In this week’s digital news, Google’s new Merchant Center video integration gives PMax advertisers faster setup, stronger product relevance, and scalable video performance. Meta has introduced new tools to streamline partnership ads.
Google has announced crucial improvements to how external source links are presented within its generative AI features. Such as AI Mode and AI Overviews, in a move to encourage more click-throughs to publishers’ sites. Google officially began the rollout of the December 2025 Core Update on 11th December, marking the third major algorithm refinement of the year, with a projected completion time of up to three weeks.
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Google Ads quietly unlocks Merchant Center videos for Performance Max
Google is testing a Performance Max update that automatically pulls product videos from Merchant Center during campaign setup. This reduces creative friction, improves product-to-ad relevance, and boosts performance, particularly for retailers with large SKU counts. The change speeds up workflows, ensures video coverage at scale, and reinforces Google’s push to make PMax more plug-and-play for e-commerce advertisers.
Google tweaks AI links to encourage website clicks
Google launches December 2025 Core Update
AI’s structural change is the onset of the vibe era
AI is reshaping work from the bottom up. Creating a widening gap between how individuals use AI and how organisations plan for it. Between 23% and 58% of employees bring their own AI to work, and 54% would use it without support. So informal usage is already shaping workflows and outputs. This shift makes judgment more important than skill and increases the cost of quality control as output rises and time spent falls. Marketers should treat emerging ‘vibes’ as early signals of structural instability and prepare for new forms of debt created by AI-generated work that looks right, but is not actually right.
Read more here.
One third of podcast creators quit as video demands clash with audio habits
1 in 3 podcast creators are quitting as video production demands outpace what many can sustain. Driving a 32% churn rate even though getting started is easier than ever. Many who leave prefer audio-first consumption while feeling pressured to produce video, which raises workload and accelerates burnout. At the same time, video adoption keeps climbing, with 71% of active creators using it. Younger and multicultural creators are fueling most of the growth. The tension between rapid video expansion and strong audio habits is reshaping who stays, who leaves, and where platforms need to focus to keep creators engaged.
Read more here.
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