Eyewear manufacturer Oakley is joining in on the performance artificial intelligence glasses fun, teaming up with Meta to launch a new product line.

The Oakley Meta HSTN (pronounced HOW-stuhn) combines Oakley’s design DNA with Meta’s AI technology, enabling users to capture hands-free action with the built-in camera and share their unique point of view.

Featuring Ultra HD (3K) video cameras, along with chatbot Meta AI, the Oakley Meta HSTN glasses will retail at $499. They will debut Friday, July 11, with the rest of the collection set to drop later this summer, starting at $399. 

The glasses will initially launch in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Australia, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark. More countries will be added later this year, including Mexico, India, and the United Arab Emirates.

The Oakley Meta HSTN glasses will also feature powerful open-ear speakers seamlessly integrated into the frames, as well as an IPX4 water resistance rating.

The glasses will carry a battery life of up to eight hours of typical use and up to 19 hours on standby. They will be able to achieve a charge of up to 50% in just 20 minutes, and they come with a charging case that can deliver up to 48 hours of charging on the go.

Oakley is launching a marketing push for its new Meta HSTN glasses featuring Team Oakley athletes Kylian Mbappé, Patrick Mahomes, Gabriel Medina, and J.R. Smith, among others. 

Oakley is joining Ray-Ban in having a performance AI glasses product line equipped with Meta AI. As of February 2025, over 2 million pairs of Meta Ray Ban glasses have been sold since their October 2023 debut, with a goal of producing 10 million Meta glasses each year by the end of 2026.

Netflix signed a distribution partnership with French media company TF1 Group, making both live channels and on-demand content available to Netflix subscribers in France as part of their existing subscription without requiring them to leave the platform.

Starting in the summer of 2026, French Netflix subscribers will gain access to popular programming including Brocéliande, Erica, Demain Nous Appartient, Ici Tout Commence, Koh-Lanta, and The Voice, as well as major live sports matches.

“This is a first-of-its-kind partnership that plays to our strengths of giving audiences the best entertainment alongside the best discovery experience,” said Greg Peters, co-CEO of Netflix, in a statement. “By teaming up with France’s leading broadcaster, we will provide French consumers with even more reasons to come to Netflix every day and to stay with us for all their entertainment.”

“I am delighted about this new partnership with Netflix, with whom we have already established strong relationships through ambitious co-productions in recent months,” added Rodolphe Belmer, CEO of TF1 Group. “As viewing habits shift toward on-demand consumption and audience fragmentation increases, this unprecedented alliance will enable our premium content to reach unparalleled audiences and unlock new reach for advertisers within an ecosystem that perfectly complements our TF1+ platform.” 

TF1’s linear channels reach around 58 million monthly viewers, and it has 35 million subscribers on its TF1+ streaming service.

This agreement builds on an existing partnership between the two companies. Netflix and TF1 have previously collaborated on creative projects, co-producing titles available on the streamer including Les Combattantes, L’Agence, and Tout le Bleu du Ciel.

YouTube announced an easier way to connect brands with creators, called Open Call, on Tuesday at the Cannes Lions festival.

The feature allows brands to place broad requests for sponsored content to any creators in the YouTube Partner Program. The tool is powered via Brand Connect, inside YouTube’s creator partnership hub.

“With the thriving creator economy, we’re greatly investing in ways to help brands tap into the influence of YouTube creators,” said Melissa Hsieh Nikolic, director of product management at YouTube, in a blog post. “With our new Open Call feature, we are making it even easier for brands to identify and partner with the right creators that resonate with their audiences at scale.”

Open Call allows brands to post a creative brief detailing a campaign, and creators can submit a custom video pitch for review. The brand can then decide whether or not to use the video in its campaign. If a brand accepts a video, then it can promote the video as part of a partnership ad and monitor its performance. 

Open Call aims to streamline creator hiring at scale. It taps into the 3 million creators in the YouTube Partner Program, where ad revenue can be shared with creators. 

YouTube

Open Call follows YouTube’s May launch of the creator partnership hub at NewFronts. Through the hub, brands can find sponsored videos and see insights about the performance of linked videos. The tool builds on the partnership hub’s mission to streamline brand–creator deals.

According to YouTube, Open Call is currently available for “select advertisers” with a broader launch in the coming months.

The announcement arrives as YouTube continues to grow in importance for advertisers. The platform boasts 2.53 billion active users, and Google reported $8.93 billion in ad revenue from YouTube in the first quarter of 2025. 

An existing partnership between measurement platform EDO and TelevisaUnivision is set to grow with the addition of consumer behavioral measurement of TV ads, which will be used on streaming platform ViX. 

Due to its extensive library of Spanish-language content, ViX is attracting incremental audiences, reaching 28 million U.S. video viewers across platforms and increasing streaming hours per user by over 70% year-over-year.

EDO continues to build on its already existing partnership with TelevisaUnivision in the convergent TV space, delivering data-driven TV insights designed to optimize advertiser return on investment across the media company’s cross-platform campaigns, including on ViX.

“TelevisaUnivision’s deep connection with the Hispanic audience and culture, along with a growing content portfolio, makes it an ideal partner in today’s convergent TV landscape,” said Kevin Krim, president and CEO of EDO, in a statement. “With EDO’s predictive outcome measurement, it can demonstrate the powerful consumer response its linear and streaming platforms drive and help brands immediately optimize for TV outcomes across campaigns.”

The continued partnership between the two entities has also made available to TelevisaUnivision EDO’s TV intelligence, which demonstrates the impact of a fast-growing, highly engaged Hispanic audience.

According to EDO, ads aired on Spanish-language TV versus those aired on English-language TV resulted in a 31% increase in effectiveness, resulting in measurable engagement lifts, especially when authentically integrating cultural relevance into their brands. 

During the second quarter of 2024, Miracle-Gro’s standard ads were 2.4 times more effective on TelevisaUnivision than on English-language TV. Additionally, EDO reported that there was a likely 46% increase in consumer engagement with Doritos Dinamita TV ads during primetime on TelevisaUnivision networks—including the Latin American Music Awards on Univision—compared with English-language TV.

Dan Riess, chief operating officer of U.S. advertising sales and marketing at TelevisaUnivision, said in a statement, “With EDO’s outcomes data, we can quantify and optimize audience engagement across our portfolio and, most important, help brands understand the impact of investing in Hispanic audiences.”

ViX, launched in 2022, is the largest Spanish-language streaming platform in the world.

Snap is offering advertisers money off ad campaigns as the U.S. inches closer to a third potential TikTok ban deadline, according to three media buyers who have been directly pitched these deals.

In recent weeks, Snap has pitched buyers several different ad credit packages, including offering the equivalent of an additional $10,000 in ad spend on the platform when they spend $50,000 on a campaign, according to one buyer. Another buyer was offered the $10,000 in ad credits if they spent an additional $100,000 on the platform. Another offer included a 20% credit to spend on Snap ads if the buyer moved $100,000 in campaign budget from other platforms.

One ad buyer said their Snap rep directly framed the incentive as a play to win dollars planned for TikTok.

“Snap is pretty aggressively trying to position itself as the biggest benefactor if something were to happen to TikTok,” another buyer said. 

All buyers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preserve industry relationships, said Snap has been more “aggressive” in offering ad credits tied to minimum spend commitments starting at $50,000. They added that this push underscores Snap’s efforts to carve out a bigger share of mobile video ad budgets, even as Meta and YouTube remain the dominant beneficiaries of TikTok’s regulatory uncertainty.

All three advertisers currently run ad campaigns on Snap. None are currently taking advantage of these offers, nor have increased budget with the platform, or moved budget from TikTok as a result of these offers.

Snap did not answer direct questions on whether it is offering ad credits or whether this push is to capture budgets earmarked for TikTok.

Spend going to Snap is growing

Snap is actively courting a share of the reallocated budgets, even though it historically commands a smaller portion of ad dollars, according to all buyers.

Analytics platform MikMak, which works with 2,000 brands and tracks $3 billion in U.S. digital ad spend, found that brands increased Snap spending by 33% from Q1 to Q2. Still, the platform accounts for less than 1% of overall spend compared to larger rivals, according to Tony Sloan, MikMak’s brand marketing lead.

In April, Snap reported $1.36 billion in revenue for Q1, beating Wall Street expectations and marking a 14% year-over-year increase. But the company withheld Q2 guidance, citing macroeconomic uncertainty. It also reported headwinds in ad sales during April and a decline of 1 million North American daily active users, per its letter to investors.

Snap said it has seen increased creator engagement on its platform, onboarded thousands of new creators in the last year, and expanded its creator marketplace.

The platform has also invested in generative AI tools, including sponsored AI lenses that let people insert themselves into brand-driven visuals. Snap said more than 300 million people use its AR lenses globally.

Per the platform, daily active users have increased by over 38 million year over year to 460 million as of Q1.

Billions in potential ad spend up for grabs

TikTok could face a U.S. ban for the third time on June 19 if it doesn’t find a new buyer. The platform could lose up to $32.4 billion in global ad revenue in 2025 if the U.S. proceeds with its ban, according to the World Advertising Research Centre.

Trump, however, is reportedly expected to sign a third executive order to stall enforcement once again, according to The Wall Street Journal.

TikTok has attracted interest from a dozen potential buyers, including Oracle, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, AppLovin, and a consortium led by the founders of OnlyFans. 

The platform has also seen a wave of executive departures in recent months.

Tennis icons Venus and Serena Williams are partnering with X, formerly Twitter, to launch a video podcast providing audiences with an opportunity to get to know them better. 

Launching in August, the video podcast will provide an opportunity to witness the undeniable bond and enjoy the playful banter between the sisters, as well as possibly hear some tennis talk.

In a joint statement, the Williams sisters said, “We’re so excited to be launching our new podcast, a place where we will share our personal stories, have authentic conversations, spotlight important topics, and laugh a lot.”

They added, “This platform gives us the chance to engage directly with our fans who have supported us throughout our careers, and we’re excited to connect with audiences, old and new, in a way we’ve never done before.”

The sisters have a large presence on the social media platform with a combined following of 11.8 million. X said 86% of digital mentions of Venus and Serena occur on its platform, and the number jumps up to 92% when looking at all social mentions. 

“Venus and Serena are among the most recognizable and revered athletes in the world, and their decision to team up with X places them at the center of our rapidly evolving original content strategy,” Mitchell Smith, head of original content at X, said in a statement. “We’ve seen significant momentum with premium programming in 2025, and we look forward to building on this success. We could not be more excited to partner with them.”

X has already seen success with its venture into video podcasting, courtesy of Khloé in Wonderland featuring Khloé Kardashian. Adding the Williams sisters enhances the platform’s video roster and strengthens its sports presence, which saw 5 million viewers tune in to stream Women’s National Basketball Association games directly on X during the 2024 season. 

YouTube quietly made changes to its moderation policies last December, ahead of President Donald Trump’s second term.

According to The New York Times, which reviewed internal documents, YouTube is allowing content containing political, social, and cultural issues that would have been subject to removal under previous guidelines to remain on the platform. 

YouTube is allowing this type of content to remain on its platform as long as it is considered to be in the public’s interest. The threshold for these videos has been extended from one-quarter of a video to one-half of a video.

In a statement to the Times, Nicole Bell, a spokesperson for the Google-owned platform, said, “Recognizing that the definition of ‘public interest’ is always evolving, we update our guidance for these exceptions to reflect the new types of discussion we see on the platform today.” 

She added, “Our goal remains the same: to protect free expression on YouTube while mitigating egregious harm.”

For years, conservative circles decried the moderation techniques employed by the various social media platforms, bemoaning that the takedown of their content was agenda-driven and a form of censorship.

With the transition to the Trump administration, the rigid stances employed by various platforms have been jettisoned in favor of a more loose approach.

YouTube joins Meta’s Instagram and Facebook and X, formerly Twitter, in relaxing their moderation guidelines. 

Those platforms shifted from employing fact-checkers to having community members vet the veracity of content posted on their sites.

Amazon quietly shut down its Posts program this week, citing a drop in impressions and planned changes to its site design.

The ecommerce giant announced the deprecation of the program on June 3 as an update in its advertising advanced tools center.

Posts feature lifestyle photos and videos, similar to a social feed on Amazon’s site and app, and are meant to inspire browsing. Posts are free for brands to create, but brands can pay to “boost” a Post and run it as a Sponsored Brands ad that appears in search results.

“With declining impressions and the upcoming redesign of our Search and Detail pages, the Posts program has become less valuable,” the update said. “We encourage customers to explore our suite of sponsored advertising solutions as we continue to build and experiment with new creative formats.”

The Posts API is no longer available to new users, the update said. The ability to make new Posts will be discontinued after June 16, and the program will be shut down completely on July 31. Amazon did not immediately respond to ADWEEK’s request for comment for additional comment beyond the notice.

The change follows the February demise of another Amazon feature, Inspire, which mimicked TikTok’s video feed. Amazon’s scrapped efforts to become a social-style browsing platform come as its AI investment grows and agents reshape the ecommerce marketing world.

Amazon’s missed potential

For Podean, an agency that helps clients navigate ecommerce marketplaces including Amazon, the Posts program never lived up to Amazon’s promises.

“Posts lived in perpetual beta for years, never gaining meaningful traction because it tried to solve a problem that didn’t exist—making Amazon shoppers behave like social media users when they came to the platform with purchase intent, not to browse content feeds,” said Emily Browning, director of ecommerce content and creative at Podean.

Sunsetting the program “reflects both the feature’s fundamental misalignment with shopper behavior and the platform’s strategic maturation,” she continued.

Another ad buyer who tested Posts said that the tool was never useful. “It was [Amazon] trying to be Target,” they said, referring to how Target prominently promotes social media posts on its website.

Overall, Amazon’s decision to shut down Posts is a net positive for advertisers, according to Browning, freeing resources for advertisers to focus on more effective Amazon formats.

“The only thing brands will miss is the few hours they spent each month managing content that delivered minimal ROI,” she said.

Beginning Thursday, X will start testing a feature that labels posts that have been liked by users with differing viewpoints.

Intended to highlight content that has consensus opinions, the tool is rolling out as a pilot to a group of a few thousand testers, all of whom are contributors to Community Notes, X’s crowdsourced approach to fact-checking. 

“The reality, which we see in our data, is there’s quite a lot of agreement among people, and often it’s sort of silent,” Keith Coleman, X’s vp of product and head of Community Notes, told ADWEEK. “When you talk to people and you see what resonates with them, there’s actually commonality, and we see that in Community Notes. That’s why the product works. We are now taking the same approach and finding posts that are liked by people who normally disagree.”

The new feature will display a callout box showing when a post has been widely liked by users with differing opinions—based on historical data about their Community Notes contributions. The callout could appear on both high- or low-visibility posts, including branded content and ads. 

Users included in the pilot will now occasionally see these callout boxes, and can add their input and rate others’ feedback on posts. 

Coleman shared an example: a post from Delta announced that Shake Shack meals will be available on some U.S. flights. That post had a callout touting how multiple people “with different perspectives” like the post.

The user can then click into that callout box and signal whether they agree or disagree with the rating.

The information provided by early testers will eventually be used to build an open-source algorithm that shows when a post is liked by users who hold different perspectives. 

The company has already open-sourced its Community Notes algorithm. Meta adopted the technology in March as the basis for its own new Community Notes program, overhauling its more traditional approach to fact-checking and content moderation. 

X has big ambitions for the new pilot, hoping to “expand to a much larger feature” in the near future, according to Coleman. 

“It may be easy for people to see something like this as a small pilot or small experiment, but what’s really exciting about it is the implication for social media and the way conversation happens in the world and across the internet,” he said.

In 2021, X—then called Twitter—launched an early version of Community Notes dubbed Birdwatch. It has since evolved significantly. Notes can show up minutes, rather than hours, after they’re submitted, and X has rolled out ‘media matching’ to ensure that a given Community Note appears across all posts featuring the same image or video.

TikTok announced a slew of ad products for performance advertisers, ahead of its second potential U.S. ban deadline, at its World Summit on Tuesday.

To address growing search behavior on the short-form video platform—one in four users starts searching within 30 seconds of opening the app, per TikTok—the company is launching a new Search Ads Center inside Ads Manager. The tool suggests keywords, offers creative previews, and negative keyword filtering tools to help brands plan and optimize campaigns more effectively.

“We’re in the middle of a major shift in how and where people search,” said Brian Torpey, global director, product strategy & operations, TikTok. This tool, he added, will “help brands plan smarter and drive better results.”

TikTok’s latest push to woo advertisers comes just 16 days  before a possible U.S. ban, which could cut TikTok off from its 170 million American users and cost the company billions in ad revenue, according to the World Advertising Research Centre. Rivals like Meta are well-positioned to scoop up those ad dollars.

TikTok is also launching Market Scope, a visual analytics dashboard that maps where users are in their buying journey in terms of awareness, consideration, or conversion. It’s also rolling out Brand Consideration Ads, a new mid-funnel ad product that lets marketers directly optimize for the consideration phase.

Giving ecommerce and AI a boost

Last September, L’Oréal generated more than $1 million in sales during a TikTok Live stream, a core feature of ecommerce arm, TikTok Shop, the platform said.

“A big part of that transition has been actually driven by our investments in AI,” said Adolfo Fernández, global head of product strategy and operations, commerce, TikTok. 

Now, TikTok is doubling down on those AI investments.

Advertisers will now have greater control over targeting and placement through Smart+, TikTok’s automated media buying tool. That includes tighter integration with Symphony, the company’s suite of generative AI tools, letting brands use features like AI video creation and dubbing to localize creative in real time during campaign setup.

TikTok is also combining Smart+ with Catalog Ads (a format that showcases multiple products in a single unit), letting brands automatically turn product feeds into shoppable ads tailored to ready-to-buy users.