Twitch New Ad Format, Spotify Play Milestones, Streamer University + YouTube Top Podcasts

Good Monday and Happy Victoria Day from Canada!

If I were in advertising, the last two weeks were a total blur: TikTok's NewFronts, Meta NewFronts, Amazon Upfronts, YouTube Brandcast, and more! These events are where media and social companies announce new programming and hype up new advertising opportunities available in the year ahead. Perhaps unsurprisingly, all the platforms plan to squeeze a lot more ads between the content you consume, and many say they'll be using Generative AI to make those ads more relevant and personal to you. I'll be keeping an eye on how these ads roll out and impact longer-form creators' content as it starts to release!

But, with that, let's jump into the news!

🟪 TWITCH

• Twitchcon Rotterdam 2025 is two weeks away. I released my unofficial Twitchcon Floor Map, if you're interested!
• The Twitchcon San Diego 2025 Call for Content is now open.
• A new Stream Display Ad format, which plays a muted video ad, is being tested. I made a video about it because I don't think it's what people think it is.
• Former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear says he left the company because it reached its destined size.
• DJs on Twitch hosted an event this weekend to celebrate Britney Spears, which included a Global Emote: Oops25
• Denmark has fined a Danish Twitch streamer DKK10,000 for promoting gambling on their stream.
• MarketingDirecto interviewed VP of LATAM Partnerships, Ignacio Estanga.
• Twitch's Discovery Feed isn't delivering, creators tell Digiday.
• Twitch CEO Dan Clancy will be speaking at The Game Business. Will he also be driving a pedicab there?
• Lizzo represented Twitch streamers at Amazon's Upfronts. I have some issues with this, considering she's only streamed 15 hours on the platform since she started in January... name recognition, yes, I know that's why they used her for it.

🟥 YOUTUBE

• YouTube now has a Weekly Top Podcast chart in the USA.
• YouTube will soon use Gemini AI for targeted ads. This was announced as part of YouTube's Brandcast presentation.
• Playlists are getting community-driven voting.

⬛ TIKTOK

• A new Creator Care mode will filter inappropriate messages or all comments for up to 7 days.
• Customer DMs will now be an optional live function for creators.
• TikTok creator Valeria Marquez was killed while live streaming on the platform.
• You can now hide your videos from your profile, while they still appear in discovery.

🟦 DISCORD & TWITTER X

• Discord turned 10 years old.
• Twitter now supports 4K video uploads for Premium members.
• Elon Musk has officially withdrawn his ad boycott lawsuit against Twitch. Previously, it had just been paused.