Growth Hacking Headlines: Big Tech Plays, AI Scrutiny, and a Booming Ad Landscape

Weekly Curated Content from GrowthHackers Community in your inbox!͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ [View in browser]( Hey, GrowthHackers!  Buckle up, because this week's news is packed with juicy tidbits to fuel your growt efforts. From AI revolutions to app store shakeups, we've got something for everyone. So, grab your coffee (or your favorite beverage), and let's dive in! ­ WHAT'S NEW?  🔎 Google's Gemini AI Enters the Ads Arena: The future of advertising is here, and it's powered by AI. Google's Gemini, their most advanced AI model, is now in beta testing for Google Ads. This means chatty bots will help you craft campaigns and target audiences with laser precision.  [Get ready]( to chat with your ads, folks!  ⏱️ TikTok's Longform Experiment: Attention spans, prepare to be challenged! TikTok is [testing 30-minute video uploads](, potentially opening doors for longer-form storytelling and deeper creator engagement. Think educational series, behind-the-scenes glimpses, and immersive experiences. Creators, take note!  🏃‍♂️Moving Positions on Most Downloaded Social Apps: Threads is reported to having tripled downloads in December, reaching number 10 on most downloaded apps, according to [AppFigures](. Instagram overtook TikTok as number 1, while X is still reeling from the rebrand ranked as 29.  🛍 TikTok Running Tests to Boot Shop: A [new feature]( that automatically identifies products in videos and links them to "Find similar items on TikTok Shop." Will this boost for e-commerce and influencer marketing on the platform?  📸 Instagram Eyes "Finstas", Flipside Feature in Testing: [Instagram is testing Flipside](, a feature that lets users create a separate, more personal account within their existing profile. Will this increase engagement and personalization on Instagram? We'll have to wait and see!  🍏Apple Cracks Open the iPhone Garden (But Not Too Much!):  Apple is bowing to EU regulations and [opening up its App Store to third-party app stores](. This could mean more choice for consumers and new opportunities for developers to market their products. But some developers are already [responding with criticism]( about Apple’s new guidelines.   💸 Ads on Fire: Hold onto your wallets, growth hackers! [Google Search ad spend is booming](, with a 17% year-on-year increase in Q4 2023. Winterberry Group predicts a [10.4% surge in US ad and marketing spend](, pushing the total to $570 billion. That's nearly triple the GDP growth rate!  ✅ Bonus Tip: Remember, growth hacking is all about experimentation and agility. Use market shifts as inspiration to test new ideas, adapt your strategies, and stay ahead of the curve.  Let's keep the conversation going! Share your thoughts on the trends you're seeing with GrowthHackers Community members! [GO TO COMMUNITY ➡️]( ­  COMMUNITY FORUM  🗨️ "Hey guys! I’m working with this startup that is building an ML model for predictive analytics that can be used to lower CAC. I’d love to hear any thoughts and insights on how you’ve approached customer discovery. Would love to learn from the community’s experiences!" [Reply](  🗨️ "What's one piece of advice you would give to someone starting a new growth initiative in their business?" [Reply](  🗨️ Got a question for community members? [Post a Question](  ­  COMMUNITY POSTS  Everything You Need to Know About Network Effects When a product’s value increases as more people use it, it is said to have “network effects.” Network effects are the silent growth engines behind some of the most successful products, from Facebook to Uber, and from Airbnb to WhatsApp. [READ MOREÂ]( Google Added its AI, Gemini, to Google Ads Google launched the beta version on a Gemini Integration to Google Ads. Now, based on the advertiser’s website URL, Gemini can help you create optimized search ad campaigns.  For example, you could ask it to come up with variations of your ad copy, or ask it to provide more ad headlines to consider, based on its database of successful ads. Are you already using this feature in your campaigns? Share with the community! [LEARN MORE]( ­  INSIDER PICKS 🤓 To Read: according to to Elena Verna, "We are in the middle of an ugly growth team crisis, resulting in the systematic failure of growth teams and growth efforts across the entire industry. As companies are blinded by the growth team ‘promise,’ they fail to understand what growth actually means. As a result, they fail to hire properly, set up a team for success, or equip them with the right level of support.” Dive into the symptoms of bad growth team at her article "[There's a whole lot of ugly out there when it comes to growth teams](".  ▶️ To Watch: Amazon CEO Andy Jassy shared what he sees the biggest opportunities and risks and  for businesses when it comes to innovation in 2024. Check out [his interview to Fortune here](.  🎙️To Listen: [This interview with Guillaume Cabene to The Twenty Minute VC]( is a great listen if you are interested in a first hand account on how to get into growth, how to hire a growth team and strategies and experiments to get to the first $100M ARR and more.   💭 To Reflect: by Connor Beem, Growth Manager at Lyft 🤝 Share the Love: Got a hidden gem that's transforming your growth game? Share the love! Drop your top recommendations at GrowthHackers Community to help a fellow community member level up. [CREATE A POST  ➡️]( ­ GrowthHackers 388 Market St, 1300, 94111, San Francisco [Unsubscribe](