Pearpop vs Raptive

Creator Marketing as Paid Media Asset: Insights from AdSpeak Podcast

In this Adweek podcast episode, host Zoë Ruderman speaks with four business leaders about treating creator content as a core paid media asset. The conversation covers how Microsoft scaled a campaign to 42 creators and 69 assets in six weeks, maintaining authenticity and performance. The guests discuss measuring impact through search lift, foot traffic, and brand lift studies, the 'Familiar Faces' framework for long-term creator relationships, and replacing traditional creative briefs with creator-led market research. They also highlight the untapped potential of extending creator content into retail media and CTV, and emphasize looking beyond typical creator demographics like Gen Z. The episode features insights from Marie-Laure De Veyt (Microsoft), Beth Everhart (AntiSocial), Christopher Franco and Cole Mason (Pearpop).

• Microsoft scaled a creator campaign to 42 creators and 69 assets in six weeks.
• The AdSpeak podcast episode features leaders from Microsoft, Pearpop, and AntiSocial.
• Discussion includes measuring creator impact via search lift, foot traffic, and brand lift studies.

Usage Rights Fees Drive Up Creator Partnership Costs

Usage rights have become a major cost driver in creator partnerships, adding complexity and expense beyond the initial post fee. Marketers report inconsistent pricing structures from creators, with usage duration, exclusivity, and syndication all often costing extra. This lack of standardization leads to friction and higher overall campaign costs. The article discusses varying perspectives from industry executives on how to address the issue, including clear early communication, contract clarity, and creative solutions like non-concurrent usage. The rising demand for content, reinforced by platform data showing creator content's effectiveness, further complicates usage rights negotiations, as brands seek more flexible and cost-effective arrangements.

• Usage rights are a major cost factor in creator partnerships, often adding 20-50% to the total cost.
• There is no industry-standard pricing model for usage rights, with some creators charging by the day or not including paid usage at all.
• Brands and creators often have differing interpretations of usage rights due to vague shorthand in contracts.

How Raptive helped Heavy turn AI disruption into an independent growth engine

New case study published October 2, 2026, detailing how Raptive helped Heavy turn AI disruption into an independent growth engine.

Google Antitrust Remedies: Practical Effects on Ad Ecosystem

Ari Paparo analyzes the practical implications of the Google antitrust remedies for publishers, ad exchanges, agencies, and advertisers. Publishers may gain the ability to switch ad servers more easily, as AdX will be required to bid into other ad servers and Prebid, and the removal of Unified Pricing Rules (UPR) will allow them to manipulate demand pricing in GAM. Ad exchanges could benefit from non-discriminatory access to Google Ads demand, though technical and operational hurdles remain. Agencies with supply-path optimization strategies may find new leverage, and the exclusion of DV360 from remedies could create bidding differences between Google's DSP and ad network. The article outlines potential opportunities and challenges across the digital media ecosystem.

• Google antitrust remedies include allowing AdX to bid into other ad servers and Prebid, enabling easier ad server migration for publishers within six months.
• Unified Pricing Rules (UPR) in Google Ad Manager will be removed, restoring publishers' ability to set pricing preferences across exchanges.
• The remedies require non-discriminatory access to Google Ads (AdWords) demand, potentially shifting bids from AdX to other exchanges.