In today’s Digest, we discuss McDonald’s betting on a USD$1bn (£750m) ad business as it joins the commerce-media gold rush, Temu cutting a USD$1bn (£750m) fake influencer network on Meta, and TikTok settling with Alabama for USD$100m (£75m) over teen use.

McDonald’s bets on $1bn ad business

McDonald's has revealed a new venture, McDonald's Media Network, with ambitions to become a USD$1bn (£750m) advertising operation. The fast-food giants plans to turn its digital presence and physical consumer touchpoints into a home for advertising...

The company does not merely want to sell burgers, but own a sequence of touchpoints: the app, the kiosk, the loyalty programme, the physical restaurant each generating attention, identity and purchase data. 

Temu cuts $1bn fake influencer network on Meta

Temu has quietly dismantled a nearly USD$1bn (£750m) network of suspected fake influencer accounts on Meta's platforms. The company had been funding partnership ads through influencers and creators on Instagram and Facebook, targeting audiences across the UK and all 27 EU countries. This is according to Online Risk Labs, a Czech research group that examined 16 months of Temu's advertising activity through April 2026. 

Of the 100 accounts featuring the most Temu ads, ORL found roughly 73 were likely fake, many carrying nonsensical names, based in China, Russia, Bangladesh or Iran, and frequently changing identities. Together, those 100 accounts ran more than 1.4 million partnership ads, reaching a combined audience of nearly 17 billion views. Within days, 90 of the flagged accounts stopped running Temu ads entirely, and total partnership ad volume from the company nearly halved. 

Neither Temu nor Meta responded to requests for comment.

TikTok settles with Alabama for $100m over teen use

TikTok has settled its first-ever state lawsuit over teen safety, agreeing to pay Alabama at least USD$100m (£75m) and overhaul how the app works for younger users. Alabama's attorney general, Steve Marshall, accused the platform of designing itself to be addictive and harming teenagers' mental health. Under the settlement, teens aged 13 to 17 will face a default two-hour daily time limit, automatic lockouts between midnight and 6 am, and "productive pauses" interrupting continuous use at 15, 60 and 90 minutes. 

TikTok admitted no wrongdoing and continues to deny Alabama's claims, but Marshall called it a milestone for parents, saying the company has finally agreed to give them real control over what their kids see and how long they spend on the app.#