2023: A Year in Review

We've covered many topics in this newsletter over the past year, and as we ring in the new year, now feels like a good time to look back at the biggest updates from 2023.

This year we've seen tons of changes in the digital space, the most notable of which were largely driven by AI. Between new search methods, the drama surrounding X, and AI integrations flooding the market, there were plenty of big updates this year. Let's recap some digital marketing highlights from 2023.

Users embraced a new type of search

The launch of AI-powered search functionality was a pretty big change that rocked the search landscape this year.

Microsoft's new Bing

Early on in 2023, Microsoft launched its new Bing search engine, the first AI-powered search engine to hit the market. Integrated with ChatGPT, the new Bing created a whole new way of searching for information, allowing users to take a more conversational approach to search.

Through this innovation, Microsoft attempted to take back some of the search market share that has been so heavily dominated by Google. But six months after the release of the new Bing, reports found that Microsoft had yet to make any significant gains in Google's market share.

Over the course of the year, Microsoft has continued upgrading AI-powered Bing, integrating it with DALL-E for image generation, improving functionality, and utilizing the latest version of ChatGPT, GPT-4.

Google Search Generative Experience

After a few months of Bing running the AI-powered search scene, Google released its own AI search capabilities, Search Generative Experience, or SGE.

SGE is still in testing, but users can opt into SGE to have it answer search queries. Results are displayed at the top of the SERP, providing information similar to what used to show up in featured snippets.

Google's new interface allows users to expand the AI results to dig deeper into a topic or begin a conversation with follow-up queries.

This new way of searching has resulted in lots of speculation from the SEO community about how AI will impact rankings. With AI dominating the top of the page, local SEO has become even more important, and something we've been focusing on a lot here at Perrill. The local map pack is still a hot spot for ranking, and because it shows up directly after the AI search results, it's a great place to try and rank.

Looking for assistance with your company's SEO strategy? Reach out!

Marketers transitioned to a new analytics platform

After over a year of warnings, notices, and even a doomsday clock, Google finally sunset Universal Analytics in July of 2023. This was a pretty big deal and is still impacting organizations as they figure out how to fully transition to Google Analytics 4. While there was ample time for businesses to migrate from UA to GA4, accurately setting up GA4 properties and getting up to speed with using the platform is no small feat.

There have been plenty of complaints about GA4 throughout the year, but ultimately, many businesses have decided to stick with Google's free analytics platform. Over the course of the year, GA4 has continued to improve, adding elements like customized report filtering capabilities and an audience report that continue to make the platform more user-friendly and intuitive.

At Perrill, we know how difficult the transition has been for many businesses, so we've hosted GA4 workshops to help marketers gain confidence in using GA4 to track and analyze data. If you're interested, consider signing up for our next workshop on January 17.

Privacy and transparency grew in importance

Many platforms have been working to minimize the amount of data collection and increase overall transparency over the past year. Here are a few notable changes from 2023.

Google Ads Transparency Center

Earlier this year, Google launched its Ads Transparency Center, a searchable database of all Google ads currently running.

This was big news for advertisers as the database allows them to do competitive research and analysis that can inform advertising strategy. Users can view ads and see information like how much advertisers are spending, targeting criteria, the number of times the ad was shown, etc.

Updated privacy policies in Google Maps

Google Maps recently announced plans to improve its privacy policies by giving users more control over their privacy settings. Users will be able to manage location history with greater precision, which could affect location-based targeting for marketers.

Users will be able to store some features like Timeline directly on their device rather than on a cloud for increased privacy. This could limit the amount of data marketers have to work with when targeting by location.

These updates will gradually roll out over the next year, so it's a good thing for marketers to keep tabs on.

LinkedIn's Branded Content Library

LinkedIn launched a branded content library that allows users to explore the influencer partnerships and affiliate marketing campaigns running on the app. This is a nice way for advertisers to understand the current content partnerships and to get ideas for their campaigns. Advertisers can even search the library to find specific brands. This feature increases transparency around paid promotions and also allows for more competitive insights for advertisers.

Facebook updates "Why am I seeing this" ad feature

With the goal of increased transparency in ad targeting, Meta is now sharing more information on how it uses machine learning to deliver ads. Users can now learn more about how their data is being tracked on and off the platform, and how that data is used for ads.

OpenAI is no longer using customer data to train GPT-4

As the public continues to advocate for consumer privacy, OpenAI is pivoting by no longer training language models like GPT-4 on customer API data.

This move suggests an important moment in AI; as companies continue pushing the envelope with AI technologies, trust, and privacy will remain topics of contention.

Privacy Sandbox

Google's Privacy Sandbox is a replacement for the tracking cookies Google currently uses to collect user information for advertising purposes. Google rolled out the measurement and relevance APIs in its browser in August of 2023.

For the time being, Privacy Sandbox will run simultaneously with third-party cookies until early-to-mid-2024.

As cookie tracking gets phased out, more privacy updates will likely be made and more consumers will focus on privacy concerns in 2024. It's definitely something marketers should be aware of moving into the new year.

Twitter underwent a rebrand while facing off with Threads

If you've paid any attention at all to Twitter over the past year, you know it's been a rocky platform. After Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022, there were rumors of Twitter's downfall and theories over which platform could rise to take Twitter's place.

Fast forward to 2023, when Twitter rebranded to X to better align with Elon Musk's vision for an 'everything' app. Tossing years of brand recognition and equity to the curb, Twitter became X, Tweets became X's, and the color scheme changed from blue to black.

Before the rebrand, a subscription model had been implemented on the platform, complete with a paid verification program. The result was that any previously-verified account had to pay for their checkmark from then on.

Needless to say, it's been a controversial, roller coaster of a year for X, with advertisers backing away, changes being made constantly, and rumors circling about the future of the platform. And while X underwent all these major transformations this year, a challenger entered the space: Meta's Threads.

While Threads had a strong start, citing over 100 million active users within the first month, it quickly fell to the wayside with users dropping off. It seemed like Threads could be a strong contender to unseat X, but the platform has held strong despite all of the drama.

Meta is still working to improve Threads and recently added tags to the platform so users can categorize their posts. While it seems unlikely that Threads will usurp Twitter, it might have a more permanent place among social media platforms.

AI was integrated into all sorts of platforms

Looking back, 2023 feels like the year of AI – and it's not slowing down. We covered plenty of AI-related updates over the course of the year, but here are a few integrations that we enjoyed sharing.

Canva AI

Canva's suite of Magic AI tools kickstarted a TikTok trend of using Canva to generate new professional headshots. While the headshots started out a little rough, there have been a lot of advancements in AI technology since the trend began, so Canva's image generation has greatly improved.

Other capabilities within Canva Magic AI include image alteration using Magic Edit & Eraser, personalized template and slideshow design using prompts in Magic Presentation, and copy editing using Magic Write.

Snapchat's My AI

If you were looking for a new friend, you've found one in Snapchat's AI update!

Snapchat took the latest AI innovations and turned them into a friend, My AI, that Snapchat users can engage with in the app.

The slightly creepy My AI gave users a scare when it posted a Story of its own accord, but Snapchat reassured its users, saying the Story was a glitch rather than a reflection of My AI's sentience.

LinkedIn Collaborative Articles

Given Microsoft's investment in OpenAI and ChatGPT, it's no surprise that Microsoft is integrating AI with LinkedIn in a unique way – to create articles that boost collaboration on the platform.

These collaborative articles are featured on your feed and provide standard information on a topic, encouraging LinkedIn professionals to add their own input to elevate the article. The articles, written by AI, are providing professionals with a space to share their knowledge in an organic, collaborative way.

Spotify's AI DJ

Spotify brought AI into its application by creating a DJ feature that interacts with the user and mixes songs that it thinks the user will enjoy based on past listening.

The DJ also provides brief, intermittent commentary to explain the theme or introduce a new genre or mood. Listeners can call the DJ back at any point to remix the songs to get a different genre, artist, or mood.

And that's a wrap for 2023! Which updates did you follow most closely this year? Did we miss any?

As we get ready for 2024, we want to hear from you. What parts of this newsletter did you enjoy this year, and what else would you like to see from us? Send us a message or leave a comment.

Thanks for reading, and happy holidays!