Major high fives and fist bumps for each and every person who took the time to submit pitches for this year’s community speaker spots! With only two open community speaker spots, and hundreds of pitches ranging from how to grow your career as an SEO to all manner of AI and ChatGPT-related entries, the competition was unusually tough which, in its own right is a massive indication of many incredible things to come for the future of our industry and industry events. Our selection committee read, watched, and researched, whittling things down to a shortlist of top contenders, and then read, watched, and researched some more to determine if a potential speaker and their talk would be a perfect fit for the MozCon stage this August. We take lots of things into account during our review, but ultimately there are four main factors that determine our final selections: Strength of the pitch (e.g., value, relevance to the audience, etc.) Can the content reasonably be delivered in the time allotted?

Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) are here to stay and have become a must-have element of the martech stack. The latest MarTech Intelligence Report, Customer Data Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide, found that interest in CDPs increased 32% last year. Many respondents listed CDPs as a high-priority technology investment.

Google highlights hreflang x-default’s benefits, including enhanced user experience, improved URL discovery, and increased conversions. The post How Google’s Hreflang x-default Enhances Website Navigation appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

Google explains one way it maintains the quality of their anchor text signals The post Google On Protecting Anchor Text Signal From Spam Site Influence appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…

Amazon advertisers may soon gain the ability to create AI-generated image and video assets to use in ad campaigns.

LinkedIn announces restructuring affecting 716 roles, refocuses China strategy, and prepares for AI-influenced changes in the global economy. The post LinkedIn Announces Shift In Global Strategy, Resulting In Job Cuts appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

Microsoft launches Ads for Chat API, aiming to seamlessly monetize AI chat experiences for partners, consumers, and advertisers. The post Microsoft Unveils AI Chat Monetization For Digital Partners appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

Meta is threatening to remove news content from Facebook and Instagram in Canada if proposed legislation meant

In today’s uncertain economic times, it’s important to be strategic about where you spend your marketing dollars to generate the highest returns and position your business for a strong rebound.