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The Top Three 🏆

The industry’s most important stories today.

🥇 GET READY FOR ROBOT CALLS

Google has launched a new experimental feature called “Ask for Me,” which allows AI to call local businesses on users' behalf to gather information about services, pricing, and availability.

When users activate the feature through Google Search Labs, they can select “Ask for Me” while searching for services like “oil change near me.” The AI will then ask specific questions about the service needed and contact the relevant businesses. more

• Currently, this tool is limited to nail salons and auto repair shops.

• Businesses can opt out of these calls via their Google Business Profile settings.

• The feature is currently available only in the U.S. and supports English-language queries, with plans for broader rollout in the future.

🥈 META REMOVING TARGETING CHOICES

Meta removing the Audience Type selection from manual sales campaigns using Advantage+ catalog ads. This change affects the Ad Set settings page, where advertisers currently fine-tune targeting options.

This will eliminate the ability to choose between prospecting and retargeting, as well as specific retargeting options like cross-selling and upselling. But that functionality will remain accessible through catalog-based custom audiences created in the Audiences interface. more

• Meta has not yet announced an official timeline for implementing these changes.

• This is likely part of Meta’s continued push to get advertisers to use more AI-based products, like Advantage+.

🥉 X IS STRUGGLING TO EARN MONEY

Elon Musk’s X saw a small revenue uptick during the holiday season, but its heavy debt load keeps it in the red, according to a Bloomberg report. more

• 📈 Easy come… The platform made $1.2 billion in adjusted earnings.

• 📉 Easy go… But its $1.2 billion annual interest payments erase any gains.

Today’s Other News ☑︎

Everything else that matters.

Advertising 📣 

• Demographic exclusions will now apply to Shopping inventory in PMax campaigns. While reporting details are still to be determined, a Google spokesperson added the goal is to give advertisers control over which age groups can or cannot see their ads. more

Social Media 📱

• 🎵 Can’t touch this: TikTok's traffic is almost back to pre-shutdown levels, with just a 10% dip, despite still missing from app stores, according to data from Cloudflare Radar. To compare, the platform's traffic dropped 85% when the app went dark in response to the U.S. divest-or-ban law. more

• LinkedIn is expanding its top-of-feed news banner test to users in the U.S., Canada, and India. The rotating headlines, curated by LinkedIn’s editorial team, highlight trending news and prompt discussion. Users can dismiss the banner for 24 hours. more

• 💸 Pay to play: YouTube Premium subscribers can now test several experimental features, including:

  • 4x playback speed (iOS/Android, until February 26th).

  • Shorts Smart Downloads and Picture-in-Picture (iOS, until February 19th).

  • High-Quality Audio (iOS/Android, until February 22nd).

  • Jump Ahead Web (until February 5th).

Product Updates

• Microsoft Clarity has updated its Smart Events Integration with HubSpot, letting businesses track user behaviour on their websites within the CRM. Smart Events capture key actions, like purchases and form submissions, by combining multiple data signals into user interactions. more

• Dentsu and Adobe have partnered to launch Adobe GenStudio Dentsu+. GenStudio combines Adobe's tools like Experience Cloud, Creative Cloud, and Firefly’s AI models into one platform. Now, Dentsu will add its tools, like Merkury for audience insights, GIA for AI-driven marketing, and sustainability tracking through its production arm Tag. more

Analytics 📈

• 🎧️ Losing TikTok could hurt podcasting: New data shows TikTok’s role in podcast discovery is growing, with 20% of U.S. listeners tuning in through the platform, up from 17% in 2022. the platform is especially popular with younger listeners, with 30% of those aged 13-24 using it to access podcasts. more

LOL 🤣 

• 🤬 Want to silence Google's AI overviews? Drop an F-bomb!: If you search Google for a way to disable AI-driven search results, you'll likely get an AI Overview saying it can't be turned off. But if you search how to turn off “fucking Google AI results,” you'll get the usual web suggestions without any AI Overview at the top. more

Study of the Day 📚

State of Email 2025, Mailmodo

The “State of Email 2025” report by Mailmodo offers key insights into current email marketing trends and strategies. Some of its findings:

• Warm-Up Practices: 38.9% of respondents dedicate 30-45 days to domain warm-up.

  • The percentage of marketers skipping this step increased from 6% in 2023 to 22% in 2024 (!)

• AI Integration: There was a 24% increase in AI adoption in 2024.

  • 22% of marketers now use AI for email copy creation

• Industry Benchmarks: The report provides average email marketing campaign statistics across various industries.

Marketing Tool of the Day 🔨

Cool stuff we found on the web (not a paid placement)

Nailing the perfect pricing page can be a real headache. We pour hours into crafting the ideal layout, but sometimes it just doesn't click with visitors.

I see that Roast My Pricing Page now has a bunch of example “roasts” (audits, really) which you can look at to get some really solid tips on your own page.

They can also analyze your pricing page and provide a 10-minute video with actionable insights for $49

• Along with the video, they send a Figma file with annotations and design recommendations to enhance your page.

• They promise to send it within 24 hours.

Might be worth checking out if you’re struggling to boost your conversion rates.

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Spotted on Social 🔍

The social web’s best posts in the last 24 hours.