The Friday Cut
Social media marketing news, cut down to what matters. Every Friday from Oscar Owen.
This week
Social Media Marketing News: AI Answers Get Ads, Brands Back Creators
This week: Google puts ads inside AI answers with the UK next, AI made 1.5 billion ad assets in a quarter, and Coca Cola and Unilever credit social and creator content for growth.
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.
On Wednesday I gave a keynote on the main stage at Social Media Manageren 2026, at Musikhuset Aarhus in Denmark, called The New Rules of YouTube. I spent the day talking to marketers and brands about where YouTube and social media are heading, and met two fellow speakers: Andrew Tindall, Chief Growth Officer at System1, and Kate Mellett, Head of Creative Strategy EMEA at Snap Inc. This week’s news fits the talk: AI now writes the answer and sells the ad beside it, and the biggest advertisers credit social content for growth.
In this issue
- 01Google puts ads inside AI answers
- 02AI makes 1.5 billion ad assets a quarter
- 03Coca Cola and Unilever back social first
Google puts ads inside AI answers, and the UK is next
On 28 October Google said it is scaling ads in AI Mode in ten countries, including Australia, Canada and India, and that Brazil, Mexico and the United Kingdom will follow in the fourth quarter. Google says click through rates are already similar for sponsored and organic product listings, which is Google’s own data (Google Ads and Commerce blog, 28 October).
Those answers lean on YouTube. A September study of 155,312 citations found YouTube in 20.1% of AI answers, ahead of Reddit and Wikipedia, almost all of them in Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, a vendor figure (Suff Digital, September).
On Alphabet’s results call the next day, chief business officer Philipp Schindler acknowledged “lower monetization” in AI Mode, then added: “we’re now scaling ads within both AI Overviews and AI Mode to more users and more queries” (earnings call transcript, 29 October).
When the answer and the ad sit on the same screen, being cited in the answer becomes part of the media plan.
The first rule in my talk on Wednesday was that YouTube is how AI finds your brand. If your brand is not on YouTube, it will struggle to appear in AI answers. The second follows: AI learns from volume, so one brand video a month will not move the needle, while Shorts let you publish hundreds of answers about your category each year. Before AI Mode ads open in the UK, check whether answers to your top category questions cite your brand today; our guide to generative engine optimisation shows how. Then set aside a small test budget rather than letting broad match decide.
AI now makes the ads, and Meta shows which ones work
Alphabet said its Gemini models helped advertisers generate more than 1.5 billion campaign assets in the third quarter, more than seven times the level a year earlier (Google’s own figure). On YouTube, more than 20 million videos are now uploaded every day, and Google is adding generative AI editing tools to YouTube Studio and Shorts (earnings call transcript).
Meta moved on measurement. Ads Manager now has a Breakdown view that shows how each image, video and text variation inside an ad performs. Ads shown as a collection or carousel are not included (Social Media Today, 27 October).
When a machine can make a thousand variants, the scarce skill is knowing which idea deserves them. Use the Breakdown view to find the creative elements that carry results, then brief your next AI variants and your creators from those. Judge them the way I told the room in Aarhus to judge YouTube: by watch time, comments and shares, not follower counts. Our report on AI in marketing sets out where it pays.
Coca Cola and Unilever credit social first growth
Coca Cola said that in India, social media content and influencer collaborations, alongside meal combos in fast food restaurants, contributed to Sprite volume growth of nearly 20% (earnings call transcript, 27 October). Its 75th anniversary campaign in Nigeria, built on packaging, creator content and live events, reached more than 100 million consumers, a company figure (Coca Cola third quarter results).
A day later Unilever reported underlying sales growth of 5.2% (Unilever trading statement, 28 October). Chief executive Fernando Fernandez said emerging markets grew 9.5% and credited, in part, “social first demand generation”. He said Unilever’s sales on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, have grown around 40% a year for three years (earnings call transcript).
Two of the world’s largest advertisers now explain growth with social and creator content on their results calls. That backs two rules from my talk. Paid and organic are one system: organic builds the audience and paid accelerates it. I used to be sceptical of paid; the results we are getting have changed my mind. And build shows, not campaigns: a campaign disappears when you stop paying, while a repeatable format compounds.
The rest of this week's social media marketing news
- YouTube ad growth slows. YouTube ad revenue was $11.21 billion in the third quarter, up 9.2% and slower than recent quarters. Connected TV now accounts for more than a third of YouTube ad revenue (Variety, 28 October).
- Instagram tests 90 minute videos. A new format called Features lets select US creators post videos of up to 90 minutes from 26 October, after tests in Brazil (Social Media Today, 26 October).
- UK budgets rise again. The IPA Bellwether found 25.6% of UK marketers raised budgets in the third quarter, the third quarterly increase in a row, with digital video among the winners. (Digiday, 26 October).
YouTube ad revenue growth, year on year
What to do next week
| Story | What changed | Your move |
|---|---|---|
| Google AI Mode | Ads in AI answers scale in 10 countries; the UK is due in Q4 | Publish YouTube videos that answer your top category questions, then check which AI answers cite you |
| AI creative | Gemini helped make 1.5bn assets; Meta now reports each creative element | Brief entertaining formats your brand fits into, not product adverts, using the Breakdown winners |
| Coca Cola and Unilever | Social and creator content credited for growth; Unilever emerging markets up 9.5% | Plan paid and organic as one system around a repeatable show |
Right hand column is my recommendation, drawn from my talk in Aarhus, not data.
P.S.If there is a topic you would like covered in a future issue, send it to us. To receive The Friday Cut every week, subscribe here. Last week’s issue on AI edited ads and brand risk covers the background.
That’s the cut.
About the author
Oscar Owen
CEO and Cofounder, Advertain
Oscar Owen is CEO and Cofounder of Advertain, the YouTube and social content agency for global brands. He leads creative strategy across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, and has built an audience of more than 2.6 million followers across his own channels, earning YouTube’s Gold Play Button along the way.
In front of the camera and behind it.
Oscar has spent more than a decade on camera building his own audience. Today he brings that same instinct to every brand Advertain works with, from the idea and the script to the edit.Frequently asked questions
When will ads in Google AI Mode launch in the UK?
Google says it plans to expand ads in AI Mode to the United Kingdom, Brazil and Mexico in the fourth quarter of 2026 (Google).
What is the Breakdown view in Meta Ads Manager?
It shows the performance of each image, video and text variation in an ad. Ads shown as a collection or carousel are excluded (Social Media Today).
How often do AI answers cite YouTube?
A September 2026 study of 155,312 citations found YouTube in 20.1% of AI answers, ahead of Reddit and Wikipedia, mostly in Google AI Overviews and AI Mode (Suff Digital).
How fast did YouTube ad revenue grow in Q3 2026?
YouTube ad revenue rose 9.2% year on year to $11.21 billion, down from 13% growth in the second quarter (Variety).
Sources and methodology
News from the seven days to 30 October 2026. Platform, company and vendor figures are labelled. Earnings quotes are taken from published call transcripts. Opinions are my own. Photos: Birthe Vembye.
- Google: Ads in AI Mode expand to new markets (28 Oct 2026)
- Alphabet Q3 2026 earnings call transcript, The Motley Fool (29 Oct 2026)
- Variety: YouTube Q3 2026 ad revenue (28 Oct 2026)
- Social Media Today: Meta adds performance data for ad creative (27 Oct 2026)
- Social Media Today: Instagram Features test in the US (26 Oct 2026)
- Coca Cola Q3 2026 earnings call transcript, The Motley Fool (27 Oct 2026)
- The Coca Cola Company: third quarter 2026 results (27 Oct 2026)
- Unilever: third quarter 2026 trading statement (28 Oct 2026)
- Unilever Q3 2026 trading statement call transcript, Yahoo Finance (28 Oct 2026)
- Suff Digital: Most cited websites in AI answers (24 Sep 2026)
- Social Media Manageren 2026 programme, Musikhuset Aarhus (28 Oct 2026)
- Digiday: Media Buying Briefing, citing the IPA Bellwether (26 Oct 2026)
