iWorld
ZeeMelt: OTTs add to momentum of FB & Youtube video consumption
MUMBAI: “Digital video is not the regular video which is differentiated by the screen size but everyone is aware about digital videos. If someone is working on a TVC, then bring your brand within first five seconds to get your brand liftup,” said Google creative head Haani Mirza.
“To lift the brand, marketers will have to focus on ABCD, which is Attract, Brand, Connect and Direct the viewers,” he added.
Talking about digital advertisments, Kantar Insights CEO – media & digital Gonzalo Fuentes said, “86 per cent people have observed the frequency of advt has increased as compared to past three years, and 32 per cent of Gen Z in South East Asia and India have installed ad blockers.”
“Digital Advertising industry can change the trend by focusing on the data which is fully consumer-centric and building engagement through creativity and consistency — creativity which is not targeting the audience gives a negative impact,” he added.
Speaking about videos on social media and OTT platforms, Kantar IMRB MD media, digital & retail Hemant Mehta said, “Over the last few years, video is dominating the social media, and mobile screens attract more engagement than any other media. All the OTT platforms add to the momentum which was inbuilt in the social consumption. India has more than 20 million avid-video consumers spending 45 minutes a day and 22 hours a month.”
Culture Machine CEO & co- founder Samir Pitalwalla added to Mehta’s view, “90 per cent of the consumers are watching videos on Youtube and Facebook in which three out of 10 consumers access OTT platforms. Music & entertainment are most dominant categories, and the fastest growing are: education and news.”
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iWorld
Meta plans 8,000 layoffs in new AI-led restructuring wave
First phase from May 20 may cut 10 per cent workforce amid AI pivot.
MUMBAI: At Meta, the future may be artificial but the cuts are very real. The social media giant is reportedly preparing a fresh round of layoffs, with an initial wave expected to impact around 8,000 employees as it doubles down on its artificial intelligence ambitions. According to a Reuters report, the first phase of job cuts is slated to begin on May 20, targeting roughly 10 per cent of Meta’s global workforce. With nearly 79,000 employees on its rolls as of December 31, the move marks one of the company’s most significant workforce reductions in recent years.
And this may only be the beginning. Sources indicate that additional layoffs are being planned for the second half of the year, although the scale and timing remain fluid, likely to be shaped by how Meta’s AI capabilities evolve in the coming months. Earlier reports had suggested that total cuts in 2026 could reach 20 per cent or more of its workforce.
The restructuring comes as chief executive Mark Zuckerberg continues to steer the company towards an AI-first operating model, committing hundreds of billions of dollars to the transition. Internally, this shift is already visible: teams within Reality Labs have been reorganised, engineers have been moved into a newly formed Applied AI unit, and a Meta Small Business division has been created to align with broader structural changes.
The trend is hardly isolated. Across the tech sector, companies are trimming headcount while investing aggressively in automation. Amazon, for instance, has reportedly cut around 30,000 corporate roles nearly 10 per cent of its white-collar workforce citing efficiency gains driven by AI. Data from Layoffs.fyi shows over 73,000 tech employees have already lost jobs this year, compared with 153,000 in all of 2024.
For Meta, the move echoes its earlier “year of efficiency” in 2022–23, when about 21,000 roles were eliminated amid slowing growth and market pressures. This time, however, the backdrop is different. The company is financially stronger, generating over $200 billion in revenue and $60 billion in profit last year, with shares up 3.68 per cent year-to-date though still below last summer’s peak.
That contrast underlines the shift underway. These layoffs are less about survival and more about reinvention. As Meta restructures itself around AI from autonomous coding agents to advanced machine learning systems, the question is no longer whether the company will change, but how many roles will be left unchanged when it does.
