In this week’s digital news, Google announced the start of their March 2025 Core Update last Thursday, 13th March. As usual, this update is expected to take up to two weeks to roll out in full and focuses on improving the quality of search results as a whole. Rather than actively penalising specific sites.
Google announced an update to their Gemini personal AI assistant. That can now use Search history to add more personalisation to results. Blurring the line between organic search and AI assistants. Unilever’s new CEO, Fernando Fernandez, is making a major shift towards social-first marketing, increasing social media spend from 30% to 50% and significantly expanding influencer collaborations.
Meta has secured an emergency ruling in the US to stop former Facebook director Sarah Wynn-Williams from promoting her memoir, Careless People, which criticises the company. Many of the bigger players in social media have announced updates related to improving user experience and safety.
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Google begins rolling out March Core Algorithm Update
Google announced the start of their March 2025 Core Update last Thursday, 13th March. As usual, this update is expected to take up to two weeks to roll out in full and focuses on improving the quality of search results as a whole. Rather than actively penalising specific sites. However, Google’s announcement for this update did suggest that they are making changes to ensure that more variety of content is shown this year as they wrote. “We also continue our work to surface more content from creators through a series of improvements throughout this year. Some have already happened; additional ones will come later.” It’s currently unclear whether we should expect to see these changes as a result of this core update or later in the year.
As always, our advice for preparing for and recovering from a core update remains the same. Don’t panic and make any quick fix changes. Wait to see how your rankings are looking once the update is completed and then determine whether a change in your strategy is needed.
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Google Search history can now power Gemini AI Answers
Google announced an update to their Gemini personal AI assistant. That can now use Search history to add more personalisation to results, blurring the line between organic search and AI assistants. This update aims to deliver results to users that truly resonate with them and are more tailored to their wants and needs. Google’s access to search history data may give them an advantage over competing apps like ChatGPT. Personalisation is currently an opt-in feature that is labelled experimental and users can choose to disconnect from this.
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50% of Unilever’s ad spend will go to social media. Will an influencer-first strategy work?
Unilever’s new CEO, Fernando Fernandez, is making a major shift towards social-first marketing, increasing social media spend from 30% to 50%. Significantly expanding influencer collaborations, particularly in India and Latin America. This move could reshape influencer marketing, intensifying competition among agencies. Experts suggest it may also pave the way for Unilever’s future in social commerce, especially on TikTok. While the industry is evolving, concerns remain over influencer authenticity, brand control, and consumer engagement. Analysts expect other brands to watch closely but hesitate to match Unilever’s scale immediately, adapting based on results.
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Meta stops ex-director from promoting critical memoir
Meta has secured an emergency ruling in the US to stop former Facebook director Sarah Wynn-Williams from promoting her memoir, Careless People, which criticises the company. The platform Meta claims the book is “false and defamatory,” while UK publisher Macmillan defends her right to free speech. Wynn-Williams alleges Meta considered working with China on censorship, which the company denies. She has also filed a whistleblower complaint with the SEC. The ruling, which does not affect the publisher, remains in place pending a full hearing. Despite the controversy, the book has been released and is selling well on Amazon.
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New social media features and updates to know this week
Many of the bigger players in social media have announced updates related to improving user experience and safety. Reddit has introduced new posting tools and insights. While YouTube is expanding teen safety measures and testing a “Lite” version of its ad-free service in the United States. Instagram, on the other hand, is using AI to make suggestions on Reels to share with friends parent company Meta is re-launching facial recognition technology for account recovery.
Read more here.
Local media is often overlooked: Learning from Sports PR
Most companies want to focus on national sports, top-tier business and sports business trade publications. Those media verticals are critical to building brand awareness and credibility for a brand, but local is too often overlooked as a key ingredient for a strong media mix.
Yes, every company is different, and each media relations strategy should be tailored to a specific audience. However, it remains clear that local media should, at the very least, be seriously considered as an avenue to tell a client or brand’s story.
Read more here.
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