The Friday Cut
Social media marketing news, cut down to what matters. Every Friday from Oscar Owen.
This week
Social Media Marketing News: AI Platforms Fight for the Ad Budget
This week: ChatGPT ads triple their advertiser base, Google gives brands control over where AI campaigns spend, and the biggest consumer goods brands spend more of their sales on being seen.
Morning,
I’m Oscar Owen, CEO and Cofounder of Advertain. Each week I round up the social media marketing news that matters, from how AI is changing the platforms to where the world’s biggest brands are putting their money, and what I would do about it.
At Advertain we create YouTube and social content for global brands every week, and I speak regularly at industry events for marketing leaders.
This week’s social media marketing news has one clear theme: AI platforms are competing harder for the same ad budget, while the biggest consumer brands are spending a bigger share of their sales to stay seen.
In this issue
- 01ChatGPT ads triple their advertiser base
- 02Google gives brands control over AI campaign spend
- 03Consumer goods giants spend more to be seen
ChatGPT ads triple their advertiser base
About 60,000 businesses advertised on ChatGPT in early October, roughly three times the number in late August, according to New Street Research figures reported by The Information (Shopifreaks summary, 15 Oct 2026). OpenAI has also cut ad prices and hired dozens of former Meta staff into an ad team of about 140.
One agency founder said business software clients pay about $5 per click on ChatGPT against $30 to $50 on Google, which is one agency’s experience, not a benchmark. ChatGPT now shows users a banner reading “Start advertising on ChatGPT”, and self serve buying is open in 31 European markets (AI World Today, 12 Oct 2026).
Treat ChatGPT as a test channel this quarter. Put a small, ring fenced budget behind your strongest social creative and judge it on cost per qualified visit against your paid social benchmarks. Early auctions reward the brands that learn them first.
Google gives brands control over AI campaign spend
Google Ads is introducing channel prioritisation and budget allocation controls across Search, Shopping, Performance Max and Demand Gen (Search Engine Land, 14 Oct 2026). Each channel can be marked High or Low priority, with a cap on the share of daily budget Low priority channels receive. In Performance Max and Demand Gen, YouTube sits inside a “Google channels” group, while the Display Network is controlled on its own.
Google does not guarantee a strict cap, and the rollout is global over the coming months. In a separate test, “Google AI will suggest goals and assets based on your input”, which Google’s Ads Liaison Ginny Marvin described as “an experiment” (Search Engine Roundtable, 12 Oct 2026).
This is the first practical lever for keeping AI campaigns on inventory that builds a brand. When the control reaches your account, set Display to Low priority with a capped share on every Performance Max and Demand Gen campaign, then compare YouTube and Display results. If your video creative is strong, you want the spend where people actually watch.
Consumer goods giants spend more to be seen
WARC Media’s new report, The cost of being seen, compares advertising with revenue at the largest companies (Advanced Television, 15 Oct 2026). Six consumer goods companies, Coca Cola, Estée Lauder, L’Oréal, Nike, PepsiCo and P&G, raised their combined ad to sales ratio from 11.6% in 2023 to 12.5% in 2025. Between 2019 and 2025 their ad spend grew 36% while revenue grew 29% (Marketing Dive, 15 Oct 2026).
Across 25 large US advertisers the ratio fell from 6.1% to 5.5% over the same period, and at Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft and Netflix from 13% to 7.4%. PepsiCo chief executive Ramon Laguarta told investors on the company’s earnings call: “I think both quantity and quality, you will see more investment in A&M” (Digiday, 12 Oct 2026).
Share of voice is cheapest to hold when your competitors are cutting.
If competitors in your category are trimming spend, defend share of voice rather than cut it. Show your finance team your own ratio next to these six leaders, and put extra money into video and creator content people choose to watch. Our marketing ROI benchmarks will help you frame the return.
The rest of this week's social media marketing news
- Meta is selling TV style moments. Ads Super Burst lets brands book a 3 to 24 hour window with optional category exclusivity, rolling out from this month. Meta says early advertisers saw a median 2.9 point lift in ad recall, its own figure (Search Engine Land, 15 Oct 2026).
- Meta closes the door on TikTok links. Meta has stopped running ads from ByteDance, and ads that link to TikTok, in seven markets including the US, Canada and Japan. The UK is not affected, but global creator campaigns should be checked (Campaign, 13 Oct 2026).
- LinkedIn opens creator video to advertisers. LinkedIn is testing ads before relevant creator videos, without a direct partnership, and creators who opt in share the revenue. (Social Media Today, 15 Oct 2026).
Advertising as a share of sales, by group
What to do next week
| Story | What changed | Your move |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT ads | About 60,000 advertisers in early October, prices cut | Run a small test with your best social creative |
| Google channel controls | Channel priority and budget caps in AI campaigns | Set Display to Low and compare it with YouTube |
| WARC ad intensity | Consumer goods leaders up to 12.5% of sales | Defend share of voice and show finance your ratio |
Right hand column is my recommendation, not data.
P.S.If there is a topic you would like covered, tell me through our contact page, and subscribe to receive The Friday Cut in your inbox every Friday.
That’s the cut.
Frequently asked questions
How many advertisers are using ChatGPT ads?
About 60,000 in early October 2026, roughly three times the late August figure (Shopifreaks).
What are the new Google Ads channel controls?
Advertisers can set channels to High or Low priority and cap spend on Low priority channels across Search, Shopping, Performance Max and Demand Gen (Search Engine Land).
Are big brands spending more on advertising in 2026?
The largest consumer goods brands are: WARC Media found six of them raised their ad to sales ratio to 12.5% in 2025 while most others cut (Advanced Television).
Sources and methodology
News from the seven days to 16 October 2026. Platform and vendor figures are labelled. Opinions are my own. Photos: Oscar Owen, Advertain.
- Shopifreaks, summarising The Information (15 Oct 2026)
- AI World Today (12 Oct 2026)
- Search Engine Land: Google Ads controls (14 Oct 2026)
- Search Engine Roundtable (12 Oct 2026)
- Advanced Television: WARC report (15 Oct 2026)
- Marketing Dive (15 Oct 2026)
- Digiday: PepsiCo (12 Oct 2026)
- Search Engine Land: Meta brand formats (15 Oct 2026)
- Campaign (13 Oct 2026)
- Social Media Today: LinkedIn (15 Oct 2026)
