🐹 Hamsterdam Part 121: Weekly SEO & AI News Recap (10/25 to 10/31, 2025)
By Ethan Lazuk
Last updated:
A weekly look-back at SEO & AI news, tips, and other content shared on social media & beyond.
Opening notes, thoughts, and musings:
- Welcome to another new week of Hamsterdam! 🐹
- I appreciate you being here, and look forward to sharing the week’s news! 🙌
If you’re in a rush, hop down to the news portion. 📰
Or continue reading for two vocabulary lessons plus an introduction.
And we’re off …
🧑💻 Marketing word of the week: “Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT)”
ZMOT or Zero Moment of Truth is the moment before a consumer decides to buy; it’s the instant when they research online, read reviews, compare options, and form an opinion.
I’d never heard this term before researching it, but it turns out it’s one of the most influential modern marketing concepts for understanding how digital behavior shapes consumer decisions.
ZMOT was coined by Google in 2011 based on how the internet had transformed the traditional marketing funnel.
ZMOT precedes First Moment of Truth (FMOT) (when a shopper sees the product on the shelf/product page and decides whether to buy) and Second Moment of Truth (SMOT) (when the consumer uses the product and experiences its quality, shaping loyalty and word of mouth).
SEO plays a huge role in ZMOT. Let’s walk through an example:
- Someone types in a query for “best vegan protein powder for women” in Google.
- They read articles, reviews, Reddit threads, and more content.
- They narrow their decision down to a couple of brands.
- So by the time they visit your website, their mind is almost made up.
In this scenario, the purchase decision was shaped long before reaching the sales page. That’s ZMOT.
🤖 AI word of the week: “Zero-Shot Prompting”
Zero-shot prompting is when you ask an AI model to perform a task without showing it any examples of how to do that task first. In other words, you rely entirely on natural-language instructions and the model’s pre-trained knowledge.
Zero-shot prompting contrasts with one-shot prompting (one example provided) and few-shot prompting (multiple examples provided).
The advantages are speed and simplicity, while the disadvantages are inconsistent accuracy, limited control, and ambiguity sensitivity (the model depends heavily on how well you phrase the instructions).
Zero-shot prompting is great for quick or on-off tasks like summaries, rewrites, or Q&A but less effective for highly structured or critical tasks like data labeling or compliance reports.
😊 Introduction to week 121: “Meditation”
I’ve recently started going to my local library to check out books on different subjects. One of my recent pickups was about mindfulness and meditation.
I got into meditation years ago but kind of fell out of my practice. This book inspired me to get back into it — so far it’s been going great!
We’re so often focused on the past or future that we neglect the present and our presence in it. By tapping into that presence, we can rediscover happiness.
It’s a powerful tool, and in that regard, I’ll include a guided meditation instead of a song this week so you can try it too!
Thank you for supporting Hamsterdam and the cause of SEO & AI learning. 🙏
Enjoy the vibes:
Missed last week? Don’t worry, I got you! Read Part 120 to catch up.
🌟 Other great sources of weekly SEO news:
- The SEO Weekly – Garret Sussman, iPullRank
- SEOFOMO – Aleyda Solis
- Weekly Video Recaps – Barry Schwartz, SER
- Weekly SEO News YouTube channel – Olga Zarr, Seosly
- Niche Surfer – Yoyao Hsueh
Time for our weekly review of SEO social posts, articles, & more …
Now, let’s step inside the white flags of Hamsterdam …
⏩ Jump to a section:
- News, Google updates, & SERP tests
- SEO tips & tidbits
- Fundamentals & resources
- Articles, videos & case studies
- Local SEO
- Technical SEO
- Content marketing
- Local SEO
- Data analysis & reporting
- AI, LLMS, & machine learning
- Miscellaneous & general posts
- Older stuff that’s good!
Or keep scrolling to see it all. ⏬
📰 SEO news, Google updates, SERP tests & notable posts
Notable updates or news related to Google Search or related SEO topics.
🍟 SEO tips & tidbits
Actionable tips, cool tidbits, and other snackable findings and observations that can be teaching moments.
Essential information, concepts, or resources to learn about SEO or AI
Longer-form content pieces shared on social, in newsletters, and elsewhere.
🧑💻 Technical SEO
Everything from basics to advanced moves (and also tools).
✍️ Content marketing
From what is helpful content to user journeys and beyond.
📍 Local SEO
From Google Business Profiles to reviews and more!
📊 Data analysis & reporting
Showing that what you’re doing is helping.
🤖 AI, machine learning, & LLMs
News related to models, papers, and companies.
🤔 General marketing & miscellaneous
This is for great content that isn’t necessarily SEO or marketing-specific. PPC, PR, dev, design, and social friends, check it out!
💎 Older stuff that’s good!
Not everything I find worth sharing is new as of this week, so these are gems I came across published in the past.
Great job making it to the end. You rock! 🪨
Let’s connect!
Hit me up anytime via text or call at 813-557-9745 or on social or email:
Cheers! ✌️
Leave a Reply