Problemattic.

[00:00:00] Wünschst du dir jemanden, der dich versteht wie kein anderer?

[00:00:03] Jemand, der deine Wünsche wahr werden lässt und mit dir das schönste Abenteuer deines Lebens erleben möchte?

[00:00:10] Die Commerce-Plattform Shopify revolutioniert Millionen von Unternehmen weltweit.

[00:00:15] Mit Shopify richtest du im Nu deinen Online-Shop ein. Ganz ohne Programmier- oder Designkenntnisse.

[00:00:21] Dank der effizienten Einrichtung und intuitiven Social-Media- und Online-Marketplace-Integration

[00:00:27] kannst du über Instagram, Ebay und Co. werben und verkaufen.

[00:00:31] Neue Zielgruppen zu erreichen war noch nie so einfach.

[00:00:34] Shopify bietet auf einer einzigen sicheren Plattform alle Tools, um dein Online-Business aufzubauen.

[00:00:41] Kostenlos testen und dein Business der Welt präsentieren.

[00:00:44] shopify.de-try besuchen

[00:00:47] Einfach shopify.de-try eingeben und loslegen.

[00:00:52] Made for Germany. Powered by Shopify.

[00:00:56] It is Thursday, October 10th.

[00:00:58] Today, the battle of WordPress escalates and marketers are caught in the middle.

[00:01:03] The two powerhouses in B2B advertising, Amazon's new AI shopping wingman,

[00:01:08] and those meeting note-taking bots?

[00:01:11] You're listening to more than you think they are.

[00:01:14] I'm Todd Maffin. That's ahead today in Digital Marketing.

[00:01:21] A fight between the head of WordPress, which runs more than half the web,

[00:01:25] and one of its hosting partners is heating up.

[00:01:28] WordPress.org users, those are brands and people who use the popular self-hosted app,

[00:01:34] now need to pledge that they have no affiliation with the website hosting platform WP Engine

[00:01:40] before logging in.

[00:01:41] It shows up as a literal checkbox in the login screen.

[00:01:45] This move is part of WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg's ongoing feud with WP Engine,

[00:01:51] accusing the hosting platform of misusing the WordPress brand

[00:01:54] and not pulling its weight in the open source community.

[00:01:57] The checkbox on the login page asks users to confirm,

[00:02:00] quote, I am not affiliated with WP Engine in any way, financially or otherwise, unquote.

[00:02:07] And if they don't check that box, they can't access the site.

[00:02:11] That's a big problem for brands that need to download updates,

[00:02:15] or developers who are building e-commerce tools for websites,

[00:02:18] or really anyone who needs to get in.

[00:02:21] WP Engine is an independent platform that hosts WordPress-based sites,

[00:02:25] just like hundreds of others, WPMU, WPX, WP Webhost, WP Oven, Stagecoach, and many, many more.

[00:02:34] WordPress.org operates as an open source project,

[00:02:37] while WordPress.com is the commercial arm owned by Automatic,

[00:02:42] which funds and contributes to developing the WordPress code base.

[00:02:45] A few weeks ago, Mullenweg, who also co-founded Automatic,

[00:02:48] published a blog post labeling WP Engine as a, quote,

[00:02:52] cancer to WordPress, unquote.

[00:02:54] He accused the company of, quote,

[00:02:56] strip mining the WordPress ecosystem, unquote,

[00:03:00] and degrading user experience by disabling revision history,

[00:03:04] all in the pursuit of higher profits.

[00:03:06] WP Engine hit Automatic with a cease and desist,

[00:03:09] and Automatic fired one back.

[00:03:10] Now, WP Engine is banned from using WordPress.org's resources,

[00:03:15] and some contributors tied to the platform

[00:03:17] are reportedly getting booted from WordPress's community slack

[00:03:21] for even asking about the issues.

[00:03:24] WordPress contributors who have been bystanders in this legal tussle until now

[00:03:27] are feeling the impact.

[00:03:29] One veteran contributor described the situation as chaos,

[00:03:32] noting uncertainty,

[00:03:33] as Mullenweg is promising more surprises all week.

[00:03:41] When it comes to B2B ad dollars,

[00:03:44] LinkedIn and Meta are still calling the shots.

[00:03:47] A new eMarketer forecast shows that B2B social ad spending will reach $8.5 billion this year,

[00:03:53] with LinkedIn and Meta capturing nearly 80% of that total.

[00:03:57] LinkedIn is expected to bring in $4.2 billion,

[00:04:00] and Meta $2.9 billion in B2B ad revenues this year.

[00:04:05] LinkedIn, of course, continues to be the go-to platform for B2B advertisers.

[00:04:09] More than 9 out of 10 ads on LinkedIn target business-to-business audiences.

[00:04:15] It's projected to secure nearly half of B2B display ad spending

[00:04:18] and a quarter of all B2B digital ad spend in 2024,

[00:04:23] despite slowing growth.

[00:04:25] Meta, including Facebook and Instagram,

[00:04:27] ranks second in B2B social ad spend.

[00:04:29] Meta's B2B ad revenue growth is projected to slow to 14% this year,

[00:04:34] down from 25% last year.

[00:04:36] Growth may be slowing,

[00:04:38] but its platforms remain effective for targeting new businesses and decision-makers,

[00:04:42] and it'll still take 16% of B2B digital ad spending this year.

[00:04:46] Oh, and YouTube's in there as well.

[00:04:48] Their B2B ad revenues will also grow this year,

[00:04:51] driven by increasing demand for video content.

[00:04:54] The company's B2B ad revenues are expected to hit almost $300 million this year,

[00:04:58] a 12% increase compared to last year.

[00:05:01] Overall, B2B video advertising is expected to grow 14%,

[00:05:05] reaching $1.75 billion,

[00:05:09] which will account for about one-tenth of overall digital ad spend.

[00:05:18] The robot overlords are here to make no shopper leave their virtual cart empty.

[00:05:23] Amazon yesterday launching a new AI tool called Shopping Guides,

[00:05:27] aimed at helping customers find products based on their specific needs

[00:05:30] by providing personalized product information and recommendations while they browse.

[00:05:35] These AI guides cover about 100 product categories,

[00:05:39] including TVs, headphones, running shoes, skincare items, and so on,

[00:05:43] and include educational content,

[00:05:45] as well as customer insights related to these products.

[00:05:47] For instance, selecting a guide for headphones gives you a curated list

[00:05:51] based on popularity, reviews, and price.

[00:05:54] Shoppers can filter results by brand,

[00:05:57] use case, like sports or gaming,

[00:05:59] or connectivity type, like wired or wireless.

[00:06:01] These AI shopping guides will appear as autocomplete suggestions during searches

[00:06:06] or can be accessed directly from Amazon's homepage.

[00:06:10] Clicking on the Keep Shopping For card will also surface guides

[00:06:13] based on recent shopping activity.

[00:06:15] The user interface, though,

[00:06:17] appears to take up a lot more screen real estate space,

[00:06:20] and it's not clear yet if users can disable this feature.

[00:06:24] Shopping guides are now available in the U.S.

[00:06:27] on Amazon's mobile website and its apps for iOS and Android.

[00:06:36] A couple of updates from Google.

[00:06:38] First, it announced yesterday it is expanding the store ratings feature

[00:06:41] beyond U.S. search.

[00:06:43] This update will now be available to searchers in Australia,

[00:06:46] Canada, India, and the U.K.

[00:06:49] Store ratings appear in shopping search results

[00:06:51] for products like Summer Dress.

[00:06:53] When users click on your store rating,

[00:06:55] they can view detailed information about your business,

[00:06:57] such as reviews, shipping, return policies, and more.

[00:07:00] Google is also testing verified badges for product listings in search results.

[00:07:06] Back in August, there were reports that Google was testing verified badges

[00:07:09] and verification labels in organic search results.

[00:07:13] Now Google is testing these verification labels

[00:07:15] on detailed product result overlays,

[00:07:18] specifically for retailer listings.

[00:07:21] When users hover over the badge,

[00:07:23] a message explains that Google's signals suggest the business is authentic,

[00:07:27] but it can't guarantee the reliability of that business or its products.

[00:07:37] And that will bring us to the lightning round.

[00:07:39] Google Analytics has a new real-time pages report

[00:07:41] that shows you which pages on your website or app

[00:07:43] are currently being viewed and how many users are on each page.

[00:07:48] Meta is expanding its AI chat availability to more regions.

[00:07:51] The company says it's on track to become

[00:07:53] the most used AI assistant in the world.

[00:07:56] Those new countries are Brazil, Bolivia, Guatemala, Paraguay,

[00:08:00] the Philippines, and the United Kingdom.

[00:08:02] A new European regulatory body called Appeals Center Europe

[00:08:06] will be up and running by the end of the year.

[00:08:08] And the EU says this platform will manage disputes

[00:08:11] about post-takedowns between European users

[00:08:14] and big social platforms.

[00:08:16] It'll start with Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube,

[00:08:18] and it will add to that list over time.

[00:08:20] In the Brazil-versus-Elon battle, Elon has blinked.

[00:08:26] X is back online in Brazil after backing down

[00:08:29] and meeting the government's requests regarding content moderation.

[00:08:34] And LinkedIn has introduced a new game to its stable,

[00:08:37] Tango, which is a kind of image-matching logic game.

[00:08:41] The company says more than three out of four users who play a game

[00:08:45] come back to play again within a week.

[00:08:59] The commercial platform Shopify revolutionized millions of companies

[00:09:04] worldwide.

[00:09:05] With Shopify you're in your own online shop.

[00:09:08] The company says more than three out of the world.

[00:09:12] The efficient and intuitive social media,

[00:09:15] and online marketplace integration

[00:09:16] can you over Instagram, eBay, and Co.

[00:09:20] Werben and verkaufen.

[00:09:21] Neue Zielgruppen to erreichen,

[00:09:23] was never so easy to achieve.

[00:09:24] Shopify has a single single platform

[00:09:27] all tools to build your online business.

[00:09:30] Costing test and your business in the world present.

[00:09:34] Shopify.de-try.com

[00:09:45] And finally, you've probably seen them

[00:09:48] popping into your Zoom meeting.

[00:09:49] It's usually a default head icon named

[00:09:51] Notetaker or something similar.

[00:09:53] It is of course AI.

[00:09:55] And look, I'll be the first to admit that

[00:09:57] even as an old man that yells at clouds,

[00:09:59] I too use one of these

[00:10:00] and I'm actually quite impressed by it.

[00:10:02] But Fortune this week has a great piece up

[00:10:05] about how the meeting bots might snitch on you

[00:10:08] if you're not careful.

[00:10:10] You see, by default,

[00:10:11] some of these systems are set to email

[00:10:13] a copy of the meeting notes

[00:10:15] to everyone who attended,

[00:10:17] even, and here's the issue,

[00:10:19] to those who leave early.

[00:10:21] So imagine you show up to your Monday meeting,

[00:10:24] you participate for 10 minutes,

[00:10:25] and then you leave.

[00:10:27] Those people in that meeting

[00:10:28] might start talking about you

[00:10:30] now that you're gone,

[00:10:31] and the bot will dutifully send everyone

[00:10:34] a complete transcript

[00:10:35] after the meeting is formally over.

[00:10:38] Quoting the Fortune piece,

[00:10:39] quote,

[00:10:40] That happened to researcher and engineer

[00:10:42] Alex Bilzerian recently.

[00:10:44] He'd been on a Zoom meeting

[00:10:45] with a venture capital firm

[00:10:46] and Otter.ai was used to record the call.

[00:10:50] After the meeting,

[00:10:50] it automatically emailed him the transcript,

[00:10:53] which included

[00:10:53] hours of their private conversations afterward,

[00:10:57] where they discussed intimate,

[00:11:00] confidential details about their business.

[00:11:02] The transcript showed that

[00:11:04] after Bilzerian had logged off,

[00:11:06] investors had discussed their firm's,

[00:11:08] quote,

[00:11:09] strategic failures

[00:11:10] and cooked metrics,

[00:11:13] unquote.

[00:11:14] So,

[00:11:15] look through those setting screens,

[00:11:17] people.

[00:11:18] Make sure you know what's going out

[00:11:19] to whom.

[00:11:20] Or, better yet,

[00:11:22] disable those automatic emails entirely,

[00:11:24] lest your boss learn

[00:11:26] what you really think of her kids.

[00:11:30] We have a new business pitch

[00:11:32] in the U.S. tomorrow

[00:11:32] that I have to fly down for,

[00:11:34] but rest assured,

[00:11:35] you will still get a show

[00:11:36] because our associate producer,

[00:11:38] the intrepid Steph Gunn,

[00:11:39] will be here hosting In My Place.

[00:11:41] So she will see you tomorrow.

[00:11:42] Thanks for listening.

[00:11:43] This desire to lead

[00:11:44] in gumball innovation

[00:11:46] that would change everything forever.

[00:11:48] What we were trying to do

[00:11:49] was make the gumballs more orange,

[00:11:52] but what we did instead

[00:11:53] was open a rift

[00:11:54] in the space-time continuum,

[00:11:57] unleashing a godlike entity.

[00:11:59] You know,

[00:12:00] it happens.