A Microsoft deal for TikTok is a win for Big Tech

Hi and welcome to Insider Advertising, weekly edition. I'm Lucia Moses, deputy editor. To get this in your inbox daily, go here.

This week: Microsoft's play for TikTok, Netflix's new secret weapon, and takeaways of the Facebook ad boycott.

Microsoft is interested in advertising again

People who know their Microsoft history are scratching their heads when it comes to its planned deal for TikTok's US business, and not just because it would plunge the tech giant into the unfamiliar territory unknown of teen-driven social media, with all its potential messiness and drama.

It's also because Microsoft all but abandoned its ad business in 2015 after its display ad revenue eroded over several years.

In recent years, it's focused on going after Amazon and Google on sponsored products, but still holds only an estimated 1.4% of the display ad market, according to EMarketer.

And while TikTok's own ad business is nascent, it has big potential, with its growing, young user base that advertisers are salivating over.

A successful takeover could help Microsoft erode Facebook and Google's stronghold on digital advertising. But it would also help solidify tech giant's control over advertising and the rules that govern it.

And the losers? Old-guard media companies, for one, none of which has the means to bid for a company some valued at $50 billion, and whose voice at the advertising table will only continue to diminish.

Bozoma Saint John is Netflix's new secret weapon

Media coverage of Bozoma Saint John has largely focused on her glamour and charisma, but Tanya Dua and Patrick Coffee examined the ex-Apple and Uber marketer's record in this insightful profile as she starts as Netflix's CMO.

Saint John's approach runs counter to the trend of data-driven marketing, which has made her a target of some. But consider what her hire signals about how Netflix sees its challenges as its field becomes more competitive. From their piece:

Read the full profile here: How Netflix's new CMO Bozoma Saint John rose to become the biggest 'badass' in marketing

Facebook's ad boycott: An accounting

More than 1,000 advertisers boycotted Facebook in a historic backlash against the company. But did any of it matter? Here are some key numbers, per Tanya Dua:

• Some advertisers, convinced by Facebook's promises to do better monitoring hate speech, or need to make their sales numbers, are returning, and some are staying away, but the biggest impact may have been to its reputation among some users.
• Facebook's ad revenue in the first three weeks of July grew about 10% year over year, the same rate as its second quarter.
• It reminded us that it's mostly reliant on small advertisers who continue to spend there, with its top 100 advertisers accounting for 16% of its over-$70 billion ad revenue.

Read more: Advertisers not part of the boycott also cut back spending on Facebook in July, but the platform says it will be just fine

Other stories you should check out in media, advertising, and beyond:

• Disney lost $3.5 billion in operating income from its closed theme parks last quarter and analysts say the impact could weigh on the business for years
• A startup that's helped brands like Hershey's and Petco make shoppable videos just raised $10 million to become an e-commerce platform that it says can help them drive more sales
• One of the very few Black women VCs says her 20 years in the industry helped her understand why she's such an anomaly — and how the industry's reverence for speed became the enemy of diversity
• Average fintech salaries are in the six figures. A talent exec at $5.3 billion Plaid lays out 3 ways to get your foot in the door.
• Poshmark clothing resellers are becoming Instagram influencers to increase sales and make money from brand sponsorships
• Radish wants you to binge-read romance novels, and now it has a fresh $63.2 million to pay its soap opera writers and gaming pros to get you hooked

Thanks for reading. See you next week!

— Lucia