Scale & Strategy
This is Scale & Strategy. The Robin to your Batman. The Chewie to your Han. The Spock to your Kirk.
(We’ve got your back).
Here’s what we got for you today:
- AI Journalism: Quartz’s Sneaky Experiment with Robot Reporters
- DeepSeek Blazes Past OpenAI in App Store Rankings
- Build Zero-Click Marketing Into Your Strategy
AI Journalism: Quartz’s Sneaky Experiment with Robot Reporters
Turns out, some of your news might already be written by AI—and you didn’t even notice.
Quartz has been quietly publishing AI-generated articles under the byline Quartz Intelligence Newsroom, blending machine-written content with human editing. No big announcements, no flashy press release—just AI casually stepping into the newsroom like it owns the place.
The idea? AI can speed up news production and handle routine reporting, letting human journalists focus on deeper, more complex stories. The problem? Quartz didn’t exactly shout this from the rooftops, sparking concerns about transparency. Readers had no clear indication that parts of their daily news diet were crafted by algorithms rather than journalists.
While some see this as an inevitable (and even exciting) shift in media, others worry about misinformation, the erosion of human storytelling, and whether AI is truly up to the task of producing quality journalism.
With major publications experimenting with AI and audiences becoming more skeptical, the future of news is looking a lot more… artificial. But hey, at least AI won’t ask for a raise.
Would you trust AI-generated news? Or does this feel like the start of a Black Mirror episode?
DeepSeek Blazes Past OpenAI in App Store Rankings
Picture this: You’re leading the AI chatbot race, feeling unstoppable—until someone zooms past out of nowhere. That’s exactly what just happened as DeepSeek, a China-based AI chatbot, shot to the top of the App Store, leaving even OpenAI in the dust.
Despite being just a week old, DeepSeek has already pulled in over 1 million downloads across the App Store and Google Play—double what Grok has managed.
- 35% of downloads came from China, but the US wasn’t far behind at 15%.
- DeepSeek claims to match GPT-4o and Claude 3.5 Sonnet, all while being built on a much leaner budget.
- It’s not just text—DeepSeek’s Janus-Pro image model reportedly beats DALL-E 3 in quality and flexibility.
And here’s the twist: US export restrictions may have actually fueled its innovation. Restrictions forced China’s AI sector to push harder, and now DeepSeek is surging ahead.
So, is it worth trying? If its rapid rise is any indication, DeepSeek might just be the AI underdog that no one saw coming.
📢 SOCIAL MEDIA ROUNDUP
- 📦 Flip Takes Off Post-TikTok Ban: The video shopping app Flip is soaking up ex-TikTok users so fast that it literally crashed. With 250,000+ new users and 700 brands applying to join, this might be your next e-commerce play.
- 🧠 Meta AI Gets a Memory Upgrade: Meta’s AI assistant now remembers context from your 1:1 chats. Will this improve search, boost the algorithm, or just creep us out? TBD.
- 📱 WhatsApp’s Long-Awaited Fix: Finally, multiple account login is here! No more juggling apps—just seamless switching between accounts. About time, right?
Build Zero-Click Marketing Into Your Strategy
“If you build it, they will come.”
Yeah, not anymore.
Now it’s more like, “Build where they already are,” as Rand Fishkin recently pointed out—which is why zero-click marketing needs a place in your strategy.
What is zero-click marketing?
It’s about meeting people where they already spend time and delivering value—without asking for a click.
Think insights, education, or entertainment shared directly on their preferred platforms. No “click here” prompts, just standalone content.
Why should you care?
- People prefer it.
Nearly 65% of Google searches end without a click, thanks to AI overviews. Those who do click often already know where they’re going.
- Social algorithms reward it.
Posts with links get penalized. Research from SparkToro shows that linkless posts get 10x more reach on LinkedIn, Threads, and Twitter. Instagram and TikTok don’t even allow links in many formats.
- Audiences are tired of spammy links.
Years of link-stuffing have made people resistant. Content that focuses on storytelling, research, or product features performs better.
- AI and large language models (LLMs) don’t use links.
When someone asks ChatGPT a question, the response is based on relevance, not links. Your visibility depends on brand association with key phrases, not how many links you share.
How to win with zero-click marketing:
- Create content that delivers real value—answer questions, educate, and engage.
- Show up where your audience already is and build relationships.
- Optimize for AI and LLMs by aligning with topics your audience cares about.
- Pitch stories, not links.
- Track the right metrics—engagement, conversions, and influence matter more than click-through rates.
Traffic alone doesn’t drive business. Influence does.
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