Community | University 

Dec 11, 2025

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. Instagram is Using AI to Generate SEO Summaries of Posts
   (AI captions were wild… AI summaries is a whole new era)

2. You can now share live video with emergency services on Android
   (Finally, a feature that actually matters.)

3. Security flaws in Freedom Chat app exposed users’ phone numbers and PINs
   (At this point, cyber criminals don’t even have to try)

The Growth joke of the day

Google said, “I’ve added AI configuration,”
SEO said, “Great… another setting I pretend to understand.” 😭

3-Minute News Bulletin with Roxie

This week's 🙌 News Bulletin explores:
Top Digital Marketing Trends Shaping 2025

The News Bulletin just dropped, and it’s packed with the hottest digital marketing moves you need to know. From spying (legally 👀) on your competitors to catching user intent before it hits search, this edition shows you how the smartest marketers are staying three steps ahead.

We’ve also got the shift from “random AI experiments” to real AI strategy, fresh social updates (Instagram resharing is now a thing for everyone), YouTube Shorts changes that are forcing creators to keep it fresh, and the must-watch AI tools shaping 2026.

Plus: Google Search Console is getting a glow-up, and Amazon just made Alexa way smarter for holiday shopping.

It’s giving future of marketing, wrapped in one update.

What's New in Growth Hacking/Growth Marketing?

Strategies

• Before Search Intent & TOFU: The Rise of Web Intent
  Most marketers assume their funnel begins at the Top of the Funnel, known as TOFU.It is the moment a user clicks an ad, lands on a blog post, or types a keyword into Google.The truth is that buyers start forming opinions much earlier, long before their search intent becomes visible in any convenient or trackable way.This quite early stage is where Web Intent appears, as part of what we call pre-marketing.

• How Fast Do AI Search Platforms Cite New Content?

  SEMrush studied how quickly Google AI Mode and ChatGPT Search cite new web pages. Google’s AI cited content notably faster than ChatGPT, but citations fluctuated over time, while ChatGPT’s were slower and more stable. The findings suggest new strategies for content growth and SEO in the AI-driven search era.

• Google Confirms Smaller Core Updates Happen Continuously

  Google now acknowledges that smaller, ongoing core updates impact rankings regularly, not just during major updates. This is critical for growth marketers, as sites can see ranking improvements immediately after content optimization, indicating a continuous opportunity for growth hacking via SEO efforts.

• Port raises $100M at $800M valuation to take on Spotify’s Backstage

  Backstage is an open source project that helps companies build their own internal developer portals: a catalog of their developer tools along with quick visualizations of the work the tools have done, and other metrics. But like many open-source projects, Backstage is a build-it-yourself option. 

• State attorneys general warn Microsoft, OpenAI, Google, and other AI giants to fix ‘delusional’ outputs

  After a string of disturbing mental health incidents involving AI chatbots, a group of state attorneys general have sent a letter to the AI industry’s top companies, with a warning to fix “delusional outputs” or risk being in breach of state law.

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People

• Marco Rubio bans Calibri font at State Department for being too DEI

  The Calibri font is the latest government worker to be fired from the Trump administration for its association with diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. 

What's New in Artificial Intelligence (AI) 

• Google launches sub-$5 AI Plus plan in India to compete with ChatGPT Go

  Google introduced AI Plus in India starting at $2.21/month, aiming to undercut OpenAI’s ChatGPT Go. The plan offers enhanced features like Gemini 3 Pro and video generation, as Google and competitors fight for user growth in emerging markets. Pricing wars and bundling signal aggressive marketing and user acquisition tactics in AI platforms.

• ChatGPT is Apple’s most downloaded app of 2025 in the US
  Apple on Wednesday released its annual list of the most downloaded apps and games for the year. For the U.S. market, OpenAI’s ChatGPT topped the ranks of free iPhone apps (not including games) with the most installs in 2025.

How much could AI save your support team?

Peak season is here. Most retail and ecommerce teams face the same problem: volume spikes, but headcount doesn't.

Instead of hiring temporary staff or burning out your team, there’s a smarter move. Let AI handle the predictable stuff, like answering FAQs, routing tickets, and processing returns, so your people focus on what they do best: building loyalty.

Gladly’s ROI calculator shows exactly what this looks like for your business: how many tickets AI could resolve, how much that costs, and what that means for your bottom line. Real numbers. Your data.

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