Q4 Marketing Round Up

Our team at Fresh Pies have had a busy Q3. Major developments in the PPC and SEO world have kept us on our toes as we head into our Q4 Marketing Round Up and have helped us start shaping our digital marketing strategies for 2026. The digital marketing team attended multiple exhibitions this quarter, including Big Data LDN and Marketing Showcase, to gain insight into the direction of SEO and PPC moving forward. Here is a breakdown of what you need to know in this Q4 Marketing Round Up.

What is Answer Engine Optimisation? (AEO)

Traditional SEO is evolving, and this is where AEO comes into play. Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) is all about making your content easy for search engines, voice assistants, and AI tools to understand and use when giving direct answers to people’s questions. Instead of just chasing rankings, AEO focuses on clear, structured content that provides concise answers to common queries. This shift is a major talking point in our Q4 Marketing Round Up, as AEO will shape content strategies for 2026.

Stay one step ahead with Answer Engine Optimisation

AEO is going to have a growing influence in how we approach SEO, and traditional rankings may become less important as AI tools pull information from multiple sources, blend it, and present a single, direct answer. The intention is to divert away from the 10 blue links you see in traditional search, and get a short written response that combines info. Staying informed through updates like this Q4 Marketing Round Up will help you keep your content relevant.

Authenticity Matters

Despite the focus on AI in how we receive information, Google still prioritises authentic and interactive content. Google still very much focuses on E-E-A-T and emphasises that quality, originality and trustworthiness matter in the creation of content. There is always a risk of an algorithm update around the corner, leading to the downgrading of AI content based on the likelihood that the content is low-quality or overly formulaic. According to Google, AI content is not automatically penalised, but content that appears to be made just for rankings can violate their spam policies, hence the various spam updates we have had throughout 2025. You’ll find more information in Google’s search guidance about AI content, which is covered further in this Q4 Marketing Round Up.

Video Content Continues to Dominate

Video still continues to be a major player in SEO and is something Google especially continues to favour. Video content such as YouTube Shorts, TikTok and Instagram Reels are all platforms which you can optimise for to become more visible in search engines. Google also promotes uploading videos to Google My Business listings to enhance your business profile, and will order video content above images in your listings. So, do not ignore the use of video content; anything from behind-the-scenes to time lapses gives the user more insight into the day-to-day activities of your business and helps build trustworthy B2C relations. The Q4 Marketing Round Up reinforces just how vital video will remain going into 2026.

Are third-party cookies being deprecated?

The short answer is yes, but we don’t know exactly when. This is because it was announced at the start of the year that this was the case; however, Google has since backtracked on this, meaning users can still access third-party data through privacy and security settings on Chrome. The uncertainty around this topic is another hot discussion in our Q4 Marketing Round Up.

You should be focusing on First Party Data

Despite the timeline for the depreciation of third-party data being unclear, it’s best practice to focus on first-party data when implementing your digital marketing strategy. Focusing on interactive content such as forms, email sign-ups, and account activity is all useful in helping understand your customer base more effectively. This data is also fully compliant with GDPR and remains under your control, allowing for personalisation and segmentation for future use. This emphasises the shift in SEO as it used to be heavily reliant on cookie data, backlinks and keyword stuffing, and today, it is much more about user experience, relevance, and intent. Collecting first-party data is a recurring theme in this Q4 Marketing Round Up.

What have we learned heading into 2026?

As we head into 2026, it’s clear that digital marketing is moving faster than ever, and we need to move with it. SEO is moving beyond rankings. AEO and AI-driven search are how users find information, and E-E-A-T is key to building trust. Video is still king, and the best way to connect with audiences and be visible. And, with the uncertainty around 3rd party cookies, we need to focus on 1st party data to better understand and personalise our customer interactions. So overall, it’s all about delivering high-quality, relevant and user-first experiences, and that’s what our digital marketing will be based on in 2026, the key message from this Q4 Marketing Round Up.