throwing money at creators (but needs a real model), while META goes from moderated news to community news (but not for ads). In winners and losers, Edelman is out with their Trust Barometer, and Andrew Ross Sorkin has tomorrow's media model. In rants and raves, Anthropic's CEO predicts the future and the only good news coverage of the LA fires was local. ----- Th ..read more

The boys go through six different ways that content marketing professionals can be "content marketing meh" in 2025. They include: Create content on more than three platforms Create content in a highly competitive area Lean heavily into AI tools to create content Put all your influence efforts into finding external influencers and none on building internal influence Focus on making sure your tech stack is bulletproof and pour more time and effort into making things automated Brand Schmand you should really focus on lead gen…. ----- This week's sponsor: With smaller budgets and sky-high expect ..read more