This week: Reddit reveals massive paid ad growth and gives advertisers more automation options, Google's AI Max expands with new location targeting and long-form headlines, TikTok's search ads gain traction with 25% more clicks and 38% lower CPCs, LinkedIn rolled out new ad exclusion tools, and Pinterest's improved pin-based marketing gained momentum with new shopping capabilities.
Reddit announced an 84% year-over-year increase in ad revenue for Q2, reaching $465 million. The platform credited this growth to investments in campaign automation, new ad products, and white-glove service for top advertiser clients.
Reddit's evolution as an ad platform offers advertisers access to highly engaged niche communities with strong purchase intent. As Reddit continues automating its ad tools, it's becoming more accessible for larger advertisers looking to tap into audience insights and discussions that aren't available on other platforms.
Google's AI Max search ad format was spotted pulling "ridiculously long headlines" directly from blog articles, with these landing pages converting at a significantly higher ROAS than standard product or service pages.
This shift suggests marketers should audit their blog content as potential landing pages for ads. The longer, information-rich headlines paired with content-heavy landing pages could indicate Google's AI is rewarding depth and informational value over traditional conversion-focused pages, changing how advertisers should approach content strategy.
TikTok made a major push into search advertising, opening 122 roles tied to TikTok Search across sales, engineering and product teams. Early adopters reported impressive results, with one account seeing 25% more clicks, 38% lower CPCs, and 23% lower CPMs compared to other channels.
As search behaviors shift from traditional engines to platforms like TikTok, this opens a new performance-driven channel for reaching users already in discovery mode. Early movers have an opportunity to test, optimize, and secure better positions and rates before the space becomes saturated, potentially complementing existing search strategies.
Microsoft Advertising rolled out new exclusion management tools for LinkedIn's Search and Audience Ads, allowing advertisers to centrally manage website exclusions across accounts and campaigns with up to 10,000 websites per exclusion list.
These tools give advertisers more control over brand safety and campaign efficiency at scale. The unified approach across both Audience and Search ads streamlines operations for marketers managing complex campaigns, helping ensure ads appear only in appropriate contexts while reducing manual overhead for teams managing multiple campaigns.
Pinterest shared several handy pointers for Pin marketing efforts, focusing on shopping capabilities and product discovery features. The platform has been steadily enhancing its commercial tools to better connect inspiration with purchase opportunities.
With Pinterest's high commercial intent and product discovery focus, these improvements provide advertisers better ways to showcase products where users are actively looking for ideas. Brands can now create more shoppable experiences that capitalize on Pinterest's unique position in the purchase journey between initial inspiration and final conversion.