Welcome to Scout! Each week, our team tracks down the best digital marketing articles, POVs, and reports—so you don’t have to. Here’s what to read from the week of 10/21/22 – 10/27/22 to stay ahead of the curve:

Spotify’s third-quarter earnings report is in, and the results are…mixed. Like many companies, they cited a “challenging macro environment” for slower-than-expected ad revenue growth, underscoring the question on many advertisers’ minds: What should marketers do during times of economic upheaval?

Singing a more somber tune than Spotify (terrible pun, we know) is Meta, whose Q3 earnings missed the mark. Quarterly revenue is down more than 4% from a year ago, as the social media giant faces a barrage of challenges: from rival platforms, to fallout from Apple’s ad-tracking changes, to—surprise, surprise—the tough macroeconomic environment.

For folks hoping to rock out to their favorite tunes while baking their grandma’s famous apple pie this fall, we’ve got bad news: Apple prices have gone up, and not just at the grocery store. For the first time, Apple is increasing prices for its music and TV+ services, a move that may risk giving rivals an edge in a fiercely competitive streaming industry.

Earlier this week, the California Privacy Protection Agency updated the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) regulations. Despite the law going into effect on January 1, 2023, this is not the final draft. That said, if you’re looking for high-level takeaways, this piece is for you. (And if you’re looking for additional info on some of the other major industry-related regulatory actions from 2022, this is the piece for you.)

Retail media advertising is exploding, but it isn’t without its challenges. For marketers wondering how best to embrace this new(ish) channel and incorporate it into their campaigns without throwing their existing strategies out the window, this is a great place to start.

In a move that highlights the growing importance of privacy-friendly solutions, Google is putting consumers in the driver’s seat when it comes to their privacy and ad experience. Their new ads hub, My Ad Center, will allow users to block ads on sensitive topics, choose to see fewer ads from certain categories, turn off personalized ads completely, and more.

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