What’s new in Paid Media: September 2025 industry updates

Welcome to the latest blog from the Impression Paid Media Team, where we uncover the latest news and trends to help you stay ahead of the curve.

As the leaves start to change, so does the landscape of paid media. With a flurry of updates from all the major players, staying on top of these changes is the key to a successful Q4. Let’s take a look at what’s new and why it matters.

Read on to learn more about:

Meta’s new ad-free subscription introduces a new challenge for UK advertisers

In major news this month, Meta is rolling out a paid subscription option for UK users of Facebook and Instagram that removes all ads. For £2.99 a month on the web or £3.99 on mobile, users will have the option to switch to an ad-free experience. 

This move creates two distinct user groups: A free, ad-supported audience and a paid, ad-free audience. This change introduces new variables for advertisers who have long relied on Meta’s unified ad-supported model.

What’s next? 

Over the coming weeks, a notification will begin to appear for UK users, offering them the choice of a paid, ad-free subscription. This initial notification will be dismissible, giving users a grace period to decide before a final choice is required. This phased rollout does give advertisers a small window to prepare for a potential shift in their UK audience reach

What does this mean for me?

Great question! Read our blog to gain a deeper understanding of this change and how it will affect advertisers.

Google Ads rolls out better reporting for AI Max

With AI Max being live for a few months, Google continues to make improvements, with their newest feature being a deeper look into reporting. When you navigate to the ‘all keywords’ view in Google Ads, you can now see two new rows added:

• AI Max expanded matches: Traffic from broad-match keywords generated by AI based on the ones you’ve added
• AI Max expanded landing pages: Traffic from search queries triggered by your landing pages or assets, outside your keywords

Previously, you could see the search terms, but these new metrics show the source of that traffic, whether it was based on an expanded keyword or a landing page asset. This increased transparency is a major win for advertisers who want to understand the “why” behind AI-driven results.

What does this mean for me?

• Use the new metrics to see if the traffic generated by AI Max is converting at a rate that justifies the spend
• Make use of this data to determine if you should lean more into AI Max or pull back based on its actual performance, rather than just trusting the black box

Microsoft Ads launches Supplemental Feeds for faster product updates

Here’s an update that will save retailers a ton of time. Microsoft Advertising is rolling out Supplemental Feeds globally, giving merchants a faster, more flexible way to update product details without having to re-upload their entire catalogues. This is a huge win for efficiency, especially as we head into peak seasons.

How does it work?

You can now update specific fields like titles, descriptions, labels, sizes, colours, or promotion IDs independently of your main feed. The supplemental data will always override your primary feed, and you can upload these updates easily in Merchant Center, via FTP/SFTP, or URL download.

Google introduces pre-built forecasts in Performance Planner

For all those who have spent hours building forecasting scenarios from scratch, this one is for you. Google Ads has released “Suggested plans” inside its Performance Planner, providing ready-made forecasts that promise to reduce manual work.

This new feature groups your eligible campaigns (across Search, Performance Max, Shopping, and App) and simulates scenarios to predict which settings are most likely to drive your desired returns. 

Where do I find it?

Go to Tools > Planning > Performance Planner. Review the suggested plans shown at the top of the page. Click “See campaigns” for details, then “Create Plan” to open the forecast.

Reddit refocuses video ads on quality with 6-second view goal

Reddit has launched a new optimisation goal in its beta program: 6-second Engaged Video Views. This feature is a direct shift from the platform’s previous 2-second view objective and signals a move toward valuing meaningful engagement over fleeting impressions.

This update re-engineers how brands can run video campaigns on Reddit. Instead of simply paying for a user to glance at a video for two seconds, advertisers can now bid on a metric that measures genuine attention. 

How does it work?

• Create a new Video Views campaign or navigate to an existing one
• On the ad group page, select the new 6-second Engaged Video Views as your optimisation goal
• Choose one of two automated bidding options: Lowest Cost to maximise views within your budget, or Cost Cap to control your maximum bid amount.

The catch?

The new goal is available in Reddit Ads Manager, but once selected, it cannot be changed for that campaign. This requires a more deliberate approach to campaign setup. 

But…

It encourages advertisers to create more compelling video content that can capture a viewer’s attention within the first six seconds to maximise the effectiveness of their campaigns. May the best ads win.

Google automates Store Visit value

In a very important development, Google is now automatically adding Store Visits as a primary conversion type to some accounts and assigning a preset value to them. While a Google spokesperson has stated that this is a pilot program that will only affect a small number of advertisers, it’s still a move to watch closely.

Store Visits have been an ever-elusive conversion type since they are modelled estimates, not verified sales. By automatically assigning its own monetary value to these visits, Google is effectively increasing your reported conversion value and ROAS. This could lead to your campaigns spending more without a corresponding increase in actual revenue. 

What does this mean for me?

This update makes it more important than ever to manage your account settings proactively. If your business has a physical location, you should:

• Be proactive & check your account for any notices from Google regarding this change
• If you are not comfortable with the change, you can opt out via a form before the deadline or manually reverse changes after Oct. 8
• If you do choose to keep Store Visits as a conversion, manually set your own value based on your actual data rather than relying on Google’s default.

Meta grows its WhatsApp ad options

Meta is giving advertisers more ways to reach WhatsApp users by combining click-to-message ads with Status placements. In this bold new move, the company is bridging the gap between passive viewing and active engagement by connecting Facebook and Instagram ads directly to WhatsApp Status.

How does it work? 

Imagine a user scrolling through their Instagram or Facebook feed. They see an ad that catches their eye. Instead of a standard click to a website, the ad now has a call-to-action that takes them to a full-screen WhatsApp Status promo. With another single tap, they’re in a direct, one-on-one chat with your business.

Direct interactions often lead to higher conversion rates, and with WhatsApp’s massive user base, this new feature could be a great way to cut through the noise. 

Look out for our October edition of “What’s New in Paid Media” for a monthly round-up of industry updates to inspire your PPC, Paid Social, and Programmatic strategy. If you want to talk about your business’s aspirations, get in touch!