Threads gives users more time to edit posts
Threads has extended the time to edit a post from five minutes to 15 minutes. Announcing the updates on Wednesday, 2 October, Threads chief Adam Mosseri said, “we’ve heard you’d like more time” to tweak content on the platform after it goes live. The previous limit was rather limited: rival platform X gives users an hour to make edits.
Microsoft expands generative search in Bing
The AI revolution in search engines continues. Microsoft is now doubling down on its generative search experience in Bing with a broader rollout. The tech giant says AI will “deliver a more profound level of answers” for a range of informational ‘how-to’ queries and other topics. One caveat – it’s US-only for now.
Microsoft added: “You can explore the look, feel, and capabilities of generative search in Bing in the US by simply typing ‘Bing generative search’ into the search bar.”
Gen Z want more influencer content
Young adults are big on influencer content. A new study by Morning Consult found that two-thirds of “Zoomers” have regular, real-life conversations with friends and family about a topic their favourite content creator has discussed. A third of Gen Z also want to see more influencer content in their feeds.
Search ranking volatility shows no sign of ending
Yes, there’s search ranking volatility again. News site SERoundtable has called the latest run of heated data “record-breaking.” SEMrush hit a new “very high” peak of 9.4 this week, while other tools also surged to new highs. Ranking volatility has been particularly pronounced for more than a month now, despite Google’s latest core update finishing in early September.
X needs to pay up before return in Brazil
It’s now been a month since X was banned in Brazil. While users in the country have since migrated to Bluesky and other platforms, Elon Musk’s site could still make a surprise comeback. It will be costly, though. X is being asked to pay $5 million in fines before services can be resumed.
Musk did acquiesce to demands from the Brazilian government to censor aspects of the app last week. This was also a surprise; the Tesla chief was initially adamant that any such moves would limit “freedom of speech” and violate laws.
Google updates Product markup documentation
Google has updated its advice for Product markup in the Search Central documentation. It now recommends adding Product structured data in the HTML for “best results.” This is important if you are an e-commerce company optimising content for shopping-based search queries. Google also urged SEOs to use JavaScript-generated Product markup sparingly, as this can lead to crawling issues.
Instagram adds new Threads cross-posting feature
Meta wants you to repurpose your comments into posts. A new “Create Thread” feature for comments appeared on Instagram this week. By holding down on a comment in the app, you can now select the new option to turn a comment into a Threads post. It also links to the original Instagram post.