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Weekly SEO and Marketing Recap: Dec 17, 2025

Author

Ali Akbar
December 17, 2025

Hey hey, marketing fam 👋

Hope you’re doing well and your campaigns are behaving themselves today.

LET’S GET STARTED →

🎉 Make 2026 Your Amazon Profit Year

Last Helium 10 Platinum Deal Crushes Amazon Guesswork

Today's it – Helium 10 Platinum drops 40% for 12 months, handing serious sellers the full product research + keyword killer toolkit at starter prices before they vanish.

No-brainer if you're launching or scaling Amazon in 2026:

  • Listings that actually convert (not just rank)

  • Competitors pay full price tomorrow

  • Your edge before everyone catches up

Core updates often correct over-ranking, sharpen topical relevance, and reward people-first, multimodal sites instead of pages that only look good to SEO tools.​

Google’s Nick Fox says there is no separate AI Search playbook; success comes from the same fundamentals of technical health, useful content, and satisfying user intent.

John Mueller clarified that core and quality updates ship when they’re ready, so Google cannot reliably pre-announce exact dates in advance.

Semrush data shows AI Overviews peaking at just under 25% of queries in July before falling under 16% in November, with zero‑click share on those terms dropping from 33.75% to 31.53%.

Google confirmed that while broad match can show inside AI Overviews, exact match keywords are currently ineligible to serve ads there.

The AffMaven guide walks through TikTok’s tiered cashback and credit structure so brands can stack up to $6,000 in matched ad credits within a 30‑day window.

YouTube’s live experiment thread shows ongoing tests aimed at tweaking discovery, recommendations, and creator tools before wider rollout.

A new Pew Research Center survey finds YouTube used by 93% of U.S. teens, with TikTok at 61% and Instagram at 55%, while Facebook and X continue to lag.

This playbook covers budgeting, channel selection, creative testing, and tracking setups designed specifically for affiliates and performance marketers running paid campaigns.

After a massive DSA fine, X shutting off the European Commission’s ad account highlights just how fragile paid distribution can be when you rely on one platform.​

AffMaven draws a hard line between networks that don’t pay and affiliates running fake traffic, plus explains how one bad case can nuke long-term earnings.​

🌐 Traffic Source Pick

HilltopAds: The Pop Traffic Source Affiliates Keep Quiet

With 273B+ monthly impressions and a reputation for clean pop and in-page push traffic, HilltopAds is the go-to for affiliates in iGaming, dating, VPN, and ecommerce who want real volume without draining their budget on junk zones. The $100 minimum keeps the quality high, making it perfect for serious buyers ready to scale.

Use coupon code AFFCOUPON20 when you deposit $100+ to score an extra 20% bonus on top of your traffic—your best chance to maximize returns before the year ends.

SEO’s New Nightmare

Google: “Congrats on #1, Enjoy 0 Clicks”

When you finally win the top spot on Google, only for AI Overviews to serve everyone else’s answer first.

Alright, that’s a wrap on this one.

Thanks for sticking around to the end — if any of this helps you crush a goal or two, hit reply and let me know what’s cooking.

Until next time, keep hustling and making moves.