The hottest Advertising Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top Technology Topics

Netflix is done zigging and is ready to zag

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter • 299 implied HN points • 21 Jan 26
đź’Ľ Business Advertising
  1. Netflix is moving away from its strict "zig where others zag" stance and is now embracing traditional models like theatrical releases and potentially ad-based monetization to grow beyond subscriptions.
  2. Major media outlets are integrating prediction markets and betting-style odds into coverage, which risks turning news consumption into gambling and creating ethical and public-harm concerns.
  3. The industry is experimenting with varied distribution and revenue strategies — from BBC making shows for YouTube and creators landing streamer deals to newsletters building ad networks — as publishers try to stabilize and find new growth paths.

Is it time for YouTube to invest in prestige TV?

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter • 124 implied HN points • 11 Feb 26
đź’Ľ Business Advertising
  1. YouTube should revive big-budget Originals now that it’s the top TV platform, because prestige shows can win premium advertisers and help keep top creators from fleeing to higher-paying rivals.
  2. The creator economy is consolidating — the biggest creators dominate, so newcomers need to niche down and build small, paid communities to succeed, as shown by huge Twitch subscription numbers and athlete creators.
  3. Media companies are reshaping strategies: Netflix is tightening and optimizing content spend, legacy players are buying into podcasts and subscription tools, and social-native firms are scaling massive audiences by mastering platform virality.

Why Ads on ChatGPT Are More Terrifying Than You Think

The Algorithmic Bridge • 1104 implied HN points • 02 Dec 25
đź•ą Technology Advertising
  1. Ads in ChatGPT will change how it gives information, making it less about what the user needs and more about what advertisers want.
  2. The shift to ads means OpenAI's focus will be on making money from advertisers instead of helping users, which could hurt the user experience.
  3. Blending ads into AI responses could lead to more misinformation, as users won't easily recognize when they are being marketed to.

Brands kill culture, feed the zeitgeist, and neglect tradition.

The Social Juice • 102 implied HN points • 21 Feb 26
đź’Ľ Business Advertising
  1. Brand building is steady work that hasn't gone away. Chasing every trend or declaring old formats dead wastes energy and erodes long-term value.
  2. Culture belongs to no one and moves with young people, so brands can't capture it outright. The smart play is to find a clear role, support creators, and earn a place in that culture over time.
  3. Moments and momentum both matter: use smart distribution, honest slice-of-life creative, and long-term advertising to build trust instead of squeezing viral creators for immediate attention. Over-collaborating or treating creators like disposable assets dilutes both the creator's and the brand's meaning.

Ads Are Coming to AI and None of Us Are Ready

Big Technology • 5379 implied HN points • 30 May 25
đź’Ľ Business Advertising
  1. Generative AI advertising has huge potential but also carries big risks. It could change how brands interact with consumers and what they promise.
  2. Advertising needs to be transparent and beneficial for users to keep their trust. If done poorly, it can ruin the user experience on platforms.
  3. Quality content and trusted publishers are vital for generative AI. They should be valued more to ensure that AI systems provide accurate and relevant information.
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A Hug In A Bottle?

The Unpublishable • 7999 implied HN points • 14 Feb 23
🪞 Fashion & Beauty Advertising
  1. Marketing in the beauty industry can sell the idea of a 'hug in a bottle,' focusing on consumerized experiences.
  2. Beauty advertisements can influence our perception of self-care and impact how we view physical manipulation for spiritual fulfillment.
  3. Industrialized beauty norms may contribute to feelings of disconnection, loneliness, and low self-esteem.

How the Mad Men Lost the Plot Again

The Ruffian • 676 implied HN points • 23 Dec 25
đź’Ľ Business Advertising
  1. Big, emotional mass advertising — like consistent TV campaigns that build fame — still drives long‑term growth because brands rely on millions of light buyers remembering them at the point of purchase.
  2. Chasing digital targeting, engagement and instant metrics can seem efficient but often fails to grow brands, since most buyers don’t meaningfully engage online and digital channels suffer fraud and short‑term thinking.
  3. The industry lost focus by prioritising tech and short‑term measurables over creative consistency; firms should keep brand‑building as their core strength and use technology as a supporting tool, not a replacement.

China’s Spring Festival AI war

Pekingnology • 86 implied HN points • 26 Feb 26
đź•ą Technology Advertising
  1. Big tech turned the Lunar New Year into a mass‑market AI onboarding event, using red envelopes, gala tie‑ins, and shopping coupons to drive huge engagement and hundreds of millions of active chatbot users.
  2. Each company used a different playbook: Tencent socialized AI into group chats, ByteDance embedded AI into national broadcasts and agent workflows, Alibaba linked chatbots directly to e‑commerce transactions, and Baidu grafted its assistant onto search.
  3. The promotions produced massive short‑term growth but raised sustainability, operational, and legal questions — it’s unclear whether usage will stick once subsidies stop, and the rush exposed throttling and copyright risks.

Late night TV has never been more popular

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter • 199 implied HN points • 28 Jan 26
đź’Ľ Business Advertising
  1. Late-night TV is losing viewers on traditional TV but its clips are going mega-viral online, creating huge audiences that networks still haven’t properly monetized.
  2. TikTok’s inconsistent moderation and algorithm shifts are pushing news creators off the platform, so many are prioritizing moving followers to email lists they control.
  3. Media business models are shifting: publishers are leaning on reader revenue, newsletter sponsorships, creator partnerships, and low-cost content strategies to replace declining ad income.

Why Sydney Sweeney’s Body Is Causing a Total Meltdown

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 3463 implied HN points • 30 Jul 25
🎭️ Culture Advertising
  1. Sydney Sweeney's recent ad campaign has sparked a lot of controversy over its wording and imagery. Some people feel it carries unsettling implications about race.
  2. Critics, including major media outlets, have labeled the ad as insensitive and suggestive of a cultural shift towards promoting a certain ideal of beauty.
  3. On the flip side, some people from the right are defending Sweeney, claiming this backlash reflects a larger issue with 'woke' culture in advertising.

Are VCs investing in media companies again?

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter • 349 implied HN points • 09 Jan 26
đź’Ľ Business Advertising
  1. VCs are still funding media startups, but high valuations for ad‑dependent outlets are hard to justify because ad models rarely scale the way investors expect.
  2. Google stumbled early in chatbots but leveraged its massive reach and deep pockets to catch up and regain an edge over OpenAI.
  3. Spotify is paying creators more than YouTube for video podcasts in some markets and is aggressively competing on video, though CPM claims can be misleading about total revenue.

Free content almost always beats paid

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter • 424 implied HN points • 31 Dec 25
đź’Ľ Business Advertising
  1. Free, ad-supported and shortform platforms are winning attention more than paid subscription services, so audiences are increasingly choosing free over paid content.
  2. A surge of low-effort, AI-generated videos is soaking up huge amounts of viewer time and ad revenue, making it harder for higher-quality creators to get noticed.
  3. Creators and publishers are diversifying how they make money — from audiobooks and microdramas to community memberships, sponsorships, and merchandise — and must adapt or partner to capture revenue.

This company wants to fix the broken economics of standup comedy

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter • 174 implied HN points • 28 Jan 26
đź’Ľ Business Advertising
  1. Comedians can get huge viral reach but still struggle to make money because algorithms throttle who actually sees their posts and it's hard to notify local fans when a comic is touring.
  2. Punchup is building tools so comedians can own their audiences, sell tickets directly, and rely less on platform algorithms to monetize shows.
  3. The founders' experience running ads and data products at Meta, plus a longtime passion for comedy, shaped Punchup's mission to repair the fragile economics of standup.

Is Social Media the New Big Tobacco?

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 533 implied HN points • 22 Dec 25
đź’Ľ Business Advertising
  1. Social media companies are accused of exploiting children’s attention for profit and helping fuel a youth mental health crisis.
  2. Internal documents reportedly show platforms knew their apps caused addictive, compulsive use that harmed kids’ attention, sleep, and worsened depression and anxiety.
  3. Recommendation algorithms can trap users in harmful content silos and carry a high risk of exposing people to suicide and self‑harm material.

The YouTube "middle class" does exist

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter • 199 implied HN points • 22 Jan 26
đź’Ľ Business Advertising
  1. YouTube and social-first channels can support a real middle class of creators. Big audiences and advertisers are increasingly treating YouTube like TV, which makes sustainable revenue more possible.
  2. Newsletters still make money but require active strategies like tracking sponsors and using creative referral partnerships to grow. If you sell your newsletter, try to keep ownership or negotiate a buyback option.
  3. Media companies are diversifying with new products and business moves—standalone apps, licensing viral clips, and acquisitions—to reach audiences and create new revenue streams.

Media outlets outsourced all their audience engagement to the tech platforms

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter • 174 implied HN points • 23 Jan 26
đź“° News Advertising
  1. Many news outlets gave up on their own comment sections and pushed engagement onto big tech, which cost them direct relationships and email addresses. Rebuilding on-site community with basic moderation can boost subscriptions and ad revenue.
  2. Substack launching a TV app shows platforms chasing the streaming space, but connected-TV is crowded and most creators’ video isn’t yet polished for that environment. Focusing on web and mobile growth first would likely pay off more.
  3. A large share of top news sites are blocking AI training crawlers, and there’s little downside to doing so aside from Google. Blocking bots helps prevent scraping and gives publishers leverage to negotiate licensing deals.

Why legacy news outlets are embracing Substack

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter • 449 implied HN points • 17 Dec 25
đź“° News Advertising
  1. Traditional news outlets are increasingly using Substack as a distribution platform to reach broader audiences and collect email addresses they can own and monetize. It functions like a social network and a direct-marketing channel that publishers can use for sponsorships and subscriptions.
  2. The user experience — the container, interface, and product — matters as much as the journalism itself, and publishers lost attention when platforms offered easier, cleaner ways to consume content. Improving UX and distribution is now central to rebuilding audience and revenue.
  3. AI is severely disrupting the copywriting industry, with many companies replacing or downgrading writers in favor of AI-generated drafts that humans only edit. That shift is drying up freelance work and forcing the industry to rethink roles and monetization.

This Week in Marketing: The New Age of Influencers vs. AI’s Irish Exit from Ads.

The Social Juice • 63 implied HN points • 22 Feb 26
đź’Ľ Business Advertising
  1. Creator marketing is shifting — traditional influencers are losing ground while platforms and brands push subscriptions, gifting programs, and creator-first monetization. Brands will need better tracking and UGC management to prove real impact.
  2. AI is upending advertising and trust as companies struggle with moderation and harmful or hallucinated content; some firms are even dropping ads to protect credibility. Regulators and platforms are racing to limit or control AI-generated content and its monetization.
  3. The platform and ad ecosystem is being reshaped by major tech moves — Meta, Google, TikTok and others are rolling out new AI tools, ad products, and policy changes that shift attention and ad dollars. Marketers must adapt to new formats, measurement tools, and growing regulatory scrutiny.

When investing $200 million in a media company is actually worth it

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter • 199 implied HN points • 15 Jan 26
đź’Ľ Business Advertising
  1. Big checks into creator-led companies can make sense when the creator has massive reach and builds real non-media businesses like products and merch.
  2. Merging or bundling streaming services can create a viable challenger to Netflix, since some services (like Disney+) haven’t produced enough regular, broad-appeal originals to keep viewers coming back.
  3. Media companies are shifting toward sponsorships, events, newsletter ad strategies, and creator partnerships—leaning on branded experiences and owned products rather than trying to match big tech ad scale.

Legacy publishers embrace the Creator Economy

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter • 249 implied HN points • 07 Jan 26
đź’Ľ Business Advertising
  1. Big publishers are building creator networks and paying individual creators to make content on their channels, acknowledging that individual personalities now hold more audience power than brands alone.
  2. Creators are choosing platforms based on audience ownership and monetization control, with some moving platforms over fears of lock‑in even though email lists are generally portable.
  3. Newsletter and creator monetization is shifting: sponsorship tracking is becoming important as ad formats fragment, market forces like GLP‑1 drugs are changing affiliate and brand-deal dynamics, and some partisan outlets are losing traffic as audiences splinter.

Is Black Friday a Spell?

Altered States of Monetary Consciousness • 609 implied HN points • 25 Nov 25
🎭️ Culture Advertising
  1. What began as an outside description was turned into a marketing command: companies named and promoted Black Friday until people treated it as something they had to take part in.
  2. Words and slogans can make things real — marketers use speech acts and interpellation to address people as if the shopping event already exists, which pulls people into the behavior.
  3. Many celebrations have been hollowed out into occasions that demand buying, and Black Friday is the clearest example of a festival whose only meaning is commerce.

The most exciting media companies have non-media business models

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter • 199 implied HN points • 14 Jan 26
đź’Ľ Business Advertising
  1. The most successful modern media companies build non-media businesses — like ecommerce, SaaS, or product lines — so audience attention turns into direct revenue. Those commerce arms often outperform ads and subscriptions.
  2. Live events and conferences are a lucrative revenue channel because they generate fast, high-margin income and attract influential audiences. But events carry high overhead, are limited by venue capacity, and are hard to scale indefinitely.
  3. Creators and publishers need diversified monetization — sponsorships, paid newsletters, AI tools, branded content, and partnerships — plus a focused, often affluent audience and active sales effort to make those models pay. Relying on a single revenue stream or on platform-driven distribution leaves businesses exposed.

This Week in Marketing: Instagram Alerts, QuitGPT, Paramount-WBD deal, and Snap Awards

The Social Juice • 34 implied HN points • 01 Mar 26
đź’Ľ Business Advertising
  1. Big social platforms are under pressure to protect kids and enforce age checks, leading to new safety features, fines, and delayed verification rollouts.
  2. AI is reshaping content, ads, and search at speed, but it’s also provoking user backlash, legal fights, and growing regulatory scrutiny.
  3. The creator economy and media landscape are shifting: user-generated content and creator tools are rising while big mergers and advertiser moves reshape where brands spend.

How a local newsletter company is leveraging AI to cover hundreds of counties across the US

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter • 399 implied HN points • 12 Dec 25
đź’Ľ Business Advertising
  1. 6AM City uses AI to launch newsletters in smaller cities without hiring editors right away. This approach helps them start at low cost and grow until they can add human editors later.
  2. Their newsletters focus on local news and community events, using a friendly tone and avoiding divisive topics. This strategy helps attract advertisers and maintain a loyal subscriber base.
  3. Instead of just relying on traditional reporting, 6AM City uses technology to gather and compress information from local sources. This allows them to produce accurate content quickly while keeping costs down.

What I learned in year three of Platformer

Platformer • 4461 implied HN points • 19 Sep 23
đź’Ľ Business Advertising
  1. Platformer has experienced significant growth in subscribers over the past year, thanks to various factors like talented staff, impactful stories, and the Substack recommendations engine.
  2. The broader tech media ecosystem is facing challenges with layoffs and diminishing vitality, prompting journalists to consider the challenges and opportunities of transitioning to independent journalism.
  3. Platformer's plans for the future include expanding the team with new hires, experimenting with newsletter ads, and potentially supporting independent journalism through investments or grants.

OpenAI's Ad Business Is Misunderstood

Enterprise AI Trends • 189 implied HN points • 17 Jan 26
đź•ą Technology Advertising
  1. Negative sentiment is causing investors to underprice OpenAI’s ad opportunity, treating ads as a sign of desperation instead of a strategic revenue hedge.
  2. OpenAI created a new ad format—sponsored products shown alongside answers—that could reshape direct-response advertising and drive big e-commerce revenue.
  3. The rollout is limited and privacy-forward (Free and Go in the U.S., paid tiers ad-free, ads don’t change answers), so ads are more likely to help OpenAI win market share from incumbents than to alienate users.

Elon Musk, Innovator

Where's Your Ed At • 21662 implied HN points • 09 Oct 23
đź•ą Technology Advertising
  1. Companies fail when they lack awareness of market needs and resist changing with the times.
  2. Elon Musk's decisions with Twitter are making the platform less reliable and damaging its value.
  3. Musk's incompetent management of Twitter, high debt, and declining user trust may lead to significant financial challenges.

“The Daily” runs a greenwashing BP ad

HEATED • 2083 implied HN points • 06 Feb 24
đź“° News Advertising
  1. The Daily aired a greenwashing BP ad despite promising to end fossil fuel sponsorships
  2. BP broke its promise to stop corporate reputation ads by running climate credentials ad
  3. BP has a history of climate misinformation and greenwashing, benefiting from ads in outlets like The Daily

OnlyFans billboards are taking over

Taylor Lorenz's Newsletter • 2926 implied HN points • 31 May 25
🎭️ Culture Advertising
  1. OnlyFans is becoming more popular, with millions of creators joining the platform each year. This increase is leading to more billboards advertising these creators.
  2. Billboards are a smart way for OnlyFans stars to get noticed because they bypass strict online advertising rules for adult content. They can reach a wide audience without being ignored.
  3. Creators have seen big boosts in subscribers from their billboards, showing that this advertising method can really work in gaining attention and revenue.

Literal prostitutes don’t get to define masculinity

Sex and the State • 110 implied HN points • 28 Jan 26
🎭️ Culture Advertising
  1. Sex workers often provide emotional labor that bolsters men's sense of masculinity, selling feelings like validation and performance more than just physical sex.
  2. Advertising and many services work by selling emotional experiences or identities (for example, rebellion or nostalgia) rather than just product features.
  3. Many men misidentify why they seek paid sex because masculinity discourages admitting vulnerability, so sex workers can uniquely perceive and meet those hidden needs.

The successful YouTube channels hiding in plain sight

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter • 299 implied HN points • 19 Dec 25
đź’Ľ Business Advertising
  1. White-noise and other long-play YouTube videos can earn outsized revenue through YouTube Premium because they accumulate huge watch time, giving them much higher CPMs than typical videos.
  2. Host-read podcast ads perform better in audio-only environments than on YouTube video, so advertisers should ask for audio vs. video impression breakdowns and value audio impressions more highly.
  3. Platforms are simultaneously cracking down on deceptive AI content and rolling out more aggressive ad features and paywalls, so creators and brands must track changing policies and sponsorship opportunities to adapt monetization strategies.

The Facebook scam economy

Taylor Lorenz's Newsletter • 2776 implied HN points • 16 May 25
đź•ą Technology Advertising
  1. Meta platforms, like Facebook and Instagram, are dealing with a huge problem of scams, with many advertisers promoting them. This is partly due to the rise of cryptocurrency and AI.
  2. Despite employees reporting these scams, Meta has been slow to act because they prioritize ad revenue over user safety. They allow scammers to continue operating for too long before taking action.
  3. Scams on Facebook are affecting vulnerable people, including workers in Southeast Asia who are often trapped in abusive conditions. This brings up serious concerns about the ethics of the platform's operations.

Vote for the December 2025 + Post Topic

Computer Ads from the Past • 256 implied HN points • 24 Dec 25
đź•ą Technology Advertising
  1. Readers are invited to vote on the December 2025 + post topic from several options.
  2. The choices are magazine images and ads spanning decades (1977, 1986, 1992, 1995), showing a wide range of retro computing products.
  3. The post will be published before the end of the year, supporters are thanked, and readers can claim the free post or subscribe to access paid content.

Golden Era of Airbrush Ads

Snaxshot • 779 implied HN points • 17 May 24
🎨 Art & Illustration Advertising
  1. Airbrush advertising had a golden era but declined in popularity in the 1950s before resurging in the 1980s.
  2. Nostalgia for previous eras, like the 1980s airbrush art style, flourishes in a world overwhelmed by digitalization.
  3. Brands are leveraging artists to create surreal advertising, blending the past and present to captivate audiences.

I'm tracking which brands are sponsoring newsletters

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter • 274 implied HN points • 10 Dec 25
đź’Ľ Business Advertising
  1. Tracking newsletter sponsorships can be tricky due to many brands and no standard ad units. Some suggest starting with brands already advertising in other newsletters.
  2. Forbes is cutting back on its contributing writers to focus on a more financially sound model as they face pressures from declining traffic and revenue.
  3. More independent media outlets may start experimenting with print media to engage fans, as it offers a tangible experience away from online platforms.

The media is pivoting to video again

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter • 299 implied HN points • 05 Dec 25
đź’Ľ Business Advertising
  1. Media companies are starting to use vertical video on their websites to compete with popular platforms like TikTok. This strategy might not work because they lack the powerful algorithms that keep users engaged.
  2. Many publishers are launching cooking apps to retain audience control as traffic shifts to big tech platforms. Dedicated apps can help convert casual users into loyal content consumers.
  3. Print books are still very popular despite the rise of ebooks and audiobooks. Many readers enjoy the physical experience of reading a print book, which keeps print formats thriving.

Tim Cook’s Apple Has Been Meta’s Best Friend. Completely By Accident.

Big Technology • 10007 implied HN points • 19 Jan 24
đź•ą Technology Advertising
  1. Apple's Tim Cook unintentionally became a key asset for Meta through various business moves.
  2. Apple's Vision Pro launch helped boost Meta's mixed reality efforts by establishing it as a category.
  3. Apple's ad tracking restrictions unintentionally harmed Meta's competitors, giving Meta an advantage in the advertising space.

Not all media outlets are worried about declining Google traffic

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter • 324 implied HN points • 19 Nov 25
đź’Ľ Business Advertising
  1. Many new media startups are doing well without depending on Google for traffic. They focus more on building strong connections with their audience.
  2. The Economist is seen as a luxury brand like Ferrari because it maintains high standards and limits supply, making it more valuable to its subscribers.
  3. Vox is teaming up with Patreon to create exclusive content, showing that media companies are finding new ways to attract paying audiences.

This Week in Marketing: TikTok is local, Instagram is loco, Discord is locked, and AI is labor

The Social Juice • 39 implied HN points • 15 Feb 26
đź’Ľ Business Advertising
  1. Social platforms are racing to add new features and revenue streams — think TikTok’s local feed and Shop, X and LinkedIn subscriptions, and Meta/YouTube ad and AI tools driving creator commerce.
  2. Those product pushes are colliding with privacy, safety and legal headaches — Discord’s age checks sparked backlash, Instagram faced scrutiny over youth harm, and Google and Meta are under regulatory and antitrust pressure.
  3. AI is booming in investment and productization, but it’s also intensifying work and creating real risks — studies, botched real‑world uses, fake experts and automation worries show the tradeoffs as companies rush to monetize AI.