🐹 Hamsterdam Part 125: Weekly SEO & AI News Recap (11/22 to 11/28, 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! 🙌
- Happy Black Friday to all the digital marketers out there!
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: “Black Friday”
Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving in the U.S. It’s known for huge retail sales and the unofficial start of the holiday/Christmas shopping season.
The term “Black Friday” originated with police in Philadelphia in the ’50s and ’60s who called the day Black Friday because of crowds, traffic, and shoplifting, much of it associated with the Army-Navy football game.
Retailers began promoting a more positive meaning in the ’80s, the day their accounting went from “red to black,” meaning they made a profit for the year. They also started offering extreme discounts in the ’80s and ’90s, and crowds and media coverage made it a cultural event.
After online shopping ramped up in the 2000’s, we also got Cyber Monday.
Today, Black Friday deals run for a week or longer typically, and there’s global participation.
🤖 AI word of the week: “Data annotations”
Data annotation is the process of adding labels or tags to raw data so that an AI model can learn from it. For example, if the model needs to tell cats from dogs, people or tools must label which images show which animals.
Ai models learn patterns from examples. Annotations help with that. Without them, the model can’t know what the correct output should be, so training becomes inaccurate, performance drops, and bias becomes more likely.
Types of data annotation include image annotations, text annotations, audio annotations, and video annotations. The process of applying them can be manual (humans), semi-automated (humans correct mistakes), or fully automated.
😊 Introduction to week 125: “Cracked the code”
I get messages every week from people trying to sell me on a service or product.
This week, it was someone from an agency claiming to have “cracked the code” on ChatGPT visibility.
Of course, it’s ludicrous to make such a claim — and I’m willing to bet the code they cracked was listicles and chunked content … — but the sad truth is that hyperbole works on some audiences.
If you’re one of the people sending such messages, please take me off your email list. 😊
If you’re one of the people receiving these messages, always check with a credible person you trust as to their validity. There’s nothing more egregious than snake oil and those who peddle it.
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 124 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.
>> Check back next week!
🤖 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! ✌️
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