Weekly SEO and Marketing Recap: Oct 17, 2025

Hey there!

Friday again—and you know what that means. Time to catch up on the SEO chaos, AI drama, and profit plays that went down this week. Grab your coffee (or beer, no judgment)

LET’S GET INTO IT. →

John Mueller Identifies Critical SEO Mistakes in Rapid-Built Websites

Mueller provided specific technical feedback on a Reddit developer's Product Hunt site, highlighting problems with llms.txt files, unnecessary meta tags, and hidden heading tags that harm search visibility.

ChatGPT Triggers Search Functions in 31% of All User Prompts

Nectiv's analysis of 8,500+ prompts shows ChatGPT averages 2.17 searches per query with 5.48-word queries, focusing heavily on reviews, comparisons, and local intent across nine industries.

Google's Search Chief Attributes Ranking Changes to User Behavior Patterns

Liz Reid explains younger audiences now prefer forums, short-form video, and creator content over traditional publishers, shifting traffic away from conventional websites regardless of algorithm updates.

Google's Goldmine System Scores Title Tags Using Multiple Candidate Factors

Data leak reveals Google evaluates title candidates through goldminePageScore attributes including title tag, body, anchor, and heading factors to determine which version displays in search results.

Bing Adopts Data-Nosnippet HTML Attribute After Years of Resistance

Microsoft reversed its 2024 stance by implementing the attribute that lets webmasters exclude specific page sections from search snippets and AI answers without affecting indexing or rankings.

AffMaven Publishes Framework for Measuring AI Search Visibility

The guide introduces health score metrics for tracking site performance in AI-powered search results, helping marketers adapt to SGE and AI Overviews that reduce traditional organic clicks by up to 64%.

Meta Loses MRC Brand Safety Accreditation Four Months After Approval

The Media Rating Council stripped Facebook and Instagram's content-level brand safety certification after Meta withdrew from the independent audit process in October 2025.

Yahoo and PubMatic Launch Ad Context Protocol for AI Agent Communication

Over 20 ad tech companies created an open technical standard on Github to standardize how AI agents interact across automated advertising platforms and ensure interoperability.

Google Shopping Ads Now Support Physical Product Subscription Models

U.S. merchants can offer recurring deliveries in categories like apparel, coffee, pet supplies, and personal care by adding subscription_cost attributes to their product feeds.

Salesforce Unveils Agentforce Marketing Platform with AI-Powered Automation

The company announced adaptive web experiences, two-way email conversations, journey decisioning, and paid media optimization capabilities that use unified data to personalize customer interactions in real time.

Pinterest Rolls Out Controls to Filter Generative AI Content by Topic

New GenAI interests settings let users reduce AI-generated pins in specific categories after complaints about the 57% of platform content now created by artificial intelligence systems.

Telegram Traffic Guide Shows CPCs Starting at $0.02 with 20% Conversion Rates

AffNinja's 2025 guide covers mini app ads, channel placements, and traffic acquisition strategies for affiliate marketers seeking low-cost traffic sources on the messaging platform.

🗓️ Event Spotlight -Affiliate Drinks Meetup Rome

The Conversion Club hosts an exclusive networking event on November 3, 2025, at Golf Club Parco de’ Medici in Rome.

Limited to 200 top affiliates and advertisers, the meetup offers a focused environment for meaningful industry connections during SIGMA Europe week.

Check the full story for details and registration here.

🎮 Affiliate IQ Quiz Test your knowledge of 2025 affiliate trends

Question 1: Telegram Ads now reach over 1 billion monthly active users. What's the average CPM for targeted channel ads?

A) $5-10
B) $15-25
C) $30-50
D) Varies by channel and competition​

Question 2: ChatGPT performs a search in what percentage of all user prompts?

A) 12%
B) 31%
C) 48%
D) 65%​

Question 3: What's the recommended character limit for meta descriptions to avoid AI-generated snippet overrides?

A) 120 characters
B) 160 characters
C) 200 characters
D) 250 characters

Question 4: Which traffic source currently offers CPCs starting at $0.02 with 20% conversion rates for affiliate offers?

A) Facebook Ads
B) Google Shopping
C) Telegram Ads
D) TikTok Ads​

Question 5: Microsoft Bing recently added support for which HTML attribute to control AI snippets?

A) data-noai
B) data-nosnippet
C) robots-noindex
D) ai-exclude​

Answers: 1 - D, 2 - B, 3 - B, 4 - C, 5 - B

😂 The Struggle Is Real

Affiliates right now trying to decide between optimizing for Google AI Overviews or ChatGPT Search while their organic traffic drops. Pick one already—or better yet, optimize for both and stop overthinking it.