Digital Marketing: latest News from the World – January Part 2
Welcome to our blog, where innovation meets strategy in the dynamic realm of digital marketing! In this post, we’ll examine the latest developments and emerging trends that are transforming the digital landscape. From recent updates in social media algorithms to AI-powered marketing techniques, these changes offer exciting possibilities for brands and marketers.
Get ready to learn how these advancements can revolutionize your campaigns, broaden your reach, and boost your ROI. We’ll analyze the key developments shaping the future of digital marketing, offering detailed insights to help you stay ahead in this rapidly evolving field. Don’t miss this comprehensive look at the current trends and news that are at the forefront of digital marketing!
Google: About 404 Validation and Redirects in Search Console
Managing 404 errors and redirects is crucial to maintaining the health of a website and optimizing its performance in search engines. John Mueller, Search Advocate at Google, recently shed light on how Search Console handles these issues during site migrations and reprocessing. In this article, we explore his recommendations and offer practical tips for ensuring smooth site transitions.
What are 404 errors and redirects?
404 errors occur when a user attempts to access a page that no longer exists on a website. If not handled correctly, these errors can be detrimental to the user experience and SEO. On the other hand, redirects are key tools to guide both users and search engines to new URLs when content has moved or changed.
Importance for SEO
- 404 Errors: can negatively affect SEO if internal or external links lead to non-existent pages.
- Redirects: They help preserve SEO fairness by transferring ranking signals to new URLs.
The Role of Google Search Console in Validation
Google Search Console is an essential tool for monitoring the health of a website, tracking errors and validating fixes. However, John Mueller clarified that the “mark as corrected” feature does not speed up Google’s reprocessing of changes.
How does validation work?
- Progress tracking: The feature allows site owners to verify whether Google has acknowledged changes, such as resolving 404 errors or implementing redirects.
- Limitations: It does not influence the speed at which Google reprocesses or reindexes changes.
John Mueller’s Key Tips on 404 and Redirects.
Mueller offered several important recommendations for managing these issues effectively:
Handling 404 Errors
- Intentional 404: If a page is intended to return a 404 error, no further action is necessary.
- Unintentional 404s: Redirect to appropriate URLs or restore the corresponding content.
Redirects and content updates
- Set up correct 301 redirects for pages that have moved.
- Ensure that new content returns a 200 (OK) status code.
- Update internal links and sitemaps to reflect the new URLs and signal the changes to Google.
Reprocessing times
- Recent changes: Updates made within a few days are usually processed quickly.
- Large sites or old issues: These may take longer to reprocess, especially in major migrations.
How Long Does Reprocessing Take?
The time it takes for Google to reprocess changes depends on several factors:
- Small sites: simple changes are usually processed in a few days.
- Large sites: May take weeks or more, due to the volume of pages affected.
Best practices to expedite reprocessing
- Upload an updated sitemap to Search Console.
- Fix broken internal links pointing to 404 pages.
- Make sure your server responds correctly with HTTP codes (200, 301, 404).
News
WordPress launches Studio Sync and Studio Assistant, two advanced solutions for web development
WordPress.com, the leading website building platform owned by Automattic, has introduced two innovative features: Studio Sync and Studio Assistant. These tools are part of Studio, the free and open source application designed for the development of WordPress projects in local environments.
The main goal of these solutions is to simplify and improve the workflow of developers and designers, allowing them to work more efficiently and securely. Studio Sync and Studio Assistant form a comprehensive ecosystem that promises to revolutionize the way WordPress projects are managed.
Studio Sync: agile synchronization and automatic backups
Studio Sync is a tool specifically designed to address common challenges related to website synchronization and publishing. This system allows developers to publish sites directly to WordPress.com, test in staging environments, and keep plugins and themes updated on live sites, all with just one click.
One of its most prominent features is the ability to generate automatic backups during the synchronization process. This adds an extra layer of security by ensuring that projects are protected against possible errors or data loss.
Thanks to its simplified interface, professionals can concentrate on creative tasks, leaving aside technical concerns such as manual backup management or the risk of errors during updates. For example, by synchronizing modifications between local and production environments, Studio Sync ensures that changes are implemented efficiently and securely.
Studio Assistant: artificial intelligence at the service of developers
Studio Assistant is an artificial intelligence-powered chatbot that facilitates the management and creation of websites, and is capable of performing complex technical tasks through an intuitive conversational interface.
With multilingual support, this new tool answers questions specific to the context of the website under development, helping developers with configurations, WP-CLI commands and other technical operations that would otherwise require more time and expertise.
If you ask the Studio Assistant to write code or blog posts, it will generate Gutenberg blocks or code that you just copy and paste. He’s trained with WordPress-specific documentation and has access to a lot of context about your website, so he’s able to respond with information and recommendations specific to your site.
It also guides users in solving common problems, making it an ideal tool for both experienced developers and beginners.
Studio: a comprehensive ecosystem for local development
Studio is a robust solution for local WordPress development. Using WordPress Playground, it eliminates the need for traditional web servers or complex technologies like Docker, offering a lightweight and efficient alternative.
Studio’s advantages include the ability to create public demos hosted on WordPress.com, ideal for presenting previews to clients without configuration hassles. It also integrates with popular development tools such as Visual Studio Code and PhpStorm, allowing developers to work in familiar environments while leveraging the advanced capabilities of the Studio ecosystem.
Google AI Overviews: How will AI affect publishers?
Google AI Overviews are transforming search results, appearing in 18% of publisher-related queries. This shift challenges traditional SEO strategies, forcing publishers to adapt to an AI-driven environment. Find out how these tools affect authority, relevance and opportunities for publishers.
What Are Google AI Overviews?
AI Overviews are a new AI-powered feature that Google has integrated into its search results. These previews are designed to provide quick, clear and relevant answers to user queries, without the need for users to visit external pages to get the information.
Key Features
- Summarized Content: Present accurate summaries that directly address the user’s query.
- Multimodal Structure: Include text, images and even videos, offering a richer information experience.
- Prioritized Relevance: Instead of prioritizing pages with traditional authority, AI Overviews look for the answers most relevant to the search intent.
How do AI Overviews work?
How AI Overviews work involves a sophisticated AI-based content analysis and selection process designed to deliver results tailored to user needs. Below is a detailed description of how it works:
1. Source Analysis
Google employs artificial intelligence to analyze a wide range of sources, including:
- Web articles
- Videos from platforms such as YouTube
- Structured data provided by website owners (Schema markup)
2. Answer Generation
- The AI selects the most relevant information and generates a summary that:
- Directly answers the query.
- Is designed to be concise and easy to understand.
- Integrates different formats (text, images, videos) to enrich the answer.
3. Relevance Prioritization
- Unlike traditional results that weight factors such as backlinks or domain authority:
- AI Overviews prioritize content relevance based on user intent.
For example, for queries like “What is a smart contract?”, they might include content from a source specializing in blockchain technology, even if it’s not in the top 10 of traditional results.
Why do AI Overviews Matter?
Google’s focus on AI Overviews is a game-changer for content creators and publishers:
- For users: they provide immediate information without the need to navigate multiple pages.
- For publishers: They require optimizing content to be understood and highlighted by artificial intelligence, beyond traditional SEO strategies.
With these capabilities, AI Overviews are set to transform the way users interact with search engines, requiring publishers and brands to take a fresh approach to creating relevant and adaptive content in this format.
TIKTOK
TikTok unveils the keys to 2025
In 2024, brands created new paths on TikTok, embracing the diversity of the community on the platform, pushing creative boundaries, riding cultural waves and showcasing authentic voices. The result changed the rules of the game by showcasing community engagement and redefining the possibilities for brands to connect and influence.
Today, the pace of change demands even more, which is why we are excited to share the TikTok What’s Next Report 2025, our fifth annual trends report, designed to provide marketers with detailed insights into the ever-changing wants and needs of our community. This report will empower brands to not only navigate the year ahead, but to shape it, generating new ways to connect, engage and inspire.
In 2025, the TikTok community will come together to create unique, transformative and year-defining content, redefining the way the industry thinks about marketing and the future of business growth, a movement we call Brand Chem. The old brand manual that told consumers what they needed is over. This new era demands that brands join forces with creators and communities, working side by side to create content that resonates, generates impact and ultimately redefines cultural relevance.
“In 2024, we saw brands push creative boundaries, lean into trends and connect with their communities in powerful ways, but 2025 is poised to take it even further,” said Sofia Hernandez, Global Head of Business Marketing for TikTok. “The creative storytelling opportunities on TikTok are endless, and this year brands and creators will come together to further shape culture, spark new ideas and accelerate business growth by tapping directly into what’s important to the TikTok community.”
Streaming
Tolerance for streaming advertising is growing
Although barely conceivable just a couple of years ago, advertising on streaming platforms is not only a reality but a preference for many consumers, especially if it means the price of the subscription will be reduced.
So points to recent research from Hub Entertainment Research, conducted among 3,000 U.S. consumers aged 14-74 who watch at least one hour of TV per week. However, while the analysis points to an increased tolerance for ads on on-demand content services, it has yet to reach the levels of advertising on live TV.
According to the study, the growing acceptance of streaming advertising by consumers is due, on the one hand, to the greater number of platforms that offer this option, and on the other hand, to the reduced price linked to plans that include ads. Thus, 66% of respondents indicated in December 2024 that they would choose the option with advertising if it meant saving between 4 and 5 dollars; a figure that in June 2021 stood at 58%.
However, tolerance for ads is still lower than that experienced by live TV advertising. Respondents believe that the ads they are exposed to when watching live TV are more naturally integrated into the experience and are therefore more “tolerable,” even among those born into the streaming TV era.
Thus, according to the analysis data, 61% of respondents aged 55-74 consider live TV advertising to be more tolerable than that offered during on-demand content. The figure rises to 66% for users aged 35-54 and 69% for those aged 16-34.
Hub Entertainment Research also looks at other issues, such as attention to advertising. Respondents say that a reasonable amount of advertising is less than 11 spots every half hour and less than 90 seconds per commercial break.
In this sense, when the amount of ads is reasonable, 38% of viewers say they pay attention to all or most of them, while 41% say they pay attention to some of them. On the other hand, when the amount of advertising is unreasonable, only 25% say they pay attention to all or most ads.
However, in terms of experience, users consider AVOD platforms – those subscription platforms with ad plans – and FAST – free streaming platforms that include ads – to offer the best experience in terms of advertising, compared to cable TV or video platforms that include live TV, such as YouTube TV.
Hub Entertainment Research points out that the data shows that over the past three years a significant segment of the audience prefers to watch ads if they can save on their content subscriptions. This offers opportunities for both streaming services and advertisers, especially as platforms are betting on live streaming of events.
The data shared with the company would back up that offered in November by Netflix. The platform disclosed that its ad-supported plan has 70 million monthly active users globally, and that around 50% of new subscriptions are made for the ad-supported plan in those markets that have this option.
It should be recalled that Netflix launched its ad-supported option in 2022, setting a trend in the global streaming services landscape. In 2024 Amazon also bet on adding ads to all its Prime Video programming, offering the possibility of eliminating advertising by paying more. Other major streaming services such as Max, Paramount+, Peacock and Hulu have also had ad levels for some time in the U.S. market.
Latest Tech and Digital Marketing Updates
📌Search Console listens to you. A month ago, they announced the 24-hour view in the tool’s performance reports, and users were asking to be able to export this data. Well, it is now possible.
📌Google is biting Microsoft. They are criticizing them because when a user types “Google” into Bing, it displays a page that mimics the layout of Google’s home page, and this may make some users unaware that they are still on Bing.
📌Keep an eye on this. A critical vulnerability in the WordPress UpdraftPlus plugin affects more than 3 million websites. I recommend you update the plugin to version 1.24.12 to avoid scares.
📌Zuckerberg copies Elon Musk. Meta CEO announces several measures in defense of free speech: community notes in posts to combat misinformation (as in X) and fewer restrictions on political and social posts.
📌Nvidia announces a bombshell. Nvidia starts the year strong by introducing Project Digits, a desktop supercomputer for AI that lets you run models with up to 200 billion parameters. It costs €3,000 and will be launched in May.
📌Ikea Preowned triumphs and expands. Its second-hand platform for buying, selling, exchanging and donating furniture started as a test in Madrid. Due to the success it has had in recent months, it is expanding throughout Spain.
📌Disney joins the party. They also know that advertising is the future. That’s why on their streaming platform the cheapest subscriptions will add advertising with customized ads for each user.
📌Google Ads has launched a tool to run experiments comparing the impact of reallocating budgets from dynamic search or display campaigns to Performance Max campaigns.
📌Loop Awards 2024 winners. The marketing awards founded by influencer Itziar Oltra reward:
- Best advertising spot: Estrella Galicia.
- Best campaign in RRSS: Vicio.
- Best real time campaign: Garnier for “Cucurella’s hair”.
- Best outdoor advertising campaign: McDonald’s with McDalenas.
📌The channel that replaces Disney Channel, which closed its free-to-air broadcasting last January 7. In its place comes Squirrel, a new movie channel that will rebroadcast more than ten movies a day, with classics and blockbusters.
📌The alternative to TikTok in the U.S. On January 19 (if nothing changes) TikTok will disappear in the United States. However, many tiktokers are moving to the subsidiary, Lemon8, which right now is the second most downloaded app in Apple Store.
📌First reactions. Meta has received complaints from some advertisers after changing its X-style content moderation policy. However, a massive boycott is not expected as Facebook and Instagram remain key in reach.
