The news that moves growth.

Google’s Mueller Shares Their Experience With Markdown For AI SEO

Google's John Mueller shares what happened when he checked whether AI crawlers were actually asking his sites for markdown.

UCP Releases Spec Update With Schema Changes

The Universal Commerce Protocol's first spec release since April adds grocery readiness, lays groundwork for food and lodging, and brings schema changes.

Claude Searches Web Differently From Claude Code, Data Shows

New data finds Claude and Claude Code search at different rates, mention different brands, and send their agents to different types of pages.

Facebook Groups Are Google’s No. 2 Forum Source

Ahrefs data shows public Facebook Group posts appear in 38% of Google's Discussions and forums results, passing Quora and trailing only Reddit.

Anthropic Warns Hackers Are Stealing Claude Sessions To Hijack Accounts

Anthropic warns that infostealer malware is stealing Claude login sessions to drain account usage.

Search Engine JournalAug 30, 2026

Rank Math WordPress Plugin Accused Of Secretly Taking Admin Access

New allegations surfaced that the Rank Math WordPress plugin has introduced a functionality that silently gives the company administrator-level permissions over…

Search Engine JournalAug 29, 2026

Judge Questions Google AI, Spam Update Fallout – SEO Pulse

This week’s SEO Pulse covers Google’s AI publisher dispute, spam update fallout, the GEO debate, AI citation gaps, and ChatGPT’s Reddit behavior in search.

Social & Advertising

The Telegraph’s next podcast play: video, events and paid memberships

Fresh off its acquisition by Axel Springer, The Telegraph is pushing its podcast ambitions beyond audio, building repeatable franchises that can span video, live events…

Target’s new beauty selection has almost no Black-owned brands

This story was first published by Digiday sibling Modern Retail . Target’s refreshed beauty assortment aims to promote emerging brands, but it includes very few from…

How a content marketer became an award-winning cannabis creator

Ahead of opening its doors in 2023, Gotham Cannabis Dispensary had a marketing problem. Cannabis was legal in New York City, but social media platforms strictly prohibit…

As WPP’s Cindy Rose marks a year as CEO, turnaround is underway but far from certain

Cindy Rose has been in charge of WPP for a year. So far, her tenure is best judged by examining the decisions deferred as much as the ones she’s taken. At the time of…

Media Buying Briefing: Linda Boff on the power of independent agencies, and the need for financial discipline

Anyone in the marketing or agency world knows Linda Boff. The longtime CMO for GE in its heyday, Boff is somewhat of a marketing guru, having worked with multiple…

Instagram growth continues to outpace Facebook in EU

Meta’s latest DSA reporting showed that while both platforms have significant reach, Facebook usage is trailing Instagram.

X offers free API credits for its Grok Bot

The app is giving users free X API credits so they can try out its latest artificial intelligence-powered tool to gain account performance insights.

Pinterest sets date for annual marketing showcase

Pinterest will share the latest usage insights, trends and advertising updates at the virtual event.

Threads experiments with post performance recognition awards

The platform may soon be awarding virtual gems to its most engaging posts, according to an image posted by an app researcher.

Meta updates login with Facebook

The company improved the process with a focus on streamlining returning logins and allowing eligible users to confirm credentials with a single tap.

TechCrunch AIAug 31, 2026

AI & Automation

The US is building barriers around drones and robots, but China has scale to get around them

The U.S. is shutting out more foreign-made drones and robots. China’s scale means the global competition may simply move elsewhere.

TechCrunch AIAug 30, 2026

Musk’s faster path to more gas turbines comes with pollution problem

Elon Musk says a secretive new SpaceX foundry will let him cast his own turbine blades and get gas power online 18 months faster than anyone else — but it's a bet on a…

TechCrunch AIAug 30, 2026

Caterpillar is bringing to AI deployment what it learned from automating mining

Caterpillar has spent decades putting autonomous machines to work at remote mining sites. It's now bringing that experience to AI deployment.

TechCrunch AIAug 30, 2026

Sony Music, Warner sue Anthropic, alleging a ‘brazen campaign’ of intellectual property theft

This latest lawsuit is particularly broad and homes in on accusations of illegal piracy.

TechCrunch AIAug 29, 2026

At TechBBQ, Europe’s AI conversations kept coming back to: Who’s actually in control?

Investors, founders, and operators from across Europe arrived for the annual Nordic TechBBQ conference to talk about how humans can have agency over AI.

TechCrunch AIAug 29, 2026

‘We’re not doing 30 bets a year’: Vijay Pande on betting small after running $4B at a16z

Vijay Pande — who left a16z's roughly $4 billion biotech practice last year to start the much smaller, AI-native VZVC — talks about why biology is finally shifting from…

TechCrunch AIAug 29, 2026

Nvidia’s AI advantage is moving beyond the GPU

The new generation of data center systems is increasing efficiency with smarter traffic control instead of just more processor cycles.