TOGETHER WITH

It’s Thursday and we’re already seeing some AI oops! moments ahead of the Super Bowl. At the top of the list: Google tweaked its Gemini ad after citing a Gouda fact that viewers said had more holes in it than Swiss cheese.

Today’s News

UPS AND DOWNS

Alphabet’s earnings faltered amid Big Tech’s AI upheaval—but YouTube is thriving

The drop: Chinese tech firms have brought widespread turmoil to the U.S. market—and Alphabet is feeling the squeeze. The Google parent company’s stocks initially fell by 6% after it missed projections for the fourth quarter of 2024. That drop follows the rise of DeepSeek, an open-source Chinese chatbot that sparked concerns among American developers after it was revealed to run more efficiently than competitors like ChatGPT and Google’s own Gemini.

Despite that disruption, Google CEO Sundar Pichai expressed optimism about “the power” of Alphabet’s “differentiated full-stack approach to AI innovation and the continued strength of our core businesses”:

The standout: Alphabet might be looking to invest more energy into AI projects like its Gemini chatbot, but YouTube proved to be the star of its quarterly earnings report. The video platform accounted for $10.5 billion of ad revenue, making Q4 2024 the first time YouTube has ever brought in more than $10 billion in a single quarter.

Much of YouTube’s growth has been driven by its acceleration on TV screens, where it now leads all other platforms by claiming more than 10% of total watch time. The upcoming Super Bowl could easily translate into even more YouTube TV subscribers by bringing renewed attention to YouTube’s distribution of the NFL Sunday Ticket package.

During the Q4 2024 earnings call, Google Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler identified the U.S. presidential election as another factor in YouTube’s ascendance. Political content on both sides of the aisle spiked ahead of November—a rise that might explain YouTube’s decision to slacken its policy on election misinformation.

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YouTube Star Q&A: How can Creators Boost their Revenue with Spotter Studio? 

Last year, Spotter launched a burnout-busting toolkit to help YouTubers secure more views in less time. Since then, creators have used Spotter Studio to reel in 844M views—all while earning more from their videos.

So, how can you increase revenue with Spotter Studio? Here are 2 tips from top creators:

1. Better thumbnails = better stats: Kinigra Deon makes thumbnails before creating her videos—meaning the art itself has a big impact on what she ultimately films. By using Spotter Studio’s Brainstorm tool to conceptualize and optimize new thumbnails, Deon grew her video revenue by 34%.

2. Keep an eye on the outliers: Guava Juice’s team used Spotter Studio’s “Outliers” tool to analyze top-performing videos and generate ideas based on that content. The result: their channel saw a 15% revenue increase per video after just 7 days.

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HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Disney revealed on Wednesday that its Disney+ streaming service lost 700,000 subscribers in the last three months of 2024. (Gizmodo)
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• TikTok parent company Bytedance appears to be stalling as it waits for approval from the Chinese government to negotiate a deal that could keep the app alive in the U.S. (Reuters)
  
  

• Google has reportedly decided to do away with diversity hiring targets as it begins “evaluating changes” to DEI practices “following recent court decisions and executive orders.” (TechCrunch)
  
  

• OpenAI announced yesterday that its Google Search competitor, ChatGPT Search, is “now available to everyone on http://chatgpt.com — no sign up required.” (OpenAI via X)

BACK IN THE SADDLE

Rooster Teeth is back with original co-founder Burnie Burns at the helm

The context: It’s been almost exactly a year since Rooster Teeth announced it would be closing after 21 years of operation. At the time, it seemed like the Austin-based media company (which produced some of the internet’s earliest digital video brands, plus Western animes like RWBY and gen:LOCK) was gone for good.

As of this week, that’s no longer the case. Rooster Teeth is officially back in action—with original co-founder Burnie Burns leading the way.

The resurrection: That acquisition marks the first time in over a decade that Rooster Teeth will be owned by its original creators. Prior to its closure, it was purchased by multichannel network Fullscreen in 2014, which in turn was acquired by Otter Media (a joint venture between AT&T and The Chernin Group) in 2018. Later that same year, AT&T bought out Chernin’s stake in Otter and folded Rooster Teeth into WarnerMedia, which became its own entity in 2021 and then merged with Discovery in 2022 to create Rooster Teeth’s final corporate owner, Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

Now, Burns and his studio Box Canyon Productions have take ownership of the Rooster Teeth brand “and much of its remaining assets” (including its owned YouTube channels, its social media accounts, and “some of [its] classic shows”). So far, Burns is the sole returning co-founder. His wife, Ashley Burns, is currently the only other staffer on board for the revival.

The duo reportedly plan to relaunch a slate of programming this year—minus some familiar favorites. Burns has not acquired rights to Rooster Teeth spinoffs like Achievement Hunter or FunHaus, nor to RWBY (which is owned by Viz Media). It’s unclear if Box Canyon Productions now owns gen:LOCK, or if it will revamp Rooster Teeth’s longtime annual convention, RTX.

QUARTERLY GAINS

Snapchat’s growing creator community had a lot to do with its killer Q4 results

The stats: For the second quarter in a row, Snapchat’s parent company exceeded expectations on its topline numbers. Snap Inc. enjoyed a stock market bump after beating projections in its Q4 2024 earnings report, which pegged its quarterly revenue at $1.56 billion. Total daily active users also rose to 453 million in Q4—a 9% year-over-year increase. By the end of Q1 2025, Snap expects that number to reach 459 million.

The contributors: The company’s continued investment in creators has a lot to do with that growth. The Snap Star revenue program—which pays influencers who post on the platform—has led to an increase in total uploads, with the number of creators posting on Snapchat up 40% year-over-year.

Uncertainty surrounding a potential TikTok ban is another likely contributor to Snapchat’s growth. As the Bytedance-owned app struggles to contend with U.S. regulations, Snap is using its expanding creator ecosystem to attract so-called “TikTok refugees.” Most recently, the app promoted stars like Avani Gregg and Loren Gray (both of whom got big on TikTok before coming to Snapchat) in a campaign that ran during the lead-up to the currently-stayed TikTok ban.

WATCH THIS 📺

TikTok’s most-followed creator is showing off his skills ahead of the NBA All-Star Game

The marketing trend: The NBA All-Star Celebrity Game is right around the corner. Sports fan can expect a mix of Hollywood stars, retired athletes, and WNBA hoopers to hit the court—plus well-known influencers like Kai Cenat and Druski.

Even the coaching roster includes some creator clout. One of the assistants on the sideline will be TikTok’s most-followed creator, Khaby Lame. Although he isn’t getting in on the game himself, the Italian star still managed to pull off a sweet shooting stroke in a video posted to Instagram on Wednesday.

Is there anything Lame can’t do?

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