The Friday Cut
Social media marketing news, cut down to what matters. Every Friday from Oscar Owen.
This week
Social Media Marketing News: Meta Puts AI in the Middle of Creator Deals
This week: Meta builds AI into how brands find and pay creators, Google puts a shopping assistant inside YouTube ads, and big brands start asking where their creator money really goes.
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, which means we see shifts in the market as they happen. Each Friday I will share what we are seeing across our work, and what I would do about it.
This week’s theme: AI is moving into the middle of the creator economy, and brands are starting to ask where their creator budgets actually go.
In this issue
- 01Meta puts AI at the centre of creator deals
- 02Google adds a shopping assistant to YouTube ads
- 03Creator budgets and the transparency gap
Meta puts AI at the centre of creator deals
Meta has merged its Creator Marketplace and partnership ads tools into one Creator Marketing Hub. The headline feature for brands is Meta’s AI business assistant: “Advertisers can start a chat to search for creators and understand creator recommendations” (Marketing Dive). Live video partnership ads, already available on Facebook, became generally available on Instagram from 29 September.
On the creator side, Meta’s Muse AI agents can now “alert creators to collaboration opportunities, and provide analysis of those offers matched against industry averages” (Social Media Today). Brands will use AI to choose creators, and creators will use AI to assess the brands approaching them.
This favours brands that pay fairly and brief well. When both sides can see the market rate, the best creators will choose the strongest brief and the fairest fee. From our work with creators on brand campaigns, and from building my own 1.6 million subscriber channel, I know creators remember which brands paid fairly and on time. If you are still deciding whether creators belong in your plan, start with our influencer marketing reality check.
Google adds a shopping assistant to YouTube ads
In its September Demand Gen update, Google introduced Business Agent for YouTube Ads. In Google’s words, “viewers can engage with conversational AI alongside video ads with product feeds, getting immediate answers about products or brands without leaving their viewing context” (Google Ads and Commerce Blog). It is currently in early access.
Google also reports that advertisers adding Gmail to Demand Gen see “a 40% increase in conversions at the same ROI” on image creatives. That is Google’s own figure, so treat it as something to test rather than a benchmark.
The distance between watching and buying keeps shrinking. That raises the value of the creative itself: an assistant can answer questions, but only once the video has earned the viewer’s attention in the first few seconds.
Creator budgets and the transparency gap
Digiday reports that only 42% of British advertisers surveyed have full transparency on creator agency fees, and 37% are unsure how their spend is split (Digiday, 2 Oct 2026). It cites the Association of National Advertisers finding that agencies take 30% of influencer spend on average, and TrinityP3 analysis showing bundled deals can leave as little as 35% of the budget for talent, against as much as 60% when the work is billed line by line. The same briefing looks at how Diageo is using real world events to recruit creators for its alcohol free brands, Seedlip and Ritual.
If you cannot see what your creators are paid, you cannot judge whether the content delivered value.
Ask for talent fees and agency fees as separate lines on every creator contract. It is a simple change, and it puts more of the budget into the content your audience actually sees.
The rest of this week’s social media marketing news
- YouTube Shorts is rewarding originality. YouTube updated Shorts recommendations to prioritise original content and reduce the reach of channels that mainly repost other creators’ videos (Social Media Today). If you clip your own long form, here is how to repurpose long form video without losing reach.
- Facebook still has the widest reach in the UK. New Pew data across 37 countries shows Facebook reaching 58% of UK adults, ahead of Instagram at 52% and TikTok at 33%. For how the short form platforms compare, see our TikTok vs Reels vs Shorts breakdown.
Share of UK adults using each platform, 2026
What to do next week
| Story | What changed | Your move |
|---|---|---|
| Meta Creator Marketing Hub | An AI assistant for finding creators, and Instagram live partnership ads from 29 Sept | Test one live partnership ad before Black Friday |
| Business Agent for YouTube Ads | Conversational AI next to video ads, in early access | If you run Demand Gen with a product feed, sign up and test it |
| Creator fee transparency | Only 42% of British advertisers report full transparency on creator agency fees | Ask for talent fees and agency fees billed line by line |
Right hand column is my recommendation, not data.
P.S.This is the first issue of The Friday Cut. If there is a topic you would like covered, tell me through our contact page, and subscribe to receive it in your inbox every Friday.
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
What is Meta’s Creator Marketing Hub?
Meta’s single tool for brands to discover creators, run partnership ads and manage permissions, combining its former Creator Marketplace and partnership ads tools, with an AI assistant for creator search (Marketing Dive).
What is Business Agent for YouTube Ads?
A Google Demand Gen feature that adds conversational AI next to video ads with product feeds, so viewers can ask about a product while watching. It is in early access (Google).
How much of a creator budget goes to agencies?
It varies. The ANA found agencies take 30% of influencer spend on average, and TrinityP3 says bundled deals can leave as little as 35% for talent (Digiday).
Sources and methodology
Stories were chosen from news published in the seven days to 4 October 2026, plus late September announcements that went live this week. Platform claims and vendor figures are labelled as such. Opinions are my own. Photos: Oscar Owen, Advertain.
- Marketing Dive: Meta streamlines creator brand tie ups with new marketing hub (17 Sep 2026)
- Social Media Today: How can Instagram creators use Muse AI agents (27 Sep 2026)
- Google Ads and Commerce Blog: September Demand Gen drop (24 Sep 2026)
- Digiday: Agency fees in creator deals are the next transparency headache (2 Oct 2026)
- Social Media Today: YouTube updates Shorts algorithm to focus on original content (1 Oct 2026)
- Pew Research Center: Social media platform use around the world (1 Oct 2026)
