I leave, Linkedin AI, SearchGPT, Meta Connect | MKTRSU #015

Happy Q4 fellow marketing people! 🥳

Hope your start was better than Google Ads’ blackout or Salesforce’s global outage 🫠

Today’s issue of MKTRSU newsletter is a jam-packed one so sit back, relax and get up to speed with the internets!

My name's Mark Valasik 

and I help B2B companies to flip their Marketing Right Side Up 📈 ⬆ 

Let's connect and discuss!

I leave, Linkedin AI steals your data, SearchGPT, Meta Connect and OpenAI exodus.

Leave.

I’m leaving. Often. Not just my country, but my jobs and clients too. If you ever feel stuck, unwelcome, or unable to grow, it's time to consider this option too, especially if you’re in a work situation that no longer serves you.

That’s what I’m talking about (rather artistically) In my recent video.

Over the last 15 years, I’ve seen countless business owners who refuse to listen, take criticism or straight up gossip you behind your back.

And it's draining to experience them dragging your work and your team’s work into the mud. So I leave. And you should maybe too.

More about my decision and my trick to stay sane in my latest video:

Linkedin steals your data for AI

After Meta and X (Twitter) tried it, Linkedin decided to perfect it. Linkedin is jumping on the hypetrain of non-consentual personal data use for AI training and gets your data without asking. They probably saw how Meta messed up with the whole Privacy Policy around Meta AI and thought “you know what? If the Privacy Policy is the issue, let’s skip that” and so they did! So now every Linkedin user is automatically opted-in for AI training not only that of Linkedin’s AI, but also 3rd party AIs, like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Microsoft’s Copilot. Neat, right?/ Not really if you ask me! And if you share my sentiment, I highly recommend you going to your Settings -> Data Privacy -> Data for Generative AI improvements and untick that box. Chances are you might read this at a time when Linkedin auto-hides this option after a massive backlash. 

More on Linkedin AI stealing your data here.

First review of SearchGPT vs Google AIO by SE Ranking

The SE Ranking team is one of the 10,000 Beta testers of OpenAI’s answer to Google search - the “SearchGPT” and they so lovingly offered a review and comparison: 

They compared it to Google’ AIO (AI Overview), noting key differences. For example, SearchGPT doesn't include user-generated content like YouTube or Reddit, similar to Bing due to OpenAI’s partnership with Microsoft. While SearchGPT excels at handling informational and commercial queries, it struggles with transactional and local searches where Google remains stronger. Additionally, SearchGPT's results are 73% similar to Bing’s and 46% to Google’s, presenting new SEO opportunities, especially for content that doesn't rank on Google.

You can read the full Reddit post here.

OpenAI exodus and going for profit, GPT-o1

OpenAI introduced GPT-o1, a slower, more thorough-thinking model...anyways... 

More interestingly, the company has recently seen a wave of leadership exits, raising concerns about internal direction!

CTO Mira Murati resigned in September 2024, following other key figures like co-founder Ilya Sutskever, who left in May to focus on AI safety. John Schulman and Jan Leike, both of whom were deeply involved in OpenAI’s research and safety efforts, also left the company (for competitor Anthropic, that’s said to have better safety systems in play in their AI model Claude) following Greg Brockman, another co-founder, who announced a prolonged leave in August. 

These exits point to growing tension within the company as it shifts from its original mission as a non-profit towards more commercial goals. Some employees are worried about the ethical risks of prioritizing profits over AI safety, causing friction and prompting talent to leave, just like the co-founders and leadership team did.

Key Highlights from the Meta Connect 2024:

AI Developments: Meta AI expands to include voice interactions, visual recognition, and real-time assistance in Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram. Launched Llama 3.2 models with improved vision capabilities.

Wearables: Apart from Meta Quest 3S, they’ve announced Enhanced Ray-Ban Meta glasses with AI-powered features, real-time translation, and memory functions. Introduced Orion AR glasses prototype for seamless integration of physical and digital experiences.

Check the full Meta Connect 2024 summary here

BREAKING: Youtube Shorts allows for up to 3 minutes in Shorts length!

Starting October 15th we will be able to upload 3 minute Shorts! Youtube historically always pushed new formats more, so this potentially creates opportunity for more discovery!

Also, we got a promise of revamped Shorts creation tool coming next year. Youtube will also slowly tweak Channel page, Home and Watch Next feeds. 

Read more on longer Youtube Shorts here

Take care and see you next week!

Mark.