And autumn arrives again
While life at home slows down with blankets, tea, and rain on the windows, the digital world only seems to speed up.
Let’s take a look:
Political ads are disappearing from Meta’s platforms, ChatGPT now lets you purchase products without ever leaving the chat – and long-form content is on its way to Threads.
Get fully up to date with the October edition of Xtracts, your digital news overview.
No political ads in the EU
Time to take out the notepad if your Meta ads touch on anything political:
As of October 6, Meta has implemented a ban on ads relating to politics, elections, and societal issues within the EU. The move comes in response to the upcoming TTPA (Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising) regulation, which requires all digital advertising platforms to provide increased transparency for this category of ads – a requirement Meta says it would not be able to meet at the scale of its ad infrastructure.
The new rules do not affect political ads running outside the EU.
Source: Social Media Today
You can now buy products directly in ChatGPT
Where traditional search engines once dominated, users are now increasingly turning to AI models like ChatGPT for inspiration and product discovery. And OpenAI now seems ready to take over the final stretch of the customer journey as well.
They have just announced Instant Checkout: a feature that allows users to make purchases directly through ChatGPT. The feature is initially available for Etsy products and soon also Shopify stores, and has so far only been announced in the US.
According to OpenAI, there are no additional costs for users, but merchants will pay a fee per purchase.
The new feature ties directly into the ongoing debate about whether SEO is being overtaken by GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) – and whether marketers should increasingly focus on AI over traditional search engines. We’ve written more about that here.
Source: Marketing Dive
TikTok improves its AI-driven campaigns
Throughout 2025, TikTok has launched several initiatives that have strengthened its position as an advertising platform – and they’re apparently not done yet.
TikTok’s AI-driven ad system, Smart+, is now receiving a series of upgrades to both the ads themselves and the accompanying performance-tracking tools. Advertisers will now be able to adjust the level of automation for each part of the campaign setup: targeting, budget, and creative assets. This gives greater flexibility to anyone running ads on TikTok.
Alongside these campaign setup updates, TikTok also plans to improve the measurability of Smart+ ads, including the introduction of more detailed split-testing options.
Source: Social Media Today
AI conversations to improve ad targeting
Meta’s AI model – fittingly named Meta AI – has been making headlines since its launch, most recently due to a less fortunate incident where conversations containing sensitive information appeared in Google search results. This update, however, is very much intentional on Meta’s part.
Users’ conversations with Meta AI will now be used to improve ad targeting. And while this might initially set off a few privacy alarm bells, it’s ultimately not that surprising – after all, Google Ads is also influenced by your search behavior.
For advertisers, this is good news, as it opens up yet another data source for improved targeting – and therefore more effective Meta Ads.
Sources: Social Media Today
Threads tests long-form content
When Threads joined the then-growing pool of Twitter-like platforms, it faced a challenge: how do you differentiate yourself from the rest? Its biggest strength was its connection to Meta’s other platforms – and its newest feature could easily become the next one. Especially for your marketing.
Threads is now testing the ability to post long-form text – a direct contrast to what the platform was originally built around. In practice, users will be able to attach a larger body of text to a post, almost like adding a PDF, which can then be expanded when reading the post. This allows all Threads posts to remain technically short.
For businesses, this means you’ll be able to share long-form content – such as blog posts or columns – directly on the platform, which typically drives higher engagement than linking out to your website.
Source: Tech Crunch