Table of Contents
Google Search Console Adds New Social Media Metrics
Google Adds Social Channels in Google Search Console Track performance & engagement across platforms
Source: 6smarketers
Google has introduced an experimental update to Search Console Insights that adds social media channel performance data alongside website search metrics. This update helps marketers see how their social profiles and content perform in Google Search from one unified dashboard.
With this feature, teams can track social clicks, impressions, trending content, and audience insights without relying on multiple analytics tools. The goal is to improve visibility into how search and social work together, making it easier to align SEO and social strategies.
The feature is currently available to selected properties only and is being tested by Google, with a wider rollout expected in the future. Overall, it offers a more connected view of brand performance across search and social channels, saving time and improving data-driven decision-making.
DEC 2025
- Track social clicks in Search.
- View unified brand performance data.
- Limited testing for selected properties.
- Enhances organic social strategy insights.
Meta Tests New Link Sharing Limits for Businesses
Google has launched a new experimental update in Search Console Insights that includes social media channel data along with website performance metrics. This update helps marketers understand how their social profiles and posts appear and perform in Google Search.
Users can now see key details like clicks, impressions, trending social content, and audience insights in one place. This makes it easier to connect SEO and social media performance without switching between tools.
The feature is currently available to selected users only as Google tests it further. Overall, this update helps brands get a clearer picture of their online visibility and make better, data-driven marketing decisions.
- Restricts links on business profiles.
- Encourages native platform content usage.
- Impacts referral traffic for marketers.
- Aims to increase user retention.
Google Discover Integrates Advanced “AI Mode” Features
Meet AI Mode Get AI-powered responses & ask follow-ups with a new experiment
Google is expanding AI-powered features in Search to help users handle more complex questions. AI Overviews, now used by over a billion people, are being upgraded with Gemini 2.0 in the U.S., starting with coding, advanced math, and multimodal queries. These updates deliver faster, higher-quality responses and are now available to teens, with no sign-in required.
Google is also testing a new AI Mode in Search through Labs. This mode offers deeper reasoning, follow-up questions, and helpful web links for complex, multi-part searches. It combines Gemini 2.0 with real-time data sources like the Knowledge Graph and shopping information to deliver more detailed answers.
AI Mode is currently a limited, opt-in experiment, starting with Google One AI Premium users. Google will refine it based on feedback before wider rollout.
- Summarize articles directly in feed.
- Ask follow-up questions about news.
- Links to source content included.
- Improves transparency for web publishers.
DeepSeek R1 Model Disrupts Global AI Market
DeepSeek is a Chinese AI startup that is disrupting the global AI industry with high-performance, low-cost AI models. Its latest models, DeepSeek-V3 and DeepSeek-R1, are claimed to match or outperform leading U.S. models from OpenAI and Meta, but at a fraction of the cost.
DeepSeek drew major attention after revealing that training DeepSeek-V3 cost under $6 million, far less than what U.S. companies typically spend. Its AI assistant has even overtaken ChatGPT as the top free app on Apple’s U.S. App Store.
The company’s success is challenging assumptions behind massive AI spending by U.S. tech firms and has impacted investor confidence. DeepSeek-R1 is reported to be 20–50 times cheaper than comparable OpenAI models, making advanced AI more accessible and reshaping the competitive AI landscape.
- Open-source model matches top competitors.
- Lower training costs shock industry.
- Shakes US tech firm dominance.
- Developers get free model access.
Snapchat Debuts Text-to-Lens AI Creative Feature
Snapchat Launches “Imagine”: It’s First Open Prompt AI Lens
Snapchat has made its Imagine Lens, a text-to-image AI Lens, available to all users in the U.S. with no subscription required. Previously limited to paid users, the feature is now expanding to Canada, UK, and Australia.
The Imagine Lens lets users create custom visuals by typing a text prompt directly into the Snapchat camera. Users can instantly generate creative scenes, try out ideas, and share them with friends or on Stories. Snapchat is also offering free generations so everyone can try it out.
This update makes AI-powered creativity more accessible and encourages users to explore, create, and share unique content easily within Snapchat.
- Generates lenses from text prompts.
- Boosts AR engagement for brands.
- Simplifies complex 3D asset creation.
- Available for immediate user testing.
X Launches New Creator Studio Hub for Mobile
X has launched a new Creator Studio in its mobile app, giving creators a single hub to manage tools and insights on the go. The new tab provides quick access to revenue sharing status, subscriptions, analytics, payment settings, and creator support.
Creators can now easily track earnings, check eligibility for monetization features, and monitor performance directly from the mobile app, features that were previously limited to desktop.
X has also added an Inspiration tab that highlights top-performing posts over daily, weekly, and monthly periods. This helps creators understand what content is trending and get ideas for their own posts. Overall, the update makes content management and performance tracking more convenient for mobile-first creators.
- Tracks growth and monetization stats.
- Provides holiday marketing trend insights.
- Simplifies mobile content management tasks.
- Aims to attract more creators.
YouTube Shares Insights on Viral Video Thumbnail Data
YouTube data shows that thumbnails play a major role in driving video clicks and success. Around 90% of top-performing videos use custom thumbnails, and viewers decide whether to click within milliseconds.
Videos with higher click-through rates (CTR) are promoted more by YouTube, especially when paired with good watch time. Thumbnails featuring human faces, emotions, clear text, and strong contrast tend to perform better. Consistent design also helps build brand recognition.
YouTube allows creators to A/B test thumbnails using built-in tools, while AI-powered tools are increasingly used to improve designs. Most importantly, thumbnails must match the content to avoid clickbait and low retention.
- Analyzes 300k top-performing videos.
- Faces in thumbnails show consistency.
- Niche differences impact click rates.
- Helps creators optimize visual strategy.
