Paid Media News & Opinion #149

Meta users continue to grow in Q3 2025

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> What’s happening

Meta’s latest performance update from it’s Q3 2025 Earnings Report shows a rise in users of 60M people across its apps. This brings the total to a 3.54B worldwide.

The tech giant is gaining new users for its core Facebook and Instagram apps in developing regions across the world, while Threads is growing across all countries.

In the same report, advertising revenue totals in Q3 are the largest ever at $50,082M, 26% higher year-on-year and higher than Q4 last year.

> Why we care

For global reach, Meta’s family of apps across Facebook, Instagram and others remain the largest and more relevant for advertisers than ever. Apps like Threads and Meta’s ad network of 3rd party apps/websites increase reach further and offer advertisers access to a super broad, international market.

Despite large saturation and some backlash with social media recently – N.B. the rise of AI and Australia’s upcoming social media ban for under-16s – Meta continues to grow in both active users and advertising revenue.

Google enhances Demand Gen reporting with Gmail and Discover breakdown

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> What’s happening

Google Ads has rolled out a reporting update for Demand Gen campaigns. The “Where ads showed” placement report, which allows advertisers to understand how their campaigns perform across different Google placement types, now separately lists Gmail and Discover placements. Previously, both of these traffic sources were grouped together under the generic “Other” category, making it difficult to distinguish performance between them.

With this change, advertisers can now:

• See Gmail and Discover traffic as distinct line items in placement reports.

• Analyse performance independently across these two unique placements.

• Better attribute conversions, impressions, and engagement to the right placements.

The “Other” category will still remain, but it will now only include:

• YouTube channels that don’t meet Google’s minimum reporting thresholds.

• Placements with low impression or interaction volume that aren’t individually disclosed.

> Why we care

Demand Gen campaigns are designed to inspire discovery and drive engagement across Google’s most visual channels: YouTube, Gmail, and Discover. With this update it becomes even easier to understand which placements are driving performance.

By separating Gmail and Discover data, advertisers can now:

• Identify which environment performs best for specific audiences or creative assets.

• Adjust targeting, bidding, and creative strategies based on placement-level trends.

• Optimise budgets more effectively, ensuring spend goes toward the highest-performing placements.

This update aligns with a broader trend, with Google increasing transparency and advertiser confidence in automated, multi-channel campaign types like Demand Gen and Performance Max. As automation expands, more granular reporting becomes essential for maintaining control and visibility, ensuring advertisers can still see where their ads run and how each placement contributes to overall performance.

Google adds bid caps and floors to Max Conversion Value bidding

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> What’s happening

Google Ads has introduced a new level of control to Smart Bidding, specifically for advertisers using Maximize Conversion Value with Target ROAS (tROAS).

For the first time, advertisers can now set:

• Bid caps (maximum CPC limits)

• Bid floors (minimum CPC thresholds)

Once a tROAS target is set, new advanced bidding options appear, allowing advertisers to input the minimum and maximum CPC ranges they are willing to pay.

This is a notable shift for Max Conversion Value bidding. Previously, advertisers set ROAS targets, and Google’s Smart Bidding determined the bid amount automatically, with no ability to constrain bids, even when CPCs spiked.

With this update, advertisers get more control over Google’s automated bidding behaviour without abandoning automation altogether.

> Why we care

Advertisers have always wanted more transparency and control over Smart Bidding, especially when CPCs surge due to auction competition, seasonality, or aggressive competitors.

Being able to set CPC floors and caps means advertisers can:

• Prevent Smart Bidding from overspending on clicks that aren’t worth the value

• Avoid “runaway bids” during volatile auction periods

• Maintain cost discipline in high-competition categories

For brands with tight performance goals, this is a safeguard that wasn’t previously possible under tROAS bidding.

The ability to set bid floors is equally impactful. It ensures:

• Google doesn’t undervalue certain auctions

• Ads stay competitive in high-intent opportunities

• Campaigns avoid being too conservative and losing impression share

This gives advertisers the flexibility to protect their margins while ensuring visibility doesn’t suffer.

What else we've been talking about:

• Merchant Center for Agencies Simplifies Client Management

• Meta Shares Tips on Marketing Mix Modelling Approaches

• Google Ads turns 25: A look back at the biggest changes and advances in search

• Sweepstake Casinos Now Banned Under Google Ads Policy