This months in Social Intelligence: October 2026
There's always something happening in social intelligence. Companies being bought, new technology coming onto the market, changes to data access, new research and people moving jobs. We keep an eye on what's going on and pull together the news worth knowing about each month.
October 2026
French court rules against X in API pricing dispute
A French commercial court has ruled in favour of Agorapulse in its dispute with X over a sudden and substantial increase in API access fees. In its May 7, 2026 decision, the Paris Economic Activities Court found that X held a de facto monopoly over access to its own data and had imposed disproportionate pricing and unfair commercial terms. The court ordered X to restore Agorapulse's previous API pricing for 15 months.
The decision is currently under appeal.
The wider question is how much control social platforms can exercise over the commercial terms of data access. Social intelligence companies depend on access to platform data, but often have limited negotiating power when pricing, permissions or access conditions change. The ruling could become an important reference point in future disputes between platforms and the companies that depend on their data.
How much notice do platforms give when APIs change?
A new study from Blotato examined 130 API changes across ten social media platforms between October 2024 and September 2026, looking at how much notice developers receive when changes are introduced.
The differences were striking. Four of X's six dated breaking changes gave developers five days' notice or less. By comparison, all six of Instagram's comparable changes came with at least 90 days' notice. For companies relying on these APIs, the amount of notice can make a significant difference to how they manage their services and support customers. It's also worth considering alongside the recent Agorapulse ruling against X. Access to platform data is one thing. Being able to plan around changes to that access is another.
Behavix and MyTelescope bring search and behavioural data together
Behavix and MyTelescope have announced a partnership combining search-demand data with opt-in behavioural panel data, bringing together what people are searching for with how they behave online.
The companies are also making this intelligence available through APIs and Model Context Protocol (MCP), allowing it to be used within AI assistants and other existing workflows, rather than requiring users to work in a separate platform. The initial offering is available in the US. It's an interesting development on two fronts: combining different sources of evidence to understand consumer behaviour, and making that intelligence accessible directly within the tools people already use.
Meltwater brings Kim Cattrall to the world of intelligence
Meltwater has launched a new global brand campaign starring Kim Cattrall, marking the company's 25th anniversary.
Called Intelligence is Always in Style, the campaign features Cattrall as a senior executive using intelligence to keep on top of brand conversations, reputation, emerging trends and AI visibility. It's an interesting change of approach for a category that usually markets itself through technology, data and dashboards. Meltwater is using celebrity, fashion and humour to make intelligence feel like part of modern business culture.
Could we be seeing a change in how intelligence companies want to be perceived? What did you think of the campaign?
Digital 2027: AI is growing, but search and social still matter
The latest Digital 2027 Global Overview Report from We Are Social, Meltwater and Simon Kemp brings together research on how people use the internet, social media, search and AI.
One finding worth paying attention to is how people are using AI when making purchasing decisions. According to GWI data included in the report, 17% of adult internet users globally discover new brands through AI, rising to 26% who use it to research potential purchases. But search engines and social networks remain ahead. Some 45.3% use search engines to research brands, while 41.8% turn to social networks. AI is becoming another place where people look for information, but it hasn't replaced the channels they already use. And the report suggests its role in researching a purchase is currently greater than its role in discovering something new.
The full report runs to more than 900 pages, covering everything from internet adoption to social media behaviour, digital commerce and AI use. Access here.
Can social intelligence tell us what a population thinks?
Social intelligence has always had a complicated relationship with representativeness. We can analyse millions of conversations, but that doesn't necessarily tell us what the wider population thinks.
In a recent Greenbook interview, askpolly CEO Erin Kelly discusses the company's approach to using randomised sampling and AI to produce consumer measurements from organic social conversations. It's an interesting development because it raises a question the industry has been wrestling with for years: under what conditions can we make claims about a wider population based on what people say online?
Sampling is part of that conversation, but so are the environments where conversations take place, who participates, what can be observed, and how the resulting evidence is interpreted. These are also questions we're beginning to examine through SI Lab's Data Quality & Integrity Council. Not just whether the data itself is reliable, but whether it's suitable for the question we're trying to answer and what conclusions we can reasonably draw from it.
People & Recognition
US Postal Service social intelligence professionals recognised at PRNEWS Awards: Brianna Sumter and Mary Beth Levin, MPH, have both received People of the Year awards from PRNEWS. Brianna was recognised in the Ones to Watch category, while Mary Beth received an award in the Data and Digital Disruptors category.
Sources
AgoraPulse and X court case here.
API changes from Blotato here.
Behavix and MyTelescope here.
Meltwater and Kim Cattrall campaign here.
Greenbook interview here.
Us Postal Service social intelligence professionals recognised here.