TikTok is the coolest brand for teens
A few years ago, it would have been unheard of for a social media site to trump brands like Apple in the “cool” stakes. But new research published by Axios this week found TikTok is the coolest brand for teens aged 13 to 17. ByteDance’s video-sharing platform is joint third overall for Gen-Z and Millennials. Nike tops a list that includes Fenty Beauty, iPhone, NBA, Jordan and Doritos.
Snapchat hits 800m MAU milestone
While Snapchat is never in the headlines as often as TikTok, X or Meta, it continues to deliver steady growth. Newly announced numbers show monthly active users (MAUs) jumped to 800m in early February – that’s up from the 750m reported at the same time last year. Snapchat is now positioning itself as an “antidote to social media”, which is proving successful in a world in which consumers are craving more direct yet private sharing.
In a statement, Snapchat’s parent company Snap said: “We’ve continued to focus on helping Snapchatters foster connections with friends and family, rather than building mass networks of people they barely know.” Snap says 90% of people on the platform “feel comfortable, happy and connected.”
Threads lifts the lid on its feed algorithm
Threads is still some way behind Snapchat; Meta’s new “conversational” social app had 130m active users at the last count. That’s not monthly, though, which highlights the challenge it has in driving regular engagement. Still, it continues to make steady improvements to its feature set to attract new signups. Meta also shared how its feed algorithms work this week. Not surprisingly, ‘likes’, ‘replies’ and ‘follows’ are good for content visibility. Other more interesting factors include the length of time since a user was active on Threads and how many posts have been viewed in a home feed.
Bard is no more, enter Gemini
Google’s conversational AI chatbot got a rebrand on Thursday. Bard, launched last year to counter the meteoric success of ChatGPT, will now be known as Gemini. The name change comes with a few upgrades; Gemini Advanced will be powered by a new Ultra 1.0 artificial intelligence model. Google says this is the most capable system yet and will make light work of complex coding and logical reasoning tasks. Google will integrate Gemini into Google Assistant on Android and launch a new, standalone app. On the iOS side, Gemini will integrate within the main Google app.
Google updates its SEO Starter Guide
A lot has changed in the last 16 years. Google launched its first SEO Starter Guide way back in 2008. The latest iteration, released earlier this week, is a “pocket-sized version” designed to be more approachable and less exhaustive for newbies. Google has removed the glossary section, advice about structured data and info about mobile-friendliness. Lots of useful information has also been compressed and made easier to digest. You can find the new version at the Google Search Central hub.
More chatter about a Google ranking update
Finally, another week, more chatter about a major Google search algorithm update brewing. SEO expert Barry Schwartz noted a spike in volatility in SERPs on both Wednesday (7 February) and Thursday (8 February). The SEO community also sensed a disturbance. One noted: “Massive drop in keywords yesterday and today, according to my Semrush and Ahrefs. Highest I've seen since at least the beginning of November.” It has now been three months since the last official update.
