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Scale & Strategy
This is Scale and Strategy, the newsletter that’s beating Santa to the punch and bringing you some early Christmas presents.
today:
Instagram Dominates Meta’s Revenue While TikTok Cracks Down on Content
AI Marketing Updates: Bing’s Image Creator and ChatGPT’s New Phone Feature
Google’s New Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking Model Takes the Lead
HeyGen’s New Podcast Feature Brings Articles to Life
Instagram Dominates Meta’s Revenue While TikTok Cracks Down on Content
Photo by Karsten Winegeart on Unsplash
Instagram’s got the golden touch. It now accounts for over half of Meta’s ad revenue, thanks to its popularity with advertisers. Most of this revenue comes from Feed (53.7%) and Stories (24.6%), but Reels is quickly gaining momentum.
In fact, Reels revenue is expected to grow by 24.4% in the U.S. by 2025. That’s no surprise, given that users spend nearly two-thirds of their time on Instagram watching Reels.
Clearly, the appetite for short-form video content isn’t going anywhere.
TikTok’s tough love. If some of your TikToks have mysteriously vanished, you’re not alone.
According to TikTok’s latest transparency report, the platform has removed a staggering 147 million videos for policy violations. On top of that, 12 million livestreams were shut down, 1.3 billion comments deleted, and 214 million accounts banned.
The takeaway? Stick to the rules, and your content should be safe.
AI Marketing Updates: Bing’s Image Creator and ChatGPT’s New Phone Feature
Photo by Xu Haiwei on Unsplash
Bing just leveled up. Bing’s Image Creator is now integrated into its search bar, letting you generate AI-powered images right from search results. Powered by the latest DALL-E 3 PR16 model, the tool produces higher-quality images you can save or share directly from your browser.
It’s a handy feature for marketers looking to create and share visuals quickly.
ChatGPT goes old-school—on the phone. OpenAI has introduced a free 15-minute-per-month phone service in the U.S., aiming to make AI more accessible for users who may not be familiar with advanced tech.
Why does it matter? Phone calls are a familiar channel for many, and this service could make AI feel less intimidating while boosting engagement.
What about privacy? OpenAI claims it won’t use call data to train its models—but, understandably, some skepticism lingers.
Either way, it’s a step toward expanding AI’s reach to a broader audience.
Google’s New Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking Model Takes the Lead
Photo by Milad Fakurian on Unsplash
Google just dropped Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking Experimental, an AI model designed to pause and “think” through complex problems—similar to OpenAI’s o1 model, but with faster performance and zero cost.
What you need to know:
Transparent reasoning: The model openly displays its thought process while solving problems, much like other reasoning models, including OpenAI’s o1.
Blazing speed: Built on the Gemini 2.0 Flash platform, early users are reporting significantly faster results compared to competitors.
Smarter thinking: By increasing computation time, the model prioritizes improved reasoning. While responses may take a bit longer, they’re more accurate.
Top of the charts: Gemini 2.0 is now ranked #1 across all categories in the Chatbot Arena and is freely accessible through AI Studio, the Gemini API, and Vertex AI.
Why this matters:
The AI reasoning race is heating up. Google’s new approach challenges OpenAI and others by focusing on smarter, not just bigger, models.
And while OpenAI has been raising prices for its premium offerings, Google is flipping the script by making its most advanced AI freely available—a move that could redefine how accessible cutting-edge AI becomes.
HeyGen’s New Podcast Feature Brings Articles to Life
Photo by Luther Yonel on Unsplash
HeyGen just introduced a Podcast feature that transforms articles, research papers, or documents into engaging two-person video discussions featuring AI avatars. Think NotebookLM—but with actual faces.
How it works:
Head to HeyGen’s website and select “Video Podcast” from the dashboard.
Upload your content—either a PDF (up to 20MB) or a website URL.
Choose your presenters by picking two AI avatars and customizing settings like duration, aspect ratio, and captions.
Submit and relax. Your video will be ready in minutes.
Pro tip: Structured content = better results. To ensure a natural-sounding discussion, use an AI tool like ChatGPT to refine and organize your script before uploading.
This tool makes it easier than ever to turn static documents into dynamic, shareable video content!
