The Top Three

🏆 THE INDUSTRY’S MOST IMPORTANT STORIES TODAY

🥇 U.S. RETAIL CLOSED FOR PROTEST

🙅 No customers today? Here's why: A national U.S. boycott, or “economic blackout,” is underway, urging Americans to refrain from shopping for 24 hours. more

• Spearheaded by The People's Union USA, a grassroots group, the boycott protests the rollback of DEI initiatives at companies like Target.

• It also aligns with protests against President Trump’s plans to cut the government workforce and recent mass firings at federal agencies.

• While the boycott is trending on social media and gaining international support, its real impact on retail sales and profits remains to be seen.

🥈 BYE-BYE TIKTOK CREATOR MARKETPLACE

🚨 Heads up: TikTok is about to replace its Creative Center, including its Creator Marketplace, with its new “TikTok One” platform. As it makes the transition, it is now starting the process of sunsetting the Creator Marketplace platform.

• All your past campaigns will be available in your upgraded TikTok One account.

• March 1st: Creator Marketplace will stop allowing new campaigns and creator applications.

• April 1st: Creator Marketplace will redirect to TikTok One and will no longer be functional.

• Current marketplace users can upgrade by logging into the app and following the in-stream notifications, this will be mandatory by April.

🥉 NFL’S AD PRIVACY FUMBLE

🏈 Privacy penalty: The NFL has updated its privacy policy and ad practices after being caught tracking users' geolocation for targeted ads without consent. more

• The league, and all 32 of its teams, violated the Digital Advertising Alliance's transparency guidelines, according to BBB National Programs’ Digital Advertising Accountability Program.

• The investigation revealed that NFL websites and apps were collecting geolocation data for ad targeting without explicit opt-ins.

• The platforms also failed to include the required enhanced notice links, which should explain data processing, interest-based advertising, and opt-out options.

Today’s Other News

📰 EVERYTHING ELSE THAT MATTERS

Advertising 📣

• Disney has once again sold out its ad inventory for the Academy Awards ahead of its Sunday broadcast. The 97th Oscars ceremony will air live on ABC and also stream live on digital platforms, including Hulu, Fubo, and AT&T TV, for the first time. more

• Paramount’s ad president, John Halley, is urging publishers to let advertisers lead on identity tech, instead of relying on their own proprietary tools. Halley said that the future of advertising will rely on multiple identifiers and interoperability with the buy side, especially in fragmented markets. more

Search 🔍

• Bing Search is testing outlining individual search result snippets. When users view a snippet, it has an outline, and hovering over it highlights it further. more

Social Media 📱

• 🥣 “No feed for you!”: LinkedIn is testing a new feed filter that lets users switch to viewing updates only from their first-degree connections. The test provides two tabs:

  1. All: Your current LinkedIn feed, which remains the default.

  2. My Network: Showing updates only from connections and followed pages. more

AI 🤖 

• ⚔️ Chat wars: Meta is gearing up to take on ChatGPT with a standalone app for its AI chatbot. The company is also eyeing a paid subscription model. more

  • Rivals like Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic have already released apps for their chatbots.

Business & Finance 💼 

• YouTube star, MrBeast, aka Jimmy Donaldson, is seeking funding at a $5 billion valuation. Known for reinvesting earnings into projects like Beast Games, he’s restructured his business by bringing operations in-house. This move could set the stage for a potential IPO. The move could pave the way for a potential IPO. more

Today’s Trivia Question

🎁 TAP YOUR GUESS AND YOU COULD WIN

Spotted on Social

🤣 THE SOCIAL WEB’S BEST POSTS IN THE LAST 24 HOURS

Steal Our Stack

🛠️ TOOLS WE USE TO PUT THE NEWSLETTER OUT

Google Ads courses: Inside Google Ads: Advanced
Meta ad courses: Foxwell Digital Courses
Media Buyers Slack: Foxwell Founders Community
Lifetime marketing tool deals: Appsumo 
Podcast recording: Riverside
Online forms: Tally (get 50% off first 3 months)
Email newsletter: Beehiiv