The first issue of Inbound News!

Yep, you’re about to read the very first issue of Inbound News. 😀 

This newsletter is for inbound marketers, content creators and people responsible for the organic growth of their organization.

We cover the stories that matter during the previous week with some analysis and opinion to help all the noise make sense. But always with a healthy dose of skepticism and self-awareness. 😉 

Just 10 minutes every Monday to catch up on the previous week.

Plus something extra to help you work smarter.

We’re really happy that you’re here to start this journey with us!

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🤖 AI

AI web crawler bots losing access to top websites

What’s happening: Originality.ai found that nearly 20% of the world’s top 1,000 websites had blocked at least one AI company’s web crawler from accessing material on their website by the end of August. This includes big media and tech organizations like the New York Times, Amazon, Quora and Reuters.

Why it’s happening: OpenAI announced last month that they would be deploying their own bot to crawl the internet. What the bot gathered could be used to train and improve ChatGPT. They also advised publishers that the bot would be honoring any instructions set in the robots.txt file of the website. This file has traditionally been used to deny access to other web crawlers, such as Google’s. The study assessed how organizations have been responding.

Why it’s important: AI tools such as ChatGPT are raising copyright and privacy issues that regulators and lawmakers haven’t been able to answer yet. Organizations are therefore taking the matter into their own hands by not allowing AI organizations to scrape their information. This may change as lawsuits work their way through the courts and negotiations between AI and media organizations progress. Losing access to quality data may affect the ability for AI products to improve further.

📖 Read the study: Websites blocking ChatGPT

Was Shakespeare actually a robot?

What’s happening: OpenAI has claimed that AI detection tools cannot actually detect AI. Such tools released to date, including OpenAI’s own, cannot in fact reliably distinguish between AI and human-generated content.

Why it’s happening: Educational institutions have been setting policies on how tools like ChatGPT may be used by their students to turn in work for assessment. The general consensus appears to be that using ChatGPT is a form of cheating and students can open themselves up to academic penalties if they use it outside of any explicitly agreed use with their instructor.

Why it’s important: Many AI detection tools are being offered by providers of AI content tools. They aim to attract traffic to their websites and assuage fears of being identified as a user of AI when using their tools. But Open AI pointed out that when attempting to train their AI-detection model, texts from Shakespeare and the Declaration of Independence were classified as AI-generated. So content creators, educational organizations and others may be mistakenly relying on these AI-detection tools to guide their work and policies. Google has also explicitly stated they don’t (currently) penalize AI-generated content in their search rankings.

📖 Read the blog post: How can educators respond to students presenting AI-generated content as their own? 

✍️ Content creation

CapCut releases a very familiar looking product

What’s happening: CapCut, the video editing app from TikTok’s parental unit ByteDance, has released a new graphics editing tool. They have unashamedly taken inspiration for it from graphic design platform Canva.

Why it’s happening: It seems like an obvious move for ByteDance to provide a graphics editor to complement their enormously popular video editor for content creators. CapCut watermarks can be seen all over not just TikToks, but also Instagram Reels. CapCut is a free app, while Canva has free and paid options for professionals and teams.

Why it’s important: By offering a graphics editor, ByteDance would be hoping to keep users completely within their ecosystem of apps. Their other recent shopping product releases on TikTok mentioned in our report above seem aligned with strategy. For Canva meanwhile, this is yet another competitor looking to eat their lunch after the release of Microsoft’s Designer and Adobe Express. At stake are 135 million monthly users and annualized revenue of 1 billion USD. They have been releasing AI-influenced product updates this year to keep things humming. Will marketing teams and content creators using Canva be tempted by these new offerings or stay loyal to them?

Slightly awks: TikTok has also announced a new marketing campaign in partnership with Canva. The campaign aims to demonstrate how TikTok cultivates business growth for Australian companies, with Canva being their star performer. Canva currently runs a lot of paid campaigns on TikTok and it has apparently become integral across their entire marketing funnel. Have to wonder if this mutual love fest will be continuing? Or whether their friendship extends to some kind of licensing agreement for Canva’s UI?

🔎 SEO

Google antitrust trial begins

What’s happening: The trial alleging Google’s 90% market share has allowed it to illegally restrict competition in search and search advertising has begun. The Justice Department and various state Attorneys General allege Google’s agreements for its products to be pre-installed on devices such as mobile phones has allowed it to illegally form a monopoly.

Why it’s happening: This trial stems from a case filed back in 2020 by the Justice Department and eleven states. They are seeking to curb what they allege are Google’s anti-competitive practices. Google on the other hand are arguing that their market share is due to their superior products and their pre-installed products don’t restrict users from selecting another option.

Why it’s important: The Justice Department is seeking an injunction from the court to stop Google’s alleged anti-competitive actions. If they succeed in this case, it could have far-reaching consequences to Google and its products that we use or could be using. The court could restrict its actions in the marketplace or even break it up into different companies to increase competition. This follows recent antitrust action in Europe resulting in billions of euros in fines for Google.

Why this sounds familiar: For those with long memories, this has been widely reported as the biggest case against a tech company since the case against Microsoft in 1998. In that case they were found to have illegally stopped their rival Netscape from installing their web browser Navigator on personal computers. They were allowed to remain intact after an appeal but still had to change some business practices. Presumably current Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will be watching the cases against Google closely.

🤔 Another perspective: The real stakes of the Google antitrust trial

👍️ Social media

More consumers are relying on social media for product research

What’s happening: The latest consumer trends report from HubSpot reveals 27% of those surveyed use social media as their top source of information when searching for new products.

Why it’s happening: As people spend more time scrolling on social media, it makes sense that they also turn to it for product research. In fact, the same study found that most Gen Z consumers prefer social search to web search engines due to their preference for video and more relatable answers. More so than older generations. The platforms themselves are also responding with a greater emphasis on search tools such as keywords.

Why it’s important: If you’re selling a product or service, this is further evidence of the importance of a well-rounded social media strategy. Optimizing your content to show up in search results should be part of it. While Google has been most recently focused on the threat from AI, they are also experimenting with their Search product to make it more relevant and attractive to younger generations to stave off the threat of social.

Read the full report: The state of consumer trends in 2023

It’s become easier to link your TikTok content to sales

What’s happening: TikTok users in the US can now buy what they see in videos and live streams via the For You feed on the app. A new Shop Tab will also be available to view on accounts.

Why it’s happening: TikTok Shop was launched successfully in the UK and has now been introduced to the US. This coincides with the launch of Fulfilled by TikTok, which will store, pack and ship products for merchants. Just like Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA).

Why it’s important: If your content strategy for you or your clients includes TikTok, it’s worth being across these changes. Adding the Shop button to your video content may help with conversions depending on your current setup. They also have a shiny new affiliate program that pays creators commissions when they sell other people’s products in their videos or live streams.

YouTube holds vertical video in a tight embrace

What’s happening: YouTube is rolling out a new full-screen viewing experience on vertical live streams for mobile viewers. It will include a scrollable live stream feed and easily accessible funding options for fans.

Why it’s happening: YouTube’s fastest growing content format over the last two years has been Shorts. Much like Meta’s emphasis on Reels, they’ve tapped into the thirst for short-form videos. They reported earlier this year that Shorts had reached more than 50 billion daily views in their app.

Why it’s important: While YouTube is also trying to maintain the popularity of their traditional long-form content, this is another signal that short-form videos are winning attention everywhere. If Shorts aren’t already part of your content mix, it’s worth considering how you can leverage any short-form videos you’re already creating on other platforms.

Why this sounds familiar: Because we’ve been here before with YouTube. Back when Periscope and Meerkat were running hot in 2016, they jumped on the bandwagon with full-screen live streaming.

🎯 Weekly shot

Are UGC creators destroying the golden goose?

The corruption of UGC: The beauty of user-generated content (UGC) is in how it provides someone’s genuine approval of a brand and its products. At least it used to. But like never-ending ‘limited’ sales, we’re taking something with real benefits and exploiting it until it loses the very thing that gave it those benefits.

See where this is going: Continue reading the article.

🧠 Sharpen the brain

Use AI as your content marketing lackey

Harness AI for good: It’s possible to use AI to assist with your content marketing without sacrificing the human elements that make it really effective. Starting with content research, through to writing and editing, it can provide a powerful way to save time and effort. Tasmin Lofthouse has provided a clever overview with adorable puppy-related examples for us to chew on.

⚡️ Quick bites

• Google is promoting its AI-powered Search Generative Experience (GSE) via pop-ups to some users of their traditional search engine. (SGE is currently only available in the US, Japan and India.)

• Google is also rolling out a new helpful content system update during the next fortnight and is the first since December.

• TikTok finished the work week with a $368 million fine for failing to protect children’s privacy per European privacy laws. Teens who signed up had their accounts public by default, allowing anyone to view their posted videos.

😲 Really?

Coca Cola enlists AI for their latest limited-edition flavor

This is really happening: Coca Cola has released a limited-edition flavor called Y3000. It’s supposed to taste like the future. We assume it’s a future where climate change hasn’t rendered the planet inhospitable. They asked AI for assistance with the flavor profile after quizzing actual humans what they consider to be flavors of the future. Not sure how you would actually answer that question. Although it will still mostly taste like Coke, it will have that twist of an extra flavor from the future. An early TikTok reporter has described it as tasting like bubblegum and blueberry, and very fruity. So not future so much as just #weirddrinks.