Google SA has released its 2025 Year in Search report, highlighting the fastest-rising queries and the topics that captured public attention over the past year. The report provides insight into what South Africans tried to understand, follow, debate or resolve online.
The national winners of the 2025 Vodacom Journalist of the Year Awards (VJOY) were announced at a ceremony in Johannesburg, where the event recognised the dedication, skill and courage of South Africa’s press.
Hello social friends! This week we’re seeing some shifts for improved collaboration across social platforms, including TikTok’s shared feed feature and Instagram’s re-sharable public stories. There are some holiday-inspired tools as well, like custom greeting cards and shoppable grocery pins through Pinterest to help make your holiday menu complete. Let’s dive in and see where these tools can be most useful.
Global ad revenue is forecast to grow 8.8% year on year to $1.14tn in 2025 despite persistent macroeconomic headwinds, WPP Media’s This Year Next Year report has predicted.
Three major themes emerge. McKinsey said the 20 priorities for 2026 – which put branding, budget management, and data privacy in the top three – led to the emergence of three major themes
Paramount Skydance has launched a hostile $108.4 billion bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, just days after WBD agreed to an $82.7 billion deal with Netflix. Paramount is appealing directly to shareholders with a $30-per-share all-cash offer — $18 billion more in cash than Netflix’s $27.75-per-share mix of cash and stock
The partnership, which introduced advanced verification technology to select community radio stations earlier this year, continues to empower broadcasters with tools that bring transparency, accountability, and renewed advertiser confidence to community media.
Key stat: Most age groups show negative sentiment as the dominant response to personalized ads, with negativity ranging from 36% to 58%, according to an August 2025 survey from Verve and Censuswide.
The savviest marketers cut through chaos with strategies and tactics that portend where advertising could head next year.
Hello social strategists and welcome to another week! There are plenty of new tools to discuss, including Facebook’s nickname option and Threads’ new profile summaries.