Media Monday

Reddit Partners with Google on Data-Sharing Deal for Search and AI

By Rhiannon Slack , Media Buyer

Reddit is in the news again this week as a new data-sharing deal has been struck with Google. Late last week, reports circulated that Reddit had signed a new deal to sell its data for $60 million per year to “an unnamed large AI company”. As it turns out, this large AI company is Google, with the deal set to bring Reddit into both Search and its evolving Gemini models.?

“This partnership will facilitate more content-forward displays of Reddit information that will make our products more helpful for our users and make it easier to participate in Reddit communities and conversations,” says a representative from Google.

While online reviews and conversations have become less trustworthy due to AI bots creating hard-to-detect fake endorsements, users have been relying on Reddit’s platform to get more user experience notes and human insight.

“With the Reddit Data API, Google will now have efficient and structured access to fresher information, as well as enhanced signals that will help us better understand Reddit content and display, train on, and otherwise use it in the most accurate and relevant ways.”

How MrBeast Became the Most Watched Person in the World?

By Joe Antonini , Media Supervisor

?On the cover of the current Time Magazine is “the most watched person in the world”.? That’d be - not Donald Trump, Taylor Swift, or even Jimmy Presnell for a few short weeks - but MrBeast .? The entertainer is of the YouTube variety and posts high-production value gags that are a little bit difficult for traditional television fans outside of Gen Z to wrap their head around like “$10,000 Every Day You Survive In A Grocery Store”.? His most recent video has 146MM views.

At an even higher scale must be Joe Rogan, whose chart-topping and controversial podcast brings in 11MM listeners per episode.? (These episodes come out every weekday.)? The scale here is far more than Fallon, Kimmel, or Colbert.

Someone recently introduced me to “Pop The Balloon Or Find Love” on YouTube.? Not quite with the clout of MrBeast, Arlette Amuli is putting on a low-budget version of a reality show that would be right at home on Netflix, ABC, Peacock, etc.? Many viewers are first introduced to the show via TikTok clips.

The obvious conclusion is about online & social media replacing traditional media manifesting in fascinating ways.? The exciting opportunity is ad placement in 2024’s version of primetime.? Contextual targeting capabilities, inventory access, and share of voice can all be confusing in this new landscape.? Keep asking questions and seeking potential connections with entertainment juggernauts in the marketplace.

How Linkedin Is Becoming a Hot Spot for Influencer Marketing

By Rachel Couchara , Media Group Director

?LinkedIn—arguably the most uncool place on the internet—is becoming a hot spot for influencer marketing. Case in point: There’s a new agency called Creator Authority that is entirely focused on brokering deals between creators and brands on the platform.? Creator Authority's decision to lean into LinkedIn comes as the platform has become increasingly desirable for influencer marketing, according to experts. Public content shared on LinkedIn increased by 24% from 2022 to 2023, according to Creator Authority, while there are now over 139,000 newsletters (with more than 472 million total newsletter subscribers) on the platform. LinkedIn said it hit 1 billion members in November.?

Natalie Marshall, aka Corporate Natalie, is among the influencers who have embraced LinkedIn over the last couple of years. Corporate Natalie, who has built a following online with her humorous work-from-home videos, has nearly 53,000 followers on LinkedIn, compared to around 835,000 on Instagram and 653,000 on TikTok.

Before the 2021 launch of LinkedIn’s so-called creator mode, a profile setting that provides users access to a suite of content creation tools and boosts the reach of their posts, influencers getting paid to make content on LinkedIn was incredibly rare, according to Gahan. But since then, the demand for influencer marketing on the platform has grown—and naturally, so have creator paychecks.? Read more here.