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!
Microsoft
Windows 11 becomes much faster
Windows 10 debuted way back on July 29, 2015, so we are slowly approaching its 10th anniversary. Technology is advancing by leaps and bounds, but users are defying logic and prefer to stick with this operating system even though a new version is already available.
In recent months, Microsoft launched an action plan to try to convince people to leave behind the 10-year-old OS and make the move to Windows 11, the latest update that debuted without much fanfare in 2021. Its efforts, however, have been largely unsuccessful.
Now, the community claims that the company is deliberately misleading users into believing that PCs running Windows 11 perform better than computers running the older version. The issue here is that such a bold statement is misleading.
Microsoft claims that Windows 11 improves PC performance, but this is false
In a lengthy article, Microsoft lists the advantages and benefits of installing the 2021 operating system. There are certainly valid reasons, such as new exclusive features, a more advanced AI experience, security patches, and much more.
That said, there is one part of the text that quickly caught the attention of users. The company points out that PCs running Windows 11 are 2 to 3 times faster than computers running Windows 10. This claim caught the attention of many, as it makes no sense that a software change would substantially improve a computer’s performance.
In fact, Microsoft’s statements are misleading. As reported by PC Gamer, the footnote at the bottom of the page indicates that the performance analyses are based on “Geekbench 6 multi-core performance testing,” and includes a link to another website detailing the components that were used.
Following the link, we discover that the company made an unfair comparison because the PC running Windows 11 has more modern components than the computer running the previous operating system. Naturally, better hardware will yield more positive results.
Based on the tests, the company used a computer with a 12th and 13th generation Intel Core for the Windows 11 computer, while it used 6th, 8th, and 10th generation Intel Core processors for the Windows 10 PCs. The point is that Microsoft directly compared Intel processors from 2022 to 2024 with chips from 2015, which is a difference of 7 to 9 years between the two computers.
Windows 10 will no longer be supported
With this in mind, it makes sense that the Windows 11 PC is 2 to 3 times faster than the one using the previous version of the operating system. With these actions, which many consider misleading, it seems difficult for Microsoft to convince users to move to the new version.
Valve’s February monthly survey revealed that nearly 45% of PC Steam accounts still use Windows 10, demonstrating the software’s popularity. While Microsoft’s statements did little to change people’s minds, there is certainly a more important reason to make the leap to Windows 11.
A couple of months ago, the tech giant warned that it will withdraw support for Windows 10, so the last security update will debut in October 2025. The absence of patches makes the operating system more vulnerable to cyberattacks and prone to long-term failures.
Google's AI leaves the media without clicks: only 1% access original sources
Google’s ambitious commitment to artificial intelligence (AI) is taking a heavy toll on news sites around the world. At least that’s what a new study by the Pew Research Center suggests, revealing that only 1% of users click on the links cited in AI-generated summaries that appear in the search engine. Although several publishers have warned about the negative impact of this trend on competition and industry revenue, the company maintains that these features improve the search experience and make it easier to discover new sources.
Last year, Google added the Overviews feature to its search engine. This tool provides users with an AI-generated summary that synthesizes information on a topic from multiple sources, including links to reference sites.
Recently, this functionality was also integrated into the Discover feed and expanded with the implementation of AI Mode in Google Search. This mode provides direct answers to queries without displaying the variety of links characteristic of traditional results, which means that links to the original content will only appear in certain cases.
“AI Mode relies on a deep understanding of the information available on the web, so answers are based on high-quality content to improve their reliability. In certain cases, links will be included if there is not full confidence in the quality or usefulness of the generated answer,” the company explains.
Numerous media outlets and content generators have complained that these features are reducing their ability to attract visitors, which directly impacts their revenue. The findings of the new Pew Research Center analysis reinforce that concern.
The impact of Google Overviews in five facts
After analyzing nearly 70,000 searches by 900 adults in the United States, the center concluded that most users were less likely to visit the sites cited in AI-generated summaries compared to those who did not have this feature enabled.
The study revealed that, as of last March, 58% of participants had conducted at least one Google search that displayed an AI-generated summary. Based on this data, researchers identified five key findings that are concerning for the media industry:
Frequency of AI-generated summaries
The study estimates that one in five Google search results includes an AI-generated summary. Eighty-eight percent of these snippets cited three or more sources, and only 1% referred to a single source.
On average, these summaries were 67 words long, although the researchers acknowledge a wide variability. “The shortest we found had only seven words, while the longest reached 369,” they note.
Preference for complex queries
Searches with a higher number of words are more likely to trigger an AI summary. For example, only 8% of queries with one or two words generated an automated summary, but that percentage rose to 53% for searches with ten or more words.
The way the query is formulated also has an influence. Sixty percent of direct questions triggered an AI summary. The same was true for 36% of searches with complete grammatical structures (subject, verb, and predicate).
Decrease in organic visits
The report suggests that if the AI-generated summary satisfies the user’s need, they are less likely to visit an external site for more information. Users who viewed an automated summary at the top of their results were significantly less likely to click on other links further down the page. Specifically, only 8% of them accessed an organic link not included in the summary, while those who did not see an AI summary clicked on a traditional result in 15% of cases.
Even links included within the summary have low click-through rates: only 1% of the links cited in Overviews led the user to visit the original source.
Less willingness to dig deeper
The data also reveals that the presence of AI-generated summaries increases bounce rates from the results page. In almost two-thirds of searches, with or without AI, users left the site without clicking on any links.
However, this behavior was more pronounced when exposed to automated content: 26% of those who viewed a page with an AI summary ended their browsing session immediately, compared to 16% of those who accessed traditional results.
Concentration of dominant sources
In both AI-generated summaries and traditional results, three platforms dominate as sources: Wikipedia, YouTube, and Reddit. These accounted for 15% of references in summaries and 17% in standard results.
The analysis notes that Wikipedia is slightly more frequent in AI summaries, while YouTube appears more frequently in traditional results. This suggests that AI values the encyclopedic and consensual nature of Wikipedia, which is useful for constructing brief and reliable answers. In contrast, traditional results prioritize multimedia content that often requires a direct visit for consumption.
Beyond individual platforms, the study also examined the types of web domains cited. Government sites (.gov) appear more frequently in automated summaries (6% of sources) than in conventional results (2%). As for news sites, their presence was similar in both formats, with 5% of links in both summaries and standard results.
artificial intelligence
AI Max: the Google Ads revolution that is redefining SEM in 2025
In 2025, Google took a key step in the evolution of automated advertising with the launch of AI Max, a new feature within Google Ads that is beginning to change the way we think about search campaigns. If you thought that Performance Max had already reached the limits of automation, AI Max proves that there is still much to explore. This new feature, which is in the early stages of adoption, combines generative artificial intelligence with predictive signals to manage ads, creatives, and bids more intelligently and autonomously. In this article, we’ll tell you what AI Max is, how it works, what sets it apart from other solutions, and how we’re starting to test it with some clients at SEOCOM.
What is AI Max?
AI Max is a new Google Ads feature designed exclusively for search campaigns. Unlike traditional keyword-based campaigns—or even Performance Max—AI Max uses generative artificial intelligence to dynamically create, optimize, and display ads with an unprecedented level of personalization. Its main features include:
- Intelligent search term matching: goes beyond keywords. It learns from your website content and ads to identify new relevant queries.
- AI-generated text: automatically creates personalized headlines and descriptions for each search.
- Final URL expansion: automatically selects the best landing page based on user intent.
- Advanced controls: allows you to exclude brands, filter by URLs, or limit by location of interest.
- Detailed reports: provides specific metrics for headers, URLs, and match types with the “AI Max” tag.
How is it different from Performance Max?
Although both solutions are based on artificial intelligence, AI Max is specifically designed for search and takes a much more granular approach focused on user intent.
- It allows for greater reach without relying exclusively on keywords.
- It generates content automatically.
- It offers transparency with detailed reports and more precise control over traffic.
- It is more agile to set up, although it requires a well-defined strategy to realize its full potential.
How new is it?
Very recent. AI Max began to be progressively enabled in accounts during the first half of 2025, and at this point, some brands—including our clients at SEOCOM—are beginning to test it.
We are still in an exploratory phase: understanding its logic, analyzing the first results, and evaluating its behavior in different types of accounts. What we can say for sure is that its potential is enormous, especially in terms of scalability, time savings, and discovering new search opportunities that previously went unnoticed.
Initial results according to Google
According to Google’s official blog, those who have enabled AI Max in their search campaigns have seen, on average:
- A +14% increase in conversions or conversion value, while maintaining CPA/ROAS.
- Up to a 27% improvement in accounts that were still using exact match or phrase match keywords.
- This data still needs to be validated more broadly, but it is a clear sign of where the SEM ecosystem is headed.
Advantages and challenges
Advantages:
- Greater reach without the need to expand the keyword list.
- Real-time creative generated, tailored to search intent.
- Lower operational burden and better performance on new or low-history accounts.
- Improved reporting and controls to maintain visibility.
Challenges:
- It is a new technology, which means there is a learning curve.
- Some manual control is lost, so it is essential to trust the account signals.
- It requires constant strategic oversight to avoid unwanted decisions by the AI.
What changes for SEM specialists?
With AI Max, the role of the SEM specialist is evolving. It is no longer just about selecting keywords and adjusting bids: it is now essential to design a clear strategy, ensure a consistent web structure, and adopt both an analytical and creative mindset.
The focus should be on understanding the user, optimizing content quality, and analyzing results with a business vision, beyond the specific performance of campaigns.
Conclusion
AI Max is one of Google’s big bets for this year. It is still in the early stages of implementation, but its proposal is clear: a smarter and more automated way to manage search campaigns, with artificial intelligence at the forefront.
At SEOCOM, we are already testing it with some clients. Although we are still gathering insights, the initial results are promising, and we are confident that this technology will set a new standard in how SEM is done.
Latest Tech and Digital Marketing Updates
📌WhatsApp is delaying advertising in Europe until 2026. This is due to strict privacy regulations (GDPR). What does this mean for you? For now, your communication via WhatsApp will remain free of intrusive advertising. If you have a marketing strategy on the platform, take advantage of this window to plan clean, user-oriented campaigns.
📌Chrome on iOS allows you to switch between personal and work profiles. The latest Chrome update for iPhone and iPad allows you to easily switch between personal and work accounts, keeping data, history, and tabs separate. Ideal if you manage multiple projects or clients: more organization, less data mixing, and greater productivity.
📌Interactive ads are coming to Netflix. Netflix will implement interactive ads on its advertising platform during the second half of 2025. This multiplies the opportunities for brands to create more dynamic and engaging advertising experiences, improving retention and interaction compared to static formats.
📌Google unveils the design of the Pixel 10 with triple camera. It has unveiled the design of the Pixel 10, which includes a new telephoto sensor in the base model, a major change for visual creativity. This can open up space for more impactful photo and video content if you use your mobile phone as a marketing tool.
📌Snapchat improves your ROAS by 7.5%. A study of more than 20,000 advertisers shows that Snapchat offers a 7.5% higher ROAS and the lowest CPA compared to other platforms. If you work with e-commerce or youth brands, this is an excellent channel for optimizing investment and results.
📌Google recommends noindex for the “llms.txt” file. John Mueller of Google suggests adding noindex to the llms.txt file to prevent it from being indexed and confusing users. If you are exploring documentation or control of LLMs on your website, this will help you avoid erroneous signals and improve SEO clarity.
📌Copilot Vision for Windows now shares the entire desktop. The “Desktop Share” feature of Copilot Vision in Windows 11 now allows the assistant to view and analyze your entire screen in real time, currently on the channel. If you are someone who works with multiple apps, this tool gives you instant tips, saves time, and improves visual workflows.