TOGETHER WITH

It’s Wednesday and the lore of OpenAI’s doomed coup is going from the board room to the writers’ room at Amazon MGM Studios. The rumored movie title: “Artificial.”

Today’s News

THE BIZ

Can Roblox convince brands that players are seeing their ads?

The platform: Roblox is on the rise. Grow a Garden—one of the ~40 million experiences published on the platform—just hit almost 12 million concurrent players, shattering records from PUB:G and nearly toppling Fortnite.

At the same time, Roblox is growing its nascent programmatic ad sector. In the past, when a company wanted to promote itself on Roblox, the platform would introduce it to an independent studio that would create a bespoke experience. Now, Roblox is keeping those relationships for itself. But can the platform scale its ad offerings quickly enough to take advantage of its meteoric growth?

The ad sector: According to Digiday, agencies are leery of the fact that Roblox hasn’t yet introduced third-party campaign measurement for programmatic ads. Instead, performance data comes from Roblox itself—with no objective, outside measurement company confirming the numbers.

That sets Roblox apart from its rivals (and not in a good way). Having third-party ad performance analytics is standard—meaning if a brand buys ad space on YouTube, for example, it can get campaign measurement data from AudienceProject, Comscore, DoubleVerify, Dynata, Gemius, IAS, Intage Inc., iSpot, Kantar, Macromill, Nielsen, Video Research, VideoAmp, and/or Zefr. Roblox secured a partnership with Nielsen in April, but brands/agencies aren’t getting any numbers from that team-up yet. So, when will the platform catch up?

Neither Nielsen nor Roblox commented on a timeline for Nielsen data to be introduced, but the latter company did point to its recent partnership with Google, which offers players rewards for watching ads. For ads placed through that specific partnership, brands and agencies will have access to Google’s performance metrics.

Roblox’s Global Head of Brand Insights and Measurements, Allison McDuffee also noted that the platform is “working with a range of top-tier partners, from Google to Kantar, Cint, DoubleVerify, IAS and Nielsen, to quickly expand and bring both standard measurement and innovative approaches to advertisers.”

🔆 SPONSORED 🔆

Helping You Make Your Next Hit Video & Create with Confidence

YouTube is one of the greatest platforms of our time—but for creators, it can also feel like a constant grind. One minute, you’re an editor. The next, a thumbnail designer, marketer, and scriptwriter. 

It’s a lot. And despite working harder than ever, many creators still feel stuck.

That’s why Spotter Studio is on a mission to make it easier for YouTube creators to brainstorm videos with their data-driven ideation system.

Since joining Spotter Studio, Lemons to Lemonade Furniture (100K subs) has earned thousands via new brand deals. They’re not alone:

Now, Spotter Studio is introducing 3 fresh updates to help you turn inspiration into ideas and ideas into ready-to-publish projects:

• Flexible Brainstorming in Idea Canvas
  Generate full packages of ideas in text or images and add them to your Idea Bank. 
  
  

• Thumbnail Scoring and Recommendations
  Evaluate how likely your title-thumbnail package is predicted to perform, with actionable recommendations grounded in YouTube data and insights.
  
  

• Streamlined Project Page
  A redesigned Project page makes it easy to brainstorm titles, thumbnails, concepts and story beats.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• MrBeast hit a huge milestone this week, becoming the only creator in YouTube history to run a channel with at least 400 million subscribers. (Tubefilter)
  
  

• TikTok has banned #SkinnyTok—a hashtag used to disseminate videos that perpetrate harmful beliefs about body image—amid mounting pressure from regulators affiliated with the European Commission. (Tubefilter)
  ​

• Eminem’s publishing company, Eight Mile Style, is seeking over $109 million in damages as part of a copyright infringement lawsuit against Meta. (E! News)
  
  

• Snap is launching both a Bitmoji Suite and multiple new Lens Studio tools that will help AR developers create Bitmoji games. (TechCrunch)

CREATOR COMMOTION

Sidemen management company Arcade just launched an agency wing

The launch: Arcade Media—a management team partnered with the Sidemen—has announced the launch of Arcade Creative, “a fully dedicated, creator-first agency” that will help brands reach the U.K. group’s passionate audience.

Arcade Media has been closely aligned with the Sidemen since the firm’s launch, and the two parties have worked together to diversify the septet’s activity across numerous commercial ventures. Now, Arcade Creative partners will work alongside the London-based creator group to ideate and launch campaigns, with Joe Lamb leading the agency wing.

The context: Much of the Sidemen’s influence flows through YouTube, where the group has evolved into an entertainment empire known for its long-form content. Through formats like Sidemen Supermarket Sweep and Inside, the Sidemen have shown that they are capable of producing work that rivals half-hour fare on TV and streaming. At the same time, high-profile sponsorships have demonstrated the group’s global marketability; if you want to learn what the Sidemen can bring to their brand partners, for instance, simply keep an eye on the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup. Promotion for the summer soccer tournament includes a pact with the internet’s favorite influencer footballers

The Sidemen’s marketing potential was also on full display at a recent Sidemen Showcase in London’s Shoreditch neighborhood. The presentation served as the group’s contribution to a growing trend of upfront presentations that feature creator-led programming.

Now, through the launch of Arcade Creative, the Sidemen are claiming a place alongside creators like MrBeast and Dude Perfect in the top tier of YouTube-based producers.

BY THE NUMBERS

2/3 of U.S. consumers see YouTube as a “realistic destination” for movies and TV

The survey: YouTube‘s success on TV screens is legitimizing it in the eyes of the average American consumer. A recent survey conducted by Looper Insights found that 2/3 of 1,115 U.S. consumers surveyed view YouTube as a reliable source for the sort of long-form content that was previously confined to TV networks and streaming services.

• That percentage was even higher among a separate panel of 65 media executives, 88% of whom said YouTube is a realistic destination for movies and TV shows. 
  
  

• 52% of surveyed consumers also said they would consider using YouTube’s free platform as a replacement for SVOD services like Netflix and Disney+.
  
  

• Those claims line up with viewers’ watching habits: 47% of consumers named the living room as their main location for YouTube viewing.

The trend: YouTube has hastened its move into American living rooms by investing heavily in its TV presence. A Nielsen report from April found that the platform has the largest audience share among streaming video services (12%), while YouTube recently dubbed itself the #1 most-watched distributor of content across broadcast, cable, and streaming in the U.S. since February 2025.

Media companies have responded to that consumer demand by stocking Alphabet’s video platform with premium film and TV content. Earlier this year, for instance, Warner Bros. made 30+ full movies available for free on YouTube.  

The future: As YouTube continues its ascent to the top of the film and TV distribution landscape, it’s worth asking what role creators will play going forward. A Deloitte report from March found that many Gen Z viewers prefer creator content to premium TV—and if Looper is to be believed, YouTube is now on par with TV and movie hubs in the minds of most U.S. consumers anyway. If that’s the case, then creators can elevate their work to premium status without ever leaving their home platform.

WATCH THIS 📺

Ulta is turning employees into influencers

The follow-up: Ulta Beauty isn’t just cool with its employees making social media content on the clock—it’s paying them to do it.

Through its new ambassador program, the company is commissioning two deliverables per month from employees who are already making content about their Ulta workdays. Those ambassadors (dubbed “Ulta Beauties”) will get perks like PR packages from brands, paid trips to Ulta events, access to masterclasses, and educational opportunities with platforms like TikTok.

Roughly 1,500 associates have already applied to the program—including newly crowned Ulta Beauty Jenn Rodriguez. The general manager has been creating social media content for a decade now, and currently has 50,000 followers across TikTok and Instagram. Check out a few of her makeup-themed videos on Ulta’s site here.

Want to introduce your brand to Tubefilter’s audience? Sponsor the newsletter.

Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe here.​

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