Marketing Letter - 💀 Forbes Marketplace Strikes Again

GM nerds,

Welcome back to the newsletter that knows its audience isn’t “normal”

(h/t semrush)

Here’s what’s good this week:

→ AI’s All-Timer E-commerce Xmas💸
→ Forbes Marketplace Strikes Again 💀
→ YouTube Pause Screen Ads Officially A Thing
→ more, obviously 💬

But first…

​This Week's Video 🗣️🎙️​

In this week's video, I explore a fascinating claim regarding Forbes and its connections with CNN and USA Today. This revelation has ignited interest in the potential dynamics of online media partnerships and the strategies employed by these organizations. I also share some observations and insights, including some income statistics and recent engagements with my community. Tune in for more.

​YouTube​​

What’s Going Down @ Google 📊

→ A Google SGE data study by Search Engine Journal "analyzed 500k queries to find patterns and triggers enabling SGE results" and provides some solid analysis divided into verticals.

TLDR; there's a massive difference between verticals, with Beauty, Automotive, and Marketplace all seeing an SGE answer more than 90% of the time, while a category like Finances is triggering an SGE response under 50% of the time.

You’d think that Finances being that low makes sense, considering YMYL, but Health-related queries were covered almost 80%.

→ Earlier this week, we learned that Google updated its spam policies— here’s an analysis that breaks down precisely what those updates were, and why they might matter.

- “Spam” is now any “content designed to manipulate Search”
- “Engaging with a third party to use your site as a coupon domain” also counts as spam *cough* FORBES *cough*
- According to official wording, links are not a factor in determining webpage relevance
- If Google finds that you have repeatedly attempted spam, it might remove your site (or parts of your site) from Search

More in the link, too.

→ Speaking of the Forbes site reputation saga, the same dude who dropped the massive piece on the Forbes Marketplace affiliate / third-party / parasite SEO operation has also found that CNN and USA Today have fake websites that are also run by Forbes Marketplace.

Social Media Round-up 📲

→ Snapchat, which has been using OpenAI’s GPT models to power its “MyAI” feature, is partnering up with Google’s Gemini AI to power its Google Lens-like feature, as well as a few other GenAI tools.

→ YouTube is expanding access to a few core features, including pause screen ads. After years of anticipation and 6 months after a formal announcement that they’d be coming soon, pause screen ads are officially a thing. While early user reaction, predictably, is annoyance about more ads, these have the benefit of being “less interruptive.”

→ Also, access to YouTube’s GenAI “conversational assistant” is being expanded to more users. If you haven't yet, you'll soon notice an "Ask" button in the bar beneath videos. Pressing the "Ask" prompt will provide "suggestions for questions that you may be interested in based on the clip that you’re watching."

→ In case you’re wondering, apparently these are the 9 skills required to be a successful social media marketer: Writing & Editing, Listening, Customer Care, Analytics, Paid Promotions, Research, Photo Editing, Designing, and Video Creation. If you’re looking to step up your social media game, those are some areas to focus on.

AI Insight 🤖

→ Apparently, we’re looking at a record “$240.8 Billion U.S. Holiday Season Online,” and AI is playing a massive role in that as generative AI-powered chatbots have seen a “100% increase in traffic to retail sites.” The forecast is calling for even bigger increases this holiday season, and here are 5 reasons why:

- 70% of consumers who have used generative AI for shopping believe it enhances their experience

- 40% plan to use it for the holidays

- 20% turn to generative AI to find the best deals

- 19% use it to quickly find specific items online

- and 15% use it for brand recommendation

Tons more in this doc, too. Worth a look.

→ Here's a solid thread on how Ryan Darani used "AI content to generate millions of visits."

Step 1: Prioritize "keeping consistent quality" as you scale by fine-tuning models, keeping your prompts updated, making sure your systems have humans in-the-loop, and automating testing and filters for correct spelling and grammar.

For the rest of the steps (use real-time data, "let other websites do the hard work," and link your pages together), click thru.

→ Finally, here’s one more thread by Flavio Amiel on 5 steps toward improving your SEO with AI.

Jacky Chou​
Founder of Indexsy
hello@indexsy.com
Let's Connect on Twitter👇

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