Archiv für den Monat: Oktober 2026

What is Q5 marketing? How to plan the week after Christmas

Marketers spend months building toward December 25, then let the account coast through the following week. Pinterest’s latest data suggests the post-Christmas week deserves more attention. It can be an awkward transition but the hype is not yet over.

In Pinterest’s data, 55% of weekly Pinterest users continued buying online between December 26 and 31, while 45% continued buying in-store. Pinterest also said searches reach one of their highest peaks of the year during Q5.

What is Q5 marketing?

Q5 is Pinterest’s term for the period immediately after Christmas and before the new year begins. Pinterest uses the term to describe a distinct consumer moment when the context around shopping changes.

This makes marketing in Q5 different because brands have a short window to capture continued shopping activity without launching entirely new products.

In fact, Pinterest reported that one in two monthly Pinterest users continues shopping in the weeks following the festive season, but the reason for shopping changes.

Repositioning existing inventory around post-holiday routines could sustain the momentum since the shopper is still there, but the intent has changed.

For marketers, the useful question is how to respond to that change in intent. The product may be exactly the same, but the reason someone might want it has changed.

  1. Gifting to self-purchase – People spend weeks buying for others. Brands can shift the message back toward the shopper. A skincare brand, for example, could take a Christmas gift-set image and reframe it around a January self-care routine.
  2. Celebration to planning – The aim isn’t to erase Christmas overnight. Instead, brands can move from festive occasions toward the routines and preparation associated with January. A clothing brand, for example, could replace Christmas-party looks with simple outfits for returning to work or starting the new year.
  3. Urgency to utility – Holiday sales often rely on deadline language such as order by or last chance. After Christmas, brands can instead demonstrate how the product solves an everyday problem. A kitchenware brand could replace “Last chance to get 50% off” with content focused on organisation and everyday essentials for the new year.

A Q5 campaign calendar for December 26–January 1

Pinterest’s guidance can be turned into a simple three-stage campaign plan.

Date Creative focus Example message
Dec. 26–27 Self-purchase and post-Christmas comfort Time to focus on you. Give your skin the reset it needs
Dec. 28–30 Planning and preparation Get ready for January with these easy-to-slip into dresses
Dec. 31–Jan. 1 Fresh starts and action Start the year clutter-free with our must-have storage solutions to organize your kitchen

This is a practical framework based on Pinterest’s recommendations, rather than a calendar published by Pinterest.

The point of spreading it across specific days, rather than running one static post-holiday creative, is that the self-purchase, celebration-to-planning and urgency-to-utility shifts don’t all land on December 26, they move at different speeds across the week.

Key takeaway

The practical lesson is not to build a second Christmas campaign. It is to plan the handoff. Before December 25, identify the products and creative assets that can survive the change in context. Then prepare three versions of the message:

  • Christmas: Why should I buy this for someone else?
  • Post-Christmas: Why might I buy this for myself?
  • New Year: How does this help me start something new?

Pinterest’s shopping figures are platform-specific, so marketers should not assume they describe the entire retail market.

The useful next step is to compare them with your own data: look at site searches, landing-page traffic, product views and conversions from December 26 through January 1, then compare that period with the weeks before Christmas.

If enough data points to post-holiday intent, you have a clear baseline to build a dedicated Q5 strategy. The product may not change between December 25 and January 1. The reason to buy it can.

The post What is Q5 marketing? How to plan the week after Christmas appeared first on Search Engine Watch.

Source:: searchenginewatch.com

9 best SEO newsletters for SEO, AI search and digital marketing

I’m Radu Tyrsina, Search Engine Watch’s owner and publisher, and I subscribe to and read every newsletter on this list. Following SEO, AI search and digital marketing is part of my work.

There’s some bias here: SEW is my publication, so I’ve put it first. I also support my peers at Search Engine Roundtable, Search Engine Land and Search Engine Journal. I read their work and want their publications to thrive. Each recommendation below explains who it suits and what to consider before subscribing.

Start with SEW for the connections between SEO, AI search and wider marketing, with more editions, original video and subscriber benefits on the way. Add Search Engine Land for a daily SEO and PPC briefing, or Search Engine Journal for practical guidance alongside search news. The specialist newsletters below help you go deeper into tactics, leadership or publishing.

Newsletter Best for Coverage Format Cadence Main trade-off
1. Search Engine Watch Connecting search with wider marketing SEO, AI search, digital marketing and AI Reporting-led editions; original video planned Friday Edition plus more editions planned Schedule developing; new formats and benefits forthcoming
2. Search Engine Land Daily SEO and PPC monitoring SEO, PPC and AI search News and analysis roundup Daily Frequent mail; check promotional email preferences
3. Search Engine Journal Practical education alongside search news SEO, AI search and digital marketing News, advice and links to guides Daily Broad mix rather than one narrow specialty
4. SEOFOMO A broad weekly reading list SEO, AI search, tools, jobs and events Curated links with context Weekly, Sunday Longer read; labeled sponsor sections
5. Core Updates Practitioner commentary and tips SEO news and practical search advice News, tips and podcast links Weekly Personal editorial lens; less emphasis on job and tool listings
6. Search Engine Roundtable Close tracking of search changes Search updates, tests and community reports Daily Recap with story links Daily Recap option Requires more frequent reading
7. SEOForLunch SEO leadership and execution Careers, clients and organizational decisions Personal commentary Weekly Less suitable for a technical tutorial routine
8. SEO Notebook Practical tactics and resources SEO strategies and spreadsheet workflows Weekly note; welcome resource bundle Weekly Recent subscriber-only editions not inspected
9. WTF is SEO? Newsroom and publisher search strategy Publishing, SEO and AI search Specialist analysis and discussion Monday, per its About page Examples center on publishing

We reviewed current publisher descriptions and public editions where available. Cadences reflect published commitments, rather than a test of inbox delivery. The comparison highlights reader needs, format and trade-offs; planned SEW features are marked as forthcoming.

1. Search Engine Watch: best for connecting SEO and AI search with wider marketing

SEO increasingly overlaps with AI discovery, ecommerce, advertising and the tools marketers use every day. Search Engine Watch is expanding its reporting across those subjects, with more stories on SEO and AI search alongside digital marketing and broader AI developments. Subscribe if you want to understand how those changes connect and where they may affect your work next.

Our coverage of Shopify opening checkout to AI shopping agents is one example: discovery matters, but so does what happens when a customer buys. Our reporting on Bing testing an AI Mode tab follows changes closer to the search results themselves. That range is the reason to read SEW.

The Friday Edition will be one part of the newsletter lineup. We plan to publish additional editions and bring original video into the mix, alongside reporting and other useful formats. The aim is to give you both a considered roundup and more ways to follow the stories that deserve attention between editions.

As our products and services launch, subscribers will always receive discounted access, with selected offerings available free. We’re building a growing range of both, and these benefits will roll out alongside them. We’re building them to challenge how the industry works and give marketers more useful options; the newsletter will be a way to hear about them and access subscriber offers.

Best for: Marketers who want a wider view of search and AI, plus access to the SEW products and services as they launch.

What to consider: The additional editions‘ schedules are still developing; the planned video and product benefits are forthcoming; and some coverage will extend beyond SEO. If you need a fixed daily search briefing, add SEL or Search Engine Roundtable.

Subscribe through the SEW newsletter form.

2. Search Engine Land: best for a daily SEO and PPC briefing

Search Engine Land’s free daily newsletter is a strong choice when your work spans organic search and paid campaigns. Its current signup page explicitly covers SEO, PPC and developments in search and AI, making it useful for teams that need to follow both sides of search marketing.

The appeal is the combination of news and analysis. The published newsletter offer includes expert advice, search marketing tactics and industry updates, alongside resources such as webinars and buyer’s guides. If a platform change could affect a campaign you’re running this week, that daily cadence is useful.

Best for: Search marketers who need regular visibility into SEO and PPC developments, rather than saving everything for a weekly catch-up.

What to consider: Daily mail creates a more frequent reading commitment. The signup page also describes promotional resource and event emails, so check your preferences if you only want the editorial briefing. Choose SEW for its developing mix of broader reporting and subscriber benefits; choose SEL when a daily search marketing routine is the priority.

3. Search Engine Journal: best for practical guidance alongside SEO and AI search news

SEJ Today, Search Engine Journal’s daily newsletter, suits readers who want to understand a change and find guidance they can apply. Its current signup page emphasizes AI search and SEO news, while the publication’s broader coverage includes technical SEO, local search, paid media and digital marketing.

SEJ’s educational depth is the reason to choose it. Its current site brings together news, guides and practitioner columns such as Ask An SEO and Ask A PPC Expert. Those resources give readers somewhere to go after the headline when they need to work through an implementation question.

Best for: Practitioners building their knowledge while keeping up with the news, particularly when they value explanations and advice across several marketing disciplines.

What to consider: It is a broad daily publication rather than a newsletter devoted to one technical specialty. A narrowly focused resource such as SEO Notebook may be a useful complement. We reviewed SEJ’s current public offer and coverage, rather than testing delivery or assuming every column appears in every email.

4. SEOFOMO: best for a broad Sunday reading list

Aleyda Solis’s SEOFOMO is the pick for readers who want to explore what happened across SEO and AI search, including the resources behind the headlines. Its weekly Sunday edition combines news, guides, tools, jobs and events.

The September 27 edition shows the range: Search Console’s multimodal reporting, Google’s spam update, practical content workflows and AI search measurement all appeared alongside jobs and tools. Each item gives you enough context to decide whether to open the source.

This is a free newsletter for readers who enjoy following the links. It is longer than a quick briefing, and editions include clearly labeled sponsor sections. Choose it when you have time for a proper weekly catch-up and want to discover work from several authors.

5. Core Updates: best for practitioner commentary and tips

Core Updates brings together Mark Williams-Cook’s weekly search news, his SEO tips and the Search with Candour podcast hosted by Jack Chambers-Ward. It offers a convenient way to follow the tips without keeping up with every LinkedIn post.

The September 28 edition covered multimodal reporting, the spam update and query fan-out research. Its news section also linked to SEW’s coverage of Bing testing an AI Mode tab, showing that the selection extends beyond its own material.

Choose it when you want brief news items followed by the judgment of someone working in search. The tips and podcast give it a personal editorial voice; readers seeking a broad directory of jobs, tools and events will find more of that in SEOFOMO.

6. Search Engine Roundtable: best for close tracking of search changes

Barry Schwartz’s Search Engine Roundtable offers a Daily Recap email option, alongside other subscription formats. It is the most natural choice here when your job involves tracking frequent Google changes, search result tests and reports from the search community.

The October 2 recap collected coverage of the September spam update, Google’s guidance on AI-generated content and several search and advertising changes. The format combines a short overview with links to individual stories and wider reading.

Subscribe to the Daily Recap specifically if that is the volume you want. The subscription page distinguishes it from other feeds. This is a good fit for close monitoring; someone who wants to sit down once a week and read a few selected stories may prefer SEW’s Friday Edition or Core Updates.

7. SEOForLunch: best for SEO leadership and execution

Nick LeRoy’s SEOForLunch now describes itself around what happens inside organizations: ideas that stall, decisions that get avoided and the challenge of turning strategy into execution. It is a free weekly newsletter with a clear personal viewpoint.

Its September archive makes that positioning concrete. Recent subjects included hiring search professionals, accreditation and the changing SEO career playbook. That is a different reason to subscribe from the weekly headline roundup still described in some newsletter lists.

Choose it when your problems involve clients, hiring, leadership or persuading colleagues to act. Readers looking for a steady sequence of technical tutorials should start with a different selection. LeRoy’s commentary earns its place through the organizational questions it asks.

8. SEO Notebook: best for practical tactics and resources

Steve Toth’s SEO Notebook is built around SEO strategies and tactics. Its current signup page promises a free weekly note and a welcome email containing a spreadsheet bundle, including internal linking, click-through rate benchmarking and backlink planning resources.

That makes it a more practical complement to a news digest. You can arrive with a particular task, such as organizing internal links, and explore a resource intended to help with that work. It suits practitioners who would rather spend their reading time on a technique than another recap of the week.

The public signup page explains the offer, but it gives less visibility into recent dated editions than SEOFOMO’s archive. We have verified the published offer rather than tested the subscriber resources or claimed results from using them.

9. WTF is SEO?: best for newsrooms and publishers

WTF is SEO?, written by Jessie Willms and Shelby Blackley, addresses the work of news publishers. Its About page advertises a Monday newsletter for people trying to understand and prioritize search within a publication.

The September 14 edition looked at Google and AI developments through a publishing lens. An earlier September discussion of evergreen content brought in Mark Williams-Cook, Louisa Frahm and Harry Clarkson-Bennett to discuss its role for news organizations.

Choose it when your search decisions involve a newsroom, editorial priorities or a publication’s audience. The examples speak directly to that setting. An ecommerce team may get more relevant day-to-day ideas from SEO Notebook or SEJ’s practical guides.

Which SEO newsletters should you subscribe to?

Give each subscription a job. SEW is our starting recommendation for following the connections between SEO, AI search and wider marketing, with more editions, formats and subscriber benefits planned. Add SEL if your role demands a daily SEO and PPC briefing, or SEJ if practical guidance is the bigger priority.

Then choose one specialist: SEO Notebook for tactics and resources, SEOForLunch for leadership and execution, or WTF is SEO? for publishing. SEOFOMO is a useful Sunday reading list, Core Updates adds practitioner commentary, and Search Engine Roundtable suits close monitoring of search changes. You do not need all nine to stay informed.

The post 9 best SEO newsletters for SEO, AI search and digital marketing appeared first on Search Engine Watch.

Source:: searchenginewatch.com

Four in ten Americans would hand AI a chore, survey finds

Some 40.1% of US adults would let an AI agent handle at least one of 13 everyday tasks, according to Channel V Media’s AI Barometer. Just 7.7% say they already use agentic AI.

The report analyzes Prosper Insights & Analytics‘ June 2026 survey of 7,675 adults aged 18 and older. Respondents were shown a definition of agentic AI before answering questions about delegation.

Booking a restaurant was the most popular task, selected by 12.1%, followed by grocery buying at 11%. Buying a car attracted 5%. Only 17.6% considered AI agents a good idea, while 40.6% were unsure.

Channel V Media sells PR and AI visibility services. It selected the questions and interpreted Prosper’s data.

The 40% figure combines different jobs

The headline figure counts people willing to delegate any of the 13 tasks. It therefore cannot be used as the likely audience for a particular booking or shopping service: willingness to book a restaurant was substantially narrower.

There is also a 32.4-percentage-point gap between willingness to delegate at least one task and reported current use, calculated from 40.1% minus 7.7%. A business planning an agent-enabled service would still need evidence that interested customers complete the task through that service.

The report also says 53% of generative AI users search with it. That percentage describes existing users; the delegation figure describes surveyed adults. Treating the two as the same population would overstate how many Americans currently search through AI.

The post Four in ten Americans would hand AI a chore, survey finds appeared first on Search Engine Watch.

Source:: searchenginewatch.com

Google is paying publishers for AI answers, with some decidedly small cheques

Google’s payments for publishers contributing to its AI products are drawing scrutiny over how much money reaches participating sites and how those amounts are calculated.

The Verge, citing The Information, reports a pilot involving about 100 publishers. Separately, Ars Technica’s account of that reporting says payments to some smaller publishers amount to roughly 0.1% of advertising revenue. These are reported examples from a selective program, rather than a published rate available to every website.

Digiday’s September 14 investigation, based on publisher discussions and program material, describes payments connected to significant content contributions in AI Overviews, AI Mode and Gemini. Google confirmed an early-stage pilot to Digiday. The outlet also reported a Search Console panel showing AI contributions and monthly payments.

Publishers need to know what earns the payment

A contribution-based arrangement makes forecasting harder than a fixed licensing fee. A publisher needs to understand which uses qualify, how its contribution is valued and how consistently the program pays before treating the income as part of an editorial budget.

The small reported returns also need a meaningful comparison. Advertising revenue describes the size of the existing business; it does not tell us how much traffic a participating site lost to AI answers. Evaluating compensation for that loss would require separate traffic and revenue evidence.

For publishers outside the pilot, the available reporting offers no public enrollment route or standard payment schedule. The immediate development is a Google payment experiment with selected partners, whose economics are still being reported through individual publisher accounts.

The post Google is paying publishers for AI answers, with some decidedly small cheques appeared first on Search Engine Watch.

Source:: searchenginewatch.com

ChatGPT advertisers can now launch product campaigns from a spreadsheet

OpenAI is adding bulk product-feed campaign creation and broader conversion reporting to ChatGPT ads, alongside account changes and availability in seven additional markets.

Barry Schwartz reported the changes from an OpenAI advertiser email. Advertisers can use a spreadsheet template under Campaigns → Bulk uploads to create product-feed campaigns and ad groups. A Products tab shows product status, including rejections. The changes follow the product carousel placements SEW covered in August.

OpenAI’s reporting documentation also supports attributed conversion events beyond a campaign’s optimization goal. A campaign optimized for one action can therefore report other attributed actions, such as purchases, when those events are available.

The availability page lists Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan among supported self-serve markets. Account creation depends on the advertiser’s legal entity being based in a supported location.

A name change can interrupt an otherwise working campaign

OpenAI now separates the internal account name, the brand shown on ads and the legal name used for billing. Its setup guidance says changing the public brand name triggers review and pauses serving until approval. A legal-name change restarts business review and may also pause ads.

That makes a housekeeping edit relevant to campaign scheduling. Teams correcting a public brand name during a promotion should allow for a review interruption, even when the products and budgets stay the same.

For reporting comparisons, check attribution windows and date conventions too. OpenAI’s standard reports use the date of the ad interaction, so purchases recorded elsewhere on their conversion date can appear under different days.

The post ChatGPT advertisers can now launch product campaigns from a spreadsheet appeared first on Search Engine Watch.

Source:: searchenginewatch.com