This week’s stories all point to the same tension: platforms want more revenue, more automation, and more control, while advertisers are left working out what that means for costs, transparency, and effectiveness. From Meta pushing tax costs onto advertisers, to Google softening its stance on ads in Gemini, to OpenAI exploring how to scale ChatGPT ad inventory, the direction of travel is becoming harder to ignore.
Meta is passing Europe’s digital taxes directly to advertisers
Meta will start charging advertisers new location-based fees from 1 July when campaigns reach users in six countries: the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Austria and Turkey. The fees mirror each market’s digital services tax rate: 2% in the UK, 3% in France, Italy, and Spain, and 5% in Austria and Turkey. Meta says the charges apply based on where the ads are shown, not on the advertiser’s location.
What this means: This matters because it quietly pushes media costs up at a time when few brands are looking for more inflation in paid channels. It is also another reminder that platform costs are not fixed. They can shift for reasons well beyond performance, auction pressure or competition. For advertisers running international campaigns, this creates another layer of planning complexity and another reason to look more closely at market-by-market efficiency.
Google leaves the door open to ads in Gemini
After previously denying there were plans to bring ads into Gemini, Google is now taking a more open position. In a recent interview, Google’s Nick Fox said the company is “not ruling out” advertising in the Gemini app, even though there are no ads there today. He also pointed to learnings from ad experiments in AI Mode as something that could inform how monetisation evolves in future.
What this means: The bigger signal here is not just whether ads appear in Gemini this year or next. It is clear that Google is trying to work out how advertising fits into conversational AI without undermining trust. For marketers, that makes this less of a product story and more of a roadmap story. The shape of search monetisation is still changing, and Gemini now looks much more likely to become part of that commercial future than Google was willing to admit a few months ago.
Google is adding AI voiceovers to Performance Max video ads
Google is adding AI-generated voiceovers to Performance Max video ads, automatically creating them from advertiser headlines and descriptions. Reporting suggests the feature will begin applying to eligible ads from 20 March unless advertisers opt out beforehand.
What this means: On one level, this is another practical attempt to make low-effort creative go further. On the other hand, it is a sign of how aggressively Google is trying to remove production friction inside automated campaign types. That may be useful for speed and scale, especially for advertisers with limited video assets, but it also raises the usual question with Performance Max: just because the platform can generate something, does not mean it will be on brand. The opportunity is obvious, but so is the need for stronger creative oversight.
Gen Z may be getting colder on TikTok
A new report covered by MediaPost suggests TikTok’s grip on Gen Z may be loosening. Among the findings, 74% of Gen Z users say they now think twice about who they engage with on the platform, 60% say they trust TikTok less than they used to, and 64% say ownership changes have made them more aware of their data. The report also says more than half feel the platform is more censored than it was a year ago.
What this means: That does not mean TikTok stops mattering. It does mean marketers should be careful about assuming cultural relevance automatically equals long-term platform affection. If trust is weakening and user behaviour is becoming more cautious, then the way brands show up may need to adapt as well. Reach is one thing. Receptiveness is another. For younger audiences, especially, platform mood can change faster than media plans do.
OpenAI is reportedly exploring The Trade Desk to scale ChatGPT ads
OpenAI reportedly held early talks with The Trade Desk about helping sell ads for ChatGPT, according to reporting pointing to a broader plan to scale its ad business beyond its existing Criteo partnership. Coverage of those talks suggests OpenAI sees advertising as a meaningful part of future consumer revenue and may look to established ad tech partners rather than building every part of the stack itself from day one.
What this means: This is worth watching because it makes ChatGPT ads feel less like an experiment and more like an ecosystem in the making. If OpenAI leans on partners like Criteo and potentially The Trade Desk, it lowers the barrier for brands and agencies already buying through familiar infrastructure. The more relevant question now is not whether ads belong in AI interfaces. It is how quickly those interfaces become buyable, measurable and normalised inside the wider digital media mix.
That’s a wrap for this week.
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