Plus, the things you can control when platforms keep changing  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ Raptive News SEPTEMBER 23, 2026 By Emily Rose VP, Content Marketing Hi Raptive, There’s a lot about this business you can’t control. Platforms change. Algorithms evolve. New tools (and subscriptions!) seem to appear overnight. But the things you can control still matter just as much. Create content worth seeking out, give readers reasons to come back, and invest your time in the work that makes a meaningful impact. Those are still the fundamentals that help great content find—and keep—an audience. Read more of this week’s updates: • What Meta’s latest move could mean for you • Why content effort matters more than freshness • What media leaders agree matters most right now What’s new Our take on Meta’s new subscription options Last week, Meta introduced Meta One, a new subscription service across Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Meta AI that bundles expanded AI capabilities with professional tools for creators and businesses. One of the more enticing features is the option to add links to posts and Reels, though there are limits. There are also features like a more prominent follow button on Reels, automatic follow invitations for people who engage with your content, and expanded access to Meta Business Agent. Meta says it plans to add more tools for marketing, content creation, business operations, and optimization over time. So, what does this mean for you? Here’s our take: • We expect accounts that use these paid features to drive higher engagement. • If you’re a creator who wants to grow Meta-specific revenue, aggressively drive traffic to your site from Instagram or Facebook, or grow your social audiences, the price could be worthwhile. • It’s OK to take a “wait and see” approach here. Meta One is compelling, but it may not be necessary to win on social. Best practices and consistency are still your strongest levers. We’ll continue to share new insights and recommendations with you as we learn more! Know someone ready for a stronger Q4? Q4 is one of the year’s biggest earning seasons, so it’s a great time to bring qualified creators and publishers in your community over to Raptive. If you know someone looking to grow their business, send them your referral code. They’ll get to capture Q4 RPMs with Raptive, and you’ll earn a bonus when they join. Here’s how it works: 1. Share your unique referral code (RAPTIVE-2883E611CB) with qualified creators and publishers who are ready to grow their business with Raptive 2. They’ll enter your code when they apply—we’ll notify you when they’re accepted 3. Once they successfully install ads within 90 days, you’ll earn your bonus Referral bonuses: • $1,000 for every referred site with 100K+ pageviews • $250 for every referred site with 25K–99.9K pageviews To make sharing even easier, use this link—your code will be auto-filled on the application. You can always find your referral code later in your Account Settings in your Raptive dashboard. Questions? Visit our Referral Program FAQ or reply to this email. Top resource Google wants more than fresh content Google doesn’t just care that content is fresh. It’s also looking for evidence of useful, original effort—from firsthand experience and unique perspectives to strong visuals and thoughtful organization. Our analysis of 103,000 content refreshes reinforces that meaningful improvements were associated with stronger Google traffic growth than lighter updates. See what our data shows → Quick tip Invest in the audience that chooses you “Leaders from some of the biggest names in media gathered at The Rebooting Audience Summit last week. One thing that really stuck with me is that it’s getting harder to build a business around traffic you don’t control. The creators who are in the best position are building deep connections with their readers through a point of view, useful expertise, and a reason for them to come back. Algorithms can help people find you, but they can’t build relationships for you.” Erika Leone EVP, Brand Marketing In case you missed it There’s more time to earn with Raptive Community We’ve extended the Raptive Community September Celebration! You now have through October 14 to apply to Raptive Community or register for the member growth bonus to be eligible to earn up to $5,000. Already participating? Keep growing—and don’t forget, creators you refer have until October 14 to apply, too. See how Community bonuses work → What we’re reading Catch up on news from around the industry • Media Briefing: Overheard at the Digiday Publishing Summit, Sept. ’26 “Google Zero” edition (Digiday | gated) • Pinterest unveils Visual Search Ads, bringing new performance advertising to visual discovery (Pinterest) • Microsoft exec called AI scraping “the largest theft of labor in human history,” new unredacted filings reveal (TechCrunch) • OpenAI reveals new and concerning AI behavior (AP News) • Anthropic says Claude is helping develop future AI models (AP News) Question of the week What brings your readers back to you? ❤️ They trust me I’ve built a relationship they can count on 📚 They love my content They know they’ll find something useful 🤝 It feels like a community They come back for connection 💯 All of the above That’s the goal! Thanks for reading! Was this email helpful? You’re receiving this email because you help manage a site that works with Raptive. To ensure our emails reach your inbox, add hello@email.raptive.com to your email contacts. Want to stop receiving Raptive News emails? You can update your preferences anytime. 1411 Broadway, 32nd Floor New York, NY, 10018, US © 2026 Raptive. All rights reserved. Unsubscribe | View online