TLDR Marketing 2025-12-23

Over 10 million marketers - and 35% of Fortune 500s - use Semrush to track visibility everywhere: Google, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and anywhere else your customers might be searching.

Want to join them? Now's the time. Semrush has a special discount offer* for TLDR readers - and it's ending on NYE. Save up to $1640 on an Semrush one subscription and get full access to:

• Traditional + AI search tracking and insights
• AI visibility toolkit
• Keyword research and competitor analysis
• Historical data and SOV analysis (higher tier plans)

Start 2026 with zero blindspots. Offer ends 12/31

*Limited to new customers

TikTok now appears stable in the US after a binding deal that ends the threat of a ban. The agreement lets it keep operating for 170M US users and sets up a structure where ByteDance holds a 19.9% stake while US and global investors control the rest. This creates more certainty for brands and creators, but many creators have already faced lost income and anxiety about algorithm changes during the past year.

Google has been removing reviews at unprecedented rates due to automated moderation, incentivized review enforcement, and local regulations. The deletions have affected both negative and positive reviews, with patterns varying by industry, geography, and review age. Restaurants and retail have seen retroactive removals, while medical and home services experienced early deletions, often targeting five-star reviews. English-speaking markets rely on AI-driven enforcement, while Germany emphasizes legal takedowns. These trends risk eroding trust and distorting data, making review monitoring essential for local SEO.

Demand generation on Meta works best when campaign objectives, creative types, and frequency are chosen to match brand goals and audience awareness. Reach objectives hit lower awareness audiences, while Ad Recall and Thruplay reach users who already know the brand, and Traffic goals can lift purchase intent to 8% compared to a 4.2% average. High-fidelity brand and product creatives drive the biggest awareness lifts at about 8% and 7.5%, while low-fidelity native content is strongest for intent at about 6%. Memory improves most when people see about two ads every seven days, which helps recall and supports long-term brand growth.

Start by identifying 3-7 relevant competitors and reviewing their platforms, profiles, posting frequency, branding, and tone. Study 10-20 recent posts, track content mixes such as 50% Stories and 25% Reels, and assess engagement, such as cases where 45K followers get only 30-40 likes. This process reveals strengths, weaknesses, and gaps. A free Google Sheet analysis template is available.

Most channels drown your brand in clutter, but TLDR puts you in front of your target audience with almost no competition. Each issue features only three advertisers, giving your message the space it needs to stand out. Millions of developers, marketers, CEOs, and other tech decision makers actually see what you have to say. Learn more about running a test campaign.

This free webinar on January 7 at 12 PM ET shows how to create custom AI voices that fit a brand. Learn workflows and tools to produce content faster, minimize AI errors, and streamline tasks, plus tips to spot when text was AI-generated.

Shopify's Agentic Storefronts lets shoppers discover and purchase products directly inside AI chats. It feeds structured product, pricing, and inventory data into ChatGPT, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, and similar platforms. It allows even small merchants to sell in those conversations.

Google Ads performance often fails quietly due to over-segmentation. Campaigns are frequently split by product, audience, or device, leading to thin budgets and low conversion volume. This limits smart bidding's ability to optimize effectively. A consistent trend across over 130 accounts shows that fragmented structures create fragmented results. Consolidation based on actual spend and intent improves learning and performance.

Grammarly has rebranded as Superhuman following the acquisition of Superhuman Mail and the launch of Superhuman Go. This rebrand signals an evolution from a writing tool into an AI-native productivity suite. The new brand architecture supports future growth and positions AI as an accessible productivity partner. Central to the new identity is “Hero”, a logo-character that operates both as a visual asset and functional guide within the product. Developed for flexibility, the visual system emphasizes human-AI partnership, with motion, color, and tone.

In a world full of gloom, comedy in advertising stands out. From Peter Kay's sketches to campaigns like Tango, Supernoodle, and Old Spice, they become part of culture, remembered long after they aired. Humour connects emotionally and makes messages stick. Advertising should reclaim its funnybone, using humour to entertain and shape culture.

Look for infrastructure support, willingness to iterate, proven audience-building, and fit between the storyteller's strengths and the right platforms.

Clustering AI query fan-outs tells you what supporting information the model expects to surface and what gaps exist in your current content and positioning.