Plus, a life-changing social tool and brand tips from a Hollywood insider  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ Raptive News DECEMBER 3, 2025 By Lauren Fitzpatrick Director, Editorial Content Hi Raptive, If your inbox looked anything like mine did over the last few days, this newsletter should be a breath of fresh air—we aren’t urging you to buy now or warning that it’s your last chance for exclusive savings. While brands were hitting send on those emails, advertisers were pulling back the reins. Thanksgiving weekend ad spend was more reserved than usual, with the industry seeing lower advertiser demand and variable RPMs. See which traffic sources drove your highest RPMs with our revamped Performance by Traffic Source report, and use that information to maximize value for your December traffic. Here’s what else is inside this week: • The social media gamechanger for Amy Bakes Bread • Brush up your brand presence with Ctrl Alt Ask • Creators warn that AI slop could wreck holiday tables What’s new Greenlight your most valuable traffic opportunities Performance by Traffic Source makes it easy to see how traffic, RPM, and earnings are trending across different sources. And now, it’s better than ever. We’ve updated this report with a cleaner design, making it more intuitive to navigate. We’ve also added a new graph, allowing you to easily view the performance of each traffic source over time. Furthermore, you can now click on a source to highlight that platform’s traffic in the summary metrics and the graph. This shows you which platforms are driving traffic, earnings, and high RPMs over time, so you can focus your energy where it counts. Whether you want to better understand what’s working or investigate a drop-off, you’ve got the visibility to make smarter content and promotion decisions. See your latest traffic report → The secret ingredient for social success Amy Coyne of Amy Bakes Bread used Grocers List to turn comments into lasting connections. With simple auto-DM prompts, she made it easy for her audience to get recipes while growing her email list by 28,000 and driving over 500,000 pageviews. It’s a low-lift way to boost engagement across Instagram and Facebook, and Amy says it’s been a “life-changing” tool for her content strategy. Get the recipe for results → Ctrl Alt Ask Episode 6 (LIVE): Brand-building secrets from the Hollywood playbook With such a crowded digital landscape, how do you make your brand stand out? In our first-ever live episode, host Stephanie Woodin gets the scoop from Emily Robinson, a top entertainment publicist who has launched television shows, products, and global brands. Together, they translate branding lessons from Hollywood to the world of online creators. Get Emily’s insider tips on brand strategy and learn how you can build a stronger, more memorable brand. Listen to the latest episode → Want to join us on the pod? Send your question to ctrlaltask@raptive.com. Top resource Not all traffic is equal The refreshed Performance by Traffic Source isn’t just a pretty face. Each traffic source is associated with a unique reader behavior profile, and when you better understand your readers, you can better tailor your content by platform to meet their needs. Learn how to turn your dashboard insights into higher revenue, now and into 2026. How reader behavior impacts RPM → Quick tip Do more of what works “As a creator myself, I use Performance by Traffic Source to see which platforms are performing well so I can capitalize on that success. You can also see which platforms are underperforming and consider giving them some extra attention. Once you’ve put time into those platforms, the new graph allows you to easily see how your efforts are paying off.” Megan Tenney Sr. Product Manager Don’t miss Frame up your ad revenue The Frame ad is our newest Custom Creative format—built to help you earn more during high-traffic times like the holidays or the Super Bowl. Here’s how it works: 1. The ad runs as soon as your page loads and frames the borders of your site. 2. As your reader scrolls, the top and side borders disappear, leaving just the bottom border, but they’ll reappear if scrolled up. After 30 seconds, all borders disappear entirely. 3. While it’s running, it replaces your sticky video and footer ad, and earns 2–3x more than both combined. Best of all, you control when these ads run. Turn Frame ads on anytime from your Ad Preferences page in the Raptive dashboard. Start earning more during peak moments → Raptive in the news Creator advocacy doesn’t take a holiday Not in our house Net Influencer covers our comprehensive efforts to stop AI from stealing your content. How we’re leveraging scale → Crawling for cash Can creators monetize AI traffic right now? We partnered with Inspired Taste, Bidshield, and SmartMedia to find out. Here’s what AI paid out → Broken connections We talked to CNET about how AI slop is taking the ‘social’ out of social media. There’s still hope → What we’re reading Catch up on news from around the industry • Meta releases a new tool to protect creators from having their work stolen (TechCrunch) • The algorithm ate your grandmother’s recipe (Implicator.ai) • Black Friday data shows online sales strong, store results mixed (Forbes | Gated) • AI slop recipes are taking over the internet—and Thanksgiving dinner (Bloomberg | Gift link) Question of the week Which holiday party personality best matches your brand? 💃 Dressed in sequins Tearing up the dance floor 💁 Behind the scenes Lending a hand 🥂 Working the room Charming guests 🐈 In the hallway Bonding with the host’s pet 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? 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