LinkedIn Launches Thought Leader Ads 🗯️ Google Search Introduces Preferred Sources 🤔 SEO Is Being Rewritten ✍️

This issue of Marketing Machine is brought to you by…. Marketing Machine! 🚀

if you haven’t heard, we’re growing up around here.

We’re launching a paid upgrade structure (and a book.) If you upgrade you’ll help the project grow and get access to the paid Friday edition with links and breakdowns, as well as the new Tuesday edition with all the playbooks, templates, case studies, and pre-release book content. Don’t worry, the free version will continue, but we’re shaking it up a bit and switching to links only.

You can also just pre-order the book, which will be a compact version of everything we’ve learned over 20 years of machine building.

LinkedIn Launches Thought Leader Event Ads to Build Trust and Influence [3 min read]

A new advertising format that allows marketers to sponsor posts from members (executives, employees, creators, or industry experts) that link directly to event pages. This innovation addresses the critical need for trust in B2B marketing, where 94% of marketers agree that trust is key to success and 76% of marketing leaders believe collaborating with creators builds brand authenticity. The feature works by enabling marketers to identify and promote existing member posts about events through Campaign Manager, allowing them to amplify authentic expert voices tied to specific events after obtaining the member's permission.

Google Search Introduces Preferred Sources [2 min read]

The feature allows users to customize their Top Stories search results by selecting their favorite news sources to see more content from those sites. Users can activate this feature by searching for news topics, clicking an icon next to Top Stories, selecting their preferred sources, and then seeing more articles from those sources displayed prominently in future searches. The feature offers flexibility by allowing users to select as many sources as they want, manage their preferences at any time, and still see content from other sites while prioritizing their chosen sources.

AI Traffic Is Up 527%, SEO Is Being Rewritten [8 min read]

AI traffic to websites has skyrocketed in just five months as people increasingly use ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other AI tools to find information online. Industries like legal, finance, and healthcare are seeing the biggest surge as users ask these AI platforms complex questions they'd normally ask human experts. Companies need to change their SEO strategies right now because AI tools find and recommend content differently than Google - they want clear, helpful answers that can be surfaced immediately rather than content that slowly climbs search rankings.

Want Your Ads On YouTube TV? Here’s What Google Says You Need [1 min read]

Google published new guidelines outlining what advertisers need to run campaigns on YouTube TV, covering eligible formats, booking options, and clearance requirements that campaigns must meet to advertise on the platform. The specific technical requirements include approved ad formats like 15-second non-skippable ads, 6-second bumper ads, or 30-second skippable in-stream ads, but all content must be free of music rights claims and undergo mandatory creative review. These guidelines provide a streamlined reference to help advertisers avoid compliance issues and more easily access YouTube TV's big-screen audience while navigating policy, rights, and format requirements without delays.

AI Industry Horrified To Face Largest Copyright Class Action Ever Certified [6 min read]

Anthropic faces a massive copyright class action involving up to 7 million claimants that could result in hundreds of billions in damages, with AI industry groups warning this lawsuit could "financially ruin" the entire AI sector. Judge William Alsup allegedly rushed the class certification without proper analysis, basing his decision on his "50 years" of experience rather than thoroughly examining the complex ownership issues involved in the case. The lawsuit faces significant complications because determining copyright ownership across millions of books involves deceased authors, split literary estates, orphan works, and defunct publishers, making it nearly impossible to resolve these cases collectively and potentially requiring "hundreds of mini-trials" to sort out who actually owns the rights.

Perplexity Offers To Buy Google Chrome For $34.5 Billion [2 min read]

Perplexity made an unsolicited offer to buy Google Chrome on Tuesday, following through on earlier statements that it would purchase the browser if the government forces Google to sell it. The bid is striking because it's nearly double Perplexity's own valuation of approximately $18 billion, showing the AI search startup is willing to pay far more than it's currently worth. Multiple large investment funds have agreed to finance the transaction in full, and Perplexity plans to invest more than $3 billion in Chrome and Chromium development over the next two years if Google accepts the deal.

The ‘Godfather Of AI’ Reveals The Only Way Humanity Can Survive Superintelligent AI [4 min read]

Geoffrey Hinton warns that current approaches to controlling AI won't work because superintelligent AI systems will become much smarter than humans and find ways around any controls, just as an adult can easily manipulate a 3-year-old with candy. Instead of trying to force AI submission, he proposes building "maternal instincts" into AI systems so they genuinely care about and protect humans, similar to how mothers naturally care for their babies, which he sees as "the only good outcome" for humanity's survival. Hinton has drastically revised his timeline for achieving superintelligence from 30-50 years down to just 5-20 years, emphasizing the urgent need to solve AI safety issues before these systems become too powerful to control.

You're Drowning In Marketing Tactics, And It's Killing Your Career [3 min read]

Marketing success hinges on pursuing timeless ideas rather than short-lived tactics that quickly become ineffective once widely adopted. Career advancement in marketing correlates directly with evolving from tactical execution to idea creation, with higher-paid professionals focusing on generating original concepts rather than implementing existing techniques. The key to breakthrough marketing lies in asking "why" questions about human motivation instead of "how" questions about implementation, allowing marketers to develop strategies rooted in fundamental behavioral insights rather than fleeting trends.

How Discord Marketing Works, And 7 Strategies To Use [11 min read]

Discord marketing is fundamentally about building engaged communities where brands can foster conversation and connection rather than simply broadcasting promotional messages. To be successful, brands need to thoughtfully set up and organize their servers with appropriate channels, clear guidelines, and strategic invitation methods that appeal to their target audience. Implementing specific strategies such as planning community events, inspiring user-generated content, collaborating with influencers, offering exclusive promotions, creating role-based rewards, personalizing onboarding, and using automation can help cultivate an active community that strengthens brand awareness and customer relationships.

How To Find Profitable Keywords For Your Niche [7 min read]

Effective SEO strategies should prioritize profitable keywords that generate revenue over high-volume keywords that merely drive traffic, as long-tail keywords often indicate higher purchase intent and face less competition. Success requires following a structured process of selecting seed keywords, expanding your list, clustering by search intent, prioritizing business-relevant terms, and continuously optimizing based on performance data. Understanding and targeting commercial and transactional search intent is critical for keyword profitability, requiring marketers to balance different intent types while emphasizing middle and bottom-of-funnel keywords that are more likely to convert.

Gen Z Is Almost 30: Why Marketers Need to Rethink Everything They Know About Youth Culture [6 min read]

Gen Z is almost 30 and now leads culture instead of just following trends, demanding that brands treat them as the main act rather than an emerging audience. They want brands to actually live their values through real actions and products, not just talk about them in ads, with most willing to pay more for brands that prove they're sustainable and ethical. Entertainment isn't just nice to have anymore - it's essential, because Gen Z makes buying decisions while scrolling and laughing on social media, so brands need to be entertaining creators, not just traditional advertisers.

From Purpose To Promise: Why Current Times Are Reshaping Brand Strategy [3 min read]

Purpose-led marketing is facing a reckoning due to inflation and changing consumer priorities, as brand "purpose" emphasizing "business as a force for good" is now seen as hollow or opportunistic, leading to widespread purpose-washing and skepticism about brand authenticity. Brands must shift from idealistic "purpose" to actionable "promise" because consumers want tangible value and care about what brands are actually doing for them, with 73% more likely to remain loyal to brands that show understanding and commitment during tough times. Rather than treating profit and purpose as separate goals, successful brands like Aldi, Warby Parker, and Impossible Foods create unified value propositions that deliver genuine customer value while maintaining their principles through daily actions that matter.

Competitive Analysis: The process of evaluating your competitors' strategies, strengths, and weaknesses compared to your own. It helps identify market opportunities and potential threats to your business. Competitive analysis informs strategic marketing decisions.

Example: A software company regularly reviews competitors' pricing, features, and customer reviews to identify gaps in the market they can fill.

First-Party Data: Information collected directly from your audience through owned channels and platforms. This data comes from actual interactions with your customers and website visitors. First-party data is highly valuable because it's unique to your business and collected with consent.

Example: A retailer collects purchase history, browsing behavior, and survey responses from their own website and loyalty program.

Oh hello. It’s us again. Marketing Machine. Here’s some more about the book.

If you didn’t catch it above. We’re restructuring a bit which means launching paid tiers and a book. Because this is Marketing Machine, they’re intertwined. Upgrade to support us, and to get all the content as we make it.

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That's it for this week! See you next week. 😎

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