Snap study: people find favourite local spots on social maps.
Snap surveyed over 17,000 map users aged 13 to 44 in six markets, Saudi Arabia among them. Most still navigate with Google Maps, but respondents were 2.9 times likelier to say they found favourite businesses on Snapchat than on other social apps.
Why it matters
Saudi data included: venues and retailers should treat Snap Map as a discovery channel, not just navigation.
Related trends.
PlatformsGoogle's Universal Cart goes live in the US
First shown at I/O, the cart saves products from many retailers across Search and Gemini, flags price drops and restocks, and suggests promo codes and card perks. Checkout runs on Google's open Universal Commerce Protocol.
Why it mattersGoogle moves closer to owning the basket, not just the product search.
PlatformsMeta sells reserved, TV-style ad windows with Super Burst
Advertisers can now book a 3–24 hour block on a single day across Facebook and Instagram, with price and reach fixed upfront and delivery guaranteed within 5% of forecast. Meta is also testing a paid first slot in the feed.
Why it mattersGives brand teams a launch-day buy that behaves like TV, inside Meta's auction world.
PlatformsYouTube Music starts labelling AI-generated songs, main app next
YouTube Music now shows an "AI" tag on tracks it believes were made mainly with generative AI, such as AI-written compositions and vocals. The labels are coming to the main YouTube app too, backed by in-house detection and music partners.
Why it mattersBrands licensing or making AI music for ads should expect it to be visibly flagged.
