LATEST NEWS
Digital marketing : If you have felt a disturbance in the force this week, you aren’t alone. Between a sudden drop in e-commerce traffic and a massive uproar over privacy on Instagram, the first week of December 2025 has been… loud.
We are not just seeing “updates” anymore; we are seeing the infrastructure of the internet change. Google is trying to stop being just a list of links, and social platforms are getting hungry for your data to feed their AI models.
Here are the 3 big stories from this week that you actually need to care about, minus the fluff.
1. The December Core Update: An E-Commerce “Bloodbath”
Digital marketing : Just when online retailers were catching their breath after Black Friday, Google quietly rolled out a Core Update (roughly Dec 4–12) that has hit the e-commerce sector harder than anything we’ve seen in years.
What Happened?
Unlike previous updates that went after “spammy” blogs, this one seems laser-focused on Thin E-Commerce Content.
Reports from the SEO community show that product pages and category pages with generic, manufacturer-provided descriptions are disappearing from the rankings. If your product page is just a title, a price, and a copied description from the supplier, Google has effectively de-indexed it.
The “Intent Match” Shift
Google is moving from “keyword matching” to “intent matching.”
- Old World: You rank for “Best noise-canceling headphones” because you used that phrase 5 times.
- New World (Dec 2025): You only rank if your page offers unique value—like a comparison table, a user guide, or original photos.
Who is Safe?
Brands that treated their category pages like landing pages are surviving. If you have a category page for “Men’s Running Shoes” that includes a buying guide, FAQ, or expert advice, you likely saw a boost. If it’s just a grid of photos? You might be in trouble.
The Takeaway: Stop publishing empty pages. If a page doesn’t add new information to the internet, Google doesn’t want it anymore.
2. Meta’s Privacy “Earthquake”: The AI Training Backlash
Digital marketing : If you opened Instagram or Facebook this week, you might have seen a notification about a policy change. Or more likely, you saw your friends posting viral “I do not consent” images.
The New Policy
Effective mid-December, Meta has updated its terms to explicitly allow its AI models to train on “publicly shared content”—which now includes not just your captions, but the visual analysis of your photos and videos to understand “context.”
While Meta argues this helps them build better creative tools for everyone, users (and European regulators) are furious.
Why Marketers Should Care (The “Predictive” Ad Model)
This isn’t just a PR nightmare; it’s an ad-tech revolution. Meta is trying to build Predictive Targeting. By analyzing the context of billions of images (e.g., identifying that you post a lot of photos of hiking trails even if you never type the word “hiking”), their AI can serve you ads for hiking boots before you even search for them (digital marketing).
The “Opt-Out” Chaos
There is currently a confusing web of “opt-out” forms, mostly available only to users in the EU/UK due to GDPR protections. For US marketers, this means we are entering a weird era where our audience is hyper-aware of their data.
- Risk: Users might engage less to protect their privacy.
- Opportunity: Ads are about to get frighteningly accurate.
3. The Rise of “Agentic AI” in Google Ads
Digital marketing : While we were distracted by the Core Update, Google dropped a bombshell for advertisers: the rollout of “Ads Advisor”, a true AI Agent.
From Assistant to Manager
Until now, AI in marketing was a “Copilot”—it wrote copy or suggested keywords. Agentic AI is different. It has autonomy.
Google’s new tools allow you to type a goal like: “Sell more winter coats in Chicago with a $500 CPA,” and the Agent will:
- Create the campaign structure.
- Generate the images and copy.
- Set the bids.
- Launch the campaign. (With your approval).
Is it Good?
It’s fast. But it’s risky. Early testers are reporting that while the setup is instant, the AI lacks “nuance.” It might bid on broad terms that burn budget because it doesn’t understand your brand’s specific tone or exclusions.
The “Black Box” Problem gets Darker
We are losing manual control. As Google pushes these “set it and forget it” agents, the role of a PPC manager is shifting from “adjusting bids” to “auditing the robot.”
Action Plan: What You Should Do This Week
Digital marketing : Okay, the news is heavy. Here is your Monday Morning checklist to handle it.
For SEOs:
- Audit Your Category Pages: Go to your top 10 revenue-driving category pages. Do they have text? Is it unique? Add a “Helpful Guide” section to the bottom of these pages immediately.
- Check “Crawled – Currently Not Indexed”: Look in Search Console. If this number spiked this week, your content is too thin.
For Social Marketers:
- Address the Fear: If you run a community, don’t ignore the Meta privacy backlash. Post content that respects your audience’s data.
- Diversify: If 100% of your audience is on Instagram, you are renting land from a landlord who just raised the rent. Start pushing people to an email list today.
For Advertisers:
- Test, Don’t Trust: If you get access to Google’s new AI agents, give them a tiny budget ($50/day). Do not hand over the keys to your main account yet.
- Watch Your Search Terms: With “Broad Match” becoming the default for these AI tools, you need to be aggressive with Negative Keywords.
Visit trustmywork.com for more updates .
Digital marketing partner clicktoconverts.com