Loop Digital January Digital Marketing Industry Update

Read Time: 12 minutes

Happy New Year! As we step into 2025, we hope this year brings exciting opportunities, innovation, and success for you and your business. Looking back, 2024 was a remarkable year for digital marketing, with significant shifts that reshaped the industry, from advancements in AI and data analytics to new social media trends and platform updates driving fresh approaches to audience engagement.

The digital marketing landscape continues to grow at an unprecedented pace, offering countless opportunities alongside its fair share of challenges. As we dive into the highlights of January 2025, we’ll uncover the latest trends, tools, and insights that are already making waves. 

If you’re looking to fine-tune your strategy or take your campaigns to new heights, this roundup has something for everyone. So, get comfortable, and join us as we explore the exciting developments that have the potential to change the year ahead!

Digital Marketing Highlights

Google Analytics 4 Introduces Cross-Property Report Copying

If you manage multiple accounts in Google Analytics, this new feature in GA4 could save you a lot of time and effort. The cross-property report copying functionality allows marketers to copy reports across different properties, ensuring consistency and simplifying collaboration. This update is particularly useful for those juggling campaigns across various websites or platforms. It’s a handy tool for agencies and larger businesses looking to streamline reporting processes without reinventing the wheel for each property.

Can Google Detect AI-Generated Content? Evidence Points to Yes

The use of AI in content creation has skyrocketed, but so has Google’s ability to identify AI-generated content. Recent findings indicate that its algorithms are increasingly adept at detecting machine-written text. This highlights the importance of creating authentic, value-driven content that resonates with human audiences. AI can still be a fantastic tool to support your efforts, but the focus should always remain on originality and meaningful engagement.

Google Rejects the EU’s Call for Fact-Checking on Search and YouTube

Google has declined the European Union’s proposal for tighter fact-checking measures across Search and YouTube, sparking debates about platform accountability. While Google supports tackling misinformation, it has expressed concerns about overregulation and the potential implications for free speech. This highlights the delicate balance tech companies must navigate as they respond to growing regulatory pressures. For marketers, it’s a reminder to prioritise credibility and accuracy in their campaigns to build trust with their audiences.

Google’s Search Market Share Dips Below 90%

For the first time in nearly a decade, Google’s search market share has fallen below 90%. While it remains the dominant player, this dip suggests increased competition from emerging platforms like Bing, DuckDuckGo, and AI-driven search tools. For marketers, this is a golden opportunity to diversify their strategies. Optimising alternative search engines and exploring paid search opportunities on other platforms could help brands tap into new and expanding audiences.

Google Study: 29% in the U.S. and Canada Used AI in 2024

Artificial intelligence is no longer just a buzzword, it’s a driving force in daily life. According to Google’s latest study, 29% of users in the U.S. and Canada engaged with AI in 2024, from AI-powered chatbots to content generation tools. This trend is only expected to grow, with more consumers embracing AI solutions for convenience and efficiency. For businesses, integrating AI into your marketing efforts, be it through personalised user experiences, data analysis, or automation can be a game-changer in staying competitive.

Short-Form Video Content: Capturing Attention in 2025

Short-form video continues to dominate digital platforms. TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts are capturing attention like never before, with their snackable format appealing to audiences with limited time and a desire for quick, impactful content. For marketers, it’s not just about being present on these platforms, it’s about telling a compelling story in under a minute. With creativity and authenticity at the forefront, short-form videos are a powerful way to connect with audiences and drive engagement.

Google Revives Tag Assistant

For anyone managing tags and tracking codes, the return of Tag Assistant is a welcome update. This debugging tool helps marketers troubleshoot and validate their tags, ensuring data collection and website tracking remain accurate. With the growing complexity of analytics setups, having a reliable tool to identify and fix tag-related issues can save time and avoid costly errors. Whether you’re an analytics pro or just starting, this tool deserves a spot in your marketing arsenal.

Seven Big Media Trends to Watch in 2025

Marketing Week has outlined seven key media trends that are set to shape the year ahead. These trends highlight the growing role of AI in marketing, the continued shift in consumer behaviours, and the increasing demand for sustainability-focused campaigns. They’re a call to action for brands to innovate and align their strategies with the evolving expectations of modern audiences. While each trend offers unique opportunities, the overarching message is clear: agility and adaptability will be critical in 2025.

SEO Highlights

HubSpot’s SEO Collapse: What Went Wrong?

HubSpot, a leader in inbound marketing, has experienced a dramatic fall in organic traffic, causing concern and curiosity among SEO professionals. Industry speculation points to a mix of Google algorithm updates and a potential overreliance on outdated content strategies. This underscores a vital lesson for businesses: SEO isn’t a one-time effort. Regularly auditing your content, ensuring it reflects current search intent, and aligning it with evolving algorithms are non-negotiable for sustained success. If a giant like HubSpot can face these challenges, no business is immune.

Google Says Goodbye to Breadcrumbs in Mobile Search Results

Breadcrumbs have long been a helpful tool for mobile users, offering a clear view of a website’s structure directly in search results. However, Google has decided to remove breadcrumbs from mobile search snippets entirely. This change could shift the emphasis to optimised meta titles and URLs as primary navigational cues. For marketers and webmasters, it’s a good time to review your mobile-friendly SEO strategies and ensure users can still navigate effectively from search results.

Google Updates Its Search Quality Raters Guidelines

Google has made significant changes to its search quality raters guidelines, sharpening its focus on combating spam and low-quality content. This move highlights Google’s ongoing mission to prioritise user experience and expertise by serving trustworthy, relevant, and authoritative results, in simple words, the E-E-A-T factor. For businesses, it’s a reminder to create content that genuinely adds value, adheres to ethical practices, and caters to user intent. Spammy tactics may deliver short-term results but will inevitably lead to penalties and loss of trust from both users and Google.

Manual Actions for Site Reputation Abuse in Europe?

Reports are emerging that Google is issuing manual penalties for sites engaged in reputation abuse, particularly in Europe. This crackdown likely targets unethical practices like fake reviews or manipulative tactics to enhance a site’s online reputation. For marketers, this highlights the importance of fostering genuine audience interactions and building trust authentically. If your strategy involves user-generated content, now is the time to double-check for transparency and legitimacy, ensuring your site isn’t inadvertently flagged.

Global SEO Tool Outages: Google Disruptions

Recent global outages of popular SEO tools left many marketers in a bind, highlighting how reliant the industry has become on these platforms. These disruptions serve as a reminder of the importance of diversifying your SEO toolkit and maintaining manual tracking or backups of key metrics. While tools are invaluable for insights and efficiency, they shouldn’t be the sole crutch supporting your strategy. Flexibility is crucial to navigating unexpected challenges like these.

Google vs. SEO Tools: Why Is Your Data Missing?

The relationship between Google and third-party SEO tools has grown increasingly strained, with disruptions to data access becoming more frequent. For marketers, this reinforces the importance of mastering Google’s native tools such as Google Search Console and Google Analytics as the cornerstone of any SEO strategy. While third-party platforms often offer advanced features, ensuring you’re fluent in Google’s own resources will provide the most reliable and direct insights into your site’s performance.

Google Search Rankings and ChatGPT Mentions: A New Correlation?

Emerging data suggests a connection between search rankings and mentions of ChatGPT, as interest in AI continues to dominate discussions across industries. Content that incorporates AI-related themes appears to be gaining visibility, likely driven by user curiosity and the increasing relevance of AI in everyday applications. By thoughtfully weaving AI topics into your content strategy, when relevant to your audience, you may be able to tap into this growing trend and enhance your rankings in the process.

Paid Media Highlights

Meta Testing Threads Ads

Meta has begun experimenting with ads on Threads, its Twitter-style platform. This move signals a significant opportunity for brands to diversify their paid social strategies and connect with audiences in a new, conversational format. As Threads grows, so does its potential for advertisers to create authentic engagements. For marketers, now is the time to watch how Threads ads evolve and start considering how they could fit into your future campaigns.

Google Ads Introduces WhatsApp Messaging Integration

Google Ads has launched a new feature enabling WhatsApp messaging integration. This means advertisers can now drive potential customers directly to WhatsApp from their ads, fostering seamless communication. For businesses heavily reliant on customer interaction, especially in retail or service industries, this is a fantastic tool to streamline queries and boost conversions.

Google Ads Rolls Out Brand Report

The new Brand Report from Google Ads offers a unified view of brand campaign performance, complete with reach and frequency metrics across multiple campaigns. This means advertisers now have better insight into how their brand is resonating with audiences. With this tool, brands can make more informed decisions about allocating budgets, optimising creatives, and fine-tuning their strategies for maximum impact.

AI-Powered Innovations Coming to Google Ads in 2025

Google Ads is setting the stage for a significant AI-driven evolution next year. Here’s what’s in store:

Search is shifting beyond traditional keywords towards more dynamic, multimodal experiences. This means blending text, images, and video to create richer, more intuitive search interactions.

Marketers will soon have access to more advanced AI tools to generate creative assets that resonate deeply with target audiences.

Tracking campaign performance across multiple channels will become more robust, giving advertisers a clearer picture of ROI.

Social Media Highlights

TikTok’s US Drama Continues

It wouldn’t be a proper social media roundup without mentioning TikTok! After facing potential bans in the U.S., the platform has restored its services. This follows a proposed joint ownership model where US stakeholders could hold a 50% share, though parent company ByteDance has yet to release an official statement. This ongoing conflict highlights the platform’s influence and the geopolitical complexities surrounding its operations. For marketers, TikTok remains a powerful tool to engage with younger audiences, and keeping an eye on its developments is vital for planning long-term strategies.

Web and Design Highlights

WordPress Facing Legal Troubles

In a surprising and concerning development, Matt Mullenweg, the co-founder of WordPress, has raised the alarm about the potential impact of ongoing lawsuits on the platform’s future. Mullenweg has publicly called on WP Engine, a significant player in the WordPress hosting space, to drop its legal action, stating that these disputes could lead to outcomes that disrupt or even dismantle the ecosystem.

WordPress has long been celebrated as the cornerstone of modern web development, powering over 40% of all websites worldwide. However, these legal conflicts highlight a growing tension within the WordPress community, questioning its cohesion and long-term vision. Mullenweg’s plea underscores the fragile balance between innovation, leadership, and collaboration in maintaining the success of a global open-source project.

For users and developers alike, this situation serves as a wake-up call to monitor developments closely, as the results could have far-reaching implications for the open-source community and the broader web.

Additional Claims Filed Against WordPress

Just as the dust began to settle on initial lawsuits, the legal challenges for WordPress took a sharp turn for the worse with 15 additional claims filed. These latest court filings are part of a “motion to intervene,” directly challenging Matt Mullenweg’s leadership and questioning whether his vision aligns with the open-source principles upon which WordPress was built.

The new claims amplify ongoing concerns about whether WordPress’s current trajectory serves the broader community or favours commercial interests. Critics argue that decisions around governance, licensing, and project priorities could compromise WordPress’s original ethos of accessibility and collaboration.

This legal and ideological rift showcases the challenges of managing a project as large and influential as WordPress. As the platform navigates these turbulent times, its future may set a precedent for other open-source projects worldwide. For users and developers, this is a pivotal moment to reflect on how such conflicts might affect the tools they rely on daily.

New CVE Entry: MarketKing Plugin Vulnerability

The security of WordPress sites often hinges on the reliability of plugins, but even widely used tools can have flaws. One such issue has been found by our Senior Web Developer, Karolina Jankowska, who identified a new Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) entry in the MarketKing plugin for WooCommerce. The vulnerability allows authenticated shop managers to execute stored cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks, which could compromise site functionality or data.

Thankfully, the vulnerability has been patched in recent updates. But, if you’re a site owner or developer, it’s crucial to ensure that all plugins are up to date and to perform regular security audits to mitigate potential risks.

Critical Security Vulnerability in Updraft Plugin

Updraft, one of WordPress’s most trusted backup plugins with over three million active installations, has been found to contain a critical security vulnerability. The issue arises from the deserialisation of untrusted input, a flaw that could allow malicious actors to execute code on affected sites.

For businesses and individuals who rely on Updraft to secure their backups, this vulnerability underscores the need for heightened vigilance. A website backup is often the first line of defence in mitigating the damage caused by hacking attempts or accidental data loss, making it all the more critical to use a secure and reliable tool.

The good news is that a patch has been released, and users are strongly encouraged to update their plugins immediately. This incident serves as a broader reminder of the need for proactive security measures, from updating plugins regularly to using strong authentication protocols and employing web application firewalls.

Get These Updates and Stay Ahead in 2025

As we begin this exciting new chapter, we’re here to help you stay ahead of the competition and achieve your goals in 2025. By subscribing to our mailing list today to gain exclusive access to in-depth analysis, actionable insights, and the latest trends shaping the digital marketing world.Looking to drive meaningful results and grow your business? Reach out to us to explore how Loop Digital can support your marketing efforts with tailored strategies and innovative solutions. Let’s work together to make 2025 your most successful year yet!