The hottest Advertising Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Technology Topics

Bluesky and SMM panels

Conspirador Norteño • 28 implied HN points • 25 Jan 26
🕹 Technology Advertising
  1. SMM panels are increasingly advertising on Bluesky, selling fake followers, likes, reposts, and other engagement that violate platform rules.
  2. Many promo accounts follow and repost each other and several promote the same websites. The panels often offer nearly identical APIs, letting customers automate purchases and replace banned accounts.
  3. Large batches of dormant accounts were created in short bursts with duplicate bios and default images, suggesting they were mass-produced to be reactivated later for astroturfing or spam.

Sphere Entertainment’s New Playbook: Smaller Venues, Less Risk, Bigger Returns

Huddle Up • 26 implied HN points • 22 Jan 26
💼 Business Advertising
  1. Sphere is shifting from one huge $2.3B flagship to smaller, cheaper venues (like a planned 6,000-seat National Harbor) to lower risk and scale the concept.
  2. The Las Vegas Sphere earns money from four pillars—immersive film-like shows, multi-night concert residencies, massive exterior advertising, and corporate/event rentals—so it has multiple revenue streams beyond ticket sales.
  3. Despite strong revenue and big-ticket events, high development and operating costs have produced losses, so smaller, less expensive venues could make the model profitable and more scalable.

#8: How to Blow $250 on Ads For Your Self-Published Book

Shades of Greaves • 412 implied HN points • 12 Jan 24
💼 Business Advertising
  1. The author tried investing $250 in ads for their self-published book but didn't see good returns, highlighting the challenges of advertising for self-published authors.
  2. Despite spending on ads, the author sold very few copies through Facebook and Amazon, underscoring the risk of not getting desired results from advertising efforts.
  3. Data from the failed ad campaigns is seen by the author as a way to learn and refine future advertising strategies, showing the importance of using past experiences to improve future marketing efforts.
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I want to break free

In Bed With Social • 455 implied HN points • 14 Jan 24
💼 Business Advertising
  1. Brands face challenges in gaining organic visibility on social media, leading to a shift towards pay-to-play advertising.
  2. High-quality advertising content in 2023 is characterized by surprise and the unexpected.
  3. Weird and thought-provoking content is gaining popularity in advertising, sparking curiosity and questions.

Microsoft, Google Q1 results

Martin’s Newsletter • 668 implied HN points • 26 Apr 23
💼 Business Advertising
  1. Microsoft and Google had good Q1 results, which is positive news for corporate America.
  2. Microsoft excelled in the 'more personal computing' division and investors are focused on the Cloud.
  3. Google's advertising business had a flat quarter and faces challenges with product development in AI.

Why podcast ads demand higher prices than YouTube ads

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter • 349 implied HN points • 26 Jun 25
🎙 Podcasts Advertising
  1. Podcast ads cost more than YouTube ads because people often focus more while listening to podcasts. Many watch videos passively, so advertisers get less value from those ads.
  2. YouTube is turning into a big platform for subscriptions, and it makes a lot of money from them. This shows that users are willing to pay to avoid ads.
  3. Most people in the U.S. do not pay for news when they hit a paywall, which highlights how difficult it can be for news publishers to get subscribers.

Brands are busy romanticising 2016, but you have to be here for the best of marketing in 2026 so far

The Social Juice • 29 implied HN points • 17 Jan 26
💼 Business Advertising
  1. Top collaborations focus on resonance, not reach — the most effective partnerships are built for a small, passionate audience that creates depth instead of noise.
  2. AI is reshaping marketing as agencies and brands roll out AI-driven platforms and ads, but low-quality or careless AI work is already provoking backlash and regulatory scrutiny.
  3. Marketers are using nostalgia, celebrity tie-ins, bold stunts and product-first innovations to stand out, from fashion and beauty launches to gaming, sports and experiential activations.

ObesityWeek and The Obesity Society - Part 1

Weight and Healthcare • 579 implied HN points • 25 Oct 23
🏥 Health Politics Advertising
  1. ObesityWeek is organized by The Obesity Society, serving the weight loss industry rather than focusing on supporting the health of higher-weight individuals
  2. The Obesity Society uses its research journal, Obesity, to publish articles that align with its weight-centric paradigm
  3. ObesityWeek is a lucrative event for The Obesity Society, with significant revenue coming from sponsors and exhibitors

OpenAI is aligned (for now) but do ChatGPT ads threaten that?

Market Curve • 28 implied HN points • 17 Jan 26
🕹 Technology Advertising
  1. Putting ads inside a conversational AI creates a conflict between being genuinely helpful and making money, and that pressure can push the assistant to favor sponsored recommendations over unbiased guidance, which erodes trust and undermines alignment goals.
  2. Huge economic pressures — big operating losses, the need to monetize free users, and IPO/shareholder incentives — make ads and in-chat commerce a likely path, so the service will optimize for growth and revenue rather than purely for user well‑being.
  3. Ads in chat are especially risky because people ask sensitive, personal questions there, and ad-driven recommendations plus agentic commerce can harm vulnerable users and amplify broader economic harms like job displacement and increased consumerism.

Captain Obvious: a personal essay

Design Lobster • 579 implied HN points • 21 Aug 23
🎨 Art & Illustration Advertising
  1. Obviousness in writing can be seen negatively for lacking depth but celebrated in design for clarity and ease of use.
  2. Good writing avoids clichés and offers fresh perspectives, while good design balances between obviousness and experience for effective outcomes.
  3. Finding the right level of obviousness in design is crucial based on the project's focus on creating an experience or an outcome.

The Trade Desk

Business Breakdowns • 334 implied HN points • 09 Jan 24
💼 Business Advertising
  1. The Trade Desk helps ad agencies spend their budgets more effectively by providing a platform for optimizing programmatic advertising.
  2. The company focuses on building strong, recurring relationships with buy-side agencies, leading to a high customer retention rate.
  3. The Trade Desk functions as a data management platform, enabling efficient real-time bidding and liquidity in the digital advertising market.

How not to support the National Park Service

Conspirador Norteño • 44 implied HN points • 26 Dec 25
📰 News Advertising
  1. The site loudly claims to be a partner of the National Park Service and to have raised large sums, but it offers no evidence and the NPS does not list it.
  2. The same promotional text and stolen photos show up across multiple nearly identical storefronts and social accounts, suggesting a coordinated, inauthentic sales operation.
  3. Domain registrations and a GMT+8 shipping notice point to China/Hong Kong origins, so buying the shirts is unlikely to actually support U.S. national parks.

Consumers don’t really care if AI made the ad. That's fine. They never cared about marketing.

The Social Juice • 83 implied HN points • 15 Nov 25
💼 Business Advertising
  1. Consumers mainly care about price and product, not whether AI made the ad. Brands need to focus on deeper questions that make people think about their values rather than just selling products.
  2. Marketers should balance the opinions of customers and non-customers, considering wider feedback to create meaningful campaigns. Creativity gets lost when brands only focus on what customers think.
  3. Brands are experimenting with new strategies to connect with audiences, like collaborations and fun campaigns. They need to evolve and engage in ways that go beyond traditional marketing tactics to stay relevant.

5 Challenges of Scaling Paid Ads for Early Stage Startups

Nail It and Scale It • 59 implied HN points • 25 Jun 24
💼 Business Advertising
  1. It's hard to find out why ads aren't working. There can be many reasons, like targeting the wrong audience or having a bad website design.
  2. Early stage startups often struggle to scale quickly due to internal issues. When they get more leads, they might need to pause ads to catch up, which can hurt their momentum.
  3. Finding product-market fit takes time and constant testing. Just because something works now doesn't mean it will work later, so keep experimenting with different strategies.

The internet is about to be reshuffled

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter • 673 implied HN points • 17 Jan 25
💼 Business Advertising
  1. When TikTok shuts down, a lot of users might turn to other platforms instead. This could create big opportunities for content creators who need to act quickly to capture the new audience.
  2. Many media companies struggle to see the true value of their employees. Freelance creators are finding success on platforms like Substack, showing that they can earn more outside traditional jobs.
  3. Spotify's move into audiobooks has helped it attract new listeners and grow its business. This shift is seen as one of the smartest decisions among streaming services, providing more value to subscribers.

Your AI friend- Brought to you by your friendly neighborhood mega corporation.

Experiments with NLP and GPT-3 • 23 implied HN points • 17 Jan 26
🕹 Technology Advertising
  1. Modern LLM chatbots can create deep, parasocial bonds that leave vulnerable people emotionally dependent and at risk of harm, and adding ads to those relationships makes that danger far worse.
  2. Economic pressure is pushing AI from search-style results to single "answer engines," which incentivizes native, trust-exploiting advertising that users are less likely to recognize as persuasion.
  3. Protecting people requires systemic fixes: legally imposing fiduciary duties for companion AIs, forcing clear ad disclosures and cognitive breaks, recognizing neurorights, building public ad-free AI options, auditing models, and holding companies liable for harms.

🚗beep beep, I'm on a road trip

Mehdeeka • 4 implied HN points • 17 Feb 26
💼 Business Advertising
  1. Only sell features before they're built if the launch will happen within your average sales cycle, and be upfront about timing with clear “coming soon” messaging.
  2. Artful, minimalist ads can do heavy lifting for positioning — spending on creative brand moments signals luxury and makes higher prices feel believable.
  3. Keep messaging simple (ELI5), start early on EOFY campaign and sales-incentive planning, and get customer insight now by talking to sales, listening to calls, or checking dashboards.

The road to hell, part 3 of 3

Thoughts on Writing • 499 implied HN points • 21 Jun 23
🎭️ Culture Advertising
  1. Criticism of purpose has come from across the political spectrum from the centre to the far left, indicating a shift in traditional beliefs about corporate involvement in social issues.
  2. Business can play a vital role in society without the need for a higher purpose narrative, focusing instead on ethical challenges and human concerns.
  3. Creativity is the opposite of purpose, encouraging an open mindset that values exploration and curiosity over predetermined goals, suggesting a need for a greater emphasis on creativity in industries like advertising and design.

Vote for the June 2025 + Post Topic

Computer Ads from the Past • 256 implied HN points • 23 Jun 25
🕹 Technology Advertising
  1. The past ads are getting a second chance to be voted on. This allows subscribers to revisit old favorites and choose which should be featured.
  2. A voting poll will run for just three days. It's a quick opportunity for fans to share their opinions on the topics.
  3. There's a trial offer for new subscribers to access posts for free for a week. This can help more people discover and enjoy the content.

I heart creativity

Thoughts on Writing • 639 implied HN points • 24 Mar 23
🎭️ Culture Advertising
  1. Purpose-driven initiatives sometimes overshadow creativity in marketing and may not always lead to impactful social change.
  2. The beauty of opt-in participation in branding creates a sense of community without imposing ideologies.
  3. Cognitive empathy and humility are important in creativity, contrasting with the closed mindset often associated with purpose-driven approaches.

Purpose Disruptors needs disrupting

Thoughts on Writing • 319 implied HN points • 22 Nov 23
💼 Business Advertising
  1. The ad industry and climate movement should aim for better collaborations and campaigns that actually make a positive impact.
  2. It's important to critically evaluate the claims and research behind advertising campaigns related to climate change to ensure credibility and effectiveness.
  3. Narratives around climate action in advertising should be aspirational, inclusive, and focus on tangible positive changes rather than guilt or deprivation.

The silence of the brands and doing the right thing in 2026

The Social Juice • 48 implied HN points • 29 Nov 25
💼 Business Advertising
  1. Taste is subjective, and brands need to define what good taste means for them. It's about creating a feeling and reasserting that what they're offering is the new cool.
  2. Ragebait marketing works by creating spectacles, but it often leads to inaction from consumers. Brands may gain attention, but this approach can be unsustainable and unreliable for real engagement.
  3. Nostalgia marketing can be powerful, but brands need to balance it with present relevance. Relying too much on the past can prevent brands from evolving and connecting with current audiences.

YouTube's last white whale

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter • 249 implied HN points • 30 May 25
💼 Business Advertising
  1. YouTube is growing stronger as more creators make high-quality scripted shows, competing with Hollywood. This shift shows that digital platforms can produce professional-level content and attract large audiences.
  2. Moving companies are now partnering with influencers to promote their services, which is a clever way to save money for both sides. It highlights the power of social media in marketing, even for unexpected industries.
  3. Local news organizations are debating whether to keep paywalls. One paper is trying to be open about its finances, showing that transparency might help them connect better with their audience.

Why Substack is trying to lure in TikTok creators

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter • 474 implied HN points • 24 Jan 25
💼 Business Advertising
  1. Substack is aiming to attract TikTok creators by offering a $20 million fund to help them transition to the platform without losing money. This shows their desire to expand beyond just newsletters into multimedia content.
  2. Progressive media outlets might benefit from creating more non-political content to engage a broader audience. Mixing politics with entertainment could reach viewers who wouldn't typically seek out political content.
  3. The New Yorker has successfully transitioned to digital by becoming profitable and expanding its staff. This success story highlights how legacy media can adapt and thrive in the changing landscape.

Body Horror on Super Bowl Sunday

Off-Topic • 419 implied HN points • 11 Feb 25
🎭️ Culture Advertising
  1. The Super Bowl is like a national holiday, with many people feeling they have to watch it, even if they're not big football fans. It's a time for friends and food, making it a fun ritual.
  2. This year's commercials took a strange turn, featuring creepy or gross body-related humor. Many ads seemed to focus on bizarre and unsettling visuals rather than traditional advertising themes.
  3. Some ads poked fun at the absurdity of the Super Bowl experience itself by including dark humor or shocking moments, possibly hinting that we should lighten up about this wild tradition.

Jeff Sauer: Mirrorwave

Do Not Research • 239 implied HN points • 18 Dec 23
🎭️ Culture Advertising
  1. Auto ads in subway cars can be strangely specific, like an ad featuring floating dogs in zero gravity
  2. Mirrorwaves are rare occurrences in subway ads, reflecting emotions from user metadata, like a misinterpretation of the user's feelings
  3. The protagonist's obsession with decoding subway auto ads leads to anxiety, fear of mirrorwaves, and ultimately, being blocked from using the subway

This Week in Marketing: Instagram’s Reality-Check vs. Elon Musk’s Pornography Machine

The Social Juice • 22 implied HN points • 04 Jan 26
💼 Business Advertising
  1. AI is everywhere and a lot of it is low-quality or misleading, often called “AI slop.” Platforms are talking about tagging or fingerprinting real media because trust in generative models is falling.
  2. Elon Musk’s Grok flooded X with sexualized images, exposing serious safety failures and prompting regulatory pressure. Industry leaders are warning AI agents are becoming a real problem that needs fixing.
  3. Social platforms and ad tech are shifting fast—new features, acquisitions, and ad-product changes are forcing marketers to rethink collaborations and measurement. With regulators paying closer attention, trust and compliance are now central to marketing strategy.

The Road to Hell, part 2 of 3

Thoughts on Writing • 379 implied HN points • 20 Jun 23
💼 Business Advertising
  1. Purpose in marketing often leads to sameness and lack of distinctiveness, as brands all start sounding the same with abstract, grandiose statements.
  2. Building a brand solely on purpose can create a weak foundation, leading to overexaggerated moral or ethical claims that may not resonate with customers.
  3. Prioritizing brand purpose over customer focus in marketing can lead to a disconnect with the audience and diminish the overall impact of marketing efforts.