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Inside the Creator Economy

News, strategy and analysis on the creator economy, media, generative AI and more from the former GM of VidCon

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Inside the Creator Economy

Featured Posts

Jan 5, 2026

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13 min read

10 Trends to Rule 2026!

How The Beast joins Baby Shark, Disappointing Microdramas and the opportunities in AI Slop. SUBHEAD

Jim Louderback

Jan 26, 2026

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15 min read

DECODING YOUTUBE 2026

What Neal Mohan was really saying in his blog post about 2026 priorities

Jim Louderback

Latest Issues

Mar 9, 2026

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11 min read

$13 Billion. One Law. Big Problem.

TikTok’s #1 market just banned its youngest users. And TikTok Shop generated $13 billion there last year.

Jim Louderback

Mar 2, 2026

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12 min read

When Your Editor Becomes a Day Trader

MrBeast’s editor, a prediction market, and a $20K fine. This is just the beginning.

Jim Louderback

Feb 23, 2026

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17 min read

More Candy Crush than Netflix

$13.8 billion, 660 million viewers, and it's just getting started.

Jim Louderback

Feb 17, 2026

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16 min read

YouTube’s Hidden Monopoly

YouTube becomes the world’s biggest content buyer without ratings and box office failures.

Jim Louderback

Feb 9, 2026

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13 min read

Arbitraging Authenticity

A look at the future of sports and fans, inspired by last week’s Super Bowl and the IAB’s annual ALM meeting

Jim Louderback

Feb 2, 2026

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12 min read

TRUST RISES, KPIs CRASH

Why the “Trust Graph” will eclipse the Social Graph in 2026.

Jim Louderback

Jan 26, 2026

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15 min read

DECODING YOUTUBE 2026

What Neal Mohan was really saying in his blog post about 2026 priorities

Jim Louderback

Jan 19, 2026

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13 min read

Foolish Algorithms

Did TikTok Just Kill the Influencer? Inside their 2026 Trend Report

Jim Louderback

Jan 14, 2026

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14 min read

Creepy 2026 Signals and 1BFS Takeaways

The creepy signals that will define the creator economy in 2026 and beyond - plus a 1 Billion Followers Summit recap

Jim Louderback

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