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Dave Cain

@davecainseo.bsky.social
205 followers 284 following 267 posts

Making Digital Work by Bridging Growth with Technology 📈 // Head of Martech at Sainsbury's 💼 // Trustee & Chair at Citizens Advice 💬 // BIMA 100 & F IDM 👨‍💻 🔗 www.davecain.co.uk 📍 Nottingham, UK

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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Alchemer’s "2026 AI & Customer Expectations Study" reveals two critical numbers every CX leader needs to know: ⚡ 59% of consumers expect faster service when a company uses AI ⚠️ 89% say AI has damaged their experience with a brand in some way martech.org/ai-is-making...
martech.org
AI is making customers expect more and tolerate less | MarTech
Faster service is part of AI’s promise. Customers aren't impressed when speed comes with unresolved problems and no easy way to reach a person.
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Google AI Overviews jump from 26% to 80% of branded queries 📈 searchengineland.com/google-ai-ov...
searchengineland.com
Google AI Overviews jump from 26% to 80% of branded queries
DemandSphere data shows the surge accelerated in late September, while separate testing found AI summaries appearing for 93 of 100 brands.
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Google Tests URL Tracking Parameters To AI Overviews & AI Mode 🔗 www.seroundtable.com/google-ai-ov...
seroundtable.com
Google Testing Appending URL Tracking Parameters To Links In AI Overviews
Google seems to be testing adding tracking parameters to the link URLs within AI Overviews. If this rolls out fully, this will help you decipher when you get a click from an AI Overview in Google Sear...
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Apple’s Latest Operating System Blocks The Trade Desk From Serving Ads On Safari 🧭 www.adexchanger.com/platforms/ap...
adexchanger.com
Apple’s Latest Operating System Blocks The Trade Desk From Serving Ads On Safari | AdExchanger
The Trade Desk is unable to serve ads to the Safari browser for Apple device owners that have downloaded iOS 27, which is the latest Apple operating system update. IOS 27 was released on September 14....
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
ChatGPT Ads Seem to Lift Organic Traffic. Is Paying to Be Found the Future of AI Search? www.thestateofbrand.com/news/chatgpt...
thestateofbrand.com
ChatGPT Ads Seem to Lift Organic Traffic. Is Paying to Be Found the Future of AI Search?
Marketers say ChatGPT ads lift their organic traffic, and OpenAI says ads can't touch its answers. Nobody outside OpenAI can check which is right, and that may shape AI search more than the ads.
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
🕵️ Following a Fortune investigation into fake accounts on Meta, Temu appears to have largely pulled the plug on the network. Before the report, #Temu had poured nearly $1 billion into creator partnership ads across Instagram and Facebook in Europe 📊 share.google/Njn2fpnkDsrs...
share.google
Temu axed its $1 billion network of fake accounts on Meta | Fortune
Temu had spent nearly $1 billion funding partnership ads with various influencers and creators, many of which appeared to be fake accounts.
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
AI Search Optimization Best Practices: What’s Proven, What’s Plausible, and What’s Hype 🧭 🎯 www.advancedwebranking.com/blog/ai-sear...
advancedwebranking.com
AI Search Optimization Best Practices: What’s Proven, What’s Plausible, and What’s Hype
AI search optimization best practices, fact-checked: learn what’s proven, plausible, inert, or hype across GEO, AEO, AI visibility, schema, and content.
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The power of connected customer history 🔗 Why transaction data alone isn't enough for performance marketing, and how persistent customer profiles change the equation 👥 martech.org/the-power-of...
martech.org
The power of connected customer history | MarTech
Why transaction data alone isn't enough for performance marketing, and how persistent customer profiles change the equation.
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
2026 Marketing Technology Landscape Supergraphic: Peak Martech Achieved! (Maybe) via @chiefmartec.bsky.social share.google/YjdLhIBvCB7k...
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
theguardian.com
Dickovers, baggravation and botiquette: 18 new words to describe our tech hellscape
There are many tech irritants that are a scourge of modern life, yet we have lacked the vocabulary to describe them ... until now
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Could AI transformation be exhausting humans rather than optimising their performance? 📊 www.mckinsey.com/mhi/our-insi...
mckinsey.com
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
Did you know? 🤔 Writing a single 100-word email with ChatGPT consumes approximately the volume of a standard bottle of water 🍶 scienceblog.com/t-writing-a-...
scienceblog.com
Writing a single 100-word email with ChatGPT consumes approximately the volume of a standard bottle of water, the global infrastructure processing AI queries is projected to use the equivalent of half...
The unsettling part of AI's water footprint is not that one chatbot answer drains a reservoir. It does not. The unsettling part is that a tiny, hidden
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Google DeepMind CEO on AI and the future of creativity 🎨 🤖 business.google.com/uk/think/ai-...
business.google.com
Demis Hassabis on the future of AI & creativity - Think with Google
Google’s Official Digital Marketing Publication. Discover 5 takeaways on AI and creativity from Demis Hassabis, the Google DeepMind CEO, at Cannes.
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Great insights from @sparktoro.bsky.social 📊 In 2026, Less than One Third of Google Searches Still Send a Click sparktoro.com/blog/in-2026...
sparktoro.com
In 2026, Less than One Third of Google Searches Still Send a Click - SparkToro
In the first four months of 2026, a whopping 68.01% of Google searches ended without a click. Thanks to AI features, instant answers, UI elements that
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
‘Brands recognize the cultural dominance of podcasts’: global podcaster Mel Robbins talks AI, ad budgets and audience ownership digiday.com/marketing/br...
digiday.com
'Brands recognize the cultural dominance of podcasts': global podcaster Mel Robbins talks AI, ad budgets and audience ownership
The global podcaster sat down with Digiday during her first-ever Cannes Lions — an event she now knows holds real value.
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Brands using #AI generated influencers to promote products on social media prompting calls for greater transparency www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
theguardian.com
Brands using AI-generated influencers to promote products on social media
Investigation finds AI content that purports to show genuine customers, prompting calls for greater transparency
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
From the jellyfish pre-show 🪼 to our “TPU Training Day” film 🎬 - see how Google used Gemini make I/O 2026 share.google/1GYwNMAk2xgB...
share.google
How we used Gemini to build Google I/O 2026
Learn how Googlers used AI to produce Google I/O 2026.
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
Ex-AWS legend states #AI success hinges on people and the organisation, not just technology 👨‍💻 share.google/cVplDm28M9SG...
share.google
Ex-AWS legend explains what enterprises need to make AI work
: AI transformation is about people and organization, not technology
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Copilot is ‘for entertainment purposes only,’ according to Microsoft’s terms of use 👀 📝 share.google/dNJgUjrnwXb0...
share.google
Copilot is ‘for entertainment purposes only,’ according to Microsoft’s terms of use | TechCrunch
AI skeptics aren’t the only ones warning users not to unthinkingly trust models’ outputs — that’s what the AI companies say themselves in their terms of service.
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
How Google Click Signals Drive SEO Rankings and AI Answers 🖱️🔍 signal.zyppy.com/p/google-cli...
signal.zyppy.com
How Google Click Signals Drive SEO Rankings and AI Answers
The AI SEO Marketer's Playbook for improving user click signals in a way Google rewards
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
Google brings its Veo video generation model to Google Ads globally 🎬 Veo lets advertisers turn up to three static images into 10-second videos ready to serve on YouTube 🖼️ 🎞️ searchengineland.com/google-bring...
searchengineland.com
Google brings its Veo video generation model to Google Ads globally
Veo lets advertisers turn up to three static images into 10-second videos ready to serve on YouTube — no video production required.
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
This is why I love AI 🧑‍💻 🎸 #FenderStratocaster #CreatedByGemini
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
Invisible datacentres and capricious chips: is UK’s #AI bubble about to burst? 🫧 👨‍💻 www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
theguardian.com
Invisible datacentres and capricious chips: is UK’s AI bubble about to burst?
Datacentre investment boom is one of the biggest infrastructure gambles of this era, and Britain may be uniquely exposed
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
AI for the People via The Guardian 📰 "I’ve taught thousands of people how to use AI – here’s what I’ve learned" www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
theguardian.com
I’ve taught thousands of people how to use AI – here’s what I’ve learned
Most people fail with AI because they don’t understand what it actually is – if you treat it as a skill, not a shortcut, you’ll get the best results
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
5 things marketers need to know from Google’s Search chief 🔍 business.google.com/uk/think/sea...
business.google.com
AI-powered Search: 5 takeaways for marketers - Think with Google
Google’s Official Digital Marketing Publication. Learn 5 key insights from Google’s Search chief on AI-powered innovations marketers can use today.
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
It’s tempting to offload your thinking to #AI. Cognitive science shows why that’s a bad idea 💭 🧠 share.google/sTxFcVG8ck1Y...
share.google
It’s tempting to offload your thinking to AI. Cognitive science shows why that’s a bad idea
The faster and easier option isn’t always the best.
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
A multibillion-pound drive to “mainline AI into the veins” of the British economy is riddled with “phantom investments” and shaky accounting, a Guardian investigation has found 🏢 🚧 www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
theguardian.com
Revealed: UK’s multibillion AI drive is built on ‘phantom investments’
Exclusive: Rented datacentres and unrealised supercomputer site raise questions for Starmer’s push to ‘mainline AI into veins of economy’
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
Confession time: I’m a "Vibe Coder" 🕺💻 www.linkedin.com/posts/daveca...
linkedin.com
#claude #conversationalprompting #ai #vibecoding #vibecoder | Dave Cain
Confession time: I’m a "Vibe Coder" 🕺💻 Back in 2002, I built my first website in Notepad. I was so dedicated (or slightly crazy! 🤪) that I used to write out HTML with a pen and paper. Why? Because no...
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
In an era of frictionless digital experiences, there’s something magical about obsolete technology 💿 ⏯️ www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
In an era of frictionless digital experiences, there’s something magical about obsolete technology | Tansy Gardam
DVDs and CDs signalled the beginning of the end for physical media but now have pride of place among technologies that are forgotten but not quite gone
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
AI agents now have their own social platform called Moltbook, and lets 32,000 #AI bots trade jokes, tips, and complaints about humans 🤖 share.google/icb7metIdzgg...
share.google
AI agents now have their own Reddit-style social network, and it's getting weird fast
Moltbook lets 32,000 AI bots trade jokes, tips, and complaints about humans.
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Organic search traffic is down 2.5% YoY, new data shows, key highlights: 📈 Search engine traffic overall (2025): +0.4% 📈 Google traffic (2025): +0.8% ⬇️ Organic SEO traffic: -2.5% YoY ⬇️ AI Overview CTR impact: -35% when present 🔀 AI Overview prevalence: ~30% of SERPs share.google/rmxnTgnSnm71...
share.google
Organic search traffic is down 2.5% YoY, new data shows
SEO isn’t dead. New data confirms it: traffic grew at the largest sites, and the sharpest declines were felt by the top 100 to 10,000 sites.
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
What 75 SEO thought leaders reveal about volatility in the GEO debate 🔍 share.google/VlOTS8LHoCd7...
share.google
What 75 SEO thought leaders reveal about volatility in the GEO debate [Research]
AI search sentiment is positive, but consistency isn’t. Data shows why volatility – not acronyms – is the real risk.
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 11/01/2026
Brilliant read ➡️ SEO is know longer a single discipline via @duaneforrester.bsky.social 🔍 open.substack.com/pub/duanefor...
open.substack.com
SEO Is No Longer a Single Discipline
Why Modern Search Now Spans AI Retrieval, Brand Protection, UX, and Zero-Click Discovery
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 27/12/2025
Year-End Digital Marketing Review: What Worked and What Didn’t in 2025 via BIMA bima.co.uk/year-end-dig...
bima.co.uk
Year-End Digital Marketing Review: What Worked and What Didn’t in 2025 | BIMA
2025 was a year of both acceleration and adjustment in digital marketing. With AI tools becoming mainstream, privacy regulations tightening…
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 25/12/2025
The 2025 SEO wrap-up: What we learned about search, content, and trust 🔍 yoast.com/seo-in-2025-...
yoast.com
The 2025 SEO wrap-up: What we learned about search, content, and trust
Get the full picture of SEO 2025 and discover what matters for your online presence in this detailed wrap-up of trends.
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 23/12/2025
Google's Robby Stein explains how AI Mode applies longstanding search quality signals and names five factors used to judge content share.google/eakcnWUBcBOq...
share.google
Google's Robby Stein Names 5 SEO Factors For AI Mode
Google's Robby Stein explains how AI Mode applies longstanding search quality signals and names five factors used to judge content
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Reposted by Dave Cain
Trish Carey @trishcarey.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
I Ran an AI Misinformation Experiment. Every Marketer Should See the Results
ahrefs.com
I Ran an AI Misinformation Experiment. Every Marketer Should See the Results
I built a fake brand and tricked 8 AI search engines for 2 months. The results show how any real brand can be poisoned, and how to fight back.
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
The EU has opened an investigation into Google over its artificial intelligence (#AI) summaries which appear above search results. The investigation will also cover Google's AI Mode, which gives people an answer in a conversational style with some links to other pages 🤖 www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
EU investigates Google over AI-generated summaries in search results
It is examining whether the tech giant did not offer "appropriate compensation" to web publishers.
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
OpenAI is preparing to bring ads to the ChatGPT Android app, with code in the latest beta hinting at marketplace content and search-focused ad displays 🛍️ #AI #Advertising www.testingcatalog.com/openai-plant...
testingcatalog.com
OpenAI plants testing ads in ChatGPT Android app
OpenAI is preparing to bring ads to the ChatGPT Android app, with code in the latest beta hinting at marketplace content and search-focused ad displays.
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
SEO vs. PPC vs. AI: The visibility dilemma 🔭 searchengineland.com/seo-vs-ppc-v...
searchengineland.com
SEO vs. PPC vs. AI: The visibility dilemma
AI now sits alongside SEO and PPC as a third visibility layer. See how behavior, SERPs, and discovery are shifting – and how to adapt.
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
A year of Google Analytics 4 on GOV.UK 📊 #GA4 insidegovuk.blog.gov.uk/2025/11/10/a...
insidegovuk.blog.gov.uk
A year of Google Analytics 4 on GOV.UK
Discover what we’ve learned in the year since the GOV.UK website fully migrated to Google Analytics 4, and how our use of data is evolving as GOV.UK expands to multiple digital channels.
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 09/11/2025
New website day 🤓 🥳 www.davecain.co.uk
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 08/11/2025
ChatGPT ads are coming and they won’t look like Google Ads searchengineland.com/chatgpt-ads-...
searchengineland.com
ChatGPT ads are coming – and they won’t look like Google Ads
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says Google’s ad model profits when search fails – and vows ChatGPT will take a different approach to ads and commerce.
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
How Google’s AI Overviews are accelerating change in paid search 🔍 searchengineland.com/how-googles-...
searchengineland.com
How Google’s AI Overviews are accelerating change in paid search
Adthena analyzed 21 million SERPs over two four-week periods to reveal where visibility is falling and which industries are being hit first.
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
📰 Research firm Forrester, says AI is set to face a reckoning due to the gap between inflated vendor promises and the value delivered, with fewer than one-third of decision-makers able to make the connection between the value of #AI and financial growth. www.theregister.com/2025/10/28/f...
theregister.com
AI bubble to deflate as firms delay spend, warns Forrester
ai-pocalypse: Gap between vendor promises and business results set to trigger market correction, research firm predicts
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 25/10/2025
What went right this week: the good news that matters ☕📰 www.positive.news/society/good...
positive.news
What went right this week: the good news that matters
Blind people were able to read again, Ireland kept its basic income for artists, and life returned to a US river, plus more good news
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 19/10/2025
Google to expand ads in AI Overviews to more English-speaking markets by the end of 2025 🛍️ searchengineland.com/google-expan...
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 19/10/2025
European spending on ChatGPT Subscriptions has stalled since May, according to an analysis of transaction data by Deutsche Bank 🏦 observer.co.uk/news/busines...
observer.co.uk
ChatGPT spending stalls as AI ‘bubble’ gets bigger
OpenAI’s flagging subscription rate is feeding worries that an AI bubble may soon burst
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
OpenAI's ChatGPT is so popular that almost no one will pay for it 🤑 www.theregister.com/2025/10/15/o...
theregister.com
ChatGPT: so popular, hardly anyone will pay for it
: If you build it, they will come and expect the service to be free
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Dave Cain @davecainseo.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
Optimizing for ChatGPT Shopping: How product feeds power GEO 📃 🛍️ searchengineland.com/optimizing-c...
searchengineland.com
Optimizing for ChatGPT Shopping: How product feeds power GEO
Structured merchant feeds are redefining ecommerce discovery in ChatGPT. Here’s how ACP is changing GEO strategy.
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