AI Search, Reddit Ads & Google’s AI Agent Future: Your Growth Today⚡️

Short. Smart. Addictive.  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

21 May   |   Read online In partnership with      Community | University  May 21, 2026 Hello, GrowthHackers!  Welcome to your Weekly unfair advantage. Once a week, 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 ‘Ask YouTube’ brings AI-powered conversational search to video (‘Ask YouTube’ feels like search is evolving from keywords into conversations.) Reddit introduces updated options for advertisers (Brands finally realizing authentic conversations outperform corporate copy.) Google is pitching an AI agent ecosystem to consumers who may not buy it (Google is slowly turning every search bar into ChatGPT)         The Growth joke of the day SEO experts watching AI summaries steal all the clicks: “so… what exactly are we optimizing for now?” 💀         Latest Growth Hacking News Strategies Anthropic says it’s about to have its first profitable quarter Anthropic has told its investors that it will more than double revenue to around $10.9 billion in its second quarter, and deliver an operating profit for the first time, the Wall Street Journal reports. GA4 adds AI Assistant channel for referral tracking The new channel makes it easier to track clicks from AI sources, identify which AI platforms are sending traffic, and compare AI referral performance against traditional organic search, all within GA4's standard reporting interface. Truecaller gets into the eSIM business to diversify its revenue streams Caller ID company Truecaller launched eSIM services for travelers. The launch comes as the company aims to bolster its balance sheet and diversify business amid dipping ad revenues. GA4 now tracks AI chatbot traffic automatically GA4 now includes a dedicated “AI Assistant” channel that automatically tracks visits coming from tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. The update removes the need for marketers to build custom regex filters or complicated channel groups just to isolate AI-driven traffic. Airbnb gets into hotels, expands AI for host onboarding and customer support Airbnb’s core business was letting users book a room or a whole property owned by someone else. In most cases, the host would be a house or a property owner, and you would get a stay with basic services such as a bed, a bath, and a kitchen.         3-Minute News Bulletin with Roxie This week's 🙌 News Bulletin explores: AI Reshapes Digital Strategy and Online Visibility AI Reshapes Digital Strategy and Online Visibility This week’s News Bulletin explores how AI is fundamentally reshaping search, visibility, and digital strategy. From “agent-ready” websites and AI referral tracking in Google Analytics to the rise of zero-click search, brands are being pushed to optimize not just for users, but for AI systems that discover, evaluate, and act on information. At the same time, Google’s Preferred Sources feature signals a growing shift toward authority, trust, and reputation over traditional rankings. The takeaway: the future of marketing belongs to brands that are structured, discoverable, and trusted by both humans and AI agents.         What's New in Artificial Intelligence (AI) Waymo pauses Atlanta service as its robotaxis keep driving into floods Waymo has now paused service in two cities because its robotaxis are struggling to deal with heavy rain and flooded roads, a problem that already prompted the company to issue a recall last week. Google Introduces New Ad Formats In AI Mode Google announced two new ad formats for AI Mode during Google Marketing Live: Conversational Discovery ads and Highlighted Answers. Both formats are powered by Gemini and designed to place ads more directly inside AI-generated responses and recommendation flows.         Stop babysitting dashboards. Ship from Slack. Touch grass. 700+ teams have Viktor reading their Google Ads every morning. Your media team opens Slack at 8am. There's a cross-platform brief in #growth: Google Ads spend vs. ROAS, Meta CPA by campaign, Stripe revenue by channel. Viktor posted it at 6am. Nobody asked for it. Last week, one team's Viktor caught a spend spike at 2am on a broad match campaign and flagged it in Slack: "CPA up 340%. Recommend pausing and shifting budget to the top two performers." That would have burned $3K by morning. The media buyer woke up to a problem already handled. Your strategist reviews spend trends. Your account manager checks revenue attribution. Same Slack channel, same colleague, before anyone's first coffee. Google Ads, Meta, Stripe. One message. No Looker, no Data Studio. Anomaly detection runs around the clock. Cross-platform reporting runs on autopilot. 5,700+ teams. SOC 2 certified. Your data never trains models. "Viktor is now an integral team member, and after weeks of use we still feel we haven't uncovered the full potential." — Patrick O'Doherty, Director, Yarra Web Start free. $100 in credits →         Update your email preferences or unsubscribe here © 2026 GrowthHackers' Newsletter 388 Market St, 1300 San Francisco , California 94111, United States Powered by beehiiv Terms of Service

📂 Tiny Marketing Ideas: Retarget LinkedIn audiences on Facebook

Today's newsletter is proudly supported by Dofollow 🎉 In an era where content creation is easier than ever, content authority is the key to ranking high and maximizing SEO. And despite what the Threadbois will tell you, backlinks are still king. That's why I'm excited to partner with Dofollow as my go-to recommendation for sourcing high-quality backlinks. Going from the bottom of page 1 to the top can be the difference of thousands of dollars in MRR. And with so many shady SEO practitioners out there, I'm glad to have a trustworthy team I can confidently recommend. Make sure to mention "Corey" or "Swipe Files." Check out Dofollow →

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Idea 💡

Retarget LinkedIn audiences on Facebook.

LinkedIn has unmatched firmographic data, yet most marketers rarely consider running LinkedIn conversion ads—they're often far too expensive.

But you can combine LinkedIn's B2B targeting with Facebook's conversion-focused ad platform to create a highly-targeted B2B funnel.

Here's how:

1. Create a LinkedIn ads campaign promoting an article or landing page using the “website visits” objective. Make sure your article or landing page has a quality lead gen offer and that your pixel tracks the conversion.
2. On Facebook, create a custom audience targeting the visitors who visited your article or landing page from your LinkedIn ads campaign but didn’t convert.
3. Run a Facebook "conversions" campaign to this audience promoting your lead gen offer.

Taking this approach, your CPC and ROAS could be much lower than you’d get if you ran the entire lead gen campaign through LinkedIn’s ad network.

Resources 📚

​Why Your B2B LinkedIn Ads for SaaS Aren’t Working and What to Do About It​

Cheers,
Corey

p.s. want my brain-power on marketing your business? Book a Marketing Power Hour or invest in a Swipe Files Membership.

Swipe Files does not have sponsors. We have partners. We partner with trusted top-tier service providers. In fact, I reached out to them — each one has been carefully selected and vetted so I have 100% confidence in recommending them to you. Doing business with them supports this newsletter. 😊 See how these services can help you grow and mention "Swipe Files" or "Corey" for special treatment: ​Conversion Factory — My SaaS marketing and design agency without the BS of unpredictable costs or contracts. ​ReactSquad — The only developer matchmaking service for SaaS startups focused on vetted engineers who focus on React & Node.js. ​xFusion — Get trained, reliable, and affordable customer support reps ready to go for your business. ​Sales.co — Cold email from idea generation to A/B testing, all you have to do is show up for the sales call. ​Videodeck — Done-for-you video production with an expert team at an affordable price. ​Dofollow — My go-to service for sourcing high-quality backlinks in ethical ways to help you rank higher in Google. ​Embarque — Level up your content and SEO at an affordable price, from keyword research to content production to promotion. ​A Team Overseas — Proactive VAs for founders who need more than just order-takers. ​Latin Remote Workers — Save up to 70% on salaries by hiring exceptional talent from Latin America. ​Testimonial Hero — Done-for-you professional video testimonials and case studies.

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Your goals are holding you back

Here’s why.  ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

​ "Five minutes each week that might change your life." Here’s a harsh truth: If you actually achieved every goal you ever set, your life would get worse. Let me explain… Goals are guesses at what will make us happy in the future, not objective truths. If you want to become a YouTuber making prank videos when you’re 18, you might find yourself still screaming into a camera at 35 desperately hoping to qualify for health insurance. At 25, maybe it’s “make six figures in consulting.” At 40, you wake up with no hobbies, no memories, and a divorce lawyer on speed dial. At 40, it’s “retire in Bali.” You nail that, and then you’re 60 wondering why two decades of lonely sunsets felt so empty. What most people don’t realize is that the value of goals does not come from achieving them—it comes from what the goal teaches us about what is actually valuable (and not valuable) in our lives. And many times, the most valuable thing a goal can give you is the knowledge that you didn’t actually want the goal in the first place. And if every goal you set came true, you’d be trapped living the dreams of someone who no longer exists. Set goals. But treat them as experiments, not destiny. The point isn’t to achieve your goals. The point is to outgrow them. See you Monday, Mark P.S. Remember what you wanted to be when you were ten? Hopefully you outgrew that. But if you still haven't found the career you've grown into, 80,000 Hours can help. They're a nonprofit that's helped thousands of people trade "follow your passion" for careers they genuinely love that also make a difference. Their fully updated career guide, based on over a decade of research, drops May 26th with Penguin Random House. Don't spend your 80,000 working hours trapped in the dreams of someone who no longer exists. Pre-order your copy now.​ FOLLOW FOR MORE ​​​​​​​​ ​ markmanson.net Want to share this newsletter via text, social, or email? Simply copy and paste the following link: https://markmanson.net/breakthrough/213-goal​ If you were forwarded this message, sign up to receive it each week here. It’s free. I never spam. About this newsletter: You are receiving this email because you signed up to my free newsletter. Each week, I send you a few powerful ideas, a few questions to ask yourself, and a few things to try in your life. If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter and all other updates from me, you can unsubscribe here. Disclaimer: By sending your breakthrough you are giving us your explicit consent to process the data and share it with our newsletter subscribers, MarkManson.net website visitors and on social media, including any sensitive data such as information regarding mental health, racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life or sexual orientation. You may opt out and/or request deletion of the data at any time. You acknowledge that once we have shared your breakthrough with the other email subscribers we can no longer delete the data from their mailboxes. Infinity Squared Media LLC, 2525 Ocean Park Blvd, Suite 200, Santa Monica, CA 90405