Meta Rolls Out Ad-Free Option In UK

Plus: TikTok links inspiration to bookings with Smart+ travel ads

Author

Avinash Duggempudi
October 01, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes

ClickZ Digital Ad Platform News

Here's what's happening this week in the world of digital ad platforms:
- TikTok launches Smart+ Travel Ads to drive bookings.
- Meta offers paid ad-free Instagram and Facebook in UK.
- DOJ's Google ad tech case nears remedy decisions.
- Pinterest tests Top of Search ads for high intent.
- Knorex prices US IPO, adtech finance reopens.

⏱️THE MINUTE READ

Juvenon suspected upper-funnel spend were fueling growth, but pixel reporting undervalued them, pushing spend to the bottom funnel.

With Fospha’s Halo, they unified DTC and Amazon sales and uncovered the truth: TikTok was 9X stronger than reported, DTC performance was under-credited by 2.9X, and upper funnel became their growth engine.

  • 📈 +18% revenue growth QoQ

  • 📉 20% CAC improvement YoY

  • 🚀 10X upper-funnel SoW growth

📌WEEKLY MUST-KNOWS

TikTok introduced Travel Ads powered by Smart+, a catalog-integrated, AI-driven solution that automatically builds dynamic creatives for hotels, flights and destinations. It uses travel-first intent signals to find high-intent audiences and compress the path from discovery to booking across single video, catalog video and carousel formats. Travel brands and performance teams can now run true lower-funnel campaigns on TikTok with automated setup, creative generation and delivery optimization.

Meta will offer a paid, ad-free option in the UK at £2.99 on web or £3.99 on mobile, aligning with ICO guidance on user choice and data use. The move sets a regulatory-driven precedent that could reshape audience addressability and CPMs if copied elsewhere. Advertisers should monitor opt-in rates and potential reach shifts during rollout.

Digiday maps the live issues as the DOJ case advances, including potential decoupling of Google’s ad exchange from its ad server and a higher likelihood of structural remedies. Publishers are preparing for ad server migration risks and new auction dynamics while waiting for remedies to materialize. Buyers and sellers should scenario plan for supply path changes and alternative ad serving stacks.

CTV/LOCAL
Locality Introduces Advanced Audience Engine
Locality launched a proprietary identity and activation engine that unifies first-party, third-party and Locality viewership data to build and activate custom audiences across linear and digital. The platform uses generative AI and predictive models to automate segmentation, optimize budgets and deliver unified analytics and attribution. Local advertisers and CTV buyers get faster execution, better precision and integrated measurement through LocalX.

⚡QUICK READS

Pinterest Tests Top Of Search Ads: Pinterest rolled out Top of Search ads in beta with a reported 29% higher CTR and 32% lift in new-customer acquisition, adding high-intent inventory for prospecting.(More)

Snapchat Adds Paid Memories Storage Plans: Snapchat introduced tiered Memories storage and an off-app sticker keyboard, indicating a deeper subscription push and new engagement surfaces with limited immediate ads impact.(More)

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