August 25, 2026
Welcome to this month’s issue of The L@B Report from GSG, where we explore news and insights at the intersection of media, technology, and public affairs. This month, we examine the growing challenge of measuring audiences across digital video platforms, the disconnect between the communications industry’s embrace of AI and public skepticism of the technology, and why a new social platform is betting that human-created content can be a competitive advantage.
This issue of The L@B Report was compiled by Ryan Alexander.
In the News
Digital Media Has a Measurement Problem
As advertising dollars follow audiences online, defining a “view” is becoming more important.
Digital platforms have long promised advertisers something traditional media could not: more precise measurement. But as online video captures an increasing share of audience attention and advertising budgets, comparing performance across platforms is becoming more complicated.
According to Axios, the internet’s largest video platforms still don’t agree on what constitutes a view. YouTube recently changed how it counts views on some videos, bringing its approach more closely in line with short-form competitors like TikTok and Instagram Reels.
Takeaway
The issue matters because digital video is no longer a secondary advertising channel. As we discussed in last month’s L@B Report, YouTube is increasingly competing with traditional television for both viewers and advertising dollars. The more money that shifts toward creator content and online video, the more consequential these differences in measurement become.
For communicators and marketers, evaluating digital performance requires looking beyond the topline metrics platforms provide. Completion rates and other measurement tools, such as Brand Lift Studies, which can measure message recall and sentiment, can offer a more complete picture of whether content is reaching and resonating with the people who matter.
Communicators May Be Living in an AI Bubble
The communications industry’s enthusiasm for AI isn’t necessarily shared by its audiences.
AI has quickly become part of the everyday workflow for many communications professionals. But a recent Axios Communicators report argues that widespread adoption inside the industry may be obscuring an important reality: consumers and creators remain far more skeptical about AI than many of the people using it professionally.
Takeaway
That disconnect creates a new communications challenge. Organizations may see AI-generated content as an efficient and increasingly routine part of their operations, while audiences can view the same use of AI through the lens of job displacement, declining creativity, or concerns about authenticity.
The divide is particularly important as companies begin using AI in more visible ways. The question is no longer simply whether organizations can use AI effectively, but whether audiences are comfortable with how and where they use it.
There is unlikely to be a single approach to AI that satisfies every audience. Instead, organizations need to understand where their stakeholders draw the line, communicate clearly about how AI is being used, and ensure that the pursuit of efficiency doesn’t undermine credibility. In an environment where skepticism remains high, transparency around AI can be as important as the technology itself.
The Next Social Network Is Betting on Humans
As AI-generated content floods the internet, being human could become a differentiator.
While many technology companies are racing to integrate more artificial intelligence into their products, a new social media platform is taking the opposite approach.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Divine is reviving the six-second looping-video format popularized by Vine while explicitly banning AI-generated content. Backed by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, the platform is positioning itself around human creativity and even plans to go without an algorithm for advertising placement.
Takeaway
Divine’s decision to make human-created content part of its core identity suggests that the proliferation of AI may be creating a new opportunity: platforms and brands can differentiate themselves by demonstrating that what audiences are seeing was actually made by a person. Taco Bell is its first major brand partner, using the service as part of a campaign that taps into nostalgia for earlier eras of internet culture.
If synthetic content continues to become cheaper and more abundant, authentic human creativity could become increasingly scarce — and therefore increasingly valuable. For communicators, “human-made” may eventually become more than a disclosure. It could become a message, a brand attribute, and a source of trust in its own right.
More from GSG
Higher education has a credibility problem, not just a messaging one. According to a 2026 Gallup poll, confidence in the sector has fallen from 57% to just a third of Americans over the past decade. In her latest piece for Observer, GSG SVP Alexandra Sollberger argues that this kind of erosion can’t be fixed with better messaging alone — some institutions need to explain their story better, some need to reframe it, and some need to change it altogether.
For a more tactical look at what institutions can actually do, check out GSG’s higher education playbook here.