Hello fellow digital marketers,

Got a killer article you want to share? Connect with me on LinkedIn! 🙂

• The latest Gemini 3.8 Flash model was buggin’ by not linking or citing sources in AI Mode. It’s hard enough to win citation visibility through relevant, helpful content but to not have it be rewarded due to a bug? That’s #SummertimeSadness fo sure.

• The state of AI in 2026: On the road to ROI. McKinsey’s AI survey impact report covers how larger companies are implementing AI and what has changed since last year. 80% of respondents report AI has improved their individual productivity and 50% report AI helps them make better decisions. This productivity has its downside as 39% of respondents expect AI-related declines in employment. One silver lining: the expected declines for last year were less than the actual declines. 

• Your SEO and PPC keyword data should not live in silos. Here are our thoughts on the strategy of not bidding on high-ranking organic keywords: Yes, you can save money. But Google research showed that when both a paid and an organic listing appear high in the results, 50% of the clicks on the paid ad are entirely incremental (i.e., clicks you would not have gotten). When you have both a paid and organic listing, there’s a double-exposure effect that reinforces the authority of your brand. The decision to implement this strategy depends on budget constraints and visibility goals.

• With so many versions of truth out there (e.g., an outdated PDF from 2014, an old executive bio page), it’s no surprise when AI cycles in misinformation. Publishing correct content now won’t fix it without addressing the older content too— it’s a matter of bridging old, incorrect content with new, updated content. Awesome summary video and article.

• Not surprising news: Google Search Console reporting is not entirely accurate for AI Overviews. You have to look at the data directionally and understand how it is filtered:
  • You get an Impression when your website appears on a page that got served (whether it was scrolled or not.)
  • You won’t get an Impression if your link appeared in a click-to-reveal section that wasn’t clicked.
  • When you appear in AI Overviews, the average position metric is based on the position of the AI Overview on the overall results page, not where your link was in the list of AI Overview links.
  • The real question we still have is…

• Breaking news for PPC: Microsoft Ads is removing Max CPC from new campaigns starting Oct 1. Microsoft wants advertisers to link performance more toward campaign outcomes and rely more on automated bidding systems. (What else is new?)

• Is mainstream culture still a thing? YouTube says yes. Even though culture is more fragmented, we still want to share experiences with each other. The big pull: fan engagement is crucial to cultural shifts, particularly with creators.

Sometimes charity seems overwhelming. Saving the world is a big task. Lasagna Love helps bring the world-changing to your kitchen. Lasagna Love volunteers sign up to cook a meal and deliver it to a family in need. That’s it. Just old-fashioned love spread through a warm, hearty meal. Learn more about their mission: Lasagna Love.

Shine on, you crazy diamonds 🤘💎

Natalie

No idea is truly unique.

 

Every single one was ideated from a scrapbook of experience.

Complete originality does not exist.

So we must celebrate inspiration — find joy in sowing creative seeds in the soil of the creations that came before.

What’s that in the sky?!

Is it a bird 🐤? A plane ✈? It’s What’s Hot Wednesday flying into your inbox! We’ve got a diversified portfolio of news and content for you to soak up. Let’s get to it!

• How does happiness impact the workplace? Think with Google’s Future Ready series has a new episode with ideas on fostering happiness in the workplace and how brands can provide a “happiness boost” to their customers.

• Facebook is really pushing users to stories. Now, they’re rolling AI-generated stories or “Advanced Stories”. This will allow Facebook to recommend stories for you based on previous uploaded images. My thought: if everything is automated, how is it social media?

• Microsoft & Roku are uniting to improve ad buying experience and ad performance. This will offer unique cross-channel data insights for better targeting. We’ll have to keep our eyes on this partnership. 👀

• Google must be huffing and puffing for breath with how quickly and how many A.I rivals have been approaching their search territory. Google’ project, Magi, is pulling together new features that would provide more personalized search experiences to be competitive.

Do Good Spotlight
🌟 Grow it Green Morristown 🌟

In honor of Earth Day this Saturday, we’re spotlighting a very green organization. Grow It Green Morristown creates sustainable farms and gardens and educates communities on healthy eating and environmental stewardship. The best part? The majority of the food grown is donated. Love that 💖. Find ways to support them: Grow it Green Morristown.

• 🌱 On a green note, we’ve updated our Earth Day Charities blog with more impactful, nature-related charities and organizations. These are a few options we’ve donated to and we are happy to hear if you have more. Respond to this email if you’ve got a rockin’ nature charity you’d like us to add!

• Here’s a very interesting picture of B2B buyers’ most valuable content types at each stage of the purchase journey via Marketing Charts. Couple of observations:
  • webinars are the only content to be deemed valuable in all three stages and
  • there is a clear shift to content that validates purchase for the final stage (e.g., demos, user reviews, ROI calculators, etc.).

• What tasks are consumers looking for AI to automate? It’s not a surprise consumers are interested in AI-powered online search capabilities. But AI-generated recipes and AI-powered roadside assistance? 🤔

That’s all we got, so we’re just about ready to take off. 💨  Before we go, I want to wish you a super awesome rest of your week!

Ciao for now!

Natalie

Speaking of flight…

Did you know flying squirrels can glide anywhere from 150 to 500 feet in the air?

CRAZY!

Anyway, here’s a signup link to share with your besties!

Happy 2023 🎈🎉🥳

Welcome to another year of kicking butt and taking names, digital marketing friends. I hope you had some time to relax and are getting H-Y-P-E for the year to come. Let’s get this party started!

• New year – new best times to post and social media image sizes. You’re welcome. 😁

Why We 💗 What We Do…

You may have heard, but our phenomenal President & CEO, Niki, appeared on TWO podcasts this year (already). If you haven’t checked them out, you need to. Like, now. 🎧

INspired INsider hosted by Dr. Jeremy Weisz

The Limitless podcast with Johanna Buchweitz

• Start with this article from McKinsey that opens with ChatGPTs response to the prompt about writing the opening paragraph about how transformative generative AI will be for business…. It’s pretty amazing.

• Next, for more about potential applications and disruptions ChatGPT could cause in the search world, check out Search Engine Journal’s ongoing news story.

• And Search Engine Land just weighed in with this about Microsoft adding ChatGPT features to Bing Search. It includes their take that maybe Google isn’t in a “code red” situation.

• (And, no, this segment of WHW was not generated by ChatGPT – all human-generated content here at DBE.)

Do Good Spotlight
🌟 Evidence Action 🌟

Evidence Action’s goal is “[r]educing poverty and spurring growth in developing countries requires strategic, high-value investment of scarce resources, whether they come from donors, governments, or communities.” Some of their initiatives include delivering safe water and providing treatments for parasitic infections. See how you can help: Evidence Action.

• Like good wine 🍷, TikTok is maturing 🎶. There is a wealth of ad formats for advertisers to choose from now, and TikTok advertising spend is going up for many companies. Get the deets on DigiDay.

• Speaking of advertising $$$, Google and Facebook are losing advertising market share as TikTok, Amazon, and others grow.

We wish you smooth sailing as you get into ya 2023 groove. 🕺🏿💃🏼

Keep rockin’ it!🎸

Natalie

Not sure if you heard yet,

But all your digital marketing buddies are invited to join our club… ♣

Send them this signup link!

Hello from the outside 🌞🎶

Trying to get all your outside activities squeezed into the summertime is always difficult. But, as Adele sings, at least we can say that we’ve tried! This summer flew by. (I’m still trying to convince myself we’re at the end of August.) Anyway, here’s some digital marketing gossip in between your summertime activities.

• Google has started rolling out its “helpful content” algorithm update. This update is intended to reward content that is written for humans first, not for search engines. Here are the ways they are defining helpful content for humans:
  • It’s created for a specific audience.
  • It features expertise.
  • It’s trustworthy and credible.
  • It meets the want(s) or need(s) of the searcher.

It’s going to be a few weeks before the impact of this update is determined. If you’ve been following SEO white-hat best practices in providing relevant content, then we say there’s no reason to panic.

• The Outlook on Outlook: Microsoft is putting ads into Outlook mobile for free users. Besides the initial bad reaction, are you feeling a bit of déjà vu from Gmail ads?

• As Google Ads image extensions are becoming more widely used, let’s all review the policies. Here are some of the important rules and tips!
  • No text/graphic overlay (no logos, unfortunately 🙁)
  • No distorted images (upside down, funky filters)
  • No poorly cropped images (that’s right, Google can tell a bad angle or not!) 📸
  • For more on image extensions, check out this WordStream article!

Do Good Spotlight
🌟 The Nature Conservancy 🌟

The Nature Conservancy is a global environmental nonprofit creating a world where people and nature thrive. Founded in the U.S. through grassroots action in 1951, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has become one of the most effective and wide-reaching environmental organizations in the world. DBE donated to support this high-rated not-for-profit, and we encourage you to see if you’d like to support them too: https://www.nature.org/en-us/

• “Where is the Media ‘Talent Crisis’ Greatest?” is the question Marketing Charts answers with data from a World Federation of Advertisers and MediaSense survey. The answer? The highest scarcity of talent is in the area of data and analytics, while almost half (46%) of media industry stakeholders feel the industry is having its “worst ever talent crisis”.

• Need professional video for your storytelling projects? 🎥 We recommend you take a look at our strategic partner, Down the Road Productions. They’re based in Ohio with their owner fresh from years of top-tier work in NYC. If you’re looking for a video partner, check them out at DTRP.co and you can learn more about owner/director/producer, Andrew Anthony.

• Looking for a chuckle? Check out these humorous ads! Warning: this has some adult content (rated PG-13ish).

Wishing you a happy, healthy September!

Until next time…

Natalie

 

Why don’t oysters share their pearls? 🦪

Because they’re shellfish!

…

Don’t be an oyster, share us with your friends!