Bluesky starts verifying ‘notable’ users
Bluesky users can now verify their accounts and get a blue tick by submitting a new online form. The feature is specifically for ‘notable’ users — not the general public. This includes people with professional recognition and substantial media coverage within a specific field.
Last month, Bluesky began testing its ‘Trusted Verified’ status with several notable publishers, including The New York Times.
Google says AI delivers “quality clicks” in Search
Google’s AI Overviews aren’t especially popular with publishers, but the search giant insists the feature delivers “quality clicks”. Several studies have shown that AI-powered additions to Search have disrupted the flow of organic traffic to websites.
However, Google claims that searchers now spend more time refining their queries with follow-ups and make better decisions about where to go next as a result.
One Google executive at a recent ‘Marketing Live’ press event said:
“When they get to a decision to click out, it’s a more highly qualified click… What we hope to see over time—and we don’t have any data to share on this—is more time spent on site, which is what we see organically in a much more highly qualified visitor for the website.”
TikTok adds SoundCloud integration for music discovery
TikTok has partnered with SoundCloud to allow users to save songs directly to the audio streaming service. TikTok says its ‘Add to Music App’ feature is hugely popular, with over 1bn tracks saved since its launch in 2024.
The new integration should help emerging artists shift casual TikTok listeners to a broader body of work — complete with artist profiles and full songs — on SoundCloud.
Ryanair’s unhinged humour keeps the brand culturally relevant
Ryanair’s edgy online humour has helped it stay culturally relevant. A new study by Vienna University analysed a staggering 4.5m words from tweets posted by the airline over three years. It found that “controversy” became a deliberate tool to boost user interactions and engagement — even when reactions were negative.
The researchers noted:
“For Ryanair, it’s less about universal approval and more about staying in the spotlight. In the digital space, that can be a winning formula.”
Duolingo deletes TikTok and Instagram posts after AI backlash
Duolingo’s winning streak on social media appears to have hit a wall. The language-learning app angered users last week after stating it was going “AI first”. It then deleted all its posts on both TikTok and Instagram, returning shortly after with a bizarre ‘mask reveal’ video.
However, the move may have backfired — Duolingo reportedly lost over 400k followers following the stunt.
Google launches Search Live
Google has launched a new ‘Search Live’ feature to make finding information online more interactive. Users can now tap a ‘Live’ icon in the Google app and use their smartphone camera to have real-time conversations about specific objects and surroundings.
The app then provides explanations and links to relevant websites and videos.
