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The GRADIENT: Why Taste Is the New Moat

Google’s Old Search Era Is Over – Here’s What 2026 SEO Will Really Look Like

For years, Google’s predictable, and at times too easily gamed, ecosystem created an illusion that SEO success came from creating any and all content and checking boxes rather than understanding users. During the era of massive top‑of‑funnel traffic and generously ranked low‑quality content, many marketers don’t realize it, but they mistook timing and loopholes for

‘Dangerous illusion’: B2B marketers on taking lead gen from quantity to quality

Marketers discuss how to address the challenge of lead generation in the latest episode of Marketing Week’s webinar series, The Lowdown. Source

Midwife, Wha?! is the heartwarming picture book that’s letting kids in on life’s early beginnings

Each hand-drawn with coloured pencils, Haein’s illustrations trace the shapes of all kinds of figures and bodies to form Jo’s story, adding a sense of inclusivity, abundance and warmth to the illustrations, something that’s also reflected in the language found on the page. Midwife Wha?! is sadly quite unique in its use of gender-inclusive language

What It Means For SEO

A Cloudflare incident is returning 5xx responses for many sites and apps that sit behind its network, which means users and crawlers may be running into the same errors. From an SEO point of view, this kind of outage often looks worse than it is. Short bursts of 5xx errors usually affect crawl behavior before

X plans to take over the World Cup starting with Draw Day

The biggest sports tentpoles, from the Super Bowl to the Olympics, have become the closest thing platforms have to guaranteed windfalls. Everyone circles the same moments, intent on wringing as much commercial upside from a captive global audience. Against that backdrop, X is angling for an early edge heading into next year’s FIFA World Cup.

The $165 FiiO FT1s sound better than some headphones that cost $1,000

Some products are such exceptional value that waiting for a sale feels pointless. The FiiO FT1s are exactly that kind of headphone. At just $164.99 at Amazon, these closed-back cans deliver sound quality that competes with models costing a LOT more. Wrapped in genuine walnut wood earcups that look properly premium, who needs a discount?

Selling AI Search Strategies To Leadership Is About Risk

Boost your skills with Growth Memo’s weekly expert insights. Subscribe for free! AI search visibility isn’t “too risky” to invest in for executives to buy-in. Selling AI search strategies to leadership is about risk. Image Credit: Kevin Indig A Deloitte survey of +2,700 leaders reveals that getting buy-in for an AI search strategy isn’t about innovation,

Timothée Chalamet Didn’t Mean to Drag Marketers, But He Did

Have you seen the deliciously postmodern promo for Timothée Chalamet’s new film Marty Supreme? It’s ricocheting around the internet right now, and for good reason. The spot offers a bone-dry portrayal of a virtual marketing meeting between the film’s agency team and Chalamet himself, who joins the call to share his “thinking.” He wants to

Tickets now available for December’s Nicer Tuesdays!

It’s here! The final Nicer Tuesdays of the year! See out 2025 with a series of talks set to blow your creative socks off (don’t worry, you’ll be getting more in your stocking). At December’s event, you can expect talks from Charlotte Mei, a London-based contemporary artist, painter and illustrator who has worked with Sony

Google Brings Gemini 3 To Search’s AI Mode

Google has integrated Gemini 3 in Search’s AI Mode. This marks the first time Google has shipped a Gemini model to Search on its release date. Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers in the U.S. can access Gemini 3 Pro by selecting “Thinking” from the model dropdown in AI Mode. Robby Stein, VP and GM

10 of the most thought-provoking quotes from the November MarTech Conference

The November MarTech Conference featured six panel discussions and one keynote presentation, all focused on the theme of AI and agents, and featured speakers from brands such as Cisco, Google, Citrix, Fluency, Stensul and Braze. All the November sessions are now available on demand at the link below. Here are 10 quotes from the November

How Photoshop sparked the design behind this colourful hand-drawn indie game

Metroidvanias are one of the most popular indie game genres, as you can also tell from a recent interview about Possessor(s). Of course, with so much competition, especially from the ‘indie GTA 6’ that has been Hollow Knight: Silksong, it’s more crucial than ever to stand out. Constance certainly shares a similar kind of hand-drawn

Google On Generic Top Level Domains For SEO

Google’s John Mueller answered a question about whether a generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) with a keyword in it offered any SEO advantage. His answer was in the context of a specific keyword TLD, but the topic involves broader questions about how Google evaluates TLDs in general. Generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs) gTLDs are domains

Viagogo, AA and Wayfair in online pricing probe

Eight companies are being investigated by the Competition and Markets Authority for their use of fees and misleading time-limited offers. Source

Apple invites you to decorate Battersea Power Station

“Our tree definitely has some unique elements to it,” Yonk says, also speaking to the specifically odd canvas offered by the iconic building, and in turn, the creative benefits of working within unusual parameters. “For instance, having the top branches thinner to accommodate the tower’s chimneys. Those limitations eventually ended up adding to the character

Google Search Console Adds Custom Annotations To Reports

Google launched custom annotations in Search Console performance reports, giving you a way to add contextual notes directly to traffic data charts. The feature lets you mark specific dates with notes explaining site changes or external events that affected search performance. What The Feature Does Custom annotations appear as markers on Search Console charts. Google’s

Media Buying Briefing: Q4 wobbles a bit, and buyers wonder how it will affect 2026 spending

It seems mixed signals are all over the place in the fourth-quarter ad marketplace, with some media buyers reporting a recent drop off in ad spend from a number of categories, while others acknowledge a slowdown but not of any amount that rings alarm bells for 2026. One chief media officer even said he’s seen

8 controversial campaigns that won over audiences

Controversial brands, campaigns or rebrands tend be the ones we remember. We’re all still talking about Cracker Barrel and Jaguar after all. But what happens when the controversy works in a brand’s favour? What about when a brand does something so bold is ends up skewing public opinion towards it? Here are eight examples of

Google Extends AI Travel Planning And Agentic Booking In Search

Google announced three AI-powered updates to Search that extend how users plan and book travel within AI Mode. The company is launching Canvas for travel planning on desktop, expanding Flight Deals globally, and rolling out agentic booking capabilities that connect users directly to reservation partners. The announcement continues Google’s push to handle complete user journeys

As Alex Lubar Exits, Omnicom Won’t Say If It Will Backfill DDB Global CEO Role

DDB Worldwide global chief executive Alex Lubar has left the network, following reports that the agency’s brand may be retired following Omnicom’s $13.5 billion acquisition of Interpublic Group. Lubar has joined Fundamentalco, a brand strategy consultancy spun out of Blackstone, as CEO. Fundamentalco’s clients include Bain Capital, Visa, Hilton, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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