Welcome back to my monthly roundup of the biggest top stories in digital marketing. This month, you’ll learn what happened (and went wrong) with the August 2025 Spam Update, how boring videos can still attract 10k+ views, and what data says about YouTube’s domination of AI Search.
After that, you’ll get a deep dive into how AI really weighs your links, the biggest consumer trends affecting social media marketing next year, and a rundown of the most important changes in the massive YouTube update for Creators.
In the final stories of the month, you’ll get advice on whether you should use AI Max for Google Ads based on an expert’s latest tests, and some answers about the chaos that happened with Google’s tools in September.
Google August 2025 Spam Update Finished Rolling Out – It Ended In A Mess
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ12EEKdmrg&t=28s
Barry Schwartz brings you this look into the August 2025 spam update, why it took so long, and what Google said and did not say.
As he covers in the video, this update started in August and ran for about 26 days, ending on September 22. Google didn’t provide any clues about what was happening behind the scenes, except to say it targeted spam (not link spam, as Barry clarifies, because those updates get announced separately).
Barry reminds us that most spam updates take only 24 hours. It wasn’t clear what was happening this entire time, but Barry’s volatility tracking tools only showed big spikes at a few scattered points in the three weeks the update was running.
It was difficult to track this update at all because it caused serious issues with many tools. Google appeared to be experimenting with injecting fake traffic or queries to see how the algorithm responded.
Google hasn’t provided more information so far, but Barry has some ideas you can try if you think your site has been affected. Next, learn how one video marketer reliably pulls in tens of thousands of views on content without any sizzle.
How He Gets 40K VIEWS Per Day with ‘Boring’ Videos (Step by Step)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEVx2zZ1jpQ
Sean Cannell brings you this interview with a niche channel creator banking up to $65k per video about spreadsheets. Jon Ampora is the guest, and he runs Excel training courses that have grown into a six-figure business.
The two discuss how Jon developed his basic tutorial content and made it better than what competitors were offering by incorporating storytelling and other practices. He describes how he was able to understand his audience so he could publish content that resonated with them.
Jon describes in detail the most valuable video he ever created, which only involved him talking over a deck. He discusses how this success was possible even with limited tools.
Check out the complete video to learn all the steps Jon followed to make his channel successful. The ranging conversation covers how Jon pulled his first 1000 subscribers, how he plans short vs. long content, and how to package videos the right way.
Next, YouTube is becoming a major player in AI search, but its advantage is greater than many people realize.
YouTube dominates AI search with 200x citation advantage
https://searchengineland.com/youtube-ai-search-citations-data-462830
Danny Goodwin brings you this look at who AI platforms most prefer to cite when delivering video content links. The answer is YouTube, almost all of the time. In the latest numbers, the platform was cited 200x more than any other video platform on ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI products.
The research suggested that YouTube’s influence made it the only video platform that matters to AI. The results were surprising because even non-Google LLMs showed a significant preference for YouTube.
That’s not the only good news for YouTube. The research also showed that YouTube was the top domain overall for all kinds of citations. It showed up for all types of queries, including tutorials, pricing, deal hunting, product demos, and reviews.
The implications of this data seem clear for all marketers. Video content is highly visible in AI search, and YouTube is overwhelmingly the source for video content citations. That means you need YouTube content to compete for any term where videos may be recommended.
Next, another team takes a deep dive into how AI weighs links.
How AI Really Weighs Your Links (Analysis Of 35,000 Datapoints
Kevin Indig brings you this look at how AI decides whether your links are valuable. As he points out, links matter for visibility in AI-based search, but how they work inside LLMs is a mystery. Kevin dove in to find out if having backlinks still made a difference.
He analyzed 1,000 domains and their AI mentions against the core backlink metrics of linkbuilding. Along with a Semrush team, he examined mentions across several major LLMs, including ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AIO, and Perplexity.
He came up with four takeaways:
Backlink-earned authority helps with AI, but it’s not everything.- Link quality outweighs volume.
- Most surprisingly, nofollow links pull real weight.
- Image links can move the needle on authority.
Kevin gives you a lot more detail on all of these throughout the piece. You’ll learn how authority supports visibility, how quality compares to raw volume in real-world tests, and why nofollow links appear more valuable to AI than traditional SEO.
Check out the complete video for all the latest numbers on linkbuilding for AI. Next, some broader consumer trends may have huge consequences for social media marketing and the ad world beyond.
5 Consumer Trends That Will Define 2026: What’s Next in Social Media & More
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9iDW7Zgv1Q
Gary Vee brings you this look at what he considers the top 5 consumer trends that are coming for social media.
He covers some interesting territory including how he thinks 2026 will be defined by…
- The Individual Empire: Gary sees individuals increasingly becoming the face of their companies and products, and influencers playing a larger role in product launches. He uses several examples to show you company owners who are already taking advantage of this and monetizing it.
- Gen Alpha Unplugging: Gary predicts that the next generation of consumers is going to unplug, and favor outdoor/escape experiences over digital thrills. This could mean major growth for festivals, walking/running clubs, and other group settings.
- Monetization of Random Content: Gary believes that influencers who can generate views on random content (content outside their niche) have a path to opportunity that will get much more attention next year.
Check out the complete video for trends and more in-depth information about these social media-centered trends. If you are developing video content specifically, you need to know what’s changing with one of YouTube’s new updates for creators.
YouTube Launches MASSIVE Updates For ALL CREATORS!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sulz7siwss
The VidIQ team takes you through all of the big features, tools, and policies that are now arriving for YouTube creators. First, they cover some of the changes to monetization.
You’ll have a number of new ways to monetize your content, including:
- Swappable brand slots (you can remove and replace sponsorships on old videos)
- Unique metrics for brand segments
- Links can now be added to the descriptions of Shorts (but only for brand details).
- There is a new “collaborator” feature that allows multiple YouTube profiles to be listed as the creators for a video. Only five collaborators can be added for each video during the test, and the original poster collects all revenue.
Beyond monetization options, a new A/B testing feature is coming for your video titles. You can now add up to 3 alternative titles for your videos, and decide whether the title, the thumbnail, or both will show users all variations.
AI auto-translation and lip dubbing have also been announced. In addition to the new AI feature, YouTube is releasing a security tool called “Likeness Detection.” When it’s live, it will notify you whenever your likeness appears in a video (possibly a generated one).
Check out the complete video for all the latest news, including unreleased AI features that may allow you to generate AI videos, turn speeches into songs, and do more on command.
Should You Use AI Max for Google Ads?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yafwRFBPU4Y
Aaron Young takes a look at the recently released tool for Google Ads and whether you should use it. Right off the bat, Aaron can’t give you a yes or no. He feels the tool is not for every business and that some may be better off not using it for now.
If you missed the roundup where this tool was announced, AI Max is an automated management tool for your Google ad campaigns. You fill in a few fields with data, and Google builds an optimized campaign for you.
Aaron reminds us that this tool came down with two main promises:
- Better keywordless search targeting
- Superior asset optimization (meaning titles, descriptions, and images)
Aaron built several AI Max campaigns to test the new tool, but he did not find the results impressive when he toggled on the tool; but he didn’t interfere with it. This is how Google presented it working in some conferences, but it has a lot to learn about optimizing for niche audiences.
He reminds you not to throw out your work refining your message or testing your titles. AI Max campaigns still need to be driven by expertise that only you can provide the tool.
This tool has had a stable month, but that’s not true for all of them. In the final entry in our roundup, find out why many of Google’s tools were in a chaotic state last month.
Google Kills 100-Result Pages: SEO Tools in Chaos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb9d9pYYmrw
Edward Sturm gives you a look at what’s changed for Google and 3rd-Party tools after a wave of major changes.
The biggest change, as Ahrefs announced here, is that SERPs are now naturally capped at 10 results. That fundamentally changes how many existing tools read and interpret ranking data.
Ahrefs has warned its users that any rankings that go beyond the top 10 will be inconsistent for the time being. Google appears to have gone a step further by restricting access to deeper results, and Ahrefs has no timeline for when it can restore deeper results to its users.
Edward tracked down some of the chatter on why this is happening.
This change isn’t only affecting tools. Several SEOs covered in the video have reported and massive drops in impressions as a result of these changes.
Why did Google do this? Some SEOs have noted that impressions for certain topics dropped by as much as half when this change happened. That suggests that SEO tools were responsible for a lot of the engagement for some searches.
The SEO discussions covered by Edward are anxious about the future. In threads on Reddit and other places, users discussed how these changes would make good research for ads and content nearly impossible. Some forum members speculate that the new policy exists to stop AI rivals from crawling Google Search.
This change could have stunning consequences for the future of SEO. Learn more about it when we know more in an upcoming roundup!
