Today's News

👀 Is Meta enabling scammers?
🎪 Fairground advances AI artistry
🗓️ Snapchat sums up 2025
💸 A DraftKings vet builds an empire
⏰ Kick will (eventually) turn on ads

PLATFORM UPDATES

The scam ads: In 2024, 10% of Meta's revenue (~$16 billion) came from predatory ads—and Meta reportedly knew about it. An investigation by Reuters revealed that, in early 2024, the tech giant began investigating the wave of scam ads originating from China, where companies purchase enough marketing to supply over one-tenth of Meta's global annual revenue.

The verdict was that staffers told Meta leaders in April 2024 that the Facebook parent needed "to make significant investment to reduce growing harm" (per Reuters).

Meta responded by forming an anti-fraud team focused on China. It worked, too. During the latter half of 2024, the team cut rule-breaking Chinese ads in half, dropping their share of China's total ad revenue from 19% to 9%.

In late 2024, however, the China ads team was "asked to pause" its work "as a result of Integrity Strategy pivot and follow-up from Zuck" (per Reuters). The team was later disbanded altogether. At the same time, Meta walked back a freeze it had instituted to prevent new Chinese ad firms from accessing its platform and inexplicably trunked other anti-scam efforts. The result was that by mid-2025, Chinese scam/gambling/banned product ads were almost back to their previous levels.

The response: Meta doesn't quite agree with Reuters' version of events. According to spokesperson Andy Stone, the special China ads team was always meant to be temporary, and Zuckerberg didn't order the team to be disbanded. Instead, his order "was to redouble efforts to reduce [scams] all across the globe."

Regardless, the number of scam ads on Meta's platforms could land it in hot water with U.S. lawmakers. Last month, when Reuters reported that Meta earns $7 billion/year from "high-risk" scam ads, U.S. senators Josh Hawley and Richard Blumenthal asked both the SEC and the FTC to investigate the tech giant's practices.

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HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

After paying out $100,000 to creators in 2025, upstart content studio Fairground is looking to advance AI artistry in 2026. (Tubefilter)
X has filed a lawsuit against Operation Bluebird, a new startup focused on "reclaiming Twitter with an AI verification infrastructure to evolve the social media experience." (The Verge)
Meta has announced that it is "testing Instagram for TV" through an app on Amazon Fire TV devices that groups Reels "into channels that match your interests." (Instagram)
As a result of its deal with iHeartMedia, Netflix will begin airing new episodes of The Breakfast Club, Dear Chelsea, My Favorite Murder, and other popular video podcasts in early 2026. (Engadget)

SNAP RECAP

Snapchat's 2025 recap sums up a year that sent users to 6-7 heaven

The annual overview: 'Tis the season of year-end recaps. While every platform from YouTube to TikTok reminisces about KPop Demon Hunters and short-form music trends, Snapchat has a different meme in mind for its 2025 summary: SIX SEVEN!

The ubiquitous Gen Alpha exclamation powered one of Snapchat's biggest success stories of 2025. The app known for its disappearing videos and messages created a Bitmoji version of 6-7, which quickly became the most-used sticker on the platform.

That might seem like a throwaway win, but the high usage of Snapchat's 6-7 Bitmoji sticker reinforces its indispensability among Gen Alpha and Gen Z cohorts:

The app reported that 40% of its Gen Z users see Snaps of "random moments" as evidence that the sender wants to become closer friends.
Group chats grew up as well, with 5% more users adopting that format year-over-year.
Some Snapchat users sent more than 8,880 messages to their top Group Chat over the past 12 months.

The takeaway here is that other platforms may tout their strong links to Gen Alpha, but Snapchat has become an integral cog in the machinery of youth culture.

The custom Recaps: Of course, not all Snapchatters belong to Gen Alpha and Gen Z. Users of all ages can explore personalized summaries of their 2025 usage by checking out their custom Snapchat Recap.

Snap describes this year's Recap format as a "short video, individualized for every Snapchatter, with highlights from their Snaps, Stories, and Chats, offering a one-of-a-kind look at how they connected, communicated, and expressed themselves throughout the year."

THE BIZ

A DraftKings co-founder wants to "build empires" for creators

The industry vet: Last year, Matt Kalish made headlines by investing $11 million in FaZe Clan just as it ended a disastrous attempt at being a public company. The DraftKings co-founder's cash went into the FaZe Media half of the biz (separate from FaZe's esports endeavors), and was enough to give him 49% ownership.

Now, Kalish is doubling down on his support for creators with the launch of HardScope, a company that describes itself as "the operating system for the creator economy" and aims to connect brands and fans with streamers by "back[ing] the established and emerging talent shaping what's next."

In practice, that means providing creators with support around content strategy, production, and distribution, plus social media management.

The company: According to HardScope SVP of Brand Partnerships Mandy Gardiner, HardScope is "making it simple to create authentic partnerships that place brands at the center of creator communities" by leveraging "native DNA and proprietary technology" that turn "streaming moments into movements that dominate feeds and drive sales."

"The mission of HardScope is to directly platform top talent that own the keys to Gen Z and invest in building their empires, while seamlessly onboarding brands into their universe through authentic integrated partnerships and collaborations that drive performance."

- Matt Kalish, HardScope CEO

The company seems to be off to a solid start. Per The Wrap, Kalish's team has already worked with a number of streamers, including JasontheWeen, Lacy, Stable Ronaldo, Adapt, YourRage, Kaysan, and Silky. In October, HardScope ran a subathon that it said generated 1.8 billion views and 85 million engagements on social media.

WATCH THIS 👀

Kick's CEO says the platform will turn on ads "at some point"

The interview: Kick won't be ad-free forever. During a recent interview, CEO Ed Craven confirmed that in-stream spots are coming to the upstart platform "at some point" in the future—so users should "enjoy the ad-free experience while it lasts."

So far, Kick's ad-free status (if you ignore banner ads) has given it a unique edge when compared to rivals like Twitch and YouTube Gaming. Its link to gambling company Stake gave it a financial lift upon its 2022 launch, but Craven said his company is currently "losing a little bit of money."

The introduction of ads would help with that predicament, although Craven says his team will take care to develop an ad format that "isn't overtly intrusive."

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