The Top Three 🏆

The industry’s most important stories today.

🥇 MARKETERS PREPARE FOR TARIFF IMPACT

A tough ride for marketers ahead? U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent tariffs to be imposed on Canada and Mexico are shaking up marketing strategies, especially for brands tied to the U.S. and its major trade partners. more

A great thinkpiece this morning in AdWeek says:

• Most agencies are taking a wait-and-see approach, given Trump’s track record of quick policy changes.

• However, some have already had clients delay product launches, while others are rethinking their strategies for the U.S. market.

• 🎯 If these tariffs continue, it could lead to budget cuts, staff reductions, and a more fragmented global ad marketplace.

🥈 DIGITAL ADS COST MORE, CONVERT LESS

A new report confirms what many marketers already knew: It's getting harder, and more expensive, to convert online visitors. Organic traffic is down, ad costs are rising, and user frustration is at an all-time high. more

• Rising Traffic Costs: Global site traffic dropped 3.3% YoY, pushing brands to rely more on paid ads.

  • Paid sources now account for 40% of traffic, up 5.6%.

  • Organic and direct traffic fell by 5.7%.

  • With digital ad spend up 13.2%, the cost per visit has spiked 9% YoY.

• New Visitors Bounce Fast: Engagement is down 6.5%, with new visitors viewing 1.8% fewer pages YoY.

  • Most sessions that started on product pages ended right away.

• Frustration Kills Retention: “Rage clicks” and slow load times plagued 1 in 3 visits, reducing session depth by 6%.

🥉 AMAZON ADDS GEOGRAPHIC SALES INSIGHTS

A small but valuable update: Amazon has added new ‘View By' geographic options in Vendor Central’s sales reports, letting sellers analyze sales by city, state, country, and postal code. more

• This added granularity can be useful for identifying top-performing regions, improving inventory allocation, and enhancing shipping cost forecasting for pricing.

Today’s Other News ☑︎

Everything else that matters.

Advertising 📣

• Google’s AI might soon choose your ad backgrounds. Some advertisers are getting emails from Google about a test where AI will automatically generate background images for Shopping Ad product listings with the option to opt out. more

• Sued for exercising “free speech”? Elon Musk has expanded X’s advertising ‘boycott' lawsuit, adding seven more advertisers including Nestlé, Lego, and Shell, accusing them of, well, not advertising on X and conspiring to withhold billions in ad revenue from the platform following Elon Musk’s 2022 takeover. more

Search & GBP 🔍

• 🤖 Search vs. chatbots: The Head of Search at Microsoft recently addressed concerns about AI and LLMs replacing search engines, saying that LLMs actually enhance search and that only LLMs integrated with search engines will remain competitive. more

• Google has added Product Studio features to Google Business Profiles, now letting you change the background of your product images with its generative AI tool. Currently, only U.S. merchants can use this feature. more

Social Media 📱

• Snapchat has a new ad-free option. The platform quietly launched a “Platinum” version of its Snapchat+ subscription, letting users opt out of all ads for $15.99 CDN/month (more than double the regular Snapchat+ price). more

• Instagram has previewed features of its upcoming video editing app, “Edits,” launching next month in select regions. The app will offer free tools, including creator collaboration options and AI animation for still images, which will let you create new video content without recording. more 

• YouTubers can now see which devices their viewers are using the most. The platform has added a new “Device Type” card in YouTube Studio (available on desktop and mobile) that breaks down watch time percentages for TV, mobile, computer, and tablet across long-form videos, Shorts, and live streams. more

• TikTok users are using Shop keywords like “cute winter boots” to protest against immigrant raids. The phrase is a way to avoid censorship while alerting viewers to ICE activity and providing advice on what to do if immigration officers show up. more

  • By linking #cutewinterboots to TikTok Shop products, creators are hacking the app's algorithm, which seems to prioritize product mentions.

Infrastructure 🚧 

• Two major departures at Google:

  • Joan Braddi, VP of product partnerships and the Google employee who negotiated the search engine deal with Apple more than 20 years ago, reportedly left at the end of 2024. Braddi testified in the ongoing monopoly trial, which could affect Google’s deal with Apple. more

  • Stephen Yap, a longtime ad executive, is leaving after nearly two decades to become Chief Revenue Officer at adtech firm Perion. Yap most recently served as managing director of Google Marketing Platform. more

• Meta is considering relocating its incorporation from Delaware to another state, with Texas and a few others among the options. Sources say discussions are still in early stages, and the company's corporate headquarters would remain in Silicon Valley. more

WordPress 🌐 

• Elementor, a WordPress plugin website builder, launched a free standalone AI app called Site Planner, which guides users through creating a website. Starting with a general concept, it leads users step-by-step to a fully designed site, including individual page elements. more

• WordPress head Matt Mullenweg says he expects the WP Engine drama to be resolved in a few months. In a recent interview, he downplayed the conflict, saying it’s not as big a deal as people are making it out to be. more

AI 🤖 

• ChatGPT but make it ‘deep’: OpenAI launched a new AI agent for ‘deep research' yesterday, designed for users looking for more detailed answers from multiple sources, not just a quick summary. The feature is now available to ChatGPT Pro ($200/month) users, limited to 100 queries per month. more

• Will DeepSeek's rise be short-lived?: The Chinese-owned ChatGPT rival has recently stirred up trouble, triggering stock market panic and major financial losses. While it tops the U.S. App Store, Italy has already banned it for lacking transparency in handling personal data, removing it from Apple and Google stores. more

Today’s Trivia Question 🧠

Tap your guess and you could win!

Spotted on Social 🔍

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

There appears to be a shift in the Canadian public mood.

— Rob Cottingham (@robcottingham.ca)
8:30 PM • Feb 2, 2025