🤑 Ad-Free Tiers For Social Media?

And Walmart says weight-loss drug causes a drop in food shopping...

October 08, 2023

🦃 Happy Thanksgiving

I hope you’re having a relaxing holiday with your family and friends! With the start of fall, my iced coffee has upgraded to a pumpkin spice latte, so in a way, this newsletter is pumpkin-infused.

In today’s Weekly Buzz, we’ll look at the new Ad-Free Tiers coming to social media, Google’s Product Announcements, and a weight-loss drug Walmart says is potentially decreasing food sales.

Let’s get into it,

Max, CEO of Blossom

TOP STORY
📱 Ad-Free Tiers are Coming to Instagram, TikTok, and X

Meta and X (formerly known as Twitter) are rumored to be rolling out ad-free subscription tiers. TikTok has already begun testing its own ad-free subscription tier.

This initiative comes in response to the European Union's Digital Services Act, which takes effect on January 1, 2024, imposing restrictions on the delivery of personalized ads without user consent​.

Meta hasn't released an official statement about the ad-free versions but previous remarks from CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg hint at plans for a paid offering alongside the existing ad-supported version. Pricing is rumored to be ~$14/month.

TikTok has confirmed a small-scale test of an ad-free subscription tier outside the US, at $4.99 per month.

TikTok ad-free tier

X (formerly known as Twitter) is planning to test three different tiers of its X Premium service.

YouTube has followed this model for years, rolling out YouTube Red (now YouTube Premium) in 2015 and growing it to over 80M active users worldwide paying ~$11.99/month.

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TECHNOLOGY
⚙️ Google Pledges 7 Years of Support for New Pixel 8 Series

On Wednesday, Google hosted its annual hardware event, “Made by Google”, showcasing a range of new products including the Pixel 8 Pro, Pixel 8, Pixel Watch 2, Pixel Buds Pro, Android 14, and an AI-enhanced Google Assistant.

The highlight of the event was the promise of seven years of OS, security, and feature updates for Google's Pixel 8 and 8 Pro indicating that buyers could use these devices until 2030 before the software begins to age.

📈 Google ($GOOG) was up 4.89% this week.

👀 How much better is this? Google has traditionally offered five years of security updates and three years of Android OS upgrades, placing it ahead of mainstream Android competitors like Samsung, OnePlus, and Xiaomi.

🧐 How is this possible? The extended support is enabled by Google's shift to its own Tensor processor in the Pixel 8 series, giving them more control over the hardware unlike most of its competitors who depend on external chipset manufacturers like Qualcomm.

🤔 Will they deliver? People are skeptical given Google's inconsistent history of supporting services and initiatives.

In 2023 alone, services and products like Google Domains, Google Jamboard, Google Podcasts, Google Stadia, and Pixel Pass have been discontinued despite having active user bases.

🤯 You can view all 292 apps, services, and hardware that have been discontinued by Google here.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUCEMENT
🛒 If a ‘Blossom’ Account Messages You About Trading/Crypto, it’s a Scam

This week I’ve received a ton of messages about accounts messaging our followers about trading/crypto - these are scams 😭

Our social media handle is meetblossomsocial. Crafty scammers will create accounts with subtle differences (i.e. meetsblossomsocial), copy our photos, buy followers, and then try to scam our audience. If you see these accounts please report them.

If you want to follow the real Blossom account where we post some pretty awesome content, here we are on Instagram and TikTok! 🤗

RETAIL
🛒 Walmart Says Appetite-Suppressing Drugs Are Making People Buy Less Food

This week, CEO John Furner said Walmart has seen a drop in food shopping among individuals taking the diabetes drug Ozempic, as well as other appetite-suppressing medications like Wegovy.

The retailer observed a "slight pullback in overall basket," with fewer units and slightly fewer calories being purchased.

Furner said it’s too early to draw definitive conclusions, but the statements have been getting wide media coverage. Novo Nordisk A/S ($NVO), the maker of Ozempic, is up 37.01% this year.

Furner says the impact of appetite-suppressing drugs like Ozempic is being closely monitored by the retail giant. Other companies, such as Kellanova, the maker of Pringles and Cheez-Its, are also studying the potential impact of these drugs on dietary behaviors.

👀 Customers taking these weight-loss drugs tend to spend more overall, even as they purchase less food, as Walmart also sells the drugs through its pharmacies. US Sales for the medicines has reportedly increased 300% between 2020 and 2022.

 FROM THE BLOSSOM COMMUNITY

🎙 Top Discussions This Week

Canadian in a T-Shirt (@canadiantshirt)

Mr Financial (@mr.financial)

🗞️ What else you might’ve missed:

  • Rivian ($RIVN) shares plunged 21% this week after they announced a $1.5 billion convertible bond sale and issued disappointing guidance.

  • Clorox ($CLX) shares slipped 5% after offering weaker guidance for the fiscal first quarter than expected.

  • Goldman Sachs ($GS) increased forecasts for mortgage rates to 7.1% for year-end 2023 and 6.8% for year-end 2024.

  • Moderna ($MRNA) rose slightly after positive interim results from Phase ½ trial of mRNA-1083.

  • Intel ($INTC) announced it would be operating its programmable chip unit as a standalone business.