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Welcome to Volume 275 👋
Happy Thursday!
In this week’s newsletter, we cover:
- 🔍 Why Robinhood Finally Launched Its Own Subreddit
- 📉 News Publishers Expect Search Traffic to Drop 43% by 2029
- 👀 The Latest in B2B Marketing This Week
- 🧠 This Week’s Brain Food
- ➕ The Best Content Across the Web
- 📣 We’re Hiring: Check Out Our Open Positions!
Let’s get into it.
🔍 Why Robinhood Finally Launched Its Own Subreddit
Search “Is Robinhood safe” and Reddit answers before Robinhood does.
One thread on r/stocks pulls 11,000 monthly visits. A top comment: “Honestly I’d just use Fidelity.” 79 upvotes. And that’s just one of nearly 3,000 Reddit pages ranking for Robinhood-related keywords. Collectively, they drive 123,000 monthly visits to conversations the company doesn’t control.
For years, Robinhood watched Reddit shape its reputation. The GameStop backlash. The “boy from Bulgaria” memes. Competitor comparisons calling them “Clown College.” All indexed. All ranking. All outside of their control.
In November 2024, they finally did something about it — they launched their own subreddit, r/RobinhoodApp, and hosted an AMA with CEO Vlad Tenev.
The results have been impressive. The official subreddit has 3x more engagement per member than the million-member unofficial community, despite being 200x smaller.
It’s not all about the clicks.
If Reddit threads are ranking for your brand’s most valuable queries — and feeding AI answers in the process — you’re losing control of the narrative at the exact moment buyers are making decisions.
Read the full breakdown → https://foundationinc.co/lab/robinhoodapp
🎙️ Webinar: AI Visibility & Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
Ranking on Google isn’t enough anymore. The new game is getting LLMs to recommend to you.
Join Ross Simmonds on January 28 for a Reddit-hosted session on how generative engines decide which brands to surface, what signals actually matter, and how to build “answer assets” AI systems trust and reference — including why your Reddit presence may be more important than you think.
📉 News Publishers Expect Search Traffic to Drop 43% by 2029
The click is dying — at least as we know it.
According to a new Reuters Institute report, news executives expect search engine referrals to fall by 43% over the next three years as Google and other platforms evolve into AI-driven answer engines. A fifth of respondents expect losses above 75%.
This isn’t speculation. Chartbeat data cited in the report shows organic Google search traffic is already down 33% globally year-over-year, and down 38% in the U.S.
Google’s AI Overviews now appear on roughly 10% of U.S. search results, and fewer people are clicking when they do.
To counter this, publishers are pulling back on traditional SEO and shifting toward answer engine optimization (AEO) and generative engine optimization (GEO) — strategies designed to surface content inside AI interfaces rather than drive clicks to websites. Licensing deals, revenue-sharing agreements, and negotiated citations are becoming parallel paths to value.
But this isn’t just a publisher problem. If you’re running a content-driven growth strategy, it’s a preview of your problem.
The same AI Overviews that compress news traffic are answering product comparisons, how-to queries, and high-intent searches your funnel depends on. Assets and contents you’ve optimized for clicks may see diminishing returns faster than expected.
The new KPIs to watch are share of answer, citation visibility, and brand recall. Clicks still matter — but they’re no longer the whole story.
👀 What’s the Latest in B2B SaaS This Week?
🔍 Gemini introduces Personal Intelligence | The Keyword
💰 OpenAI Signs $10 Billion Compute Deal With Chipmaker Cerebras | The Information
📈 Digg launches its new Reddit rival to the public | Techcrunch
🛒 Google launches Universal Commerce Protocol for agent-led shopping | Search Engine Journal
🚨 New Podcast Alert. The Power of Saying No: Focus to Scale
In the latest episode of The Ross Simmonds Show, Ross tackles one of the most counterintuitive truths in business: saying no is often the fastest path to growth.
Drawing from his experience building Foundation Marketing and working with world-class SaaS brands, Ross shares a practical framework for evaluating opportunities, a creative way to use AI as a filter for distractions, and scripts for declining requests without torching relationships.
Here’s what Ross covers:
- Every yes is a hidden no. When you say yes to one thing, you’re saying no to something else: deep work, rest, or the highest-leverage opportunity on your plate.
- Doing less beats doing more. The companies that scale aren’t the ones doing everything. They’re the ones doing fewer things with sharper intention.
- A three-question filter for every opportunity. Ross walks through the clarity test: Is this aligned with my priorities right now? Does this scale or compound? Would I still do this if no one ever knew about it?
- A packed calendar isn’t progress. One-off wins that don’t compound will cost you more than they give back.
- Saying no without burning bridges. Ross shares how to decline gracefully, protect your focus, and leave the door open for future opportunities.
Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcast or Spotify to start reclaiming your time and scaling what actually matters.
🧠 This Week’s Brain Food
Conventional wisdom says social proof sells. But new research from the Journal of Marketing suggests the relationship between likes and clicks is more complicated than “more is better.”
The study found that the first like on a social ad has an outsized impact — it signals credibility and drives both engagement and clicks. But as likes accumulate, something shifts. Additional likes trigger conformity (users liking because others liked) rather than action (users clicking to learn more). This results in a plateau in meaningful engagement even though vanity metrics climb.
The takeaway for marketers is this: Match your social proof strategy to your campaign goal.
If you’re optimizing for clicks and conversions, showing fewer likes may actually preserve the credibility signal that drives action. If you’re building brand awareness, higher like counts leverage the “popular = trustworthy” heuristic and boost visibility.
It’s a useful reminder that not all engagement is created equal — and that the metrics we optimize shape the behavior we get.
🎤 Ross is Speaking at Digital Cut 2026
Ross is taking the stage at Digital Cut 2026 — a three-day online conference bringing together the sharpest minds in AI, marketing, and digital innovation.
His session, “Unlocking Reddit: What the World’s Conversation Data Means for AI-Driven Innovation,” will explore how Reddit’s massive conversation dataset is shaping AI tools and what marketers need to understand about this shift.
He’s joining a lineup that includes Seth Godin, Neil Patel, Ali Abdaal, and Sophia Amoruso.
When: February 6-8, 2026
Where: 100% online (recordings included)
Want to sponsor our next issue? Reply to this email, and we’ll share how you can reach more SaaS founders and marketers today.
🏅 Reddit Post of the Week
Gen Z can spot lazy AI images and it’s hurting conversion rates In r/marketing
🎖️ LinkedIn Post of the Week
LLMs Are Citing LinkedIn Way More (Jan 2026) by Michael Hermon
🤳🏽 Nice Finds You Should Binge
- AI models are starting to crack high-level math problems | TechCrunch
- My 2025 Annual Review: When the Work Started to Lift | Ross Simmonds
- The Real AI Talent War Is for Plumbers and Electricians | WIRED
- A single click mounted a covert, multistage attack against Copilot | ArsTechnica
💻 Job Postings Worth Checking Out
Looking for a new opportunity? Here’s a round-up of some exciting job openings in the B2B SaaS space.
- Foundation Marketing | GEO Partnerships Coordinator (PT)
- Foundation Marketing | Senior Account Manager
- Foundation Marketing | Reddit Specialist
- Foundation Marketing | Content Creator
- Foundation Marketing | Senior Account Coordinator
- Foundation Marketing | Senior Content Strategist
- Foundation Marketing | Executive Marketing & Outreach Assistant
Want us to include your job postings in our next issue? Reply to this email, and we’ll share how you can reach more SaaS professionals today.
🎧 What We’re Wired Into This Week
This SaaS news smattering is brought to you by Ethan Crump!
If you have any feedback, suggestions, or ideas you want to see in this newsletter, feel free to email me at ethan@foundationinc.co. We’re always looking for ways to improve and provide the best B2B SaaS marketing resources.
Have a great weekend!
