Bonded Bitesize – Your Midweek Roundup

YouTube is testing AI Overviews in its search results

YouTube is testing a new AI Overviews carousel in search results, available to a small group of U.S. YouTube Premium users. The feature uses AI to scan relevant videos and surface short highlight clips most useful to specific search queries, such as product research or travel recommendations. These clips appear in a scrollable carousel, offering users quick insights without watching full videos. While this may improve user experience, it raises concerns for creators and brands about reduced visibility and video views, similar to how Google AI Overviews have impacted website traffic. YouTube will collect user feedback during this limited test to decide whether to expand the feature more broadly in the future.

OpenAI adds shopping features to ChatGPT Search

OpenAI is introducing shopping features to ChatGPT Search, starting with categories like fashion, beauty, home goods, and electronics. These features provide personalised product recommendations, images, reviews, pricing, and direct purchase links, using structured metadata from third-party websites. The shopping results are not ads, and OpenAI does not earn commissions. Available globally to all ChatGPT users, including non-logged-in visitors, this conversational shopping experience aims to understand user preferences over time—offering more tailored results. OpenAI’s Adam Fry emphasises that the tool focuses on understanding user intent and product sentiment, not just keywords. Additional updates to ChatGPT Search include trending topics, autocomplete, improved citations, and WhatsApp integration, further positioning ChatGPT as a competitor to traditional search engines like Google.

Meta rolls out ads globally on Threads feed

Meta is launching ads globally on Threads, its text-based social app with 300 million monthly users, following limited testing earlier this year. Image-based ads will now appear in users’ feeds, and all eligible advertisers will automatically have Threads included in their campaign placements—though they can opt out. This move underscores Meta’s confidence in Threads’ potential as an ad platform, leveraging its existing ad infrastructure and targeting tools from Facebook and Instagram. The rollout is phased across 30+ countries, with early testers like Wendy’s and GroupM praising the platform’s brand-building potential. Advertisers are reassured by Meta’s brand safety controls, while the expansion marks Threads as a viable new channel for marketers seeking to reach engaged, text-oriented audiences.

X Continues to Lose EU Users According to Latest DSA Report

X has reported a 10.5% drop in EU users since August 2023, losing 11 million users across the region, with significant declines in France, Poland, Germany, and Spain. These figures, disclosed under the EU’s Digital Services Act, explain the platform’s delay in releasing its data. Despite Elon Musk’s claims that X now has 600 million monthly active users, the official numbers cast doubt on global growth, especially given similar reported declines in the UK. While the platform still holds over 500 million monthly users, this European drop—down 15% since Musk’s takeover—raises questions about its viability and advertising appeal. Financially, X may stay afloat via xAI funding, but its influence and relevance appear to be fading. One positive: X has increased its content moderation staff by 211.

LinkedIn Shares Technical Specs and Posting Tips for Video Content

LinkedIn video engagement is on the rise, with watch time up 36% year-over-year in 2024 and video posts generating 1.4x more engagement than other formats. Short-form video creation is growing rapidly, and while users can’t post directly to LinkedIn’s immersive video feed, high-quality, relevant videos are surfaced there by the algorithm. LinkedIn has shared updated specs to help creators optimise their content, including a max length of 15 minutes, file sizes between 75 KB and 5 GB, and supported resolutions from 256×144 to 4096×2304. For brands and professionals, video is becoming a key tool for expanding reach and engagement on the platform.

DOJ Seeks Google Search Data, But Privacy and Tech Hurdles Remain

The U.S. Department of Justice is pushing for unprecedented remedies in its antitrust case against Google, including forcing the tech giant to hand over valuable user search data that underpins its $2 trillion business. The data—such as click patterns, scroll behavior, and search queries—has long given Google an edge in search relevance and ad targeting, creating a network-effect feedback loop that keeps it dominant. While this move could, in theory, help rivals like Bing or DuckDuckGo catch up, critics warn that privacy concerns, implementation hurdles, and Google’s likely resistance could make the remedy unworkable. The DOJ is also considering a Chrome sell-off and restrictions on default placements, but experts argue that without access to Google’s data, even those measures may fall short of restoring real competition.

Instagram Edits topped 7M downloads in first week, a bigger launch than CapCut’s

Instagram’s new video creation app, Edits, had a blockbuster debut, outperforming rival CapCut by a wide margin with 7.1 million downloads across iOS and Android in its first few days—112 times CapCut’s U.S. launch figures. Powered by Meta’s network effects and integration with Instagram, Edits quickly shot to the top of app store charts, though it still trails CapCut’s 1.22 billion lifetime downloads. While creators have praised Edits for its user-friendly interface, 4K support, and watermark-free exports, critics noted its lack of advanced features like templates and transitions. Still, its early momentum positions it as a serious contender in the creator tools space.