What's New in Marketing This Week - December 17th

This post contains all the source links and expanded details from Edition #28 of our weekly Marketing Roundup newsletter.

We keep external links out of the emails to ensure it lands in your inbox (not spam). Here’s where you can dig deeper into each story.

This week we talked about:

Funnel Strategies: ClickFunnels data shows sales funnels convert 137% higher than websites. Why? Because they reduce the amount of choices people have to make.
Advertising Platform Updates: YouTube Shorts adds comments and creator links to ads, and Google launches Data Manager API to centralize first-party data integration.
Creator Economy & Social Updates: YouTube Shorts adds comments and new ad placements, and Google launches Data Manager API to centralize first-party data integration.
SEO News: Google announces the December 2025 core update.
AI Advancements: OpenAI releases GPT-5.2.

Note: This is just the news and links.

For our full analysis, strategic insights, and implementation tips for each update, subscribe to the Marketing Roundup and get the complete newsletter delivered to your inbox every week.

Sales Funnels vs. Websites

ClickFunnels published data showing sales funnels convert 137% higher than traditional websites. The difference comes down to focus: websites scatter attention with multiple navigation options, while funnels create a single clear path with one intended action per page.

New YouTube Shorts Features

New YouTube

Shorts Features

YouTube rolled out new ad features for Shorts including comments on eligible ads and Shorts ad placements on mobile web.

Google Launches Data Manager API

Google Launches

Data Manager API

Google rolled out a Data Manager API that centralizes how advertisers send first-party data into Google’s AI-powered ad tools, replacing several separate integrations.

Facebook Updates Profiles

Facebook now surfaces friends who share your interests when you update your profile with activities, hobbies, or goals.

Instagram Uses AI to Generate SEO Summaries

Instagram Uses AI to

Generate SEO Summaries

Instagram started using AI to generate keyword-rich descriptions for posts that appear in Google Search results.

Google Releases December 2025 Core Update

Google Releases December

2025 Core Update

Google rolled out its December 2025 core update, the third core update of the year. The rollout will take up to three weeks to complete.

OpenAI Releases GPT-5.2

OpenAI launched GPT-5.2, its most capable model for professional knowledge work. Enterprise users have reported 40-60 minutes saved daily.

Anthropic Acquires Bun JavaScript Runtime

Anthropic Acquires

Bun JavaScript Runtime

Anthropic announced it’s acquiring Bun, a high-performance JavaScript runtime, to accelerate Claude Code development and infrastructure.

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