Link Archive
January 6, 2026
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Reddit Introduces Max Campaigns, Its New Automated Campaign Type
★ max(signal) by Search Engine Journal · Marketing
Δ +3000 read ↗
TL;DR — Search Engine Journal highlights Reddit's introduction of Max campaigns, a new automated campaign type designed to simplify setup and improve performance. Automation: Max campaigns streamline campaign management. Insights: Deeper audience insights for advertisers enhance targeting.
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The 90-Day SEO Playbook for AI Search Visibility
by Danny Goodwin / Search Engine Land · Marketing
Δ +4500 read ↗
TL;DR — Plan structured as Days 0-30, 31-60, 61-90. Recommends prioritizing pages above 8% GSC CTR, adding AEO-focused schema (FAQ/HowTo/Organization), and tracking LLM brand mentions with Profound, Otterly.AI, and BrandRadar. Action: Build a 90-day sprint board starting with top CTR pages in GSC.
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Reddit Launches AI-Powered Max Campaigns at CES 2026
by Trishla Ostwal, Adweek · Marketing
Δ +4280 read ↗
TL;DR — Reddit unveiled Max Campaigns at CES 2026. The AI tool automates targeting, bidding, creative rotation, and budget allocation using Reddit Community Intelligence. Early testers saw 17% lower CPA and 27% more conversions. Brooks Running achieved 37% lower cost per click with zero manual changes over 21 days.
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Semrush: What to Do About AI Overviews Traffic Loss
by Alex Lindley / Semrush · Marketing
Δ +4250 read ↗
TL;DR — Semrush analyzed 200,000+ keywords and found zero-click rates slightly decreased (38.1% to 36.2%) after AI Overviews appeared. Pew data shows only 1% of AI-summary encounters click a listed source. Action: Run a 30-day audit mapping top queries to AIO presence + intent, then shift effort from definitional pages to commercial/transactional terms.
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CMOs Reveal Their 2026 AI Priorities: AEO, GEO, and Upskilling
by Marketing Brew · Marketing
Δ +4120 read ↗
TL;DR — CMOs from Intuit, Adobe, Zappi, and BetterHelp share 2026 priorities. Key theme: AI brand presence now equals first-party presence. Nataly Kelly (Zappi): optimizing for AEO and GEO because AI leans on authoritative sources. The new KPI is Citation Authority - how often an AI cites your brand as the primary source.
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MarTechBot: AI is Breaking the Discovery Playbook for B2B Marketing
by MarTech Editorial · Marketing
Δ +4000 read ↗
TL;DR — MarTech playbook is authority + citations: strengthen E-E-A-T signals, earn mentions from trusted sources, and improve structured clarity so LLMs can extract and cite you. Action: Pick 10 priority pages and add a definition block, 3-5 cited stats, and a short how-to section designed to be quoted.
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AI Agents Market to Reach $48.3B by 2030, Growing 43.3% Annually
by BCC Research · Marketing
Δ +3850 read ↗
TL;DR — BCC Research projects AI agents market grows from $8B (2025) to $48.3B (2030) at 43.3% CAGR. Key drivers: NLP/ML advances, automation demand across industries.
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AI Search Features Slash Organic Traffic by 15-64%
by Gustav M · Marketing
Δ +3800 read ↗
TL;DR — Organic traffic has dropped 15-64% across categories as AI engines now sit between businesses and audiences. Traffic patterns are no longer predictable; users enter the funnel further along in the decision process. Strategy shifts from optimizing for clicks to operating inside the AI ecosystem where visibility is decided by signal credibility.
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MIT Tech Review: 5 AI Trends for 2026 Marketers Must Watch
by MIT Technology Review · Marketing
Δ +3720 read ↗
TL;DR — Five 2026 predictions from MIT Tech Review: (1) More Silicon Valley products built on Chinese open-source models. (2) US regulatory tug-of-war intensifies. (3) Chatbots transform shopping. (4) LLMs make scientific discoveries. (5) Legal battles over AI liability.
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Reddit: Google AI
by u/SpudMasterFlash / r/DigitalMarketing · Marketing
Δ +3000 read ↗
TL;DR — AI assistants now handle roughly 25% of global searches, prioritizing brands with strong real-world credibility. About 34% of AI citations come from PR-driven coverage. Unlinked mentions on Reddit, LinkedIn, and news sites can rival backlinks as trust signals. Action: rebalance from link building to digital PR.
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A Growth Marketer's Guide to AI-Native Development
by Robbie Jack · Marketing
Δ +2900 read ↗
TL;DR — [Robbie Jack] breaks down the process of using AI-native development to enhance marketing efficiency. Strategy: Embrace AI tools for faster project delivery. Action: Implement AI solutions in your marketing workflow.
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Self-Improving Skills in Claude Code
by Developers Digest · Marketing
Δ +2800 read ↗
TL;DR — [Developers Digest] breaks down the issue of LLMs not learning from previous interactions, leading to repeated corrections in coding tasks. Tools: Manual & Automatic Methods for setting up self-improving skills. Action: Implement these methods to enhance coding efficiency.
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Aible Launches Six Industry AI Agent Solutions
by Accesswire / Aible · Marketing
Δ +2750 read ↗
TL;DR — Aible released six sector-specific AI agent solutions for retail, healthcare, banking, government, legal, and finance to automatically explain KPI shifts across millions of variable combinations. Claims up to 200x cost efficiency by combining augmented analytics with GenAI.
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Reddit: If AI Overview Takes Traffic, Why Run Ads Inside LLMs?
by r/DigitalMarketing Community · Marketing
Δ +2750 read ↗
TL;DR — Community debates budget shift logic as AI Overviews compress SERP clicks. Actionable takeaway: treat LLM placements like a new channel with new attribution assumptions. Action: Run a 2-4 week geo or audience holdout to quantify incremental lift from LLM ad placements vs. standard search/social.
January 5, 2026
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The Technical Guide To Common Magento (Adobe Commerce) SEO Issues
★ max(signal) by Search Engine Journal · Marketing
Δ +3710 read ↗
TL;DR — Dan Taylor outlines a technical roadmap for modernizing Magento SEO. Ops: strict canonicalization of simple-to-configurable products prevents authority dilution. Strategy: adopt the 'Agentic Commerce Protocol' to standardize product data for AI buyers like ChatGPT. Action: audit URL rewrite tables to eliminate duplicate paths before deploying agent-ready schema.
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How brands can get noticed in ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews
by MarTech · Marketing
Δ +2600 read ↗
TL;DR — MarTech highlights strategies for brands to enhance visibility in AI platforms. Strategy: Optimize content for AI algorithms. Tools: AI visibility tools. Action: Regularly update content to align with AI changes.
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The best AI visibility tools that actually improve lead quality
by HubSpot Marketing · Marketing
Δ +2500 read ↗
TL;DR — HubSpot Marketing outlines effective AI visibility tools for lead generation. Tools: AI visibility tools. Strategy: Focus on improving lead quality. Action: Integrate selected tools into marketing workflows.
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Google Engineer: Claude Code Replicated 1 Year of Work in 1 Hour
by PPC Land · Marketing
Δ +2300 read ↗
TL;DR — [PPC Land] highlights the efficiency of Anthropic's Claude Code in replicating a complex system architecture. Strategy: This indicates a shift in how technical debt and build costs are perceived. Action: Consider adopting mini-apps for specific campaigns instead of traditional software suites.
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Google Search: AI Overviews Are Reducing Organic CTR
by Search Engine Land · Marketing
Δ +2100 read ↗
TL;DR — [Search Engine Land] argues AI Overviews are materially reducing organic CTR, even for #1 rankings. Strategy: SEO is shifting from ranking optimization to AI citation optimization. Action: Track brand mentions inside AI Overviews.
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Meta Ads: Signal Density Beats Audience Size
by AdExchanger · Marketing
Δ +2000 read ↗
TL;DR — [AdExchanger] breaks down the shift towards signal-rich inputs in advertising. Strategy: Performance correlates with event quality. Action: Optimize for down-funnel events like qualified leads or purchases.
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HubSpot + AI Agents Are Automating Campaign Operations
by HubSpot Blog · Marketing
Δ +1900 read ↗
TL;DR — [HubSpot Blog] highlights the use of AI in automating campaign operations. Workflow: AI handles campaign QA and performance summaries. Action: Use AI for pre-send QA and auto-generate performance briefs.
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CMOs Are Cutting Tools, Not AI
by Digiday · Marketing
Δ +1800 read ↗
TL;DR — [Digiday] highlights CMOs' shift towards consolidating MarTech stacks by replacing point solutions with AI-native platforms. Strategy: Audit tools by outcomes, not features. Action: Remove tools used less than 20% of the time.
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AI Content Only Converts When Constrained
by Reddit r/marketing · Marketing
Δ +1700 read ↗
TL;DR — [Reddit r/marketing] argues AI-generated content only performs when tightly constrained. Workflow: Templates and tone control outperform free-form prompting. Action: Lock AI into fixed templates for ads, emails, and landing pages.
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Deploy an AI agent yourself in January: the 30-day GTM playbook
by Jason M. Lemkin · Marketing
Δ +1600 read ↗
TL;DR — [Jason M. Lemkin] breaks down a practical approach to deploying an AI agent for GTM challenges. Strategy: identify a painful GTM problem and a leading vendor. Action: dedicate 1–2 hours daily for 30 days to refine the agent's outputs.
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Marketing platform shifts + algorithm volatility: what changed and what to do next
by Luis Rijo · Marketing
Δ +1500 read ↗
TL;DR — [PPC Land] breaks down the new operating environment with hard numbers. Strategy: Google’s December 2025 core update ran 18 days and volatility is now more continuous. Action: stop optimizing for ‘keyword rank’ as the north star and design content for agentic browsers.
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Databricks Raises $4B for Agentic AI
by VKTR · Marketing
Δ +1300 read ↗
TL;DR — [VKTR] highlights Databricks securing $4 billion in funding to enhance Agentic AI. Strategy: Focus on building infrastructure for autonomous data workflows. Action: Consider investing in advanced AI systems to improve data processing capabilities.
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Iterable Launches Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server
by Destination CRM · Marketing
Δ +700 read ↗
TL;DR — [Destination CRM] highlights Iterable's launch of a Model Context Protocol server. Tools: Enables AI agents to manage campaigns. Action: Marketing ops teams should explore building custom AI agents.
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Marketing Trends: The Shift to GEO & Privacy
by Seafoam Media · Marketing
Δ +400 read ↗
TL;DR — [Seafoam Media] breaks down the shift from SEO to Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and the emergence of Employee Influencers as a media channel. Strategy: pivoting to GEO. Action: consider integrating Employee Influencers into your marketing strategy.
January 4, 2026
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Marketing efficiency ratio: How to calculate and improve yours
★ max(signal) by HubSpot Marketing · Marketing
Δ +3060 read ↗
TL;DR — HubSpot Marketing outlines why Marketing Efficiency Ratio (MER) is the new north star over ROAS. Metric: calculate MER by dividing total revenue by total marketing spend (e.g., $500k / $100k = 5.0). Analysis: use MER to catch when high-ROAS channels are just cannibalizing organic traffic. Action: build a blended MER dashboard to report holistic growth health to leadership.
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Instagram's AI-driven identity crisis
by The Rundown AI · Marketing
Δ +2830 read ↗
TL;DR — The Rundown AI reports on Instagram chief Adam Mosseri's pivot away from the 'curated feed' aesthetic. Shift: Gen Z usage data shows a migration to 'unflattering candids' and DMs over polished grids. Trust: IG is exploring cryptographic signing to verify human-captured media vs AI generations. Action: test 'raw', personality-driven video content to align with the platform's push for authenticity.
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Are AI Personalization Engines Overwhelming Customers?
by CX Today · Marketing
Δ +2700 read ↗
TL;DR — CX Today argues that AI personalization engines must be evaluated on their ability to suppress messages. Guardrail: effective engines use 'fatigue scoring' to stop sending after low engagement signals (e.g., rapid deletes). Integration: sync support ticket data to automatically pause upselling during active complaints. Action: ask vendors to demonstrate a 'do not send' scenario based on negative intent signals during demos.
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How To Get The Perfect Budget Mix For SEO And PPC
by Search Engine Journal · Marketing
Δ +2400 read ↗
TL;DR — Search Engine Journal frameworks a 70/30 budget split between PPC and SEO for balanced growth. Strategy: allocate 70% to PPC for immediate product launches, shifting to SEO for long-term CAC reduction. Adaptation: invest SEO budget into schema markup and structured data to capture AI Overviews. Action: model a 6-month budget scenario that transitions spend from paid acquisition to organic compounding.
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How Should Marketers Redefine MarTech Strategy for 2026?
by MarTech Series · Marketing
Δ +2000 read ↗
TL;DR — MarTech Series posits that marketing technology has evolved from execution tools to autonomous 'control planes'. Governance: algorithms now determine brand identity by dynamically prioritizing high-performing creative variants. Strategy: leadership must shift from approving campaigns to designing the 'guardrails' and rules that machines operate within. Action: audit automated optimization rules to ensure they don't sacrifice brand equity for cheap clicks.
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What Are Leaders Saying About AI’s Strategic Role in Marketing?
by Fast Company · Marketing
Δ +1600 read ↗
TL;DR — Fast Company argues that organizational simplification is the prerequisite for AI success. Metric: track 'complexity signals' like tool onboarding time (e.g. Spotify reduced code merge time from 60 to 20 days). Protocol: establish clear data ownership and decision protocols before adding new AI tools. Action: audit the tech stack to remove disconnected 'Frankenstein' tools that increase manual reconciliation.
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How Can High‑Spend Advertisers Use AI to Stop Wasted Ad Spend?
by Barchart · Marketing
Δ +1350 read ↗
TL;DR — Barchart (via Visionary Unleashed) claims advertisers can train Facebook's AI to target affluent buyers by filtering conversion signals. Method: use a 'TTO' approach to send only qualified lead data (verified income/fit) back to the pixel. Result: prevents the algorithm from optimizing for cheap, unqualified leads. Action: review server-side conversion events to ensure you are only feeding 'high-value' signals to ad platforms.
January 3, 2026
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5 Marketing automation trends in 2026: This time, AI is better
★ max(signal) by Birdeye · Marketing Automation
Δ +4270 read ↗
TL;DR — Rate (750+ locations, 2,500 loan officers) automated review workflows with Birdeye AI: 12% review frequency increase, 3,800 reviews collected in 10 months, 4.9-star average maintained. GreenEarth Cleaning (230 franchises) centralized social publishing with AI content generation: 833% reach increase (1.9M impressions), 1,687% engagement surge (85.9K engagements), 29.4K link clicks driving business. Five 2026 automation tactics: monitor brand visibility in AI search engines (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity), deploy review generation agents at peak emotional moments, automate listings accuracy across 50-200+ directories, use predictive sentiment analysis to catch issues pre-escalation, generate location-specific social content at proven engagement times. Impact: Multi-location brands automate reputation and reach at scale without sacrificing quality.
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CES 2026 Preview: AI Hardware Ubiquity and the Rise of Agentic Gadgets
★ max(signal) by PCMag Editorial Team · CES 2026
Δ +4100 read ↗
TL;DR — PCMag's on-the-ground preview confirms CES 2026 will be the year AI moves from software to hardware ubiquity. Key signals: 'AI-ready' is the new standard for laptops (Intel Panther Lake, Snapdragon X2) and displays. Beyond PCs, expect dedicated 'agentic gadgets'—wearables and handhelds designed solely to house AI assistants—to challenge the smartphone status quo. LG and Samsung are pushing RGB LED and Micro RGB tech, while smart home devices (vacuums, locks) finally get useful AI interoperability via Matter. The era of the 'AI PC' is over; now it's just 'the PC'.
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AI Marketing Guide for 2026: Strategies, Tools, and Templates
★ max(signal) by Digital First AI · Marketing Strategy
Δ +3600 read ↗
TL;DR — A comprehensive 22-chapter playbook for 2026. Key frameworks: 1) 'Synthetic Personas' that evolve with real-time data to test messaging before launch. 2) 'Campaign Down' approach for rapid asset generation. 3) Multi-channel orchestration that adjusts timing/frequency based on individual fatigue signals (reducing unsubscribes by 20-40%). Warning: 'Most successful AI implementations take 6-12 months to show meaningful results.' Essential for teams moving from ad-hoc tools to integrated AI operations.
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CES 2026 Trend Report: Designing Trust in an Era of Infinite Scale
by Sparks Marketing · Experiential Marketing
Δ +3850 read ↗
TL;DR — For marketers at CES 2026, the signal isn't scale—it's simplicity. Sparks identifies 'Clarity Over Complexity' as the killer feature for brand experiences: interfaces resembling chat bubbles, drag-and-drop quantum workflows, and booths that reduce cognitive load. 'CES Foundry' debuts as a dedicated AI/Quantum hub, signaling a shift from novelty to applied systems. Brand storytelling at C Space is pivoting to survival in the creator economy. The winning playbook: stop chasing attention and start 'designing trust' through human-centric, opt-in experiences that respect user agency.
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In 2020, I made 5 predictions about marketing and martech for this decade. How are they going?
by Scott Brinker · Martech
Δ +2700 read ↗
TL;DR — Scott Brinker ('Godfather of Martech') reviews his 2020 predictions at the decade's midpoint. Verdict: AI has pushed 'No-code citizen creators' into hyperdrive. 'Big Data to Big Ops' is now the primary battleground for orchestration. The 'App Explosion' continues via the 'hypertail' of niche AI apps rather than consolidation. The 'Humans + Machines' convergence is no longer theory but operational reality. Validation for the composable, orchestration-first architecture bet.
January 2, 2026
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5 AI Launches That Changed How Marketers Win in 2025
★ max(signal) by Kieran Flanagan · AI Tools
Δ +4520 read ↗
TL;DR — Kieran Flanagan (CMO, Sequoia Scout) breaks down 5 AI launches that transformed marketing. Content Remixing: Gemini 3 turns YouTube into a content repository by extracting competitor positioning and viral talking points. Visual Creation: Nano Banana Pro renders text-in-images correctly, ChatGPT Image 1.5 enables iterative edits. A/B test 20 ad variations in minutes. Video: Sora 2 and Veo 3.1 collapsed video production from weeks to prompts. Automation: OpenAI Agent SDK and Google Workspace Studio enable agent swarms for competitor monitoring and lead qualification. Vibe Coding: Replit Agent and Claude Code let marketers ship ROI calculators and dashboards without engineering. One AI-enabled marketer with agents will outscale traditional teams.
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For Platforms, Here's What's NOT Going to Happen in 2026
by Krystal Scanlon · Platform Strategy
Δ +4150 read ↗
TL;DR — Digiday flips the predictions game by calling what WON'T happen in 2026. TikTok ownership won't be resolved. Threads won't see major ad revenue. Snap won't finally make real money (eMarketer: 2.1% of social ad spend in 2025). AI spending won't replace jobs, but shift from exuberance to efficiency. OpenAI will test ads but won't have a full ads business yet. Google won't spin off ad tech despite DOJ pressure. Retail media won't consolidate. Perplexity won't end the year independent. Amazon won't beat The Trade Desk.
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The Trends That Will Shape AI and Tech in 2026
by IBM Think · AI Trends
Δ +3720 read ↗
TL;DR — IBM experts predict AI's shift from individual usage to team and workflow orchestration. Models become commodities. Orchestration is the differentiator. GPUs remain dominant but ASIC-based accelerators, chiplet designs, and analog inference will mature. New chip class for agentic workloads may emerge. Open-source reasoning models and agents will push boundaries. Trust and security become priorities as enterprises focus on AI sovereignty. Agentic parsing will enable self-aware enterprise data systems for faster decisions.
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OpenAI Bets Big on Audio as Silicon Valley Declares War on Screens
by Connie Loizos · OpenAI
Δ +3580 read ↗
TL;DR — OpenAI unified engineering, product, and research teams to overhaul audio models for an audio-first device launching in about a year. Smart speakers are in one-third of U.S. homes. Meta's Ray-Ban glasses use five microphones to help hear in noisy rooms. Google tests Audio Overviews that transform search into conversational summaries. Tesla integrates xAI's Grok into vehicles. New model (early 2026) will sound more natural, handle interruptions, and speak while you're talking. Startups Sandbar and Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky are building AI rings for 2026.