Digital Digest
Marketing Intelligence Weekly
Weekly updates on the digital marketing news you need to know, including data reform, AI, cookie deprecation and platform updates.
AI in digital
Platforms
ChatGPT adds Shopping, plus WhatsApp integration
- Conversational Shopping Now Live: ChatGPT has rolled out organic product search features—think images, prices, reviews, and direct links—without ads or affiliate bias. It’s available to all users, even those not logged in.
- WhatsApp Integration: Users can now access ChatGPT’s search by messaging 1-800-CHATGPT on WhatsApp, expanding its reach into everyday messaging platforms.
- Memory Feature Coming Soon: A new memory function will allow ChatGPT to remember user preferences and past interactions, offering more personalised responses. This feature will roll out to Plus and Pro users in the coming weeks, excluding certain regions due to privacy laws.
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Help desk
Platforms
Payer name now visible for Google Ads
- Payer Names Now Visible: Starting May 2025, Google will display the payer name—sourced from the advertiser’s billing profile—alongside ads in the My Ad Center and Ads Transparency Center. This applies when the billing name differs from the verified advertiser name.
- Client Implications: For agencies managing multiple clients, the client's payment profile will be shown as the payer name. Agencies incorrectly listed as direct advertisers must re-verify their accounts by May 31, 2025, to avoid misrepresentation.
- Manual Edits Available Soon: From June 2025, advertisers can manually edit the payer name in their account's verification settings. New accounts will default to using the billing name unless updated during verification.
- Enhanced Transparency: These changes aim to increase public visibility into who is actually funding ads, impacting brand perception, trust, and compliance. Accurate payer naming is essential to avoid misattribution and reputational risk.
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AI in digital
Platforms
Meta introduces standalone AI app to rival ChatGPT
- Meta has introduced a standalone AI assistant app, powered by its latest Llama 4 model, aiming to compete directly with ChatGPT.
- The app offers personalised responses by leveraging data from users' Facebook and Instagram accounts.
- A unique feature is the 'Discover' feed, allowing users to view and interact with AI-generated content shared by friends, adding a social dimension to AI interactions.
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AI in digital
Platforms
Google AI Mode goes live in the US
- AI Mode exits Labs: Google has begun testing AI Mode directly in Search for a select group of U.S. users, removing the need for Labs access or a waitlist.
- Enhanced search features: The new mode introduces product and place cards, offering real-time details like prices, reviews, and local inventory, enhancing shopping and local business searches.
- History panel added: A history tab now allows users to revisit past AI Mode searches, facilitating easier follow-ups and reference.
- SEO implications: AI Mode's detailed responses and citations can impact traditional search rankings, offering new opportunities for visibility, especially for content previously buried in search results.
- Potential for broader rollout: With Google I/O approaching, there's speculation that AI Mode could soon be available to a wider audience, signaling a significant shift in search experience.
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Data privacy
The European Commission withdraws ePrivacy Regulation proposal
- ePrivacy Regulation Withdrawn: The EU's proposed ePrivacy Regulation, intended to modernise privacy rules for electronic communications, has been officially withdrawn due to lack of consensus and perceived obsolescence in light of recent legislative developments.
- Industry Influence Noted: The withdrawal highlights the significant influence of industry stakeholders and certain member states in shaping EU privacy legislation, often prioritising commercial interests over individual privacy rights.
- Continued Advocacy for Privacy: “The European Commission's withdrawal of the ePrivacy Regulation proposal is a major setback for privacy rights in Europe, driven by pressure from industry interests and national security concerns. However, EDRi remains committed to advocating for stronger privacy protections, challenging commercial and state surveillance in future legislative efforts.”
- Implications for Marketers: Marketers should stay informed about ongoing discussions and potential new proposals in EU privacy legislation, as future regulations may impact data collection, user consent, and digital advertising practices.
- Need for Proactive Compliance: In the absence of updated regulations, it's crucial for marketers to proactively adopt best practices in data privacy and user consent to build trust and ensure compliance with existing laws like the GDPR.
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Marketing by numbers
Platforms
Google rewrites 76% of title tags
- Google rewrote 76% of title tags in Q1 2025, marking a 25% increase from two years prior. This trend indicates a shift towards prioritising clarity and user intent over strict keyword optimisation.
- Brand names were removed in 63% of modified titles, especially in health-related searches. Google appears to favour concise, informative titles that directly address user queries, often at the expense of brand visibility.
- Informational content saw a significant drop in keyword retention, with only 6% of original titles containing target keywords. Google is focusing on creating titles that clearly explain the content’s topic, rather than adhering to traditional SEO keyword strategies.
- For YMYL (Your Money, Your Life) content, Google modified titles at the same rate (76%) but retained keywords in only 19.63% of cases. This suggests a heightened emphasis on accuracy and user protection over keyword optimisation in sensitive content areas.
- Marketers should adapt by crafting clear, user-focused titles that align with the content's intent and avoid over-reliance on brand names or keyword stuffing. Emphasising readability and relevance can help maintain visibility in search results despite Google's title rewrites.
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AI in digital
Marketing by numbers
Platforms
Google AI Overviews reach 1.5 Billion+ monthly users
- Google's AI Overviews now reach over 1.5 billion monthly users, highlighting how rapidly the feature has scaled across search results globally.
- Marketers need to rethink their SEO strategies, as AI Overviews often prioritise summarised content over traditional organic results, potentially reducing direct traffic.
- Google claims AI Overviews boost user satisfaction, but there’s an ongoing debate among SEO professionals about transparency, accuracy, and the impact on website clicks.
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AI in digital
Platforms
YouTube testing AI-generated Overviews
- YouTube is now testing AI-generated overviews in search results to help users get quick summaries before diving into videos or deeper content.
- The AI overviews are currently available to a small group of users in the US, focusing mainly on educational topics like science, maths, and history.
- This move aligns with Google’s broader Search Generative Experience (SGE), hinting that more AI-driven summaries might soon be the norm across Google properties.
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Cookies
Data privacy
Platforms
Google decides to continue eating third-party cookies in Chrome
- Google has decided not to move away from third-party cookies in Chrome.
- Last year, Google announced it would be deprecating third-party cookies.
- Now, companies can still use third-party cookie targeting in Chrome (the world’s most popular browser).
- ”We’ve made the decision to maintain our current approach to offering users third-party cookie choice in Chrome, and will not be rolling out a new standalone prompt for third-party cookies,” wrote Anthony Chavez, vp Privacy Sandbox at Google.
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Marketing by numbers
Platforms
AI agents to shrink ad opportunity at consideration stage
- Emarketer reports AI agents could shrink ad opportunities at key stages of the buyer journey.
- According to research conducted by Emarketer, AI agents will likely limit ad opportunities during the consideration stage of the buyer journey, but increase opportunity during the awareness stage.
- Emarketer’s research predicts that AI agents will have a neutral effect on conversions during the consumer journey.
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Marketing by numbers
Platforms
Google ad revenue up 8.5% year-on-year
- Ad revenue climbed 8.5% year-over-year, hitting $66.9 billion, with overall revenue up 12% to $90.2 billion.
- Net income soared 46% year-over-year to $34.54 billion, while Services revenue jumped 10% to $77.3 billion; Other Bets revenue dipped 9%.
- Investors are happy, with Google’s stock jumping almost 5% after-hours following the reported earnings.
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AI in digital
Platforms
Baidu launches AI model Ernie 4.5 Turbo
- Baidu just launched its latest AI model "Ernie 4.5 Turbo", claiming significant improvements in memory, logical reasoning, and task performance to stay competitive in China's fast-evolving AI race.
- The announcement was timed with Baidu's annual tech event, where CEO Robin Li positioned Ernie 4.5 as on par with OpenAI’s top models — a clear move to reinforce Baidu's leadership at home.
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AI in digital
Platforms
Google directs search quality raters to rate AI generated content “Lowest” quality
- Google has updated its qaulity rater guidelines, directing human quality raters to potentially rate AI-generated content as “Lowest quality”.
- The “Lowest” rating is described as: “Almost all MC is copied or paraphrased with no effort or added value”, while “Low” quality is defined as: “Some MC is reused, but there is at least minimal effort to curate or modify it.”
- In a visual of the Search quality raters guidelines shared by John Mueller at Search Central Live Madrid, it says “The Lowest rating applies if all or almost all of the MC (main content) on the page (including text, images, audio, video, etc.) is copied, paraphrased, embedded, auto or AI generated, or reposited from other sources with little to no effort, little to no originiality, and little to no added value for visitors to the website. Such pages should be rated Lowest, even if the page assigns credit for the content to another source.”
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Platforms
Instagram is upgrading search functionality to compete with TikTok
- Instagram is revamping its in-app search to surface more relevant and timely video results, directly taking aim at TikTok’s discovery model.
- The update focuses on surfacing keyword-related short videos, including Reels, in search results, not just profiles or hashtags.
- It’s part of Meta’s broader push to position Instagram as a search and discovery platform, particularly for Gen Z users who often use social apps instead of Google.
- Early testing is already live in English-speaking markets, with plans to expand globally, and Instagram is also testing a “visual search” function.
- For marketers, this shift means greater discoverability potential through keyword-optimised Reels — so SEO now matters on Insta, not just hashtags.
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Platforms
Google now subscribes to your emails to update your listings in Google Shopping, Search, and Maps
- Google is now viewing content from your email campaigns to update your listing in Google Merchant Center.
- It will look for content on sales, promotions, social profiles, etc. to update what it shows in Google Search, Shopping, and Maps.
- This is similar to how Google already looks at your website to find this information, only now it’s subscribed to your emails too.
- Google automatically opted users in to this feature on April 3, 2025. Users can opt out however in their Merchant Center settings.
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AI in digital
Platforms
New goals and controls for Performance Max campaigns
- Performance Max campaigns get new goals and more image controls.
- Customer lifecycle goals and reporting: You can now bid more for lapsed customers with retention goals. Plus, there’s a new column in campaign reporting for customer acquisition cost.
- Image controls: You can now automatically source images directly from your landing pages. Plus, image enhancements can help create additional versions of your images to use in your campaigns.
- Search controls for AI: There are now improved search controls to steer AI with an increase on the limit of campaign-level negative keywords from 100 to 10,000.
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AI in digital
Data privacy
Platforms
You can now run Google Gemini in your own data centre
- At Google’s Cloud Next conference, it was announced that Gemini can now run in companies own data centres.
- This is a great move for companies that want to use Google Gemini but retain tight control of their data.
- Google Cloud also announced brining agentic AI to enterprises to locally use the Google Gemini family of AI models in partnership with Nvidia.
- The partnership between Google and Nvidia means using the Nvidia Blackwell HGX and DGX platforms and Nvidia Confidential Computing. This means on-premises data centres remain aligned with data privacy regulations by locking access to sensitive information.
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AI in digital
Platforms
AI Overviews now appearing for businesses in local knowledge panel
- Google has expanded its AI-generated summaries from Google Maps to the local knowledge panels in Search results, providing overviews of businesses.
- These AI summaries include an option for users to report inaccuracies, enhancing the reliability of business information.
- The 'About' link accompanying these summaries directs users to a Google help document explaining how information in local listings is sourced and utilised.
- This feature aims to streamline user experience by presenting essential business details directly within search results, potentially influencing user engagement and click-through rates.
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AI in digital
Platforms
Microsoft has rolled out Copilot Search within Bing
- Microsoft has officially rolled out Copilot Search in Bing, blending traditional search with AI-powered generative features.
- This enhancement aims to provide users with concise summaries, direct answers, and organised information layouts, reducing the need to sift through multiple pages.
- Users can access Copilot Search via Bing.com, through the navigation bar, related topic suggestions beneath relevant answers, or directly at aka.ms/CopilotSearchinBing.
- This integration seeks to offer a more efficient and enriched search experience by combining conventional search results with advanced AI capabilities.
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AI in digital
Platforms
Google’s AI Overviews diving into content deeper in websites
- Recent data from BrightEdge reveals that Google's AI Overviews (AIO) are increasingly citing content from deeper within websites, rather than just homepages.
- This shift underscores the importance for brands to ensure all pages are well-indexed and regularly updated.
- Notably, industries such as Travel, B2B Tech, Education, and Finance have seen significant growth in AIO presence, with Travel experiencing a 39.49% increase.
- To adapt, brands should monitor performance metrics and focus on creating detailed, authoritative content across their entire site to enhance visibility in AI-driven search results.
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Marketing by numbers
Global ad spend is slowing down, with growth rates reduced worldwide
- Global advertising expenditure is experiencing a slowdown, prompting brands to rethink their strategies.
- APAC is on par with North America with a 6.6% total media ad spend growth in 2025.
- Per an updated WARC Media forecast, global ad spend growth predictions have been reduced by $20 billion over the next 2 years.
- This update has prompted Emarketer to bring its predicted 2025 growth down to 8.3%; in a previous update, it was 8.9%.
- To navigate the changing landscape, brands are advised to diversify their media approaches, invest in digital platforms, and focus on engaging content formats like video to maintain effective audience connections.
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AI in digital
Consumers know when you’re using AI in images and text
- Recent studies have shown that a significant number of consumers can identify AI-generated content, both in images and text.
- One study revealed that U.S. consumers correctly identified AI-generated images 71.63% of the time when shown real photos alongside AI versions.
- Another survey found that 82.1% of respondents could spot AI-written content at least some of the time, with the rate rising to 88.4% among those aged 22–34.
- These findings suggest that brands should exercise caution when using AI in their marketing materials, keeping in mind that consumers will often know if you’re using it.
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Platforms
Google updates its Unfair Advantage policy for Google Ads
- Google has recently updated its Unfair Advantage policy, aiming to clarify and enforce guidelines that prevent advertisers from gaining an unjust edge in ad auctions. This move has sparked varied reactions within the advertising community.
- Clarification of Policy: The revised policy explicitly prohibits practices that could lead to an unfair advantage in ad auctions, including showing multiple ads in one location.
- Enforcement Measures: Violations of this policy will result in a warning before account suspensions.
- Advertiser Concerns: Some advertisers have expressed concerns about the ambiguity of what constitutes an "unfair advantage," seeking more detailed guidelines to ensure compliance.
- Impact on Strategy: Marketers are advised to review their current advertising strategies, particularly regarding account structures and ad placements, to align with the updated policy and avoid potential penalties.
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AI in digital
AI web crawlers are increasing server costs and skewing your data
- AI web crawlers, such as those from OpenAI and Anthropic AI, are consuming substantial website bandwidth, leading to increased server costs and skewed analytics for site owners.
- Some websites have experienced significant slowdowns and increased operational expenses due to the relentless activity of these AI bots.
- To mitigate these issues, tools like Google's Google-Extended allow site owners to manage how their content is used for AI model training, balancing search visibility with resource management.
- It's crucial for marketers and webmasters to monitor bot traffic and implement appropriate strategies to protect site performance and data integrity.
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Platforms
Google Merchant Center click reporting to align with Google Ads
- Google Merchant Center is updating its click reporting to align with Google Ads starting April 21, 2025. Here's what you need to know:
- Unified Click Reporting: Both platforms will now report clicks in the same way, ensuring consistency across your advertising data.
- Impact on Data: Expect changes in both current and historical data within Merchant Center due to this update.
- No Change in Google Ads Reporting: Your reporting experience in Google Ads will remain the same; only Merchant Center's reporting is being updated.
- Reason for Change: This update reflects new advertising formats that involve different types of user interactions.
- Keep an eye on your Merchant Center reports after April 21 to understand how this change affects your data.
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Marketing by numbers
More Aussie’s looking at finance-related websites and apps YoY
- In February 2025, over 21 million Aussies turned to finance-related websites and apps, marking a 4.3% increase from January and a 5.6% rise compared to the same time last year.
- On average, each user spent nearly two hours engaging with these platforms, with online banking leading the way—96.9% of online Australians aged 14+ used some form of online banking.
- Insurance and loan-related content saw significant year-on-year growth, jumping 21.6% and 16% respectively. Notably, women aged 40 to 54 were the most active in exploring loan options online.
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AI in digital
Platforms
LinkedIn rolls out new AI and automation tools
- LinkedIn has rolled out new AI and automation tools aimed at enhancing ad performance for marketers. Here's a quick rundown:
- Media Planner: This feature allows you to forecast ad performance before launch by testing various audience segments, placements, and budgets. It estimates reach, impressions, and cost-per-result, aiding in data-driven decision-making.
- Ad Duplication & Dynamic UTMs: Ad Duplication enables copying ads across multiple campaigns and accounts, saving time and ensuring consistency. Dynamic UTMs automate URL tracking parameter generation, improving performance analysis.
- Marketing Overview: Provides a centralised dashboard displaying key metrics like cost-per-result and return-on-ad-spend (ROAS) across multiple ad accounts, allowing for quick performance analysis.
- Measurement Insights: Offers AI-driven analyses of campaign performance, highlighting areas for improvement and suggesting actionable steps to enhance results.
- Performance Digest: Delivers regular AI-generated reports summarising campaign performance, keeping you informed about key metrics and trends.
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Platforms
Google Ads Search Terms Report includes more PMax data
- Google Ads has updated its Search Terms Report to include data from Performance Max (PMax) campaigns, enhancing transparency for advertisers. Key points:
- Enhanced Visibility: Advertisers can now view specific search terms triggering their PMax ads, offering deeper insights into campaign performance.
- Negative Keywords Integration: The update incorporates negative keyword terms, allowing for more refined ad targeting and reduced irrelevant traffic.
- Gradual Rollout: While many users are experiencing these features, the rollout is ongoing, so availability may vary across accounts.
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AI in digital
Platforms
Claude can now search the web
- Claude's New Web Search Feature: Anthropic's AI assistant, Claude, now offers web search capabilities for paid users in the US, providing up-to-date information with source citations.
- Enhanced Information Accuracy: By integrating web search, Claude aims to deliver more accurate and current responses, addressing previous limitations due to knowledge cutoffs.
- User Demand and Implementation: The addition of web search addresses user demand for real-time information access, following earlier user-created workarounds to provide internet connectivity to the AI.
- Competitive Edge in AI Market: This update positions Claude more competitively against other AI models like ChatGPT, which have already incorporated web search functionalities.
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AI in digital
Marketing by numbers
Platforms
Key takeaways from Google’s Search Central Live event
- Google recently hosted the Search Central Live event in New York City, offering insights and updates for SEOs, content creators, and marketers. Here are the key takeaways:
- Emphasis on EEAT: Google underscored the importance of Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (EEAT) in content. However, they cautioned that merely attempting to 'sprinkle' EEAT onto a site isn't effective; genuine application is essential.
- Web Spam Statistics: A notable point was the revelation that approximately 50% of the content on the web is considered spam, highlighting the ongoing challenges in maintaining content quality.
- Site Reputation Abuse: Google addressed concerns about site reputation abuse penalties, clarifying that there isn't a specific list of freelancers or contributors that could lead to such penalties.
- AI Content and Scaled Abuse: Discussions around AI-generated content emphasized that issues of scaled content abuse aren't exclusive to AI. The focus remains on the quality and intent behind content creation.
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