Today in Digital Marketing - Go Home, YouTube AI, You're Drunk.

Starting point is 00:00:00 It is Monday, November 6th. Today, Google's latest algorithm update is particularly volatile. New numbers might foretell the death of free returns. Elon Musk might be scalping your brand's Twitter handle for 50 grand. And this episode marks a very special milestone. I'm Todd Maffin. That's ahead, today in Digital Marketing. Google's latest core update has sent waves through the SEO world. Launched last Thursday, the November core update has been described as incredibly volatile by the search engine optimization community, catching many by

Starting point is 00:00:39 surprise with its strength and impact. Many people in the SEO world reporting erratic traffic and ranking changes. Some websites have seen significant traffic boosts, while others have experienced drastic drops. The volatility has been such that gains and losses are often reversed within a matter of days. The update has been particularly harsh on sites that received a boost from the October update,

Starting point is 00:01:05 with some reporting near-zero traffic post-November update. There are also reports of original content being outranked by scraper sites. Retailers continue to push back on the costly trend of free returns. The practice became a staple during the pandemic. It's now seen by many marketers, though, as unsustainable because of the high costs associated with processing those returns. And now, one American retail trade group says return rates went from 10% in 2020 to 16% last year. Part of the increase comes from consumers ordering multiple sizes or multiple versions of items with the intention of returning those that don't fit or aren't wanted, turning their living rooms into fitting rooms.

Starting point is 00:01:58 As behaviors led to increased costs for retailers, on average about a third of an item's price goes into covering the return process. In response, more than 40% of retailers now, including big names like H&M, J.Crew, and even Amazon for some items, are adding return fees. The shift could also introduce tiered return policies where loyal customers might enjoy free returns while others may have to pay. This change is, of course, a significant pivot from the previous, more lenient return policies and could reshape consumer habits and expectations in online shopping. Heads up if your brand has been squatting on a Twitter handle for brand protection or later use.

Starting point is 00:02:46 The platform now known as X has begun selling off inactive user accounts. Forbes reports receiving emails from X's handle team, handle another word for an account name, and they are overseeing a new handle marketplace offering to initiate handle purchases for 50 grand. Despite previous policies saying that inactive usernames could not be released, recent actions by the company, including purging defunct accounts, suggest a shift in strategy. Musk himself has been vocal about the issue since last year, indicating plans to release a vast number of handles. As of now, X's official username registration policy on their website still says that inactive usernames

Starting point is 00:03:28 are not available for release, and users are warned to log in every 30 days to avoid being labeled as inactive. But the recent email solicitations imply this policy might be changing. This could, of course, open up a new revenue stream for X and potentially resolve the long-standing issue of desirable handles being unavailable due to inactivity.

Starting point is 00:03:50 But if your brand has one or a number of Twitter usernames that you're just holding onto, better log into them and go, I don't know, like some tweets or something, as Elon might be selling it out from underneath you. because of acquisition efforts that result in fake leads. Check Essentials detects and blocks fake and fraudulent users in real time using thousands of cybersecurity tests on every user. Malicious bots, competitors, and spam, Check blocks them all, ensuring that every cent you spend reaches valid users who can convert and provide you with pure, clean data to rely on for your decision-making. Join over 15,000 companies that secure their ads and websites with Check.

Starting point is 00:04:52 For today and digital marketing listeners, an exclusive 10% discount and a one-month free trial is yours. Tap the link in the show notes or go to b.link slash gocheck. That's b.link slash g-o-c-h-e-q. How do you tell when a company has run out of ideas for implementing generative AI? Well, when they start summarizing things that don't need summaries. YouTube today announced it's now testing summaries of video comments. Apparently to foster sub- sub discussions, maybe help creators tap into audience interests. This is an experimental feature. It groups comments by topic, allowing, I guess, more organized conversation around specific aspects of the content. If this isn't a clear example of a solution looking for a problem, I don't know what is. Also, YouTube is

Starting point is 00:05:44 introducing a conversational AI tool that suggests questions viewers might want to ask about a video. Currently, these tests are limited to a small number of English language videos with extensive comment sections. YouTube premium members can opt into the trial with plans to expand this ask feature to more users in the US on Android devices

Starting point is 00:06:04 in the coming weeks. And finally, two small Google updates for you. First, the company's updated its business profiles to include a new set of attributes for parking. This lets businesses provide information about parking options available, like free and paid options for garages, lots, street parking, as well as valet services. And Google has released version 2.5 of the ads editor. It includes enhancements like campaign level broad match, search themes for Performance Max campaigns, and a tool to upgrade dynamic search ads campaigns to performance max. Back about four years ago, I was listening to this great podcast called the Tech Beam Ride Home.

Starting point is 00:07:05 It was a headline show, only about eight minutes or so. It covered what you missed that day in the world of tech. And I went looking around for one for the marketing industry. Couldn't find one. So September of 2019, I started this. Today we reached episode 1,000. Not many people get a podcast with 1,000 episodes. So thank you so much for being a part of it.

Starting point is 00:07:27 Actually, in truth, it's quite a bit more because we have weekend editions. We had sponsored editions. We have some special episodes. There's a bunch of other things. But of the daily headline shows, this is number 1000, at least in our database,

Starting point is 00:07:40 which could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure it's accurate. So thank you again so much. Don't forget to follow us on social media. You can tap the link in the show notes to get that. I'm Todd Maffin. See you tomorrow for episode 1001. Try good seeing the wild horses If you'd swear to be my girl Can you feel it? Can you feel it?

Today in Digital Marketing - Go Home, YouTube AI, You're Drunk.

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