Plus, smart strategies to implement for a Q4 boost  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ Raptive News NOVEMBER 12, 2025 By Maddie McHugh Director, Content Marketing Hi Raptive, With a network of over 6,000 incredible creators, we have a lot of data to analyze—and useful findings to share back to you. Our SEO team recently examined the impact of Google’s August spam update. By reviewing traffic trends across all verticals and site sizes, we uncovered the key factors driving traffic gains and losses. In this week’s newsletter, you’ll find those insights, what to do next, and more expert advice and industry updates. What’s new What we learned from Google’s August spam update Our team looked at performance across sites that make up 95% of traffic in the Raptive network. While the overall impact was minimal, certain verticals, such as sports, felt it more. See what drove the gains and losses, and get tips to help you stay ahead of future updates. Get the insights and steps to protect your traffic → Save the date: Tastemaker Conference January 8–10, 2026 | Los Angeles, CA The Tastemaker Conference for food creators is right around the corner, and we’re thrilled to be part of it! Join us in LA to connect with fellow creators, learn from Raptive experts, and kick off 2026 strong. Some fun opportunities to connect: • Raptive cocktail party Thursday, January 8 Kick off the conference with drinks and light bites overlooking downtown LA. Meet fellow Raptive creators, bring your friends, and hear from our team! • Raptive booth and 1:1 sessions with our team Friday, January 9 and Saturday, January 10 Stop by for gifts, personalized site optimizations, and great conversations with our experts. • Mainstage session Friday, January 9 In our session, From Traffic Shifts to Growth Wins: Unlocking What Works in 2026, you’ll hear from Tom Critchlow, our EVP of Audience Growth, on what’s driving growth across AI search, Pinterest, and new platforms. We’ll send out more information on all the events soon, but add us to your calendars! Will we see you there? • Yes, I’m registered for Tastemaker 2026! • Still figuring out my plans, but maybe! • No, sending my regrets. Top resource Recipe roundups win in Q4: now’s the time to capitalize Seasonal recipe roundups are one of the best ways to boost your Q4 revenue. Our SEO team analyzed the performance of recipe roundups compared to individual recipe pages, and found that roundups averaged 16% more pageviews than individual recipe pages, with the gap growing to 41% in Q4. Our SEO experts break down the data, explain how to create a winning roundup, and share what to avoid. Get the playbook → 5 high-impact email plays to drive Q4 growth As we enter a busy time of the year, we know it can be tough to find the space to focus on time-consuming efforts like overhauling your email strategy or developing new content. This Resource Center guide shares five proven email tactics designed to fit your to-do list that will help expand your subscriber list, drive traffic, and turn subscribers into loyal brand advocates. Get the playbook → Quick tip Maximize earnings from email clicks and build your identified audience “Earn higher CPMs and build your identified audience with Raptive’s Newsletter Link ID. Add a snippet of code to the link URLs in your emails and you’ll earn more from identified email subscribers when they click your links!” Katie Swanson Manager, Email Identity Performance In case you missed it PODCAST RECAP Ctrl Alt Ask Episode 4: Am I too niche to attract advertisers? Have you ever wondered if you’re missing out on revenue because your content is too niche for advertisers? On last week’s Ctrl Alt Ask episode, our host Stephanie Woodin talked with crochet creator Jess Coppom of Make & Do Crew, who was worried about exactly that. To get her the answers (and peace of mind) she needed, Raptive’s SVP of Advertising Partnerships, MaryRay Lombardo, shared what really draws brands to creator sites. Spoiler: your niche might be your biggest strength. Listen and subscribe for the inside scoop → Want to be our next guest? Send your question to ctrlaltask@raptive.com. Subscribe Don’t miss Join office hours to learn more about Gated Print Our team is hosting a live office hours session on Gated Print next Tuesday, November 18, at 1 pm ET. The session will start with a short presentation led by James Baldwin, SVP of Creator Performance. After that, we’ll open it up for your questions. You’ll learn how Gated Print helps you earn more by turning printable recipe pages into a simple way to collect emails, boost identified traffic, and grow your subscriber list. Whether you’re just getting started or looking to do more with Gated Print, we’ll be there to help you get the most out of it. Save your spot now → Connect your Flodesk ESP to Gated Print Gated Print now integrates with Flodesk! With Gated Print, you can use your printable recipe pages to easily boost your ad earnings while also growing your email list. When readers click Print on your recipe cards, they’ll be asked to enter their email address before seeing the printable page. It’s a simple way to: • Unlock higher ad earnings by increasing identified traffic (no ESP connection is needed) • Increase your email lists with no extra effort (additional benefit if you connect your Flodesk, Kit, or Mailchimp ESP) Let us know if you’d like to turn this on and we’ll set it up for you. Just use this link and select “Gated Print” under the Technical Support Type dropdown. We’re sunsetting the Target affiliate program The Target affiliate program is set to conclude on January 5, 2026. What this means for you You’ll still earn from your Target affiliate links throughout the entire holiday season, and we’ll handle the update automatically through our ad code. After January 5, your Target links will no longer be monetized by our affiliate program; however, they will still function as standard links to Target’s site. You can manually update these links if you choose to, but it is not required. What’s next? Your final affiliate payments will be issued in April 2026. The Affiliate Earnings page in your dashboard will be removed soon, but you’ll continue seeing your total, locked-in monthly affiliate earnings reflected on your Earnings Sources page. You can also request a detailed report of your Target affiliate earnings at any time. Just use this link to prefill an email with everything we need and hit send. If you prefer to email us directly, please send your request to support@raptive.com and include the following code: 867f78f. This helps us get your request to the right team. For more information, please visit our Help Center or contact your Raptive support team. What we’re reading Catch up on news from around the industry • Meta is earning a fortune on a deluge of fraudulent ads, documents show (Reuters) • People Inc. strikes Microsoft AI licensing deal (Digiday) • Microsoft Copilot gets AI search with better links & citations (Search Engine Roundtable) Question of the week What strategy are you prioritizing from our analysis of Google’s August spam update? 🧼 Content clean-up Updating old posts to improve quality ⚖️ Ad density optimizations Fine-tuning content and ad balance for better UX 📈 Authority audit Using backlinks to build brand trust 🔁 Staying the course My strategy’s solid Was this email helpful? You’re receiving this email because you help manage a site that works with Raptive. To ensure our emails reach your inbox, add hello@email.raptive.com to your email contacts. Want to stop receiving Raptive News emails? You can update your preferences anytime. 1411 Broadway, 27th Floor New York, NY, 10018, US © 2025 Raptive. 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