Optimize - G | Default Subscription Test Results

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Marketing News

• Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, on AI-powered search and the future of the web. Here is the spin: “People are responding very positively to AI Overviews...it actually helps them understand, and so they engage with content underneath, too,” (Link).

• Neil Patel’s take on Google’s change: SEO traffic will drop as less people scroll down the page. Focus on actionable content for end users (Link).

• How to use Google Search without AI: the ‘udm=14’ workaround (Link).

• U.S. Podcast Advertising Revenue Study: 2023 Revenue & 2024-2026 Growth Projections (Link).

• For those who can’t get organically placed in AI, Google’s AI search results are already getting ads (Link).

• Instagram says posting longer reels, 90 seconds or more, can hurt your performance (Link).

• X is hiding posts likes for all users (Link).

• Best times to post on social platforms: You can’t go wrong with mid-day (Link).

AI News

• Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act: EU Council gives final green light to the first worldwide rules on AI (Link).

• Users may soon be able to input images into Grok for text-based answers (Link).

• Microsoft wants to make Windows an AI operating system and launch Copilot+ PCs (Link).

• Amazon plans to give Alexa an AI overhaul — and a monthly subscription price (Link).

• Meta introduces Chameleon, a multimodal model that excels in text and images (Link).

• Anthropic’s Mapping the Mind of a Large Language Model (Link).

• FCC Proposes AI Transparency in Political Ads (Link).

• Google’s Gemini has added advanced data analysis. (Link).

Cool Tools

• Perplexity - Lots of new features (Link).

• Shuffll - Record yourself and watch how Shuffll takes you

  from zero to a fully branded video (Link).

• Rusher - Meme generator (Link).

• AI Lawyer - Your personal legal AI assistant (Link).

• LongShot - Plan, generate, and optimize content. (Link).

Which Test Won?

A/B testing is pivotal in conversion rate optimization. Every other week, I share real A/B tests I’ve conducted for clients, you vote, and the following week the actual test result is revealed. Here are past tests.

Are there more add-to-cart clicks with the subscription option as default?

Newsletter members: 50% voted for Variation A and 50% voted for Variation B

The actual results: Variation A won with Add to Cart clicks increased 2.7%

This test has a couple of variables. For example, the difference in the payment. If the discount for the subscription is not significant, it becomes a convenience, not an affordability decision. What was not measured was the number of shoppers that unsubscribed after the first order.

If you do this test, make sure it is very clear that the shopper is getting a subscription. This should be obvious not only on the product page but in checkout.

One subscriber asked if there were any compliance issues or if it is legal to have a subscription set to default. Each state in the US has different laws regarding subscriptions; most deal with making sure customers can unsubscribe and send a notice after 12 months to remind consumers of the subscription. I have not found any information that suggests setting a subscription as default is illegal. There may be compliance issues depending on your industry. Note that Amazon has subscriptions set as default and they have a lot of lawyers to defend their decision.

See you next week for another test!