Nearly two years ago, Tom Ryan graced the cover of Adweek for a story about making Pluto TV into one of the largest AVOD players in the game. ViacomCBS purchased Pluto TV for $340 million and later promoted Ryan to head up ViacomCBS' streaming division last October. As Paramount+ launches today, Ryan has used Pluto TV's playbook to help build ViacomCBS' entry into the streaming wars.

Points of differentiation: Ryan tells Adweek what will make Paramount+ stand out among its peers.

Related reading: Here are seven key takeaways from ViacomCBS' Paramount+ event for investors.

More TV news:

• Disney streaming vet Kevin Mayer has resurfaced at DAZN.
• Fox renews the longest-running scripted show on TV: The Simpsons.
• A+E Networks upfront emphasizes the power of linear TV.

Free Webinar: Today at 1 p.m ET, TVSquared president Jo Kinsella and Blockgraph CEO Jason Manningham look at what it takes to power cross-platform TV advertising. Register here.

For unlimited access to Adweek's industry-leading coverage of the streaming wars, check out our latest subscription offer.

Yesterday morning, Google said thanks, but not thanks to the Unified ID 2.0 that had been adopted by just about all the major independent ad-tech players (coincidentally AT&T's Xandr backed UID 2.0 yesterday before Google's announcement). It's a major dagger to The Trade Desk-created solution (now controlled by non-profit Prebid). In a blog post, one Google director wrote:

"We’re making explicit that once third-party cookies are phased out, we will not build alternate identifiers to track individuals as they browse across the web, nor will we use them in our products.”

Here's what you need to know about Google's decision.

Advice: In this contributor piece, Myles Younger, the senior director at MightyHive, explains five things you should know about rising to the challenge of cookie-less advertising.

Influencer marketing is on track to be a nearly $14 billion business this year. But how can brands get the most bang for their buck? A new study from UCLA revealed the importance of every cog in the influencer machine in order to make a word-of-mouth campaign work.

Here's what every brand marketer needs to know from the study.

Last August, Bud Light Seltzer announced it was creating a Chief Meme Officer position. Ten “fire” Bud Light Seltzer memes per week earned one viral poster $5,000/month. The story generated a tremendous amount of buzz in our community as everyone wanted to know what exactly goes into being a Chief Meme Officer.

We have those answers: Jessica Zafarris, who you likely know as the frequent author of this newsletter, spoke with Conor Mason of Bud Light and Mike Vitiello of Wieden+Kennedy New York about how this different kind of CMO is working out.

'Rosemarie's Life' is part of a healthcare worker recruitment drive in the country.

Register for Social Media Week NYC by March 12 to save 30% on your pass. You won’t want to miss this live virtual summit, May 4-7, bringing together global leaders, social media practitioners and digital marketers for networking, education, and in-depth conversations. Register today.

Facebook’s Global Head of Social Marketing talks about the power of belonging and empowering communities.

Expect more locations, sortation centers and stores-within-stores.

Private equity firm Apollo is buying the arts and crafts retailer.

The agency was founded by CPB, Momentum vet Omid Farhang, along with Asmirh Davis and Jorge Hernandez.

A deep dive into earnings calls, from Facebook to Meredith to Spotify.

It's part of the location-based digital video network's Women's History Month initiative.