After what felt like an endless wave of platform updates and controversies in April, May has so far been a little lighter. However there are still some updates from the ongoing TikTok vs the US Government saga, a perplexing new Gen AI kid on the block, plus updates from Google and Meta to take a look at.

TikTok Strikes Back

While the US Government is attempting to either shut down or force ByteDance to divest TikTok, it appears the platform is not going down without a fight. Essentially, it feels singled out (they aren’t wrong on that), that the ban is unconstitutional, and are taking action accordingly. 

In a word, Yikes.

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In other TikTok news this week, it has said that it will call out and flag AI-generated videos, even if they were created on other platforms. If you’re reading this you probably know authentic content > Gen-AI content, but an important case study nonetheless.

Perplexed by Perplexity?

I’ve been reading a little bit in the last few weeks about a new search/Gen AI kid on the block: Perplexity. It’s designed to blend the search capabilities of Google with the ‘conversational ease’ of AI tools such as Chat GPT, meaning a far more comprehensive user experience than currently offered by search. 

Valued at $1bn, a lot of people are betting big on it. Whether or not it achieves the same mainstream success as ChatGPT remains to be seen, but the broader lessons are the same; it’s key to ensure your website content is authentic and high quality, as it will likely inform searches related to your brand.

Google Gets Tough

Google has begun to enforce its site reputation abuse policy, with (in this case) manual actions against certain websites.

High-profile sites like CNN, USA Today, and LA Times have seen their subdomains or sections, especially those hosting low-quality third-party content like coupon directories, either deranked or delisted from search results. This targets content that aims to exploit a site’s search ranking without genuinely being a part of the main website.

An example of this is where a well-known news site allows a third-party to use a subdomain to offer discount vouchers. Relatively unlikely you’d be exploiting this, but another sign that Google is clamping down on ‘low quality’ content’.

Further Reading

In case you aren’t already doing this, Search Engine Journal has pulled together a handy guide to use Chat GPT to help guide and improve your keyword research.

Meta is (finally!) testing cross posting from Instagram to Threads.

This popped up in my feed this week and seems useful, although I haven’t had the chance to put it into practice yet – How to Create an Email List and use it for SEO.

And finally, quite a fun piece from Social Media Today making the case that marketers need to focus more on using social media to entertain.

That’s it for another week – if you found this interesting then I would really appreciate if you shared this with your friends and colleagues. 

If you’re feeling particularly generous, then I won’t stop you from buying me a coffee. Have a great weekend and I’ll see you next week!

It’s been a busy week in Digi Marketing-land, with plenty going on at TikTok, while we saw another quarter of ‘record’ growth at LinkedIn – but should we believe everything we hear?

Meanwhile, Google Ads will soon be stepping in and pausing lower volume keywords, while a case bubbling up in the US might redefine how social media platforms are held accountable. Let’s dive in…

All go at TikTok

This newsletter feels like a weekly missive from TikTok plus An Other. Well, they didn’t disappoint; in the wonderful world of TT we saw;

• An agreement was finally struck with Universal Music (remember that?), meaning Universal artists can now be utilised by platform users once again. The answer, as ever, involved more money changing hands.
• TikTok owners Bytedance have reportedly said they are happy to ditch the US altogether rather than sell up, if the company can’t win its case to avoid a spin off. It feels surprising they’d want to leave money on the table (workarounds can often somehow be found) and it does seem like posturing, but fighting talk to say the least.
• Not exactly platform news, but adjacent to this; I found this piece on the emergence of superstar therapists on TikTok fascinating.

LinkedIn seeing record levels of engagement

For around the 25th quarter in a row (no joke, this is enjoyable, and contains some healthy scepticism), LinkedIn has declared record growth levels. In all honesty this is actually believable – it does feel like the platform has gone from strength to strength over the past 3-4 years, with an influx of creators, content types and advertisers.

No real key learnings or headlines beyond the fact that if you/your brand aren’t already upping your LinkedIn game, you really should be looking at your options. More and more consumer brands are starting to see the potential of the targeting capabilities on there. Anecdotally I’m seeing content on there fly at the moment for a couple of clients and peers. Although for balance, it is worth saying that you shouldn’t believe everything you hear from LI.

Google Ads will automatically pause low activity keywords from June

One for the SEM marketers out there, but potentially an important one – Google will start to automatically pause low volume/activity keywords from June onwards. Make sure you keep a close eye on your keyword lists – you might find those long tail, hype-specific and niche terms you have on there suddenly get paused unceremoniously.

Do social media users have the right to control what they see in their feeds?

An interesting question, and one currently being explored via a lawsuit against Meta. This lawsuit is challenging the protections traditionally afforded by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in the USA. 

This law has historically shielded platforms from liability for user-generated content. The case, notably involving claims that Meta’s ad tools facilitated discrimination in housing ads, could redefine how platforms are held accountable.

This demonstrates the (increasing) importance of ethical ad targeting and is a sign of potential shifts in compliance and liability risks on digital platforms​. One to keep an eye on.

Further Reading

LinkedIn shared an infographic showcasing the most in-demand marketing skills from the platform. Encouragingly for many reading this newsletter, “social media marketing” is right up there.

Pinterest doesn’t attract much drama or attention; it just sits there doing its thing and seemingly seeing solid, sturdy levels of user growth.

Having talked up its AI tools, studies and stories are now showing that Meta’s Advantage+ ‘set and forget’ tools are burning through budget, and in some cases even exceeding budget caps. Alarming and demonstrative of why you need to keep a close eye on your online spend.

Alphabet’s Q1 revenue was up 15%, something it attributes to Gemini AI. This, unsurprisingly, is the strategic focus and integrating it into search will be a key theme of the next 12 months and beyond.

That’s it for another busy week – if you found this interesting then I would really appreciate if you shared this with your friends and colleagues. 

If you’re feeling particularly generous, then I won’t stop you from buying me a coffee. Have a great weekend and I’ll see you next week!

After a few quiet weeks, we’ve had a very interesting seven days on the business side of social media platforms, with chaotic weeks for both Meta and TikTok. So, without further ado…

US Congress approves possible TikTok ban

After several months of umming and ahhing, the news that Bytedance has been fearing has been confirmed; it needs to sell TikTok out of Chinese ownership or face losing access to one of the world’s most lucrative markets.

• TikTok of course says that it will fight this, as you’d expect.
• Forbes has pulled together a useful timeline and does cast its own doubts on whether or not this ban would actually happen.
• Martech took a look at what this means for marketers and the take wasn’t what I initially expected, but makes a lot of sense. In short – not only do you need to potentially rethink your marketing plan, you also need to deal with 16 different state laws that massively overcomplicate compliance and clearly come from a place of misunderstanding.
• My own view – if you’re based in the States, are relying on TikTok and aren’t already considering your options, then now would be a good time to start contingency planning. If you’re only focussed on other markets, I would keep a close eye on what’s going on, but I wouldn’t be too concerned about changing everything up just yet.

Meta earnings call sparks stock sell-off

Any schadenfreude that Zuck and the rest of Meta might have enjoyed from TikTok’s woes has surely been dampened down this week following a stock sell-off which is set to erase nearly $170 billion from the company’s market value.

The sell off follows a less-than-impressive set of quarterly earnings call which revealed that the company’s big bet on AI will likely take years to pay off.

As a marketer I wouldn’t be unduly worried just yet – but it does show the reality that the rest of the world might not be quite as sold on the potential of AI as we are in our digital marketing bubble. One more positive note from the call is that Threads now apparently has 150 million monthly active users, and is increasingly emerging as a credible channel.

Further Reading

A great one for those writing pitch decks at the moment – Electronics Hub have pulled together an infographic showing average screen time and social media usage split out by region.

Search Engine Land has pulled together a more-than-decent guide to SEO on TikTok and how you can harness it.

Google has now fired over 50 workers following a series of anti-Israel protests. It has also announced that it will be delaying its cookie phase out once again.

That’s it for this week – if you found this interesting then I would really appreciate if you shared this with your friends and colleagues. 

If you’re feeling particularly generous, then I won’t stop you from buying me a coffee. Have a great weekend and I’ll see you next week!