In Cahoots Co

28/05/2026

Nearly 65% of Google searches now end without a click. If your business relies on organic website traffic, this is the most important shift happening in search right now. Swipe through for the data and what you can do about it.

23/05/2026

Instagram has updated its algorithm and if your account relies on re-posting other people's content, your reach is about to drop.

From 30 April, Instagram stopped recommending photos and carousel posts from aggregator accounts in Explore and other surfaces. Accounts are assessed on a rolling 30-day basis. If most of what you post is re-shared content, Instagram will classify you as an aggregator.

What counts as original:
- Content you create yourself
- Photo series and how-to guides
- Visual stories
- Third-party content where you have added genuine value

What to do instead of re-posting: use Instagram's built-in Collab feature, Remix, or share to Stories. These give the original creator proper attribution and protect your own reach.

The good news: if you are already creating original content, this update works in your favour.

20/05/2026

Google AI Max for Search campaigns turns one and it just got significantly more useful for small business advertisers. Swipe through to see what has changed.

19/05/2026

Meta is moving toward fully automated ad campaigns by the end of 2026.

Advantage+ is already the default for new campaigns in Ads Manager. Audience targeting is now handled by AI, including signals from Meta AI chat conversations (as of March 2026). The only lever left for advertisers (aka you or your agency) to control is creative quality and variety.

What this means for your business: if your ad creative is generic, the algorithm has nothing distinctive to work with. The businesses winning with Meta Ads right now invested in strong brand assets before the automation wave hit.

Three things to do now:

1. Review your creative library. Are you giving Meta enough variety to test?
2. Check your Ads Manager. Advantage+ may already be running without you realising.
3. Focus on asset volume, not just polish.

So get creative. Take risks (without breaching policy). Test and measure.

Source: Breaking Brand / Marketing Dive

19/05/2026

Just in! At its annual I/O conference, Google unveiled the "Intelligent Search Box" the single most significant structural and behavioral redesign to its search bar in 25 years.

Powered by their latest Gemini 3.5 Flash model, Google is aggressively shifting away from traditional keywords and blue links toward conversational, multi-step digital interactions.

For mid-sized Australian businesses and growth-minded SMEs, this changes the rules of digital visibility.

Here is what is changing, and more importantly, how you can operationalise these updates to out-pace your competitors.

Link in comments ...

28/04/2026

In March 2026, Google activated its most rigorous AI enforcement sweep to date against "manipulated engagement."

What does that mean? The standard has changed from simple "spam filtering" to active "behavioural enforcement." Here's part 2 of our series in what has changed -> review gating.

28/04/2026

Google has significantly tightened its 'Prohibited and Restricted Content' policies for 2026 ...

There are a number of changes you need to be aware of starting with the The "On-Site" & Device Ban.

Google now explicitly forbids businesses from asking customers to leave reviews while they are still on your premises.

24/04/2026

Lest We Forget.

19/04/2026

A new standard called Agent Skills lets you download ready-made expertise for your AI (or build your own). It's one of the most practical AI developments for small business owners in 2026, and almost no one is talking about it.

You can make your own today -> read on via link in comments

14/04/2026

We recently solved this problem for a client without a single line of paid automation software. No Zapier subscription (although we love Zapier ... just wasn't needed in this case).

No third-party integration platform. Just a smart configuration of tools they already owned.

WordPress -> Gravity Forms -> Dropbox

The right automation consultant doesn't just build workflows ... they audit what you already have first.

In Cahoots Co. provides workflow automation services for businesses in Brisbane, Sydney and across Australia. If your team is doing manual work that software should be handling, we'd love to take a look. Get in touch.