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The creator economy magazineAnalyses of the European creator economy from primary sources. Pick a topic and read.
ChatGPT launches ads in Europe for its Free and Go plans
Free ChatGPT users will see a paid ad labelled as sponsored below answers. OpenAI is extending ads to 31 European markets six months after the US launch. In Europe they start without personalisation, on the GDPR legitimate interest basis.
Each platform counts podcast views differently, so the numbers cannot be added up
YouTube counts views from the first frame, Spotify counts plays from 30 seconds, Apple from zero seconds, and IAB measures downloads. Each platform measures differently, so the metrics cannot be summed into one number. An overview of what each unit means.
Spotify tests an ad skip button, but not for its own ads
Spotify is showing some paying listeners a button that skips a whole ad break, except for ads Spotify sells itself. One ad firm called it possibly fraudulent. Actual ad skipping still sits near 10%, though 46% of listeners say they skip ads in surveys.
From 24 August, YouTube will count views from the first frame of playback
From 24 August 2026, YouTube counts public views from the first frame, with no minimum watch time. The stricter Engaged views metric moves into private analytics and disappears from the public API. For buying podcast ads, the public number no longer measures audience.
YouTube channels are being sold as businesses, and Electrify is buying them
Advertising poured over $1 billion a year into creators, but institutional capital shied away because of their dependence on a single face. The London firm is buying majority stakes in established YouTube channels and running them with their own teams.
At D23, Disney moves creators from marketing to the core of its programme
Disney’s TikTok deal has been public since 5 August. At D23 in Anaheim, leadership explained its purpose: creators are moving from marketing into Disney+ core programming. Analyst Ben Woods says 40% of users use the Verts feed daily.
LinkedIn ranks comments by relevance for each reader
LinkedIn has started ranking comments by relevance to each reader, so two people see a different order under the same post. The change comes as Pangram Labs estimates that over 40% of long LinkedIn posts are fully generated by AI.
Air Bank and Kaufland sponsor padel, a sport they did not launch
Air Bank, Kaufland and CUPRA sponsor a sport they did not invent. Playtomic counts 19.4 million padel players, and Levi’s showed that someone else’s cultural moment can lift its shares by 20%. Borrowed relevance, however, only works up to a point.
YouTube moves to the TV screen as Netflix launches a vertical feed
YouTube reached a record 13.8% of US TV viewing time in May 2026 and is changing its look to fit the TV. Netflix has launched a vertical Clips feed and brought it to Europe. Convergence between YouTube and streaming runs in both directions.
Advertisers wrote off children’s audiences, but age checks could restore their value
Advertisers left children’s media because measurement is weak and regulation feels risky. Jo Redfern says that is a mistake. Generation Alpha influences over 40% of household spending, and age verification could make children’s audiences measurable and sellable again.
Bluesky wants to restart social media and is betting on a protocol
Bluesky argues that social media can be started again from scratch. Instead of one platform, it is building an open protocol on which creators and brands take their audience with them. According to TechCrunch, it will make that case at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026.
The Call Her Daddy podcast has become a company worth half a billion dollars
The company behind Call Her Daddy has taken its first outside investment at a $500 million valuation, from a former Hollywood agent. The money is meant to fund acquisitions, and capital is moving from studios to individuals with an audience.