Socials awash with Meta Gala deep fakes

Social media was awash with fake Meta Gala pics this week following the extravagant event in New York City. While the actual snaps of celebs were eye-catching enough, users on TikTok, Instagram and X posted tons of photos created by generative AI. One post featuring Katy Perry in a 3D floral dress racked up 15m views on X. With so many pictures flooding socials, it was difficult for people to discern reality from fiction.

TikTok to add labels to AI-generated content

With the surge in fake images online, TikTok unveiled a timely update this week; labels for all AI-generated content. The video-sharing platform will notify users when someone has used a service like OpenAI’s DALL.E 3 to produce visual content. The tech behind this development is called the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA). It will see all images created by AI feature an “AI-generated” label. This will be done automatically. TikTok wants creators to “responsibly explore” AI while ensuring  “transparency for viewers”.

Google’s CEO responds to search quality complaints

It was Google’s big I/O event this week where it unveiled the new Pixel 8a smartphone among other things. Prior to the conference CEO Sundar Pichai sat down for an interview with Bloomberg where he touched on recent reports claiming the quality of search results has nosedived in recent years. Pichai was understandably coy, but he admitted that an “explosion of new content” driven by AI has posed a challenge. 

He added: “So doing that well is what will define a high-quality product, and I think it's gonna be the heart of what makes Search successful.”

LinkedIn publishes guide to help B2B marketers

LinkedIn has published a new guide titled “How B2B Marketing Leaders Can Better Measure Success”. It recommends using a “value-first” measurement strategy that leverages key metrics and insights to find the best mix of engagements and buyer touchpoints. LinkedIn found that just 4% of marketers are waiting the right amount of time to measure the success of campaigns. This is due to an eagerness to demonstrate ROI. Ideally, marketers should wait six months or more. You can find more tips by reading the full overview here.

Google search ranking volatility spikes on 9th May

It’s been a couple of weeks since Google’s March 2024 core update fully rolled out, but search ranking tools logged a spike in SERP volatility in midweek. SEMrush recorded a “very high” level of volatility, nine on its 0-10 range, which it humorously signposts as a “Googlequake”. News site reported that another update might be brewing. There was also chatter in the SEO community about fluctuations in traffic and rankings. 

ChatGPT prepares search feature

Finally, Bloomberg also reported that OpenAI is close to launching a search feature for its popular AI system, ChatGPT. This will see the chatbot scouring the web and providing sources and citations when answering queries. OpenAI is apparently trying to “poach” Google employees to head up the new team. It won’t look like Google Search though; OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is not a fan of the model or layout.