What you need to know in advertising today

Airbnb has always relied on data to drive its marketing.

But testing how well different ads perform with different audiences and on different platforms - and then ideally shifting budgets to the ads or tactics that were performing the best - wasn't part of the marketing mix until two years ago.

Today, this kind of scientific ad tracking - which help to measure incremental returns on a particular advertising campaign or even an entire media channel using a test and a control group - are a standard practice at the short-term home rental brand.

To read how big marketers like Airbnb and eBay are using Facebook to see which ads are a waste of money, click here.

In other news:

Evan Spiegel lost a key lieutenant as Snapchat's VP of product is leaving tech altogether. Tom Conrad said that he plans to leave the industry entirely to focus on "music, food, photography" and art.

Logan Paul seems to be in damage-control mode and has returned to YouTube with a documentary on suicide survivors. Paul has pledged to donate $1 million to suicide prevention organizations.

Meg Whitman just became CEO of a new TV startup created by DreamWorks' cofounder. The venture will focus on short-form premium content for mobile consumption.

Mid-length video is either 'stuck in the middle' or the future of TV, depending on whether you ask BuzzFeed's CEO or Meg Whitman. While BuzzFeed will experiment less with mid-form content that feels "stuck in the middle," former HP CEO Meg Whitman just signed on to be the CEO of a company looking to go into mid-form video.

Burger King's prank net-neutrality video shows what happens when customers are charged $26 for faster Whopper service. In the prank, the company adopted tactics that consumers fear internet service providers will use with the repeal of net neutrality, like throttling internet speeds for certain websites unless customers paid more.

Fast-food chains like Starbucks and Taco Bell are stealing a page out of Instagram influencers' playbook. The chains are launching products that seem specifically designed to be shared on Instagram.

Teen retail's hottest lingerie brand is supercharging its biggest weapon against Victoria's Secret. Today, Aerie announced new "role models" for its spring campaign, including actress-activist Yara Shahidi, gold medal gymnast Aly Raisman, and singer-songwriter Rachel Platten.

Believe it or not, Facebook wants you to tell it who or what you sleep with. It's not clear if the bizarrely intrusive question is discussing sexual preferences or more family-friendly bedtime habits.

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