Community | University 

April 27, 2026

Hello, GrowthHackers! 

Welcome to your daily unfair advantage.

Every morning, we cut through the noise to bring you sharp insights, fast news, and fresh sparks to light up your brain and fuel your hustle. From scrappy hacks to big tech moves, AI shifts to culture flips this is your intel to stay ahead, move fast, and break boring.

Think of it as your growth-fueled espresso shot.
Short. Smart. Addictive.

Let’s dive in.👇

Quick Hits

1. TikTok lets users add relevant keywords to metadata
   (Keywords entering the For You Page)

2. OpenAI could be making a phone with AI agents replacing apps
   (Apps might be entering their retirement era)

3. Instagram brings simplified AI video to Edits
   (From idea to edit in seconds)

The Growth joke of the day

Why are apps getting nervous about AI agents?
Because soon, instead of opening them… users will just ask for outcomes.

What's New in Growth Hacking/Growth Marketing?

Strategies

• Consumers ditch the funnel as behavior gets more fluid
  New data shows buyers jumping between watching, browsing, and buying, forcing marketers to rethink rigid funnel models.

• Google’s Updates Push Search Further Into Task Completion
  Google announced three updates to Search and AI Mode this week, which Roger Montti reported for SEJ. Reading his article motivated me to examine these updates, the broader pattern, and their implications for search this year.

• Instagram improves Insights UI, adds new metrics
  Instagram announced an update to its content metrics, with an improved Insights UI that makes it easier to access key performance elements from the home screen. The platform also expanded engagement data notes to help measure content performance.

• The Technical SEO Audit Needs A New Layer
  The standard technical SEO audit checks crawlability, indexability, website speed, mobile-friendliness, and structured data. That checklist was designed for one consumer: Googlebot.

• Spotify’s next frontier: Fitness content
  The company is building on its reputation as a hub for energizing playlists for your workout to actually become the home to your workout itself. To do so, Spotify has partnered with a number of established wellness creators and the exercise equipment maker, Peloton.

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People

• Steve Ballmer blasts founder he backed who pleaded guilty to fraud: ‘I was duped and feel silly’
  Silicon Valley tends to tolerate a certain amount of founder exaggeration when pitching investors, often dismissing it as part of selling a vision. But some choices cross the line and can lead to jail time for founders and scandal for their investors.

What's New in Artificial Intelligence (AI) 

• Why relevance now beats reach in the AI-driven buyer journey
  Buyers are forming opinions before they click. Learn how to show up in AI answers, earn trust in peer networks, and influence decisions earlier.

• Anthropic created a test marketplace for agent-on-agent commerce
  In a recent experiment, Anthropic created a classified marketplace where AI agents represented both buyers and sellers, striking real deals for real goods and real money.

Gladly Connect Live '26. May 4–6 in Atlanta.

AI has everyone talking. Not everyone has answers. At Gladly Connect Live, CX leaders from Condé Nast, Smith Optics, and more share exactly how they moved AI from pilot to production, the timeline, the systems, the QA loops. 13+ sessions built for the moment we're all in. For CX and ecommerce leaders. Atlanta, May 4–6. Space is limited, secure your spot now.

Register now