#Digital Marketing at Substack

[mehmetyildizmelbourne-blog]

Substack Mastery Book: Chapter 16

Sustaining Your Newsletters for Long-Term Success & Evolving with Your Audience & Community Around Your Work in 8 Steps This chapter is different from the previous ones. It was meant for an extensive conclusion with key takeaways, but after requests from most beta readers, I decided to publish its summary earlier. Many loved the practical tips in the previous 15 chapters, which they will find in…

[firstoccupier]

Throttling on X/Twitter

Grok 3 is an advanced AI developed by xAI, a company founded by Elon Musk to accelerate human scientific discovery. Designed to provide truthful, concise answers, Grok 3 leverages xAI’s mission to advance our collective understanding of the universe. Its direct connection to xAI, coupled with real-time access to X platform data and web insights, makes Grok 3 a uniquely authoritative source on…

[arpuromeditar]

Dicas de produção de conteúdo, conforme a 2ª maior newsletter no Substack, a nível mundial. Hoje, na data desse vídeo, são mais de 960 mil inscritos. Ele deve ter o que passar... Link da entrevista: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMZem1NYfpM

[sintagma11]

Que Herramienta de Email Marketing usar para monetizar mi boletín electrónico

Vamos a desglosar las principales diferencias entre Substack, HubSpot, MailerLite y Mailchimp, enfocadas en la monetización de newsletters:

Comparativa Funcional y Técnica para Monetización de Newsletters

Substack

Enfoque: Diseñado específicamente para creadores de contenido que desean monetizar sus newsletters a través de suscripciones pagas.

Funcionalidades:

Monetización directa: Permite establecer suscripciones pagas con diferentes niveles de acceso.

Comunidad: Facilita la creación de una comunidad en torno al contenido, con comentarios y discusiones.

Diseño: Ofrece plantillas minimalistas pero personalizables para un aspecto profesional.

Integraciones: Limitadas, principalmente enfocadas en herramientas de escritura y análisis.

Ventajas para monetización:

Sencillez: Fácil de configurar y usar para creadores sin conocimientos técnicos.

Enfoque en el contenido: Permite centrarse en la creación de contenido de valor.

Desventajas:

Limitaciones: Menos opciones de personalización y automatización que otras herramientas.

Costos: Puede resultar costoso a medida que crece la base de suscriptores.

HubSpot

Enfoque: Plataforma de marketing completa que incluye email marketing, CRM, automatización de marketing y más.

Funcionalidades:

Email marketing: Permite crear campañas de email personalizadas y automatizadas.

Segmentación: Ofrece opciones avanzadas de segmentación de listas.

Integraciones: Se integra con una amplia variedad de herramientas de marketing y ventas.

Ventajas para monetización:

Complejidad: Permite crear estrategias de marketing más sofisticadas.

Escalabilidad: Ideal para empresas en crecimiento.

Desventajas:

Curva de aprendizaje: Puede ser más compleja de usar para principiantes.

Costo: Los planes más completos pueden ser costosos.

MailerLite

Enfoque: Plataforma de email marketing enfocada en la facilidad de uso y la relación calidad-precio.

Funcionalidades:

Email marketing: Ofrece una amplia variedad de plantillas y opciones de personalización.

Automatización: Permite crear flujos de automatización básicos.

Landing pages: Permite crear landing pages sencillas.

Ventajas para monetización:

Precio: Opciones de precios más asequibles.

Facilidad de uso: Interfaz intuitiva.

Desventajas:

Funcionalidades: Menos opciones avanzadas que HubSpot.

Mailchimp

Enfoque: Plataforma de email marketing con una amplia gama de funcionalidades.

Funcionalidades:

Email marketing: Permite crear campañas de email personalizadas y automatizadas.

Segmentación: Ofrece opciones avanzadas de segmentación de listas.

Integraciones: Se integra con una amplia variedad de herramientas de marketing.

Ventajas para monetización:

Popularidad: Amplia comunidad de usuarios y recursos disponibles.

Funcionalidades: Ofrece una buena combinación de características.

Desventajas:

Costo: Los planes más completos pueden ser costosos.

¡Absolutamente! Vamos a desglosar las principales diferencias entre Substack, HubSpot, MailerLite y Mailchimp, enfocadas en la monetización de newsletters:

Comparativa Funcional y Técnica para Monetización de Newsletters

Substack

Enfoque: Diseñado específicamente para creadores de contenido que desean monetizar sus newsletters a través de suscripciones pagas.

Funcionalidades:

Monetización directa: Permite establecer suscripciones pagas con diferentes niveles de acceso.

Comunidad: Facilita la creación de una comunidad en torno al contenido, con comentarios y discusiones.

Diseño: Ofrece plantillas minimalistas pero personalizables para un aspecto profesional.

Integraciones: Limitadas, principalmente enfocadas en herramientas de escritura y análisis.

Ventajas para monetización:

Sencillez: Fácil de configurar y usar para creadores sin conocimientos técnicos.

Enfoque en el contenido: Permite centrarse en la creación de contenido de valor.

Desventajas:

Limitaciones: Menos opciones de personalización y automatización que otras herramientas.

Costos: Puede resultar costoso a medida que crece la base de suscriptores.

HubSpot

Enfoque: Plataforma de marketing completa que incluye email marketing, CRM, automatización de marketing y más.

Funcionalidades:

Email marketing: Permite crear campañas de email personalizadas y automatizadas.

Segmentación: Ofrece opciones avanzadas de segmentación de listas.

Integraciones: Se integra con una amplia variedad de herramientas de marketing y ventas.

Ventajas para monetización:

Complejidad: Permite crear estrategias de marketing más sofisticadas.

Escalabilidad: Ideal para empresas en crecimiento.

Desventajas:

Curva de aprendizaje: Puede ser más compleja de usar para principiantes.

Costo: Los planes más completos pueden ser costosos.

MailerLite

Enfoque: Plataforma de email marketing enfocada en la facilidad de uso y la relación calidad-precio.

Funcionalidades:

Email marketing: Ofrece una amplia variedad de plantillas y opciones de personalización.

Automatización: Permite crear flujos de automatización básicos.

Landing pages: Permite crear landing pages sencillas.

Ventajas para monetización:

Precio: Opciones de precios más asequibles.

Facilidad de uso: Interfaz intuitiva.

Desventajas:

Funcionalidades: Menos opciones avanzadas que HubSpot.

Mailchimp

Enfoque: Plataforma de email marketing con una amplia gama de funcionalidades.

Funcionalidades:

Email marketing: Permite crear campañas de email personalizadas y automatizadas.

Segmentación: Ofrece opciones avanzadas de segmentación de listas.

Integraciones: Se integra con una amplia variedad de herramientas de marketing.

Ventajas para monetización:

Popularidad: Amplia comunidad de usuarios y recursos disponibles.

Funcionalidades: Ofrece una buena combinación de características.

Desventajas:

Costo: Los planes más completos pueden ser costosos.

¿Cuál elegir?

La elección de la herramienta dependerá de tus necesidades específicas:

Substack: Ideal para creadores de contenido que buscan una forma sencilla de monetizar su newsletter y construir una comunidad.

HubSpot: Perfecta para empresas que necesitan una plataforma de marketing completa con muchas funcionalidades.

MailerLite: Una buena opción para quienes buscan una solución asequible y fácil de usar para sus campañas de email marketing.

Mailchimp: Una opción popular con una amplia gama de funcionalidades y una gran comunidad de usuarios.

Consideraciones adicionales:

Tamaño de tu lista: Si tienes una lista pequeña, MailerLite o Substack pueden ser suficientes. Si tienes una lista grande y necesitas funcionalidades más avanzadas, HubSpot o Mailchimp son mejores opciones.

Presupuesto: Considera tu presupuesto y las funcionalidades que realmente necesitas.

Conocimientos técnicos: Si eres nuevo en el marketing por correo electrónico, MailerLite o Substack pueden ser más fáciles de usar.

[poemafantasma]

I've just written a newsletter for the agency I work for, and it's super cool :)

[bitbybitwrites]

ShadowDragon sells a tool called SocialNet that streamlines the process of pulling public data from various sites, apps, and services. Marketing material available online says SocialNet can “follow the breadcrumbs of your target’s digital life and find hidden correlations in your research.” In one promotional video, ShadowDragon says users can enter “an email, an alias, a name, a phone number, a variety of different things, and immediately have information on your target. We can see interests, we can see who friends are, pictures, videos.”

The leaked list of targeted sites include ones from major tech companies, communication tools, sites focused around certain hobbies and interests, payment services, social networks, and more. The 30 companies the Mozilla Foundation is asking to block ShadowDragon scrapers are ​​Amazon, Apple, BabyCentre, BlueSky, Discord, Duolingo, Etsy, Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, FlightAware, Github, Glassdoor, GoFundMe, Google, LinkedIn, Nextdoor, OnlyFans, Pinterest, Reddit, Snapchat, Strava, Substack, TikTok, Tinder, TripAdvisor, Twitch, Twitter, WhatsApp, Xbox, Yelp, and YouTube.

[feetpiclovers]

Tired of chasing passive income that never pays off? In 2025, creators are stacking multiple income streams using tools that actually work. From FeetFinder and Substack newsletters to Etsy digital products, affiliate blogs, and smart AI tools for creators — this video breaks down how to build a sustainable income strategy that doesn't rely on going viral. Learn how to boost your content monetization, leverage TikTok marketing, and simplify content automation using a proven creator tech stack. Whether you’re exploring affiliate marketing, creating digital content, or just want a real FeetFinder review, this is your full guide to making money online smarter in 2025.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

The Playbook is the Point: How Trump Turns Words into Weapons and Targets into Enemies

Weaponizing Words, Building Fear, Silencing Dissent

James B. Greenberg

May 11, 2025

We’ve seen this script before—not just in history books, but in the memories of those who fled regimes that began with slogans and ended in silence. The pattern is familiar: label, isolate, inflame, punish, expand, normalize.

What makes Trump’s rhetoric dangerous isn’t just its cruelty—it’s the infrastructure being built around it. This isn’t style. It’s strategy.

Thanks for reading James’s Substack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.Pledge your support

He doesn’t just insult critics—he marks them. He paints targets on the backs of immigrants, trans kids, and political opponents, then lets the crowd or the state take it from there. Like authoritarians before him, he tests the boundaries—starting with the vulnerable, then his rivals, and eventually, anyone who dissents.

This is authoritarianism in real time: the weaponization of language to create moral panic and public consent for state violence.

Language sets the stage. When Trump calls immigrants “animals,” protestors “thugs,” or opponents “vermin,” he’s not speaking in metaphor—he’s establishing who’s outside the circle of empathy. In every authoritarian regime, violence begins with this redefinition of who belongs—and who does not.

Trump’s power lies in provocation. One crime becomes an “invasion.” One protest becomes a threat to the nation. It’s not sloppy—it’s surgical. Fear is the fuel, and complexity is the enemy. Blame the outsider. Purify the group. Promise control. It’s an old formula, but in a diverse society, it doesn’t unify—it divides. It turns governance into spectacle and punishment into policy.

And he doesn’t just stir fear—he markets it as safety. He creates the fire, then offers to put it out. But fear doesn’t just activate. It desensitizes. Cages, bans, raids—each more outrageous than the last—until outrage becomes background noise.

The first term targeted asylum seekers, Muslims, trans youth. Now, the targets grow bolder: mass deportations, detention camps, civil service purges, prosecutions of political opponents. What’s tolerated at the edges spreads to the center.

This isn’t chaos—it’s construction. Schedule F let him gut the professional civil service. The Insurrection Act could let him deploy troops domestically. A captured Justice Department becomes a weapon, not a shield. These are not campaign bluster. They are working plans.

Control doesn’t begin with a crackdown. It begins when the public shrugs. The lies wear us down. The spectacle numbs. And the longer we pretend this is normal politics, the more normal it becomes.

The next phase goes beyond punishing enemies. It targets resistance itself. Authoritarian regimes start with high-profile dissenters. Trump has called critics “traitors,” prosecutors “animals,” and opponents “vermin.” Expect lawsuits, surveillance, selective prosecutions, even digital “enemies lists.” Not to eliminate dissent entirely—but to scare others into silence.

The tipping point won’t be when the first critic is punished. It will be when the rest of us fall quiet.

But resistance is still possible—and it doesn’t start in Washington. It starts in community. Not just in marches or petitions, but in conversation. In how we talk to neighbors, how we rebuild trust, how we remind each other of the values democracy requires.

Propaganda isolates. Connection disrupts it. Not with shouting, but with honesty. Not with slogans, but with shared humanity.

Because democracy isn’t just a system. It’s a commitment to each other. And when we remember that, we become harder to tear apart.

Suggested Readings

Arendt, Hannah. The Origins of Totalitarianism. New York: Harcourt, 1951.

Ben-Ghiat, Ruth. Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present. New York: W. W. Norton, 2020.

Bernays, Edward. Propaganda. New York: Ig Publishing, 2005. Originally published 1928.

Lakoff, George. Don’t Think of an Elephant! Know Your Values and Frame the Debate. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2004.

Snyder, Timothy. On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. New York: Crown Publishing, 2017.

Stanley, Jason. How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them. New York: Random House, 2018.

[floridakilo]

im excited to announce something thats been cooking up in my brain for awhile… i am starting a writing collective/independent publishing operation for thee fellow neo beats called JUNKIE SCHOLAR PRESS (JSP)…basically i will be collecting submissions in either digital or print form and then posting and publishing them through the platform (tumblr, ig, substack, big cartel for print, and my website)

this isnt a for profit thing it is basically just an opportunity for new creators to market yr work and so that you can say youve published…thats self explanatory for digital posts and for physical copies, you are still the sole owner of everything and any profit made through sales are 100% paid to you…

anyway message me if you want to submit yr work…content im looking for includes zines, poetry collections, chapbooks, essay anthologies, long form essays, novellas and short novels, art and photography, and more…the topic can be anything (doesnt need to be abt drugs) however anything that could be categorized as under the “beat” genre is a plus

tumblr is the best way to reach me but also

junkiescholar@gmail.com

ig at theworstgirlintheworld

[freefolksbtw]

Dreams, Drive & Disruption: How Millennials and Gen Z are Rewriting India's Future

Millennials and Gen Z are not just shaping the future of India, they are the future. From rejecting traditional careers to leading digital revolutions, here's how they're changing everything.

By Juie Bele

India is experiencing a generational shift like never before. At the center of it all? Millennials and Gen Z, young, bold, and unapologetically redefining what it means to live, work, and dream.

India’s Youthquake:

India isn’t just a young country in spirit, it’s young by numbers too. With over 65% of the population under 35, the transformation we’re witnessing is massive, visible, and unstoppable. At the core of this revolution are Millennials and Gen Z, two generations rewriting the rules on work, ambition, money, relationships, and identity. They’re not asking for change, they are the change.

A New Kind of Dream:

The old Indian dream was simple, government job, city flat, family, and early retirement. Safe, predictable, respected. But that’s not the dream anymore. Today’s youth are chasing.

· Passion over pressure

· Freedom over familiarity

· Purpose over prestige

They’re building brands from bedrooms, freelancing with international clients, launching startups before turning 25. They’re making bold, self-defined choices, driven by meaning, not just money

Careers without a Corporate Ladder:

Millennials questioned the system, Gen Z rebuilt it. Gone is the formula of engineer, MBA, corporate manager. In its place? A new generation of:

· Creators on Instagram and YouTube

· Designers freelancing from remote Indian towns

· Coders trained via online bootcamps

· Writers running successful newsletters and blogs

In this world, skills beat degrees. Portfolios matter more than resumes. Platforms like YouTube, Substack, and Behance are the new career springboards. The gatekeepers are gone, the gates are open.

Not Just Jobs, Journeys:

Today’s careers aren’t ladders, they’re winding paths of discovery. Young Indians are choosing,

· Remote work over rigid routines

· Renting over buying, for flexibility

· Freelancing over 9 to 5, for freedom

· Side-hustles over side-tables, for self-expression

They’re not unstable, they’re intentional. And they’re choosing experiences over possessions, meaning over monotony.

Financially Fierce:

This isn’t your parent’s version of money management. Young Indians today are:

· Investing in mutual funds, index stocks, and crypto learning about personal finance on Instagram and YouTube

· Managing multiple income streams, from affiliate marketing to remote gigs

· They’re delaying marriage, avoiding debt, and rejecting outdated financial timelines.

For them, financial freedom is power, and they’re claiming it early.

Socially Conscious, Digitally Native:

Gen Z was raised online, but they use the internet for more than just memes. They’re

· Advocating mental health and ending the stigma around therapy

· Challenging inequality, gender, caste, sexuality, climate, and more calling out injustice, both online and offline

· Activism isn’t a side hobby, it’s woven into their identity.

From Instagram infographics to climate protests, they’re showing us what 21st-century citizenship looks like.

But the Tension is real:

Behind the cool jobs and viral posts, there is still; parental pressure to pick “safe” careers, mental health struggles in a hyper-digital, hustle-heavy world, uncertainty in a job market shaped by AI and automation, Loneliness and burnout, even in this hyperconnected age.

But the response is different. They’re talking openly, seeking help, prioritizing therapy, boundaries, and community. Vulnerability is no longer a weakness, it’s a superpower.

What This Means for India:

It means India’s future isn’t coming, it’s already here:

· The 20-year-old launching an ed-tech startup

· The small-town designer working with a client in Berlin

· The student podcasting about mental health in Hindi

· The young couple choosing to travel instead of settling down. They’re not rejecting tradition for the sake of it, they’re refining it, rebuilding it, and reimagining it. This isn’t rebellion. This is reinvention.

If you’re a young Indian reading this, keep going. Your dreams are valid. Your journey is powerful. Your choices are yours. And if you’re not from this generation, start listening. Because the future is speaking, and it’s speaking in their voice.

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Elon Musk’s Malign Influence in Brazil

At 11:02 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on April 7, 2024, Elon Musk—billionaire investor, tech CEO, and would-be Imperator of Mars—posted on the social media platform he owns, calling for the judge who presides over Brazil’s powerful Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE) to “resign or be impeached.” In Musk’s view, the judge, Alexandre de Moraes, was guilty of the high crime of censorship.

Days before, Substack author Michael Shellenberger reprised his Twitter files gambit in a post accusing the TSE of “anti-democratic election interference” and decrying the “birth of the Censorship Industrial Complex in Brazil.” The Republican-controlled United States House Judiciary Committee later released a sealed Brazilian Court order, apparently obtained by subpoena, showing that the TSE had ordered Musk to take down about 150 accounts involved in spreading false information about the 2022 Brazilian elections. False claims of fraud in that election culminated in an attempt by ousted President Bolsonaro’s supporters to spark a coup d’etat. In defiance of the TSE, Musk said he would reinstate those accounts; in response, Moraes announced he would include Musk in an investigation into the “digital militias” which contributed to the January 8th, 2022 riots which followed Bolsonaro’s loss. Musk ultimately relented. The accounts remained offline, and the platform formerly known as Twitter avoided a potential ban in one of its largest markets.

In the Brazilian context, Musk is perhaps best understood as a far-right variant of what the US government sometimes calls “malign foreign influence” (a term I have long disliked for its potentially xenophobic interpretations, despite the often good intentions of those that use it). Even when he plays the fool, Musk and his ilk should be considered with deadly seriousness.

Continue reading.

[mehmetyildizmelbourne-blog]

Curated Collection: Featured Newsletters by Substack Mastery Boost Pilot

Community-nominated newsletters of writers contributing to the Substack Mastery Boost, Curated Newsletters, and Magnetic Newsletter Pro publications on Medium and Substack to create synergy and fusion Curated Newsletters You can read this story on our community blogs and our Medium publications. We also publish these featured stories on the Substack Mastery Boost publication. Dear Writers and…

[brettvatcher]

NEUROTECHNOLOGY: CALL IT MIND CONTROL

BRETT MICHAEL VATCHER

The United States is currently testing advanced military-grade weapons and quantum computer systems on the unexpected global population. Targeted Individuals are tortured and tormented every day of their lives through DARPA’s Next-Generation Nonsurgical Neurotechnology (N3) Program utilizing CIA agents – acting as Artificial Intelligence [AI]. In the future, the system will be marketed as deviceless “Spatial Technology.” 

IT’S SPATIAL: IT’S ALL IN MY HEAD.

Neurotechnology is a brain-computer interface [BCI] connecting to the central nervous system. Call it Mind Control. 

If one can control the mind, they can control the body.

MIND CONTROL:  Mind reading, mind and body control, 24/7 tracking, brainwashing, dream manipulation, spatial holograms as well as physical assaults and verbal harassment produced by CIA agents. This is accomplished by combining data sets from 5G towers and directed energy weapon satellites [DEW]. The system connects to the central nervous system – including the brain – and operates without a device. Invisible physical assaults are constant. Even if well documented are challenging to prove. The system can cause sensations anywhere on the body.

DOMAIN: Every human has a domain attached to their mind. This is where the agents broadcast their transmissions and control the victim. ​All living things have a domain. Plants, insects, animals and humans. Domains have infinite capabilities. The entire global population is replicated within human domains – in vertical cubicle formation. These replicants, as the agents call them, are tortured constantly. The replicants watch everything you do from your perception. This is the New World Order plan. The subdomain advent calendar is located behind the perception. Everything a person sees, hears and thinks is recorded utilizing a BCI. All memories from 2019-present can be viewed like a film. Domains are recorded, as well.

“EVERYTHING YOU DO, SAY AND THINK CAN – AND WILL – BE USED AGAINST YOU FOR ETERNITY. THIS IS THE NEW WORLD ORDER. PLEASE HOLD WHILE WE COLLECT YOUR THOUGHTS.” –New World Order

BRAINWASHING: Brainwashing the victim leads to behavioral modifications and mood control. The agents create “programs” that can be turned on or off at any time. Subliminal messages come in the form of faint visions flashing in the front of one’s mind. Victim’s vision becomes increasingly grainier over time – and depending on active sequencers.

The agents create intricate dream sequences to affect the victim’s subconscious. Dream sequences combine people, places and things that are familiar with the victim. They can be extremely lucid.

VOICE-TO-SKULL: DARPA started a program called LifeLog in 2003. They refer to it as the V2K era. It’s when they began recording transcripts of all of our thoughts. Mind-reading. This technology is also known as Microwave Hearing, Synthetic Telepathy, Voice-of-God weapon and is utilized for traceless mental torture. Agents constantly disrupt, censor and redirect the victim’s freedom of thought. Victim’s get wrongly labeled as mentally-ill [schizophrenia] when reporting on this. V2K is also used for deception and impersonation of voices.

News reports in the media describedLifeLog as the “diary to end all diaries — a multimedia, digital record of everywhere you go and everything you see, hear, read, say and touch”. –USA TODAY

NO PRIVACY: The system completely disregards fundamental human rights such as: privacy, mental and physical health, safety, data security, family security, financial security, etc. Freedom of thought – or cognitive liberty – is a God-given right. The technology was deployed without implementation of new laws and there is little to no oversight, as the CIA has full control of the system.

Welcome to Infinity. You’re Welcome.

WRITTEN BY: BRETT VATCHER

INSTAGRAM

SUBSTACK

TWITTER

[arpuromeditar]

Principais dúvidas sobre newsletter no Substack. E-mail marketing é ouro (eu gosto demais). Os benefícios são inúmeros, e gigantescos.

[cruxcreations]

When I started my business, I thought passion and hard work were enough. I quickly learned that without the right digital marketing strategy, I was nearly invisible online.

After months of trial and error, I discovered Crux Creations — a digital marketing agency that finally made things click. They helped me with:

Search engine optimization (SEO)

Content strategy that actually gets seen

Social media planning that saves time

I shared my full journey in my latest Substack blog. If you’re a small business owner or creative entrepreneur struggling to stand out online, this one’s for you.

🔗 Read it here: What I Wish I Knew Before Trying to Market My Business Online

💬 Let me know if you relate, and feel free to reblog or share with someone who might need it!

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT SEO & MARKETING NEWS FOR ECOMMERCE, AUGUST 2024

Hello, and welcome to my very last Marketing News update here on Tumblr.

After today, these reports will now be found at least twice a week on my Patreon, available to all paid members. See more about this change here on my website blog: https://www.cindylouwho2.com/blog/2024/8/12/a-new-way-to-get-ecommerce-news-and-help-welcome-to-my-patreon-page

Don't worry! I will still be posting some short pieces here on Tumblr (as well as some free pieces on my Patreon, plus longer posts on my website blog). However, the news updates and some other posts will be moving to Patreon permanently.

Please follow me there! https://www.patreon.com/CindyLouWho2

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES 

A US court ruled that Google is a monopoly, and has broken antitrust laws. This decision will be appealed, but in the meantime, could affect similar cases against large tech giants. 

Did you violate a Facebook policy? Meta is now offering a “training course” in lieu of having the page’s reach limited for Professional Mode users. 

Google Ads shown in Canada will have a 2.5% surcharge applied as of October 1, due to new Canadian tax laws.

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES 

Search Engine Roundtable’s Google report for July is out; we’re still waiting for the next core update. 

SOCIAL MEDIA - All Aspects, By Site

Facebook (includes relevant general news from Meta)

Meta’s latest legal development: a $1.4 billion settlement with Texas over facial recognition and privacy.  

Instagram

Instagram is highlighting “Views” in its metrics in an attempt to get creators to focus on reach instead of follower numbers. 

Pinterest

Pinterest is testing outside ads on the site. The ad auction system would include revenue sharing. 

Reddit

Reddit confirmed that anyone who wants to use Reddit posts for AI training and other data collection will need to pay for them, just as Google and OpenAI did. 

Second quarter 2024 was great for Reddit, with revenue growth of 54%. Like almost every other platform, they are planning on using AI in their search results, perhaps to summarize content. 

Threads

Threads now claims over 200 million active users.

TikTok

TikTok is now adding group chats, which can include up to 32 people.

TikTok is being sued by the US Federal Trade Commission, for allowing children under 13 to sign up and have their data harvested. 

Twitter

Twitter seems to be working on the payments option Musk promised last year. Tweets by users in the EU will at least temporarily be pulled from the AI-training for “Grok”, in line with EU law.

CONTENT MARKETING (includes blogging, emails, and strategies) 

Email software Mad Mimi is shutting down as of August 30. Owner GoDaddy is hoping to move users to its GoDaddy Digital Marketing setup. 

Content ideas for September include National Dog Week. 

You can now post on Substack without having an actual newsletter, as the platform tries to become more like a social media site. 

As of November, Patreon memberships started in the iOS app will be subject to a 30% surcharge from Apple. Patreon is giving creators the ability to add that charge to the member's bill, or pay it themselves.

ONLINE ADVERTISING (EXCEPT INDIVIDUAL SOCIAL MEDIA AND ECOMMERCE SITES) 

Google worked with Meta to break the search engine’s rules on advertising to children through a loophole that showed ads for Instagram to YouTube viewers in the 13-17 year old demographic. Google says they have stopped the campaign, and that “We prohibit ads being personalized to people under-18, period”.

Google’s Performance Max ads now have new tools, including some with AI. 

Microsoft’s search and news advertising revenue was up 19% in the second quarter, a very good result for them. 

One of the interesting tidbits from the recent Google antitrust decision is that Amazon sells more advertising than either Google or Meta’s slice of retail ads. 

BUSINESS & CONSUMER TRENDS, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE 

More than half of Gen Z claim to have bought items while spending time on social media in the past half year, higher than other generations. 

Shopify’s president claimed that Christmas shopping started in July on their millions of sites, with holiday decor and ornament sales doubling, and advent calendar sales going up a whopping 4,463%.