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- Google's Search Market Share Falls Below 90% ๐ It's Becoming Harder To Tell "Real" AI From Marketing ๐คจ 12 Sharp Lessons From Marketing Leaders ๐ฉโ๐ซ
Google's Search Market Share Falls Below 90% ๐ It's Becoming Harder To Tell "Real" AI From Marketing ๐คจ 12 Sharp Lessons From Marketing Leaders ๐ฉโ๐ซ
Also: We've Exhausted AI Training Data
In partnership with
Also: We've Exhausted AI Training Data
Happy Friday Marketing Engineers!
Today:
๐ค AI In Marketing 2024: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
๐๏ธ The Isolation Effect
๐ญ How Becoming The Customer Helps Increase Conversions
๐ ๏ธ 24 Ways To Use AI Tools For SEO
๐บ๏ธ Marketing Attribution: A Guided Map For Success
๐ How To Win In Crowded Markets By Ignoring Competitors
๐ Ada{m}
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๐ Marketing News
Google's global search market share dipped below 90% for three consecutive months at the end of 2024. The decline appears to be primarily driven by changes in Asia, while Google's U.S. market share remained relatively stable between 86-88% throughout most of 2024, with some fluctuation including a peak of 90.37% in November and a subsequent drop to 87.39% in December. The lost market share was distributed among competitors like Bing, Yandex, and Yahoo, with Microsoft Bing maintaining around 4% market share in the latter part of 2024, and unlike a previous false drop reported in April, this decline appears to be genuine due to its consistency across three months.
The technology industry is grappling with an increasingly nebulous definition of artificial intelligence, making it difficult for both consumers and professionals to distinguish genuine AI capabilities from marketing hype. This ambiguity has led to widespread "AI washing," where companies eagerly label themselves as AI-powered to stay competitive, even when they're only implementing basic automation or rule-based systems. This pattern of technological hyperbole isn't new, echoing previous trends like Web3 and cloud computing, suggesting that while AI's potential is real, time will reveal whether the current enthusiasm is warranted.
Modern marketing is focusing on building authentic human connections, as demonstrated by companies like Liquid Death and Oatly who prioritize genuine engagement over traditional corporate messaging. Success often requires taking bold risks and breaking conventional rules, exemplified by campaigns like the Brooklyn Nets' Paris activation and Malรถrt's unconventional advertising approach. Rather than focusing purely on growth metrics and optimization, effective marketing now emphasizes emotional resonance and authentic value, with industry leaders advocating for strategies that make customers feel understood and confident rather than exploited or insecure.
๏ปฟ๐ค๏ปฟ AI
We've Exhausted AI Training Data [2 min read]
According to AI experts, we've reached the limit of available real-world data for AI training, with Elon Musk stating that "the cumulative sum of human knowledge" for AI training was exhausted last year. In response, major tech companies are turning to synthetic data - information generated by AI models themselves - with Gartner estimating that 60% of AI training data in 2024 was synthetically generated. While this approach offers significant cost savings, it also carries risks of model collapse where AI systems can become less creative and more biased, potentially compromising their functionality since any biases in the original training data can be amplified in synthetic data.
In 2024, AI transformed marketing personalization and customer experience by enabling better targeting and content creation, though data quality issues and untested solutions like chatbots presented significant risks. AI's impact on creative optimization proved double-edged, offering powerful tools for content generation and transformation while creating new burdens around human oversight and raising concerns about brand authenticity. In data analysis and measurement, AI's advanced capabilities in deep learning and campaign analysis were offset by persistent data quality challenges and a lack of transparency that left many marketers struggling to trust AI-driven insights.
Researchers Open Source Sky-T1, A "Reasoning" Model That Can Be Trained For Less Than $450 [2 min read]
UC Berkeley's Sky Computing Lab released Sky-T1, an open source AI reasoning model that achieves high-level capabilities at a remarkably low cost of $450, dramatically lower than the millions typically required for similar models. The model is particularly notable for being truly open source with publicly available training data and code, and it outperforms an early version of OpenAI's o1 on certain benchmarks like MATH500 and LiveCodeBench, though it struggles with PhD-level science questions. The team developed Sky-T1 using existing AI models to generate and refine training data over a 19-hour training period on 8 Nvidia H100 GPUs, marking what they describe as just the beginning of their journey to develop more efficient models with advanced reasoning capabilities.
๐ง Hacks & Tactics
The psychological principle known as the Isolation Effect demonstrates that distinct items are more memorable in people's minds, as shown by the Financial Times' successful switch to salmon pink paper that made it stand out among competitors. To be memorable, brands must cultivate distinctiveness in both their visual and verbal presentation, going beyond just having superior products or content. Success in brand isolation can be achieved through three key strategies: breaking away from market defaults, being bold in branding decisions, and combining a unique value proposition with a distinctive brand voice.
How Becoming The Customer Helps Increase Conversions [3 min read]
Method marketing involves becoming real customers to gain valuable insights for effective strategies. A specific test on Highland Titlesโ website replaced a confusing shipping message with social proof from Forbes, resulting in a 26% increase in conversions and a 31% rise in revenue. This illustrates the significant impact of simple changes and the importance of applying learned lessons to enhance business performance.
24 Ways To Use AI Tools For SEO [12 min read]
The SEO landscape is flooded with numerous AI tools, making it difficult to determine which ones effectively address specific SEO challenges. This curated selection of 24 AI tools showcases diverse applications, including keyword research, content creation, user behavior analysis, and link building. These tools enhance productivity and streamline SEO workflows, serving as valuable extensions to professional expertise.
โ๏ธ Machine Shop
Net Promoter Score Is A Scam, Here's An Alternative [7 min read]
NPS is a limited metric for measuring customer satisfaction, with issues such as self-selection bias and a lack of actionable insights. An alternative approach, "Sentiment Pulse Measurements," collects feedback from various sources to provide a more nuanced understanding of customer sentiment over time. Successful implementation requires a strong research culture, data analysis skills, continuous tracking capabilities, and effective cross-functional collaboration.
Marketing Attribution: A Guided Map For Success [7 min read]
Marketing attribution is important for understanding conversion behavior and identifying effective channels, encouraging marketers to start with simple models and iterate over time. The implementation process involves three steps: event tracking to capture user interactions, identity resolution to connect actions across devices, and attribution logic to assign credit to marketing efforts. Also, continuous testing and refinement are necessary to ensure tracking accuracy and adapt to changing marketing strategies.
Rolls-Royce distinguished itself in a competitive market by introducing the innovative "Power by the Hour" program, which addressed airlines' concerns about unpredictable maintenance costs. This approach underscores the importance of challenging industry norms, eliminating unnecessary factors, and enhancing key offerings. Successful brands ultimately focus on strategic differentiation and long-term thinking to redefine the rules of their industry.
๐ฎ The Future
OpenAI Courts Trump With Vision For AI In America [4 min read]
OpenAI is building bridges with the incoming Trump administration, marked by CEO Sam Altman's $1 million inaugural fund donation and the release of their "A.I. in America" blueprint to shape future AI policies. The company is making a strong push to allow Middle Eastern investment in US AI infrastructure, arguing that countries like UAE and Saudi Arabia will direct their investments to China if blocked from US projects. In terms of regulation, OpenAI advocates for federal-level oversight of AI safety and security rather than state-level controls, having opposed California's attempted AI regulation bill on the grounds that state restrictions would hamper national security and economic competitiveness.
A/B Testing In 2025: Why Your Email Opens Are Tanking [10 min read]
Modern email marketing success hinges on mastering A/B testing of subject lines, with businesses seeing up to 49% higher open rates when they systematically test their messaging against a minimum sample size of 1,000 subscribers per variant and maintain a 95% confidence level in their results. The scientific approach to testing requires tracking multiple metrics beyond open rates and giving tests adequate time to gather data, typically 24-48 hours, to ensure statistically significant outcomes. Perhaps most critically, marketers must optimize for mobile-first consumption since 85% of emails are opened on mobile devices, which means adhering to optimal subject line lengths of 41-50 characters and strategically using elements like emojis that can boost open rates by 27%.
Instagram Surveys Users On Paying For Engagement [2 min read]
Instagram's parent company Meta is surveying select users about their willingness to pay for increased engagement, offering packages like 600 followers and 2,000 messages for $150, or more followers and comments for $1,150. This survey appears to contradict Meta's own Community Standards which prohibit purchasing followers, and the company has previously taken legal action against groups selling such engagement services. The survey likely indicates Meta's strategy to enhance their Meta Verified subscription service, suggesting they may leverage their AI targeting capabilities to boost content visibility and guarantee certain engagement levels for paying subscribers.
Google Ads has expanded its Promotion Assets with new barcode and QR code formats, giving advertisers more options for sharing promotional offers. These new formats come with specific technical capabilities, including multiple barcode format support (Aztec, Data Matrix, EAN-8) and QR codes that can contain up to 720 characters of text, though links aren't supported. This update bridges the gap between digital and physical shopping experiences by making it easier for customers to redeem offers both online and in stores, potentially leading to improved conversion rates through more seamless cross-channel promotions.
๐ฉโ๐ซ Vocab
Brand Strategy: The long-term plan for developing a successful brand that delivers on your business goals. It defines what your brand stands for, what it promises to customers, and what makes it different from competitors. A strong brand strategy guides all your marketing efforts and business decisions.
Example: Apple's brand strategy focuses on innovation, premium quality, and simplified design, which guides everything from their product development to store layouts.
Brand Positioning: The distinct place your brand occupies in customers' minds relative to competing brands. It's how you want your target audience to perceive your brand when compared to alternatives. Effective positioning makes your brand the clear choice for your target customers.
Example: Volvo has positioned itself as the safest car brand, making it the go-to choice for safety-conscious car buyers.
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