Rolling in with your September Digital Updates here, and there’s one very clear theme across this month – platforms want to do more of the work for you. 

BUT they also want more control, more data and, increasingly, more money in exchange. How very unlike them…

Meta One for Business is the strongest example, as they’ve now officially rolled out paid business subscriptions that bundle features such as longer-range Story scheduling, links in organic posts and Reels, and more Meta Business Agent capacity. Meta is also continuing down the road of automating more ad decisions and testingAI-generated experiences between the ad click and a business’s own website. Personally, we have no positives to say about this at the moment, as it’s in a very much ‘trial and error’ phase. 

But what else is there to know?

Well, Instagram is giving brands more ways to reuse collaboration content and is refining the ranking systems. Google is making social and video content easier to measure in Search, while also testing more advertising inside AI Mode. TikTok is turning comments into a richer content format, and LinkedIn is using language models to understand professional relevance beyond simple popularity.

So, not a whole lot. 

Jk. There’s a lot to unpack. Let’s get into it.

What’s new with Meta?

🔥 Meta One for Business moves more tools behind subscriptions

So, you’ve gone to make a post and BAM – you can now add a link directly to it?

Uh uh, not so fast. That’s the subscription talking. 

Meta One has moved from “coming soon” to a global rollout. Meta says its core apps and Meta AI remain free, but (and of course there’s a but), paid business plans now offer extra capabilities including Story scheduling up to 30 days ahead, links in organic posts and Reels, exportable analytics, deeper audience insights, team access without password sharing and greater Meta Business Agent capacity.

If your team already uses a social scheduling platform, reporting dashboard and secure access process, Meta One will probably just be a double-up of tools you are already paying for.

Our thoughts? audit the workflow first. Work out which Meta One features replace a current cost or remove an actual re-occurring issue – then decide whether the subscription earns its place. A shiny new platform tier is not a strategy. However, more and more we are seeing an increase in engagement of posts natively created and shared on the app, rather than from third parties. Maybe this is just their way of controlling the market, and making Meta a one stop shop.

📔 Other Updates + Tests:

• Meta is also continuing to reduce some manual advertiser controls. SMK reported that some advertisers are being alerted to possible placement-control changes, extending Meta’s longer-term move towards automated targeting, placements and Advantage+ structures. So far, it’s been a bit of a pain in ye old backside, with unreliable placements, and further manual fine tuning needed than ever. Hopefully, this is just a wonderful little blip in the experience. And it improves. Any day now… 
• Meta is testing a Reply to Keywords ad feature that can trigger an automated private message when someone comments with selected words or phrases.

What’s new with Instagram?

🔥 Tagged collaboration posts can now live on your main grid

This is a massive WIN. Remember back in the day, when you would screenshot a post, and then share on your own grid? And then they made ‘reposting’ a thing. But NOW, Instagram has really levelled up and started rolling out the ability to add a post you have been tagged in directly to your main profile grid. The original post stays with the creator who published it, while the tagged account can choose to feature it on its own profile!

Reports from Social Media Today have highlighted the value of creator collabs on instagram, so this is a great push in that direction. 

Collaborative content reinforces credibility, and shows the kind of work or community you want to be known for, whilst also making your profile stronger for someone discovering you for the first time.

📔 Other noteworthy updates:

• Instagram has also published fresh guidance on how ranking works. Ooh lala. The platform says its systems predict signals such as whether someone will watch, like or share, whilst continuing to value original and recent content, and testing content from smaller creators with people who do not already follow them. Instagram’s own guidance also puts more emphasis on engagement rate and using Trial Reels to test ideas. Which, by the way, we love. Totally recommend getting on the Trial Reel bandwagon if you aren’t already!

What’s new with Google?

🔥 Search Console can show how social and video content performs in Google Search

Google has documented a workflow for adding supported social and video platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, X and YouTube as Search Console properties. This lets businesses review how that content appears across Google surfaces, including Search, Discover and News, and analyse queries, clicks and geographic performance. For those who love a deep dive into the WHY (like us), this is a major yay. 

A Reel, TikTok or YouTube video can now be evaluated as a search asset, not just a social post. If your audience is asking the same questions in Google, Instagram and TikTok, the best content strategy is increasingly one that answers those questions clearly enough to travel across all three.

It’s increasingly evident that educational content is a super strong content pillar. A solid explanation of a legal process, financial question, treatment option or consulting problem can support social discovery and search visibility at the same time (as well as building up trust with audiences).

Everything Else You Might Have Missed…

TikTok says more than 1.7 billion comments are shared on the platform every day. In September it announced Voice Comments of up to 60 seconds, Comment Polls, Photo Carousel Comments with up to nine images and Live Photo Comments. Hellooooo engagement.

LinkedIn rebuilt its creator Follow Recommendation system around large language model embeddings. Instead of relying mostly on popularity and heuristic signals, the system uses profile information such as headlines, bios, skills and experience to better understand a member’s interests and a creator’s expertise. LinkedIn says production tests produced statistically significant improvements in follow rate, with particularly strong gains for new members.

Microsoft Advertising is removing Max CPC for new non-portfolio campaigns from 1 October 2026 across several automated bidding strategies. Existing campaigns already using Max CPC can retain it, and portfolio bid strategies keep the option.

Australian payment rules are also changing from 1 October. The RBA says major card schemes including eftpos, Visa and Mastercard are removing surcharging, with additional no-surcharge changes for American Express and UnionPay from the same date and PayPal following shortly after.

The takeaway from September?

Platforms are not becoming simpler. They are becoming more automated, more interconnected and more selective about which capabilities stay free.

The days of snap, click, post are well and truly over. But that’s not necessarily a negative thing. Though, we find there is still quite clearly massive room for growth. Sure, try that new subscription. Add links directly to posts, schedule a story a month in advance. Heck! Let Meta take control of your ad demographics (questionable!). 

But as usual, keep in mind that the right response is not to hand every decision to AI, or subscribe to every new subscription tier. Keep the parts of your business that require judgement human. Positioning, customer understanding, creative direction, commercial goals and quality control. That’s all on you and your team. Instead, use the platforms to remove admin, improve distribution and reveal better signals.

Let the technology do more of the repetitive work without letting it decide what your business should stand for. If your content strategy could use a team who’s already across every update and knows what to prioritise – let’s talk. 💘

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XOXO

Oh My Digital Team