TOGETHER WITH

It’s Thursday and Google is joining forces with Roblox to make internet safety cool. The duo’s first gamified offering: “Be Internet Awesome World.”

Today’s News

WELCOME ABOARD

Dhar Mann Studios has tapped an MTV and Jellysmack vet to serve as its new President

The new hire: The “moral philosopher of YouTube” has hired Jellysmack and MTV vet Sean Atkins as his company’s new President. In that role, Atkins will guide Dhar Mann Studios toward new growth opportunities as it expands its relationship with CAA to pursue plans in fields like live events, merchandising, publishing, and brand partnerships.

The context: Dhar Mann’s black-and-white morality videos hit an all-time peak on YouTube at the start of the decade. By 2021, a pact with CAA had given him agency representation, and he went full speed ahead with a namesake app, an in-person event, a planned feature film, and several other ambitious ventures. Data from Gospel Stats shows that Mann’s average video viewership has declined from an all-time high of around 12 million views per video at that time, although he still receives a substantial average of nearly four million views per long-form upload.

The launch: Dhar Mann Studios’ new head previously served as the President of MTV between 2015 and 2017. A year later, Atkins popped up at fashion network StyleHaul and RTL Video before joining Jellysmack as President in 2021 . Now—as he moves into his new role at Dhar Mann Studios—the exec is embarking on yet another venture: The 5th Quarter Agency.

Atkins formally launched 5th Quarter within Dhar Mann Studios upon his arrival at Mann’s company, but the agency already boasts an impressive list of clients, including the Stokes Twins, Rebecca Zamolo, Royalty Family, and Jordan Matter. The new firm will work with those and other creators who rank among the top 1% of YouTubers to maximize revenue generated by existing content catalogs. Given his time at Jellysmack - a company known for putting video libraries to work - Atkins brings years of applicable industry experience to the initiative.

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HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• For the first time since 2021, X has provided an official Transparency Report documenting its content moderation efforts. (Tubefilter)
  
  

• A new report from media services agency Horizon Media found that 47% of Millennial respondents social shopped at least once a week, as compared to 27% of Gen Z respondents. (Tubefilter)
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• In a recent interview, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg doubled-down on the claim that the majority of research “suggests that there’s no causal connection” between social media and teen mental health. (The Verge)
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• According to The Verge, Meta is developing a new tool that automatically dubs Reels into other languages while “maintaining the creator’s voice and even changing the movements of their mouth to match.” (The Verge)

CAMPAIGN TRAIL

TikTok is bringing ad targeting to search results

The launch: TikTok is introducing a new ad product to brands. The platform has announced the launch of Search Ads Campaign, an offering that enables granular targeting for the search ads TikTok began rolling out last year. By selecting the “search campaign” option within the TikTok Ads Manager, brands can add more customization to their results page spots, prioritize conversions on third-party sites and apps, and link search ad campaigns to their TikTok Shop accounts. So far, search campaign options include demographic filtering and specified campaign goals (such as impression or conversion targets).

The rise: TikTok’s rising popularity as a search engine became particularly evident in 2022, when it sounded alarm bells at Google. Since then, TikTok has looked to capitalize on its momentum by advertising its search bar, bringing ChatGPT into the fold, giving creators the ability to peruse oft-searched topics, and introducing expanded video descriptions to promote the use of common keywords.

Now, TikTok says 57% of its community uses it as a search engine, and advertisers that run both search ads and in-feed ads see their conversions go up by 20% on average.

The context: Although evidence suggests that TikTok-as-a-search-engine may be in decline, its latest ad offering is still likely to attract traditional media buyers. TikTok has been pursuing that demographic for a while now: most recently, the platform introduced new measurement options at the 2024 NewFronts in an effort to make its platform more appealing to old-guard advertisers.

PANELS SCANDAL

Marques Brownlee is facing serious heat over his new app

The app: Marques Brownlee’s first app launch isn’t going quite as planned. After over 16 years on YouTube (where his channel MKBHD reaches nearly 20 million subscribers and nets roughly 60 million monthly views), the tech reviewer announced the debut of his new wallpaper app, Panels, in a video posted Monday.

In many ways, the arrival of that app (which provides access to a selection of iOS and Android wallpapers for $12/month or $50/year) was a long time coming. Brownlee’s viral tech reviews are slick, high-production affairs—right down to the eye-catching wallpapers outfitting his devices. And as the YouTuber points out, when you search Google for “where does mkbhd…” the top suggestion is usually “…get his wallpapers?”

The controversy: Despite that widespread interest in Brownlee’s wallpapers, the reception of Panels has been downright chilly. In addition to negative comments regarding the app’s design, pricing, data permissions, and ad frequency (users can download free lower-res images by watching one 30-second ad per image), fans have objected to the fact that Panels artists—with whom the app splits profits 50/50—can create wallpapers with AI.

The response: Brownlee was quick to respond to that backlash. In a tweet posted September 24, the creator noted that getting “mass feedback” on Panels was “pretty dope” and assured fans that his team would be reducing the number of required ads in the app’s free tier and “fixing the excessive data disclosures.” (He also added that Panels would “never actually ask for your location, internet history, etc.”).

The takeaway: Product reviewers can become recognized experts on YouTube—but if they one day decide to leverage that expertise to launch their own products, they need to make sure those products are very, very good. While some of the criticism directed towards Panels is justified, Forbes noted that much of the negativity seems powered by schadenfreude, with commenters saying Brownlee spent “years roasting founders” and needs to be “humbled.”

WATCH THIS 📺

What’s up with the Lunchly vs. Lunchables debate?

The controversy: MrBeast, KSI, and Logan Paul only announced the launch of their lunch kit brand last week, but Lunchly has already kicked up its fair share of controversy. In a press release, Paul said the kits are designed for “those looking for a convenient, healthier choice.”

Some critics, however, have questioned whether Lunchly is really more nutritious than alternatives like Lunchables. So far, Paul and MrBeast haven’t taken kindly to those naysayers—but now, Doctor Mike is weighing in.

The result: In a new video, the YouTuber and licensed medical doctor broke down the nutritional info of both Lunchly and Lunchables. His conclusion: “It’s clear Lunchly, just like Lunchables, misses the mark too many times to be considered meaningfully healthier”—but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a small step in the right direction.

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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Drew Baldwin, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen.