Why is TikTok losing GenZ?

Plus: Meta launches AI shopping test

Author

Gupta Media
March 13, 2026 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

Today’s Social Media advertising rates are keeping their distance from Camp Crystal Lake:

↘️ META: $6.94 | ↘️ TIKTOK: $4.36 | ↗️ SNAPCHAT: $14.00

In this week’s edition: 

  • ♾️ AI shopping is coming to Meta

  • This new ad format turns organic mentions into product links 🐦

  • 🔥 Why advertisers should check out Amazon’s new FireTV display

But first…

⏰ Why is TikTok losing GenZ?

A new Harris Poll reveals a growing rift between Gen Z and TikTok: 60% trust the platform less than before, 74% are more cautious about their engagement, and 25% wish the app had never existed. 

Despite this skepticism, the habit remains: 65% of Gen Z still logs in daily. However, 31% admit they scroll out of habit, not desire, while 72% say the content feels staged and performative. 

For Gen Z creators, this dissatisfaction is moving beyond just vibes and into action: 49% of Gen Z creators have either reduced their posting, quit the app entirely, or shifted to other platforms.

♥️ Most loved apps among Gen Z? YouTube, with a 78% favorability score and 66% of people using it daily. Substack, already used daily by 11% of Gen Z, is also gaining.

💔 Not-so-loved: While X is the most loathed by Gen Z audiences, Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram are all unloved.

♾️ Meta is testing a new shopping research feature within Meta AI in the U.S. This would provide carousels of recommended products within shopping-related queries. These will include captions with information about the brand, website, and price. It’ll also offer its recommendations. The implications for Meta’s platforms are massive—stay tuned for more details. 

🎸 Music marketers take note: Meta is rolling out an organic-only product called New Music Notifications. These in-platform notifications surface to an artist’s most engaged fans when they add a pre-release teaser or new song to their Instagram profile. This is not currently in the pipeline for paid ads:

💅 Pro Tips: 

  • As of this month, all single media and Advantage+ catalog collection ads on Facebook Feed will no longer feature a display URL in the ad footer. Instead, the ad footer will now appear below the media tiles for both “show products” and “show site links.”

  • Also starting this month, site links will no longer include a text overlay, and only the media thumbnails will be shown. However, you can still create an ad using site links with a text-only design if you prefer not to attach any media. Sitelinks on IG are only available in the collection format as image only.

🔎 Google is now automatically adding AI-generated end screens to in-stream mobile app install campaigns, overriding any pre-set end screens. These auto end screens pull data from the campaign to show app info, pricing, and a direct install link. 

  • 🚨 Anyone running mobile-app video campaigns should audit their videos to ensure manually added YouTube end screens aren’t being silently overridden. While currently limited to app-install campaigns, broader expansion is expected.

⏰ TikTok published new data on the effectiveness of TikTok ads in driving success for film releases at the box office. The report, created in collaboration with TikTok partner Samba, used Samba’s Box Office Lift measurement methodology to connect TikTok promotions to purchase activity. Key takeaways:

  • 172% media lift in purchase rate compared with non-exposed audiences

  • 60% of ticket purchases attributed to TikTok came from audiences not exposed to linear TV advertising

  • TikTok-native creative performs best: creator-led videos, film highlights, behind-the-scenes content, critic reviews & social proof, and clear ticketing CTAs

🍁 Canada is reversing its decision to shut down TikTok’s business operations in the country, subject to conditions focused on protecting Canadians’ data and the safety of children. TikTok also agreed to increase support for Canadian artists, especially among the country’s French-speaking and indigenous populations.

🎧 Spotify is improving reporting in Ads Manager, starting with the ad set reports graph:

  • In addition to the existing breakdowns (age, gender, genre, platform, placement), you can now analyze delivery by Device type, Format, Playlist tone, Activity & setting, Audiences (Interests and Custom)

  • They added five new video-specific metrics, including video completion rate and quartile completion rates.

  • These same additions are rolling out to the Reports Manager in Q2.

🔔 Coming soon: Spotify is testing a Lead-Gen Objective in Ads Manager that lets you optimize for website form submissions.

📦 Amazon just debuted the most significant redesign of its Fire TV interface in about five years. Amazon says the updated experience creates more advertising opportunities to engage viewers during moments of active decision-making with placements that are integrated throughout the interface, including areas like the feature rotator and recommendation rows. 

🔥 Fun fact: According to Amazon, the company has shipped more than 300 million Fire TV devices globally since launching the product line, with its fastest-growing segment now coming from Fire TV–powered smart televisions rather than streaming sticks.

🐦 X appears to be testing a new ad format that links directly to products mentioned in user posts. Users noticed the small-scale test last week, and X’s head of product explained the goal is to “make an ad product that isn’t an ad” by leveraging unpaid, organic mentions. The platform is testing to ensure ads appear only alongside positive mentions, marking one of several initiatives to enhance ad value and win back advertising partners.

💰 You can now lock parts of a post behind a paywall to help bolster subscription growth and recurring revenue with X’s “Exclusive Threads” feature. Why? The platform is expanding creator monetization tools—including subscription cards, benefit pop-ups, and subscriber highlights in profiles—to improve conversion to paid followers.

  • A new subscriptions dashboard now provides creators with earnings data, audience insights, and growth tools. According to X’s product team, long-form posts have grown 18x in the past three months, signaling increasing creator adoption.

📊 New data from X for International Women’s Day shows Millennial women are driving the most engagement, specifically within women’s sports, where WNBA All-Star impressions jumped 33% YoY.

🍎 Apple has rolled out Maximize Conversions across its App Store advertising platform, which will soon replace the existing Target CPA bidding option. The elimination of CPA limits and the push toward Maximize Conversions fits a pattern that we’ve already seen across other digital ad platforms.

🧠 ChatGPT is finishing its first month of fully supporting ads on the platform, and Sensor Tower has broken down the top ad categories on the site. 

  • Retail and grocery, led by brands like Best Buy, Target, Wayfair, make up 44% of ad impressions on the platform. 

  • Software, Tech, and Delivery are also faring well on the platform, outperforming Google metrics. 

💡 Because ads are only served when relevant to the conversation, this data continues to signal a migration of prospecting audiences toward the chatbot for shopping and research instead of traditional search.

Thanks for reading! We’ll be back next week to fill your inbox with more tips, tricks, and treats from the addressable universe.

In the meantime, stay up to date with the latest performance marketing intelligence by following us on Linkedin, Instagram, and X.

This week’s edition of the Thread was created by Jess Dashner, Caitlin LaValle, Anoushka Madan, Sabina Saktaganova, Mariya Samardzhieva, Kiara Quigley, Lara Spijkerman, and Carly Carioli.