☕️ ChatGPT failed to kill Google Search

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In today's MarketingShot:

🔍 ChatGPT failed to kill Google Search

📱 Instagram expands post-view ads in Reels

📵 Phone-free events surge 567% globally

📊 Only 5% of marketers expect AI to create new roles

👕 Amazon launches AI custom merch design

🎁 + 5 other news you might like

💡 + 5 strategies & tactics

🔍 ChatGPT failed to kill Google Search LINK

Despite early fears that ChatGPT would erode Google Search, Alphabet's core business is thriving, with Search revenue growing 19% year on year last quarter and query volume reaching an all-time high.

Google's AI Mode has crossed 1 billion monthly active users while AI Overviews now reach over 2.5 billion, with Sundar Pichai saying AI features push people to search more and improve ad ROI.

The gains come at publishers' expense, as AI Overviews are tanking click-through rates across a search engine holding 90% market share, and a new opt-out tool arrived only under regulatory pressure.

📱 Instagram expands post-view ads in Reels LINK

Instagram is widening access to its post-view ads in Reels, letting more advertisers run the format that plays a promotional video after an organic Reel finishes, according to media reports on the rollout.

The ads appear between Reels and autoplay after a five-second countdown on the original Reel, with a manual skip button returning users to the previous Reel while swiping moves them forward.

Post-view ads will only run after eligible organic Reels longer than 60 seconds, and the placement will be available through existing Reels tools in Campaign Manager, rolling out globally over the coming days.

📵 Phone-free events surge 567% globally LINK

Eventbrite data shows phone-free events jumped 567 percent worldwide from 2024 to 2025, with the number of countries hosting them growing from five to 12 and attendance climbing 121 percent over the same two-year period.

The U.K. leads the trend with a 1,200 percent rise in phone-free events and a 1,441 percent jump in attendance, while the U.S. saw gains of 388 percent in events and 913 percent in attendance.

Venues use different methods, from placing stickers over phone cameras to confiscating devices at the door, with artists like Harry Styles and Fred Again holding phone-free shows to create a more intimate experience for guests.

📊 Only 5% of marketers expect AI to create new roles LINK

Just 5% of marketers think AI will create new roles or opportunities, according to fresh research from the Chartered Institute of Marketing, while 19% expect headcount cuts as a result of AI automation.

The CIM report, backed by YouGov research covering 500 marketing decision makers, found 47.2% admit to using AI without a defined skills strategy, raising questions about guardrails inside organisations.

Concern runs highest among Gen Z, with 25% of marketers aged 18 to 24 expecting AI to shrink their team, compared to 16% of 25- to 49-year-olds and 17% of 50- to 64-year-olds.

👕 Amazon launches AI custom merch design LINK

Amazon rolled out a new feature on Monday that lets shoppers design their own merchandise through AI prompts inside Alexa for Shopping, putting pressure on print-on-demand platforms like Redbubble, Bonfire, Spring, and Fourthwall.

Customers describe an idea to Alexa, edit the generated design, and Amazon handles production and Prime delivery through Merch on Demand across T-shirts, hoodies, polos, jerseys, tank tops, tumblers, water bottles, and more.

The feature is free to use and currently limited to the U.S., with shoppers only paying for the products themselves, and designs can be shared so friends or family can add the item to their own carts.

💡 Strategies & Tactics

> AI Max vs. Broad Match: Which Works Best?: AI Max now beats broad match for most advertisers because it bundles keywordless targeting with text customization, brand settings, and detailed search term reporting.

> How to Build Topical Authority in the AI Search Era (7 Steps): Explains how to win citations from search engines and LLMs by auditing your topic reputation, picking one winnable angle, and backing it with third-party proof.

> The problem with AI share of voice and 3 metrics that matter more: Track share of mentions, share of recommendations, and share of narrative instead of trusting opaque AI visibility percentages built on hidden denominators.

> How to use your CRM for smarter email marketing campaigns: Explains how to run smarter email campaigns by treating the customer database as the system of record for segmentation, automation, and measurement.

> How modern loyalty programs drive behavior and revenue: Modern loyalty programs change behavior by replacing blanket discounts with brand-specific rewards, personalizing offers through behavioral data and tracking incremental revenue against non-member cohorts.

Other news you might like

• UK PM Starmer set to ban 'harmful' social media for under-16sLINK

• The CMO will only become more powerful, says DoorDash Ads chiefLINK

• Instagram is finally letting everyone reorganize their profile gridLINK

• Google adds new Performance Max asset testing toolsLINK

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