May 5 2025
Breaking Into New Markets With PPC: Key Considerations

Google Ads dominates the global PPC market with advertising revenue surpassing $265 billion  in 2024.

Paid search is self-serving and fast to deploy. But as simple as it appears, the reality is much more complex.

The perceived ease of activation paints a picture that this channel is a silver bullet when brands look to enter new markets.

It’s as easy as piecing together an automated campaign such as Performance Max, changing the target location, and letting Google do the hard work, isn’t it?

This couldn’t be further from the truth, and from managing Paid Search for over 15 years, I can vouch for this firsthand.

PPC can play a key role in market expansion, but it’s not a market entry strategy, which it can often get confused with.

This post explores how paid search fits into a go-to-market strategy and what brands need to consider when launching in a new market, from media modeling to localization, brand building, and more.

Full-Funnel Media Planning Is Essential

Roughly speaking, paid search can be deployed in a new market within a short time frame.

Brand can liaise with in-house teams/PPC agencies, start the ball rolling, and then activate campaigns in a new locale in a fraction of the time it would take to even begin planning a full-funnel strategy.

For example, say you’re a U.S.-based ecommerce brand that sells luxury skincare and wants to break into the UK, without any brand demand in this market.

You build out Google Ads search and shopping campaigns and enter auctions for a wealth of generic queries, such as:

Screenshot from search for [buy luxury skincare], Google, April 2025

You’ll drive traffic to the site for relevant queries and might start to build momentum with sales. However, if the campaigns were to be paused, so would the entire presence of your brand in this market.

With full-funnel media buying, brands look at the full customer journey, of which different brands have a different mix of budgeting across each stage (lower, middle, and upper funnel, for example).

McKinsey defines full-funnel marketing as “an approach that combines the power of both brand building and performance marketing through linked teams, measurement systems, and key performance indicators (KPIs).”

Outside of the context of launching into a new market, this approach to media buying is essential, and PPC sits within the mix of lower, middle, and upper funnel advertising strategies.

The split of the budget across the funnel will vary by brand. Les Binet and Peter Field argue that the most effective strategies adopt a 60/40 split of long-term brand building and short-term activation.

When you’re launching into a new market, the split could look a whole lot different as you’ll need to build brand awareness from scratch. Over time, it will move the needle over to performance-based campaigns as part of a wider media mix.

Have A Robust Measurement Strategy In Place

Take the example of a U.S.-based luxury skincare brand expanding into the UK.

After the initial test period, simply looking at PPC performance through engagement or sales metrics isn’t enough to determine whether the expansion succeeded.

PPC campaigns influence more than just immediate clicks and conversions.

Depending on the strategy, they can contribute to brand awareness, drive offline actions, and more.

For instance, a search ad might not result in an immediate online purchase but could lead a customer to visit a physical store or make a purchase at a later time. When the only presence in a new market is via paid search, conversion rates could be considerably lower than those in established markets.

Taking this into account, a brand can’t expect to answer “how did the market expansion go?” based on a narrow sample of data from one channel, especially when that channel isn’t part of a broader go-to-market media strategy.

It’s crucial to measure PPC’s impact beyond platform-specific metrics, and incorporating a holistic approach to measurement is essential.

One tactic to use is Media Mix Modelling (MMM). This allows marketers to capture these indirect effects, ensuring a more accurate assessment of PPC’s role in the overall marketing strategy.

MMM is used by 53% of U.S. marketers, and 30% believe it is the best model for identifying drivers of business value as it doesn’t rely on user-level data, making it effective at viewing the impact of paid media on the bottom line.

If it’s a simple PPC activation or a full-funnel go-to-market media strategy, the importance of having a framework for measuring performance holistically is key, as this lays the groundwork for understanding the successes and failures when expanding into a new market.

Research Market-Specific Nuances And Adapt

When entering a new market, it’s not just your media plan that needs to adapt; it’s also your understanding of the consumer.

Even in an increasingly connected world, buying behaviors remain deeply influenced by local culture, habits, and expectations.

Studies have shown that organizations with high cultural intelligence see a 30% increase in their market penetration compared to their competitors.

Brands must consider:

Cultural Differences

Nearly 75% of UK shoppers say their purchasing is influenced by local culture, yet 75% of consumers in India feel that global brands offer better quality products compared to the local market.

Understanding what problems users prioritize, what features matter, and how consumers approach purchases is essential when piecing together a PPC plan and the backbone for a full go-to-market strategy.

A one-size-fits-all approach won’t cut it, and even though there may be search demand for the products/services you sell, this doesn’t mean you can simply activate and watch the sales roll in (in most cases).

This is both a strategic and tactical consideration, from the first day of planning which markets you are going to target, to the types of phrases used within your ad copy.

Longer Consideration And Research

One-third of consumers globally spend more time researching purchase decisions online than ever before.

When you layer in the nuances of a brand entering a new market, the need for a robust go-to-market strategy vs. a simple activation on PPC is crucial.

With the consideration process being longer than ever, brands need to understand and adapt to market-specific purchasing behavior, and this should run through everything involved within digital.

From the messaging used in ads to forecasting out purchase paths, to then determine when an expected return on ad spend can be accurately reported.

Local Digital Ecosystems

Digital behavior differs massively between markets. Assuming that one country will respond the same to your PPC campaigns as another is short-sighted.

Take China, for example. Google and Meta are blocked, and brands will have to look for alternative routes for activating PPC, such as Baidu.

Running search ads follows a similar blueprint, but the research, planning, build, etc., will require a bespoke approach.

Another consideration is payment methods.

India, for example, favors wallets like PayTM, while 15% of the entire Klarna market resides in Germany.

Context aside, these factors play a key role in building a thorough digital expansion plan, which incorporates PPC, as without these, brands will be scratching their heads to uncover why PPC metrics look a certain way.

The Key To Making PPC Work In New Markets Isn’t PPC

Launching PPC in a new market might seem straightforward. From a resource perspective and context aside, it doesn’t demand a great deal of time to get up and running.

This is where Google Ads shines, as brands can enter a new market with just a few clicks and begin driving traffic.

However, driving the traffic is part of the bigger picture with digital market expansion, and there’s a wealth of factors that need to be considered to give brands the best chance at success.

Factors such as:

  • Delivery fees, tariffs, shipping timelines.
  • Localized assets, website, currency.
  • Contact preferences, customer service, localized support.
  • Pricing and returns policies.
  • Trust signals, local reviews, social media presence.

These factors aren’t as easy to measure as PPC, but they are arguably more important than PPC itself.

A recent survey found that trust emerges as the most critical factor in purchasing decisions when consumers consider buying from a new brand.

Consumers place significant importance on elements such as star ratings, the number of reviews, and the credibility of those reviews.

PPC can (and will) exist in isolation for many brands, and even the most well-built, researched, and curated campaigns can fall short when activating in a new market.

To stand the best chance of success, brands must consider the full digital ecosystem, from how they apportion budget across the funnel, how they display shipping fees on their site, and how best to go about building trust signals from launch.

PPC can drive visibility and traffic, but it’s everything around it that matters most, and brands who consider and act on all of these factors are the ones who succeed.

More Resources:

Featured Image: insta_photos/Shutterstock

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May 5 2025
B2B Buyer Behavior Has Changed: Proven Strategies For Sustainable Relationships via @sejournal, @alexanderkesler

The reality of working in B2B today is that tried-and-tested tactics are no longer as effective for engaging buyers.

Buyers are independent, defensive, and prefer independent research before reaching out to sales, only when they are absolutely ready to do so.

Part of the reason for this is due to the increase in size of buying groups, the average of which now spans approximately 11 individuals.

These buying groups have their own complex purchasing processes – 70% of which take place in the dark and often anonymously before they reach out to sales.

When these buyers are ready, 84% of the deals go to the vendor on their day-one list.

This new buying behavior, where self-discovery predominates, highlights the urgency of evolving old tactics and embracing buyer-led strategies that meet buyers on their own terms, where they are.

This includes moving away from traditional lead generation in favor of evergreen, always-on buyer enablement practices based on buyer intelligence.

In this article, I will share five buyer enablement strategies based on successful demand programs that elevated our clients’ engagement metrics and resulted in sustainable buyer relationships.

5 Proven Demand Strategies To Enable Buyers

1. Identify Your Buyers Precisely

Identifying your buyer starts with recognizing that most B2B buying groups are made up of multiple stakeholders – as many as 15 individuals or more – each with distinct concerns and decision-making power, according to our own Q4 2024 market research.

To effectively engage these groups, you need detailed buying group personas that define key revenue leaders and influencers.

Referencing existing buyer personas at large accounts is a helpful starting point, while first-party data and other sources like client relationship management (CRM) insights, client interviews, website behavior analytics, and industry reports will provide you with a more comprehensive view of their needs, goals, and preferences.

Identifying intent signals is equally important for modern account-based marketing (ABM) strategies. These behavioral cues suggest when a prospect or buying group is actively researching solutions and may be in-market to buy.

Key buying group intent signals include:

  • Multiple website visitors from the same organization.
  • Consumption of solution-specific content.
  • Engagement across multiple channels.
  • Webinar or event attendance.
  • And many more.

Predictive tools, competitive research, and technographic data can further enrich these insights.

By integrating real-time intent signals into your ABM programs, you can dynamically adjust campaigns to align with the evolving needs of buying groups and their individual members.

Rather than relying solely on static personas, dynamic ABM leverages intent data to better understand each persona’s immediate pain points, preferred channels, and buying triggers.

This approach ensures that you reach the right personas, within the right accounts, with the right message at the right moment, ultimately driving greater engagement, pipeline velocity, and revenue impact.

2. Be A Partner To Your Buyers

We are seeing a trend of more and more buyers (as many as 58% according to our Q4 2024 market research) seeking the proven expertise of consultants and subject matter experts to inform and de-risk their decisions. This trend is closely associated with the increase in the length of buying cycles.

To compete effectively, marketers ought to adjust their engagement to offer integration and consultation, effectively establishing their brand as a committed partner that supports its buyers and meets their needs. This, in turn, translates to demand.

This brand-to-demand-to-revenue strategy relies on early engagement to establish trust and build a brand presence before buyers are actively looking.

The brand experience you present should carry across multiple touchpoints to engage all stakeholders within the buying group, emphasising your position as a trusted source.

Examples of early brand-to-demand tactics include:

  • Identifying the most suitable channels for generating awareness of your unique value proposition (UVP).
  • Sponsoring events to engage qualified prospects with just-in-time information.
  • Adopting a multithreaded nurturing approach.
  • Promoting curated content hubs to facilitate buyer research and self-discovery, customized per persona.
  • Offering webinars, workshops, or roundtables.
  • Providing buying group influencers with data to make an internal case, such as product specification sheets, decks, and guides.

Establishing a vendor-partner relationship is critically important when nurturing defensive buyers because it reduces risk, builds trust, and enhances buyer confidence – all of which are top priorities for today’s cautious, efficiency-driven buying groups.

This also helps buyers feel reassured that they are investing in solutions that are well-supported, credible, and aligned with other trusted vendors in their partner ecosystem​.

3. Focus On Buyer-Led Content

Nurturing and enabling buying groups calls for buyer-led content strategies that speak directly to active buyers, buying groups, and accounts.

Creating content hubs to enable buyer research is one of the most powerful moves you can make today, especially for large buying groups in complex industries.

Content hubs designed to support in-depth research empower buyers to make informed decisions with more confidence.

These content libraries also establish your brand as a reputable, expert source of information.

It is important to align content hubs to individual buying journey stages so buyers can self-serve information.

Below is an example of what that looks like:

  • Awareness stage: industry reports, tactical guides, thought leadership focused on how-tos.
  • Consideration stage: product overviews, case studies, webcasts.
  • Decision stage: demo request, pricing sheet, product implementation roadmap.

Additionally, content can be personalized by role:

  • CMO: trend reports.
  • Procurement: service-level agreement (SLA) terms.
  • Finance: return on investment (ROI) guide.
  • IT: security threat insights, compliance checklist.

Micro-targeting buyers with relevant, behavior-driven content is great for creating seamless, value-added experiences that drive preference and loyalty, ultimately enabling buying groups to confidently choose your solution.

To achieve competitive displacement, ensure your content is visible and discoverable throughout the buyer’s journey.

This can be achieved through SEO, AI/Generative Engine Optimization (AEO/GEO), and by leveraging omnichannel engagement tied to real-time behavior to deliver personalized messaging that resonates at every touchpoint.

You can also use intent-driven targeting to engage accounts already researching similar topics​.

4. Continuously Optimize With Demand Intelligence

Nurturing and enabling buying groups is not a one-time effort, but an ongoing optimization process.

Success depends on continuously updating intelligence across buyers, buying groups, and accounts to stay aligned with evolving needs and behaviors.

Measuring the impact of your buyer enablement tactics can be done in several ways:

  • Content engagement metrics, such as views, downloads, and time on page.
  • Buying group activation metrics, such as the number of roles and stakeholders engaged.
  • Deal acceleration metrics, such as sales cycle length and conversion rate.
  • Feedback loops with both buyers and sales teams.

By measuring and optimizing at every stage, organizations can identify what is working, adjust strategies in real time, and eliminate inefficiencies.

Essentially, they can successfully self-educate without talking to sales, which aligns with modern B2B buyer expectations.

Continuous optimization also turns good programs into great ones, driving stronger results and building lasting buyer trust.

This approach not only strengthens engagement, but also ensures that every marketing dollar is working harder, helping you maximize the impact of your spend.

5. Enable Sales Teams For Success

To truly nurture and enable buying groups, organizations must equip their sales teams with the right strategies, including the tools, insights, and approaches that support more informed and impactful outreach to buyers.

This starts with personalized messaging tailored to each account and buying group, and continues with follow-up that reflects the needs and behaviors of individual buying group members.

A key part of this approach is helping sales teams engage buyers at the right pace.

Acting as trusted consultants, sales teams can guide buyers through their journey with a buyer-centric mindset that clearly communicates the unique value of your organization.

Achieving this requires strong alignment and collaboration across marketing, sales, and the broader organization – everyone must rally behind a shared North Star focused on enabling the buyer first and foremost.

Best practices for achieving organizational alignment include:

  • Collaborating to define the ideal buying experience.
  • Setting joint revenue and buyer engagement targets.
  • Regularly refreshing sales outreach strategies.
  • Detailed mapping of each buying group and member, including pain points and interests.
  • Activating multi-threaded account strategies.

By prioritizing buyer enablement and supporting sales teams with the right approach, organizations create a seamless experience that builds trust, accelerates deal cycles, and drives better long-term outcomes.

The Importance Of Evolving Alongside Your Buyers

Buyer purchasing behavior has changed unequivocally. Buying groups are expected to remain cautious, with buyer journeys expected to lengthen even more.

To thrive in this environment, organizations must prioritize brand-to-demand and value-focused solutions, using their expertise to solve buying group challenges – all the while enabling self-service options whenever possible.

It is time to meet buyers where they are, which means evolving the playbook and closing the door to old ways of thinking.

Key Takeaways

  • Buying groups and long sales cycles are the new reality: Today’s buyers prefer to self-educate, making it essential to shift toward buyer-led strategies that meet them where they are – on their terms. This requires moving beyond traditional lead generation and embracing buyer enablement approaches powered by real intent signals.
  • Buyers and how they buy have changed: B2B purchases now involve up to 15 stakeholders or more, each with their own priorities and influence. To engage them effectively, build detailed buying group personas and identify intent signals that reveal when prospects are actively exploring solutions.
  • Buyer enablement does not end; it evolves: By optimizing at every stage, organizations can fine-tune strategies in real time, enabling better and consistent outcomes.

More Resources:

Featured Image: Alphavector/Shutterstock

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May 5 2025
Google Shares Insight About Time-Based Search Operators via @sejournal, @martinibuster

Google’s Search Liaison explained limitations in Google’s ability to return web pages from a prior date, also noting that date-based advanced search operators are still in beta. He provided one method for doing this but omitted discussing an older, simpler method that almost accomplishes the same thing.

How To Find Articles By Older Published Date

The person asking the question understood how to find articles published from the previous year, month, and twenty four hours. But didn’t know how to find articles published before a specific date.

The post on Bluesky asked:

“Is there a way to search for articles OLDER than a certain date?

I know advanced search can guarantee in the past year, month, 24h, but I want to specifically be able to find articles published BEFORE X historical event happened, and I can’t find a way to filter. Help?”

Search Liaison posted this way to do it which can be difficult to memorize if you’re a busy person:

“We have before: and after: operators that are still in beta. You must provide year-month-day dates or only a year. You can combine both. For example:

[avengers endgame before:2019]
[avengers endgame after:2019-04-01]
[avengers endgame after:2019-03-01 before:2019-03-05]”

Another Way To Do Time-Based Search

In my opinion it’s a lot easier to just use Google’s search tools:

Tools > Any Time > Custom Range

From there you just set whatever time range that you want, nothing to memorize. However, you can’t search before a certain date, you have to set the starting date and ending date you’re searching for.

Caveat About Time-Based Search

Search Liaison shared an interesting insight about how the advanced search operators for time work:

“Just keep in mind it can be difficult for us to know the exact date of a document for a variety of reasons. There’s no standard way that all site owners use to indicate a publishing or republishing date. Some provide no dates at all on web pages. Some might not indicate if an older page is updated.”

Takeaways:

The time-based advanced search operators are still in beta, which means that Google is testing to see how many people find it useful. Google might at some time in the future remove the search operators if it’s not popular or useful.

The other takeaway is that it’s hard for Google to know the exact date that a document is published.

Read the discussion on Bluesky.

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May 5 2025
Sell on Amazon without GTINs or UPCs

Amazon’s marketplace requires some form of a product identifier for nearly every category. Whether it’s baby toys or industrial bolts, sellers need a Universal Product Code (UPC) or, similarly, a Global Trade Item Number (GTIN).

Yet some items have no such identifier and require an “exemption” from Amazon.

GTIN

GS1, a global standards organization, developed the GTIN to identify products. The identifier encompasses several worldwide formats, including the familiar UPC (GTIN-12) in the United States and Canada. In Europe, merchants use the European Article Number (EAN), technically GTIN-13.

The GTIN standards identify any trade item (product or service) priced, ordered, or invoiced. Hence GTINs help Amazon and the merchants selling in its marketplace keep track of inventory and manage orders.

Term Stands For Digits Region
GTIN Global Trade Item Number 8, 12, 13, or 14 Global
UPC Universal Product Code 12 U.S., Canada
EAN European Article Number 13 (usually) or 8 Europe

Identifying Products

For resellers offering products from prominent consumer brands, listing a product on Amazon is as simple as looking up the GTIN or copying the UPC number from the item’s barcode.

There are, however, many products that don’t have an obvious barcode or identifier. Here are some examples.

  • Print-on-demand products. T-shirts are perhaps the best example. Services such as Printful and Gooten are excellent sources of quality shirts with crisp printing, but they don’t have UPCs.
  • Private label items. Some small brands, including in-house manufacturers, may not have a GTIN.
  • Handmade merchandise. Artisans creating anything from leather belts to home-sown bibs may not have UPCs.
  • Parts or accessories. Replacement parts, components, and accessories may not come with individual GTINs. An example is a generic phone case.
  • Bundled or items in a multipack. Most major brands have a GTIN-14 or similar for multipack, but some smaller companies with bundled products do not, despite Amazon’s guidelines.

For those and other numberless products, Amazon marketplace sellers have two options: obtain a GTIN or get an exemption from Amazon.

GTIN Exemption

Amazon often awards exemptions for categories with private-label, handmade, or similar products.

The process is straightforward. Create a listing in Amazon Seller Central, select “I don’t have a product ID,” and click “Next.” An “Apply” button will appear for products requiring a GTIN exemption.

If the product category is restricted, the seller will need double approval: an authorization to sell and a separate GTIN exemption.

Brands with existing GTINs cannot apply for an exemption for other like-branded items.

Exemption approval typically requires excellent documentation, as follows.

  • Clear photographs. Amazon wants detailed product and packaging photos, not illustrations or markups. These pictures should show the item and packaging from each side, but will not appear in product listings.
  • No GTIN. There cannot be (i) any barcode or identifier on the item or package or (ii) a GTIN associated with the product. Amazon has an exhaustive list of registered GTINs and will check.
  • Consistent branding. The brand name on the GTIN exemption form must exactly match the packaging and product. And the packaging must permanently show the brand name or logo.
  • Proper category. Ensure the product category for the GTIN exemption is correct. An error will almost guarantee a rejection.

According to its support, Amazon usually approves or rejects an exemption request within two days. Merchants who have obtained an exception often recommend waiting an additional day afterward before building those product listings, allowing Amazon’s systems to reflect the status.

Amazon’s notification of denied GTIN exemptions may state why. For example, the product and packaging photographs might not demonstrate the absence of a GTIN or may belong to a brand requiring a UPC.

Sellers with denied exemptions can reapply after updating or clarifying the initial culprits.

Finally, if all else fails, a company can purchase a UPC for about $30, plus an annual fee.

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May 3 2025
The US has approved CRISPR pigs for food

Most pigs in the US are confined to factory farms where they can be afflicted by a nasty respiratory virus that kills piglets. The illness is called porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, or PRRS.

A few years ago, a British company called Genus set out to design pigs immune to this germ using CRISPR gene editing. Not only did they succeed, but its pigs are now poised to enter the food chain following approval of the animals this week by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The pigs will join a very short list of gene-modified animals that you can eat. It’s a short list because such animals are expensive to create, face regulatory barriers, and don’t always pay off. For instance, the US took about 20 years to approve a transgenic salmon with an extra gene that let it grow faster. But by early this year its creator, AquaBounty, had sold off all its fish farms and had only four employees—none of them selling fish.

Regulations have eased since then, especially around gene editing, which tinkers with an animal’s own DNA rather than adding to it from another species, as is the case with the salmon and many GMO crops.

What’s certain is that the pig project was technically impressive and scientifically clever. Genus edited pig embryos to remove the receptor that the PRRS virus uses to enter cells. No receptor means no infection.

According to Matt Culbertson, chief operating office of the Pig Improvement Company, a Genus subsidiary, the pigs appear entirely immune to more than 99% of the known versions of the PRRS virus, although there is one rare subtype that may break through the protection.

This project is scientifically similar to the work that led to the infamous CRISPR babies born in China in 2018. In that case a scientist named He Jiankui edited twin girls to be resistant to HIV, also by trying to remove a receptor gene when they were just embryos in a dish.

That experiment on humans was widely decried as misguided. But pigs are a different story. The ethical concerns about experimenting are less serious, and the benefits of changing the genomes can be measured in dollars and cents. It’s going to save a lot of money if pigs are immune to the PRRS virus, which spreads quite easily, causing losses of $300 million a year or more in the US alone.

Globally, people get animal protein mostly from chickens, with pigs and cattle in second and third place. A 2023 report estimated that pigs account for 34% of all meat that’s eaten. Of the billion pigs in the world, about half are in China; the US comes in a distant second, with 80 million.

Recently, there’s been a lot of fairly silly news about genetically modified animals. A company called Colossal Biosciences used gene editing to modify wolves in ways it claimed made them resemble an extinct species, the dire wolf. And then there’s the L.A. Project, an effort run by biohackers who say they’ll make glow-in-the-dark rabbits and have a stretch goal of creating a horse with a horn—that’s right, a unicorn.

Both those projects are more about showmanship than usefulness. But they’re demonstrations of the growing power scientists have to modify mammals, thanks principally to new gene-editing tools combined with DNA sequencing that lets them peer into animals’ DNA.

Stopping viruses is a much better use of CRISPR. And research is ongoing to make pigs—as well as other livestock—invulnerable to other infections, including African swine fever and influenza. While PRRS doesn’t infect humans, pig and bird flus can. But if herds and flocks could be changed to resist those infections, that could cut the chances of the type of spillover that can occasionally cause dangerous pandemics.  

There’s a chance the Genus pigs could turn out to be the most financially valuable genetically modified animal ever created—the first CRISPR hit product to reach the food system. After the approval, the company’s stock value jumped up by a couple of hundred million dollars on the London Stock Exchange.

But there is still a way to go before gene-edited bacon appears on shelves in the US. Before it makes its sales pitch to pig farms, Genus says, it needs to also gain approval in Mexico, Canada, Japan and China which are big export markets for American pork.

Culbertson says gene-edited pork could appear in the US market sometime next year. He says the company does not think pork chops or other meat will need to carry any label identifying it as bioengineered. “We aren’t aware of any labelling requirement,” Culbertson says.

This article is from The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly health and biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, sign up here.

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May 3 2025
The Download: foreign disinformation intel, and gene-edited pork

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.

A senior State Department official demanded records of communications with journalists, European officials, and Trump critics

A previously unreported document distributed by senior US State Department official Darren Beattie reveals a sweeping effort to uncover all communications between the staff of a small government office focused on online disinformation and a lengthy list of public and private figures—many of whom are longtime targets of the political right.

The document, originally shared in person with roughly a dozen State Department employees in early March, requested staff emails and other records with or about a host of individuals and organizations that track or write about foreign disinformation—including Atlantic journalist Anne Applebaum, former US cybersecurity official Christopher Krebs, and the Stanford Internet Observatory—or have criticized President Donald Trump and his allies, such as the conservative anti-Trump commentator Bill Kristol. 

The broad requests for unredacted information felt like a “witch hunt,” one official says—one that could put the privacy and security of numerous individuals and organizations at risk. Read the full story.

—Eileen Guo

The US has approved CRISPR pigs for food

Most pigs in the US are confined to factory farms where they can be afflicted by a nasty respiratory virus that kills piglets. The illness is called porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, or PRRS.

A few years ago, a British company called Genus set out to design pigs immune to this germ using CRISPR gene editing. Not only did they succeed, but its pigs are now poised to enter the food chain following approval of the animals this week by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Read the full story.

—Antonio Regalado

This article is from The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly health and biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, sign up here.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 The US has closed a China tariff loophole
The costs of plenty of goods are likely to shoot up in response. (NYT $)
+ But China is still extremely dependent on US-made car chips. (WSJ $)
+ Chinese retail giant Temu is pivoting its business model. (Bloomberg $)
+ Sweeping tariffs could threaten the US manufacturing rebound. (MIT Technology Review)

2 DOGE’s future is looking uncertain
It’s fallen far short of its goal to slash $2 trillion in spending. (WP $)+ No more late-night ice cream for Elon Musk. (CNBC)
+ DOGE’s tech takeover threatens the safety and stability of our critical data. (MIT Technology Review)

3 Microsoft is hiking the price of its Xbox games console
By a whopping 27% in the US. (The Guardian)
+ Apple estimates that the tariffs will add $900 million to its costs. (WP $)
+ But Apple isn’t announcing any price increases (yet.) (TechCrunch)
+ Here’s what is—and isn’t—getting pricier under the tariffs. (Vox)

4 Tech giants have been accused of deliberately distorting AI rankings
A new study claims they’re making untrue claims about the best models. (New Scientist $)
+ It accuses benchmark organisation LM Arena of unfair practices. (TechCrunch)
+ The site’s operators refute the findings, saying its conclusions are wrong. (Ars Technica)

5 Europe wants to replicate America’s military-industrial complex
And US contractors are likely to benefit. (WSJ $)
+ US soldiers may finally be able to repair their own equipment. (404 Media)
+ Generative AI is learning to spy for the US military. (MIT Technology Review)

6 Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI will move forward
A judge rejected OpenAI’s attempt to dismiss the case. (FT $)

7 What a post-4Chan internet looks like
What was once contained to a tiny corner of the web is now commonplace. (New Yorker $)
+ How to fix the internet. (MIT Technology Review)

8 How North Korea infiltrates the US
Fully remote coders are not who they appear to be. (Wired $)

9 You no longer need a password to open a new Microsoft account
The company’s gone passkey-first. (The Verge)

10 Fecal transplants are a possible way to treat gut disease 💩
And the approach is becoming more mainstream. (Undark)
+ How bugs and chemicals in your poo could give away exactly what you’ve eaten. (MIT Technology Review)

Quote of the day

“What about the next Taylor Swift?”

—US District Court Judge Vince Chhabria questions how powerful musical AI tools will affect up-and-coming musicians during Meta’s copyright court battle, Wired reports.

One more thing

Your boss is watching

Working today—whether in an office, a warehouse, or your car—can mean constant electronic surveillance with little transparency, and potentially with livelihood-­ending consequences if your productivity flags.

But what matters even more than the effects of this ubiquitous monitoring on privacy may be how all that data is shifting the relationships between workers and managers, companies and their workforce.

We are in the midst of a shift in work and workplace relationships as significant as the Second Industrial Revolution of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. And new policies and protections may be necessary to correct the balance of power. Read the full story.

—Rebecca Ackermann

We can still have nice things

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.)

+ This is cool: scientists have successfully triggered a lightning strike using a drone. ⚡
+ It’s the age-old question—why do so many men refuse to wear shorts in hot weather?
+ The American accent that’s hardest for British actors to pull off seems to be either New York or Boston.
+ Happy 50th birthday to David Beckham, best of British.

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May 3 2025
Craft Whiskeys, Home Delivered

For $60, Bob DeMars’s company, Blind Barrel, will ship a package of four craft-distilled whiskey samples, unmarked, with a tasting glass. Recipients can then try them and guess the whiskey type, age, and proof.

It’s a game using Blind Barrel’s app, preferably with friends. Participants can purchase entire bottles at discounted prices.

Bob launched the business in 2021 from his base in California. In our recent conversation, he addressed the company’s growth, marketing tactics, legalities, and more.

Our entire audio is embedded below. The transcript is edited for length and clarity.

Eric Bandholz: Tell us what you do.

Bob DeMars: I’m the founder and CEO of Blind Barrels, a whiskey-tasting experience. Subscribers receive unlabeled samples and, using our gamified app, try to guess the type of whiskey, its age, and proof.  It’s fun and interactive, but what keeps members around is the exclusive access we provide.

We feature small American craft distilleries and offer special barrel picks at competitive prices — like a bottle from Still Austin, normally $80–$110, available to members for $75.

It’s a subscription starting at $59.99 for one quarter or $49.99 per quarter annually. We ship curated lineups to U.S. customers only in March, June, September, and December. We chose quarterly because creating these blind tasting lineups — sourcing, bottling, legalities — is complex.

It’s tightly regulated. Quarterly curation helps us manage inventory — each lineup is limited, high-quality, and intentionally sourced.

Bandholz: Can you sell to consumers in all U.S. states?

DeMars: We’re limited. Some states are too restrictive. For example, we don’t ship to Utah. We can ship to Hawaii and Alaska, but it costs $60 to send a $2 item, so it’s not feasible. It also depends on our fulfillment partners. Having the right ones is key for both sample kits and full bottles.

A big challenge is the distribution system. Many craft whiskeys we feature are only distributed in their home states. After Prohibition ended in 1933, the U.S. implemented a unique three-tier system: producers must sell to distributors, who then sell to retailers, and only then to consumers. This setup doesn’t exist anywhere else worldwide and creates a stranglehold on access.

As a retailer, we sell to end users. We need the craft brands to get their products into at least one distributor in a compliant state. From there, our fulfillment partners can legally ship to most other states. It’s a complex process, but we’ve figured out how to navigate it.

Bandholz: Do you include big whiskey brands?

DeMars: We don’t feature the big guys — there’s nothing special about including a Jim Beam or Maker’s Mark in a tasting lineup. Even something like Johnnie Walker Blue is mass-produced. The big brands dominate through distribution. That’s why you see the same bottles in every bar and liquor store.

Craft producers, on the other hand, make some of the best whiskey in the country, but no one outside their region knows they exist. Our goal is to spotlight those hidden gems.

We don’t select brands — we select whiskeys. We build every lineup through blind tastings. No brand can buy its way in, and we don’t charge marketing fees. If your whiskey is in our lineup, it’s outstanding.

Craft distillers drive innovation. They’ve pioneered barrel finishes and experimental mash bills — recipes — and the big brands are starting to follow. Craft is where the creativity lives.

Bandholz: What are your shipping and product costs?

DeMars: Our boxes cost about $2, and the glass bottles, landed with shipping, are about $2.50. I called seemingly every vendor in the country to get those rates.

Even then, we pay slightly above cost for whiskey because it has to move through the three-tier system. So between the whiskey, bottles, caps, and shipping, our margins are roughly 50%.

The first kit we ship is basically breakeven — we don’t make or lose money. Profit comes from retention. We were profitable in our first year, but reinvested everything into site optimization and marketing.

When we launched, our website purchase conversion rate was just 0.6%. After tweaks, we hit 1.6%, and then I brought in an expert — we’re now at 3%.

The real game-changer has been low churn. The industry average for alcohol subscriptions is 10–12%; we’re under 3.5%. That loyalty saved us when conversions were low.

People share the kits with friends, especially now that we’ve gamified the experience. It creates viral momentum. Great whiskey is meant to be shared.

Bandholz: How do you acquire customers?

DeMars: We have multiple tactics. I didn’t raise much outside capital — I put in most of the funds myself because this was a risky model.

One of our first breaks came from a prominent Southern California FM radio host who joined as an advisor. He talked about us on-air, and suddenly 50% of our first few hundred members came from those mentions. That gave us enough cash flow to start testing marketing.

Now, our main acquisition channels are email and Google and Meta ads. We don’t use SMS much yet but plan to test it. Father’s Day and Christmas are big for us. We’ve grown revenue by around 25% per quarter.

I’ve bootstrapped everything. I didn’t take a salary until we hit 2,500 members. I managed all advertising and social content at first. I’m a filmmaker, so that helped. Meta ads can be tricky for alcohol brands.

For example, Meta doesn’t allow targeting consumers by age using Advantage+. We’re on our fifth marketing team, and they finally get it. They understand the brand, and I no longer have to carry the whole creative load.

Bandholz: Where can people subscribe?

DeMars: Our site is BlindBarrels.com. You can follow us on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. I’m on LinkedIn.

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May 2 2025
Server-Side vs. Client-Side Rendering: What Google Recommends via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

In an interview with Kenichi Suzuki from Faber Company Inc., Google Developer Advocate Martin Splitt recently shared key information about JavaScript rendering, server-side vs. client-side rendering, and structured data.

The talk cleared up common SEO confusion and offered practical tips for developers and marketers working with Google’s changing search systems.

Google’s AI Crawler & JavaScript Rendering

When asked how AI systems handle JavaScript content, Splitt revealed that Google’s AI crawler (used by Gemini) processes JavaScript well through a shared service.

Splitt explained:

“We don’t share what Googlebot sees for web search, but Google’s AI crawler that Gemini uses also renders. It uses WRS [Web Rendering Service], but it’s basically like we have a service Googlebot uses, and Gemini uses the service as well.”

This gives Google’s AI tools an edge over competitors that have trouble with JavaScript.

While one study mentioned in the interview claimed rendering sometimes takes weeks, Splitt explained that it usually happens much faster.

“The 99th percentile is within minutes,” Splitt noted, suggesting that long delays are rare and might be due to measurement errors.

Server-Side vs. Client-Side Rendering: Which is Better?

Part of the discussion covered the debate between server-side rendering (SSR) and client-side rendering (CSR).

Instead of saying one is always better, Splitt stressed that the right choice depends on what your website does.

Splitt stated:

“If you have a website that is a classical website that is basically just presenting information to the user, then requiring JavaScript is a drawback. It can break. It can cause problems. It will make things slower. It will need more battery on your phone.”

Splitt suggests SSR or even pre-rendering static HTML for websites focused on content. But CSR works better for interactive tools like CAD programs or video editors.

Splitt clarified:

“It’s not one or the other. It is two tools. Do you need a hammer or do you need a screwdriver? That depends on what you’re trying to do.”

See also: Understand the Difference Between Client-Side and Server-Side Rendering.

Structured Data’s Role in AI Understanding

The talk then moved to structured data, which is becoming more important as AI systems grow in search.

When asked if structured data helps Google’s AI understand content better, like Microsoft claims about Bing, Splitt confirmed it helps.

He stated:

“Structured data gives us more information and gives us more confidence in information. So it makes sense to have structured data.”

However, Splitt clarified that while structured data adds context, it “does not push rankings” directly. This is an important difference for SEO professionals who might think it directly boosts search positions.

What This Means

Here are the key things we learned from this interview:

  1. Google’s rendering usually happens within minutes, so the old fear of JavaScript-heavy sites being at a disadvantage is less of an issue now.
  2. Non-Google AI tools may still have trouble with JavaScript, making SSR possibly more critical for visibility across all AI systems.
  3. Use SSR for content sites and CSR for interactive tools. Don’t use one solution for everything.
  4. Though not a ranking factor, structured data helps Google understand your content better. This matters more as AI becomes a bigger part of search.

In his final advice to SEO professionals, Splitt highlighted basic principles over technical tricks:

“Think about your users. Figure out what is your business goal, how to make users happy, and then just create great content.”

As AI changes search technology, understanding these technical details becomes more important for marketers who want to optimize content for people and search algorithms.

Hear the full discussion in the video below:

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May 2 2025
Yelp Vs. Google Antitrust Case Survives First Big Test

Yelp’s antitrust case against Google just survived a critical test.

While a judge tossed several claims, she allowed Yelp’s core challenge – focused on Google’s alleged monopoly in local search – to move forward. The broader battle over Big Tech’s power is far from over.

The central claims that Google unfairly used its dominance in the local search and local ad markets are now headed toward a jury trial.

If Yelp prevails, the case could significantly reshape the structure of local search in the U.S. and beyond.

Even if it doesn’t, the discovery process alone may offer an unprecedented window into Google’s internal thinking around local search.

Last week, Judge Susan Van Keulen of the U.S. District Court for Northern California denied in part Google’s motion to dismiss the case.

She ruled that Yelp’s key allegations – that Google monopolized and abused its control over local search and local advertising – were plausible enough to proceed.

Statute Of Limitations Doesn’t Apply

Google argued that its conduct, such as changes to search results design and integration of local content, dated back to at least 2007 (e.g., Universal Search) and that Yelp’s claims were therefore filed too late.

The judge disagreed, holding that for claims under Section 2 of the Sherman Act, the clock starts ticking not when the conduct occurred, but when the defendant both:

  1. Possessed monopoly power in the relevant market.
  2. Engaged in exclusionary conduct that injured the plaintiff.

The judge noted that “Because the governing statute here concerns an exercise of monopoly power, the qualifying ‘act’ must involve Google’s alleged monopoly; exclusionary conduct on its own, in the absence of market power, is insufficient.”

She also noted that Yelp had not definitively alleged when Google obtained monopoly power in local search or local search advertising, and that the timeline wasn’t clear enough from the face of the complaint to justify dismissal and went to say that “The timing of when Google crossed the 65% threshold of market power is simply not clear from the face of the Complaint.”

Where Google’s Motion To Dismiss Succeeded

The judge did, however, dismiss Yelp’s claims that Google used its general search monopoly to force users into its local search services (tying) and to gain dominance in local search advertising (monopoly leveraging).

She agreed with Google that the tying claim was time-barred and that Yelp hadn’t properly shown unfair expansion into new markets. However, the court granted Yelp the opportunity to amend its tying claim.

Yelp appeared pleased with the results, stating to Near Media that the ruling “marks an important step forward in Yelp’s case against Google. As we argued in our opposition to Google’s motion, and as the Court recognized, Google’s anticompetitive behavior deserves to be examined.”

The judge also agreed that Yelp’s argument – that local search and local ads are distinct markets – is a valid and plausible claim.

She allowed the case to proceed to determine whether these markets are entitled to antitrust protection and whether Yelp is entitled to damages.

Additionally, the court accepted Yelp’s allegations that Google has a long history of exclusionary acts.

Key questions remain: When did Google achieve monopoly status in local search and advertising, whether the four-year statute of limitations applies, and – more critically – whether Google has committed new, unique exclusionary acts that could restart the statute of limitations clock.

These cases unfold on their own timeline. Next steps include whether Yelp amends its tying claims, a discovery phase, and an attempt at alternative dispute resolution.

This process is likely to take about 18 months. Given that Google is unlikely to dramatically change its local search behavior – and that Jeremy Stoppelman, Yelp’s CEO, is unlikely to settle for anything less – resolution outside of court seems improbable. A trial could occur around the end of 2026.

Why This Case Matters

This is the first time anyone has examined Google’s behavior in local search, including how it won its monopoly and the impact that has had on local search and local ads, both within Google and across the broader local ecosystem.

If the court finds Google’s practices unlawful, it could force changes:

  • Local search, as we know it, could dramatically change. It could spell the end of the Local Pack.
  • Local ads, particularly Local Service Ads (LSAs), exemplify the kind of new, exclusionary behavior Google has leveraged to dramatically reduce organic and local opportunities (Yelp argues). This could become a target of any settlement.
  • The outcome could also influence the EU’s interpretation of Google’s monopoly under the newly implemented DMA regulations.
  • Any decision could also impact Google’s ability to introduce new AI features to local search, particularly features like local AI Overviews or “Learn something specific” that could be construed as a form of exclusionary local behavior.

What We May Discover

As with the U.S. government cases against Google, discovery is likely to uncover fascinating details about how Google positions local search – and, hopefully, some algorithmic insights into how local search and ads actually function.

Even if Yelp ultimately loses, the discovery process could still offer an unprecedented look inside Google Local and LSAs, giving us the first definitive glimpse into the world in which we live, work, and breathe.

Eighteen months may seem like a lifetime in internet marketing and Google local developments, but this is one that is worth keeping an eye on.

You can read a full timeline of the events here.

And read the original documents here:

More Resources:

Featured Image: Phanphen Kaewwannarat/Shutterstock

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May 2 2025
Reddit Q1 Report: What It Means For Digital Marketing And SEO via @sejournal, @martinibuster

Reddit’s first-quarter 2025 earnings report shows strong growth in traffic and user engagement, particularly among logged-out users. Although the announcement and shareholder letter did not mention search engines or the temporary decrease in traffic in February, the increase in logged-out traffic suggests year-over-year growth from external referrals from search engines and social media.

The shareholder letter indirectly referenced search traffic:

“For seekers, Reddit’s open nature is essential—it allows our content to surface across the open web and be easily found in search. We remain one of the last major platforms that doesn’t require you to sign in to learn something because we believe that by giving everyone access to knowledge, we are helping fulfill the purpose of the internet. This openness broadens visibility, drives awareness, and brings us new users— but it also means that some of our traffic from external sources is variable. “

TL/DR

  • Over 400 million people visit Reddit weekly, and total revenue reached $392.4 million for the quarter, representing a 61% year-over-year increase.
  • More users are logged-in, improving Reddit’s value for ad targeting and audience engagement, which is good news for digital marketers.
  • Growth in logged-out users suggests increased external referrals from search and social, a trend that may concern publishers and SEOs

Platform Growth and User Activity: Daily Active Unique Visitors

Reddit refers to their daily active uniques as DAUq. The Reddit quarterly report defines Daily Active Uniques (DAUq) as:

“We define a daily active unique (“DAUq”) as a user whom we can identify with a unique identifier who has visited a page on the Reddit website, www.reddit.com, or opened a Reddit application at least once during a 24-hour period.”

Reddit reported 108.1 million Daily Active Uniques (DAUq), a 31% increase compared to the same quarter last year. Weekly Active Uniques (WAUq) reached 401.3 million globally, also up 31% year-over-year.

Daily Active Uniques: U.S. Versus International

Daily Active Uniques for both U.S. and International saw significant increases compared to the same period last year, with international visits post nearly double the gains for the United States.

  • U.S. DAUq was 50.1 million, up 21%,
  • International DAUq rose to 58.0 million, up 41%.

This contrast highlights that Reddit’s fastest user growth is occurring outside the U.S., signaling expanding global reach and rising visibility in international markets. This trend may indicate growing discovery opportunities through non-U.S. referral sources and increased relevance in regions where Reddit has historically had lower reach.

Logged-in Daily Active Uniques

Logged-in users can comment, moderate, start discussions, and vote. A bottom line significance is that being logged-in allows for better behavioral tracking and a higher ad targeting value. Thus, logged-in users are an important metric of the viability of the Reddit community.

Logged-in Daily Active Uniques (DAUq) were up in both the U.S. and internationally, with international growth outpacing the U.S. on a year-over-year basis:

  • Logged-in U.S. DAUq: 23.0 million (up 19% year-over-year)
  • Logged-in International DAUq: 25.8 million (up 27% year-over-year)

Logged-Out Daily Active Uniques (DAUq)

The rise in overall Daily Active Uniques (DAUq) extended to logged-out users, with that segment experiencing strong year-over-year growth. This suggests that Reddit continues to be a popular destination for reading opinions and reviews from real people. It may also suggest that search engines and social media are sending more visitors to Reddit, as those users are more likely to arrive via external referrals, although the quarterly report did not mention search traffic or referral sources.

Logged-out users increased in both the U.S. and internationally, with international growth more than double that of the United States.

  • Logged-out U.S. DAUq: 27.1 million (up 22% YoY)
  • Logged-out International DAUq: 32.2 million (up 54% YoY)

Revenue and Monetization

Reddit’s total revenue reached $392.4 million, an increase of 61% compared to Q1 2024. Advertising revenue accounted for $358.6 million, also up 61%. Other revenue totaled $33.7 million, a 66% increase year-over-year.

Average Revenue Per Unique (ARPU) also increased:

  • U.S. ARPU: $6.27, up 31%
  • International ARPU: $1.34, up 22%

These increases in Average Revenue Per Unique (ARPU) suggest that Reddit is improving its monetization of user activity.

It also reported $115.3 million in adjusted EBITDA. EBITDA stands for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. The adjusted version excludes certain non-recurring or non-cash expenses. This figure is often used to show how profitable a business is from its core operations.

  • Net income: $26.2 million
  • Adjusted EBITDA: $115.3 million
  • Operating cash flow: $127.6 million
  • Free Cash Flow: $126.6 million
  • Gross margin: 90.5%

Takeaways

Platform Usage Growth

  • Total Daily Active Uniques (DAUq) rose 31% year-over-year to 108.1 million.
  • Weekly Active Uniques reached 401.3 million globally, also up 31%.
  • Growth among international users (41%) outpaced U.S. growth (21%).
  • Logged-out users grew faster than logged-in users, especially internationally (+54% YoY).

Logged-In vs. Logged-Out Behavior

  • Logged-in users are critical for Reddit’s ad targeting and engagement features.
  • Logged-in DAUq rose in both U.S. (+19%) and international (+27%) markets.
  • Logged-out DAUq showed steeper growth: +22% U.S. and +54% internationally.
  • The rise in logged-out traffic suggests Reddit may be benefiting from increased exposure via search engines and social media, despite the report not directly mentioning search.

Revenue and Monetization

  • Total revenue grew 61% YoY to $392.4 million.
  • Advertising revenue: $358.6 million, also up 61%.
  • Other revenue grew 66% to $33.7 million.

ARPU (Average Revenue Per Unique)

  • U.S. ARPU: $6.27 (up 31%)
  • International ARPU: $1.34 (up 22%)
  • ARPU growth suggests improved monetization per user, especially through ad impressions in international markets.

Profitability and Financial Health

  • Net income: $26.2 million
  • Adjusted EBITDA: $115.3 million
    (Reflects earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, excluding non-cash or one-time costs)
  • Operating cash flow: $127.6 million
  • Free Cash Flow: $126.6 million
  • Gross margin: 90.5%

Reddit’s Q1 2025 earnings report highlights strong year-over-year growth in both logged-in and logged-out user activity, with usage rising significantly in the U.S. and even higher internationally. The company also reported a 61% increase in total revenue and positive cash flow, showing that Reddit is becoming more effective at monetizing its growing user base, which is useful information for digital marketers.

The report reflects growth in usage, revenue, and Average Revenue Per Unique (ARPU). Reddit’s expanding reach and monetization suggest it remains a relevant platform for users and remains a destination for referral traffic.

Featured Image by Shutterstock/gguy

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