Business Growth and Digital Marketing News & Tips 05-17-26

The tools, tips, news and advice you need to grow your business.

Gartner found that 61% of B2B buyers prefer a rep-free buying experience. That does not mean they want to be left alone. It means they want space to understand their options without pressure, confusion, or unclear value.

Buyers are still looking for help. They just want it on their terms. Clear, useful education fills that gap. It helps people move forward without forcing them into a conversation before they are ready.

Learn more about why investing in educational content is not only critical to reaching today’s buyers, but also how it can ensure that you retain them as well. Read More

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What you need to know:

Google Expands AI Max Again
Google is pushing AI Max beyond basic search automation into Shopping and travel, while adding more brand controls so advertisers can scale without giving up message discipline. That matters because paid search is moving from keyword management to AI-guided campaign steering much faster than many teams are planning for.
Read More

Google Gives GMP Its Gemini Layer
Google is embedding Gemini deeper into Display & Video 360 and measurement workflows, including better media curation, privacy-safe matching, and easier campaign reporting. For marketing leaders, this is a signal to rethink media planning around integrated data and AI-assisted optimization instead of siloed channel buys. Read More

Google Says Search Behavior Is Shifting
Google’s Liz Reid says AI is making queries longer, more task-driven, and less keyword-like, while filtering out lower-value clicks. Marketers should treat this as a real buyer-journey change: win fewer but better clicks by answering intent more completely. Read More

Content Strategy Now Has Two Surfaces
Search Engine Land argues brands now need to audit both classic Google visibility and AI-sourced visibility, because traffic losses may be moving to LLMs instead of competitors. That makes content planning less about publishing more and more about proving authority where AI systems actually retrieve and cite. Read More

Google Changes How Call Leads Count
Google Ads now turns call recording on by default for eligible AI-qualified call leads, letting AI score call quality instead of relying mostly on duration. If calls matter to your funnel, review settings, compliance, and bidding logic now because your conversion data may already be changing. Read More

AI Crawlers Are Already Here
New analysis of 68 million AI crawler visits shows AI referral and crawling behavior are scaling fast, with clear patterns in what gets revisited and surfaced. Marketers should start treating AI crawlability and citation readiness as a real visibility layer, not an experimental side project. Read More

YouTube Makes Creator Deals Easier
YouTube is turning BrandConnect into a more centralized creator-partnerships system inside YouTube Studio, Google Ads, and DV360. That should make creator campaigns easier to discover, brief, scale, and measure alongside paid media—not as a separate workflow. Read More

Meta Keeps Investing in Edits
Meta says Edits will keep expanding with better captions, customization, inspiration, and feedback tools built for creators. For brands and small teams, the bigger takeaway is that creator-grade production and iteration tools are getting faster, cheaper, and more native to Meta’s ecosystem. Read More

Threads Wants Real-Time Community Moments
Threads is rolling out Live Chats so creators and communities can gather around live cultural moments in public group conversations. That creates a more event-driven engagement layer marketers should watch for launches, sports tie-ins, and live brand conversation formats. Read More

TikTok Sharpens Its Commerce Pitch
TikTok for Business is reframing the platform around discovery that turns into action, backed by stronger search and commerce behavior on-platform. Brands should read this as a push to build creative that sells through community and intent, not just reach. Read More

TikTok Backs Small-Business Commerce Skills
TikTok and the ICC are launching Digital Commerce Labs to help small businesses build digital commerce capabilities with TikTok tools and training. For owners and local brands, it reinforces TikTok’s role as a practical growth channel, not just a brand-awareness play. Read More

Speed Still Wins More Checkouts
Shopify’s new data ties stronger Core Web Vitals performance to better conversion outcomes across actively selling stores. The practical takeaway is simple: site speed is still a revenue lever, especially when traffic gets more expensive and AI discovery makes first visits more fragile. Read More

Digital Ad Growth Keeps Climbing
The latest IAB/PwC report says digital ad revenue hit a new high in 2025, with creator content, video, and performance media helping drive growth. Marketers should note where budgets are concentrating: big platforms are still gaining share even as the mix inside those platforms changes. Read More

ChatGPT Adds CPC Buying
Digiday reports OpenAI has switched on cost-per-click ads inside ChatGPT, giving advertisers a more familiar way to test the channel. That lowers one barrier to experimentation and brings chatbot ads a step closer to performance-budget scrutiny. Read More

Instagram Rewards Original Posts More
Instagram says it will stop recommending many repost-heavy photo and carousel accounts, favoring more original content instead. For marketers, this raises the value of native creative and lowers the upside of aggregation tactics that add little new value. Read More

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LOCAL SEARCH

The Role of Customer Reviews in Local SEO

Customer reviews are more than just feedback; they’re one of the most powerful signals driving visibility and trust in local search results. In this post, we’ll explore how online reviews influence local SEO rankings, conversions, and credibility, and what your business can do to harness them strategically. Read More

PERFORMANCE

Email Analytics and Success

Email marketing remains one of the most effective digital marketing strategies, but success doesn’t come from simply sending messages out into the abyss. To truly harness the power of email marketing, you need to understand how to measure its performance. Email analytics and metrics provide valuable insights into how your campaigns resonate with your audience and help you refine your strategy over time.

This guide will explore the key email metrics every marketer should track and how to use them to measure the success of your campaigns. Read More

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