Turn Down: 23 September 2025

This week on Punch Hospitality’s Turn Down we’re covering social media changes, studies on AI usage, and corporate traveller behaviour. Our marketing and strategy team have compiled some of the latest hospitality, marketing, and AI updates into one easy read, just for you.

Marketing

• Google’s removal of the num=100 parameter has sent shockwaves across SEO, with 87.7% of sites losing impressions in GSC. Short tail and mid tail keywords took the biggest hit.
• Beano Brain’s Coolest Brands 2025 have been revealed, with YouTube topping the list for the second year running. Nike, Netflix, Nintendo, and KitKat also claim top ten positions. 
• TikTok’s comment with an image is rolling out to more users.
• TikTok have launched a new shared feed feature, so users can combine their feed with a friend.  
• New York is proposing a law that could require social media platforms to introduce age verification. 
• Meta is gradually introducing ads in WhatsApp status. 
• WhatsApp now lets you add verified profile links. 
• YouTube is addressing lower view counts, stating the most likely explanation is due to ad blockers. For some channels, views on computers have dropped by around 50%. 
• All brands signed up to the LinkedIn Premium Company page plan will not be able to request verification. 
• Edelman has shared a report on the Great Gen Z Divide, splitting US Gen Z into two cohorts with distinctive behaviour.
• Google has added an achievements section to Google Search Console, allowing users a fun way to track their site’s progress. 

AI

• OpenAI has announced plans to introduce an automated age-predicated system to determine if users of ChatGPT are over 18. Younger users will only be allowed to access a restricted version of the chatbot, and in some cases, the company may ask for ID. 
• OpenAI has conducted its largest study of ChatGPT consumer usage to date. It showed:
  • Gender gaps have narrowed, with 52% of users using a typically feminine name. 
  • ChatGPT adoption growth rates in low-income countries were 4 times higher than those in the highest-income countries. 
  • ¾ of consumer conversations focus on practical guidance, with 49% of messages being ‘asking’ and 40% of queries being task-oriented. 
  • 30% of consumer usage was work-related. 
• ⅓ of publishers in the Independent Publishers Alliance are predicted to go out of business by the end of 2026 as AI search reduces traffic and clicks. 
• Google is further integrating AI into Chrome with a ‘Gemini in Chrome’ mode to allow Gen AI to answer questions about content on a page. It’s available right now to all desktop users in the US, but may be rolled out further. 
• LinkedIn research shows that younger B2B buyers will rely on networks to vet brands over AI-generated content, with 77% of 18-24 year olds saying no amount of AI will replace insights from trusted colleagues. 
• AI developers reveal they cannot currently train the model not to scheme (deliberately mislead humans). 

Hospitality

• Criterion Capital has launched phase one of opening the world’s largest capsule hotel in the London Pavilion. The Zedwell Capsule Hotel Piccadilly Circus offers nearly 1,000 individual capsules at £30 a night, perfect for budget-conscious tourists and business travellers to the city.  
• Hospitality insolvencies rise in the UK, becoming a worrying trend for the industry. The number of insolvencies has risen YoY as hotels, pubs, and restaurants are forced to cut jobs to make ends meet.  
• 64% of global travellers would pay for an assistant that could provide in-trip information – an encouraging statistic for those developing AI travel assistants.  
• 61% of travellers say they booked a hotel after seeing it on Instagram, and 71% of Gen Z and Millennials prefer booking places that align with their values or support a cause.
• Deloitte’s latest corporate travel survey revealed some complex views on the industry, with many fearing future budget cuts and cost remaining a high factor in planning travel for business. Forty-nine per cent of business travellers surveyed say they always use corporate booking tools. 3 in 4 travel managers surveyed (74%) report expanding budgets this year, similar to 2024 (73%). However, the share anticipating budget cuts is up from 6% to 10%, and they expect their budgets to shrink by an average of 28%.
• UKHospitality is predicting that 110,000 jobs will have been lost across the hospitality sector by the November Budget.
• Nearly 40% of American travellers opt for upgrades in airline seats or hotel rooms, with a significant portion being higher-income individuals.