Today's News

Log In, But First, Swear Allegiance

LinkedIn & Meta Are Running the B2B Ad Game

Amazon’s New AI Shopping Wingman

Google Updates

In Brief

That AI Notetaking Bot is Snitching On You

Log In, But First, Swear Allegiance

A fight between the head of WordPress — which runs more than half of the web — and one of its hosting partners is heating up.

WordPress.org users — those are brands and people who use the self-hosted app — now need to pledge that they have no affiliation with web site hosting platform WP Engine before logging in.

This checkbox move is part of WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg's ongoing feud with WP Engine, accusing the hosting platform of misusing the WordPress brand and not pulling its weight in the open-source community.

The checkbox on the login page asks users to confirm, “I am not affiliated with WP Engine in any way, financially or otherwise,” or they can’t access the site.

That’s a big problem for brands that need to download updates, or developers who are building e-commerce tools for web sites, or really anyone who needs to get in.

But… why though?

WP Engine is an independent platform that hosts WordPress-based sites. Just like hundreds others — WPMU, WPX, WPWebHost, WPOven, WP Stagecoach, and many many more.

WordPress.org operates as an open-source project, while WordPress.com is the commercial arm owned by Automattic, which funds and contributes to developing the WordPress codebase.

A few weeks ago, Mullenweg, who also co-founded Automattic, published a blog post labeling WP Engine as a “cancer to WordPress.” He accused the company of “strip-mining the WordPress ecosystem” and degrading user experience by disabling revision history, all in pursuit of higher profits.

Battle of the cease-and-desists

WP Engine hit Automattic with a cease and desist, and Automattic fired one right back.

Today WP Engine sent what is called a “cease and desist” letter to Automattic demanding that Automattic and its CEO Matt Mullenweg stop making and retract false, harmful and disparaging statements against WP Engine. In response to misinformation he has disseminated about the… x.com/i/web/status/1…

— WP Engine (@wpengine)
10:52 PM • Sep 23, 2024

Now, WP Engine is banned from using WordPress.org’s resources, and some contributors tied to the platform are reportedly getting booted from WordPress’ community Slack for even asking about the issues.

WordPress contributors, who have been bystanders in this legal tussle, are now feeling the impact. One veteran contributor described the situation as “chaos,” noting uncertainty as Mullenweg is “promising more ‘surprises' all week.”

LinkedIn & Meta Are Running the B2B Ad Game

When it comes to B2B ad dollars, LinkedIn and Meta are still calling the shots.

A new eMarketer forecast shows B2B social ad spending will reach $8.5 billion this year, with LinkedIn and Meta capturing nearly 80% of that total. LinkedIn is expected to bring in $4.2 billion and Meta $2.9 billion in B2B ad revenues this year.

LinkedIn’s chokehold on B2B advertising

LinkedIn continues to be the go-to platform for B2B advertisers.

More than 9 out of 10 ads on LinkedIn target business-to-business audiences.

It’s projected to secure nearly half of B2B display ad spending and a quarter of all B2B digital ad spend in 2024, despite slowing growth.

Meta takes 2nd place

Meta, including Facebook and Instagram, ranks second in B2B social ad spend.

Meta’s B2B ad revenue growth is projected to slow to 14% in 2024, down from 25% last year.

Growth may be slowing, but its platforms remain effective for targeting new businesses and decision-makers, it will still take 16% of B2B digital ad spending this year.

YouTube rides video demand wave

YouTube’s B2B ad revenues will also grow in 2024 driven by increasing demand for video content.

The company’s B2B ad revenues are expected to exceed $298 million in 2024, a 12% increase year-over-year.

Overall, B2B video advertising is anticipated to grow 14% this year, reaching $1.75 billion, which will account for almost a tenth of B2B digital ad spend.

Amazon’s New AI Shopping Wingman

The robot overlords are here to make sure no shopper leaves their virtual cart empty.

Amazon launched a new AI tool called “Shopping Guides” yesterday, aimed at helping customers find products based on their specific needs by providing personalized product information and recommendations while they browse.

How it works

The AI guides cover more than 100 product categories, including TVs, headphones, running shoes, and skincare items, and include “educational content” as well as customer insights related to these products.

For instance, selecting a guide for headphones reveals a curated list based on popularity, reviews, and price. Shoppers can filter results by brand, use case (like sports or gaming), or connectivity type (wired or wireless).

These AI Shopping Guides will appear as autocomplete suggestions during searches or can be accessed directly from Amazon’s homepage. Clicking on the “Keep Shopping For” card will also surface guides based on recent shopping activity.

The user interface appears to take up a lot more screen space, and it’s not yet clear if users can disable the feature.

Shopping Guides are now available in the U.S. on Amazon’s mobile website and apps for iOS and Android.

Google Updates

A couple of updates from Google.

Expansion of Store ratings

The tech giant announced yesterday that it is expanding the Store ratings feature beyond U.S. Search. This update will now be available to searchers in Australia, Canada, India, and the United Kingdom.

Store ratings appear in shopping search results for products, like “summer dress.” When users click on your store rating, they can view detailed information about your business, such as reviews, shipping, return policies, and more.

📢 Store ratings are expanding to more countries! 🌎 In addition to the US, shoppers in India, Australia, Canada, and the UK can now see store ratings in shopping search results. If you're a merchant, learn more about how to participate:

— Google Search Central (@googlesearchc)
3:10 PM • Oct 9, 2024

Verified labels for product listings

Google is also testing verified badges for product listings in search results.

In August, there were reports that Google was testing verified badges, and verification labels in organic search results.

Now, Google is testing these verification labels on detailed product results overlays, specifically for retailer listings.

When users hover over the badge a message explains that Google’s signals suggest the business is authentic but it can't guarantee the reliability of this business or its product.

In Brief

Google Analytics 4: Google Analytics has a new Realtime pages report that shows you which pages on your website or app are currently being viewed and how many users are on each page. more

Meta: Meta is expanding its AI chatbot availability to more regions — the company says it’s on track to become the most used AI assistant in the world. The new countries are: Brazil, Bolivia, Guatemala, Paraguay, Philippines, and the United Kingdom. more

Facebook, TikTok, YouTube: A new European regulatory body called Appeals Centre Europe will be up and running by the end of the year, and the EU says this platform will manage disputes about post takedowns between European users and big social platforms. It will start with Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube, and will add to that list over time. more

X (formerly Twitter): In the Brazil vs. Elon battle, Elon has blinked. X is back online in Brazil after backing down and meeting the government's requests regarding content moderation and compliance. more

LinkedIn: LinkedIn has introduced a new game to its stable: “Tango,” which is a kind of image-matching logic game. The company says more than 3 out of 4 users who play a game come back to play again within a week. more

That AI Notetaking Bot is Snitching On You

You’ve probably seen them, popping into your Zoom meeting — it’s usually a default head icon named “Notetaker,” or something similar.

It is, of course, AI, and I’ll be the first to admit that even as an old man that yells at clouds, I too use one of these¹ and am actually quite impressed by it.

But Fortune this week has a great piece up about how the meeting bots might snitch on you if you’re not careful.

You see, by default, some of these systems are set to email a copy of the meeting notes to everyone who attended — even (and here’s the issue) to those who leave early.

So imagine you show up to your Monday meeting, you participate for 10 minutes, and then you leave.

Those people in the meeting might start talking about you, now that you're gone. And the bot will dutifully send everyone a complete transcript after the meeting is formally over.

So people, look through those settings screens and make sure you know what’s going out to whom.

Or better yet, disable those automatic emails, lest your boss learn what you really think of his kids.

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