This is the news from Monday 9 November. Read the latest news
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Outlook.com bounces good email, Apple’s agent Siri and more
Today in 30 seconds
- Outlook.com and Hotmail are bouncing some good email since 5 November
- Apple reportedly wants Siri to work like an AI agent next year
- Vercel AI Gateway adds DeepSeek V4.1 Flash at over 1,000 tokens a second
- Meta pauses the new terms that let it crawl business websites
- Ziff Davis lost about 37% of its Google traffic in three months
- Google Analytics Data Manager beta warns about double conversions
- Game decompilation site decomp.dev closes its index over AI “drive-by” code
- Backglow lets you control the glowing Apple logo on the new MacBook Pro
- Google Messages tests a new home screen with big pinned chats
- The new basic Kindle gets a sharp 300 ppi screen and USB-C
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Good morning, and happy Monday. The weekend was slow for big launches, so today is about email, search traffic and AI at work. If your contact form emails go to Outlook.com, start with the first story.
Outlook.com and Hotmail are bouncing some good email since 5 November
Since at least 5 November, some email sent to Outlook.com and Hotmail addresses is being rejected. The bounce says the message “lacks SPF/DKIM/DMARC Auth Records”. Windows Latest reports that even some senders with valid records get blocked. Microsoft has not confirmed a cause or a fix yet.
The error code in the bounce is 550 5.7.1, and some people see 550 5.7.23. Sending again a few minutes later sometimes works. Most reports come from users on forums and Reddit.
Why it matters Order emails, password resets and contact form replies may never reach your Outlook.com customers. They won’t know, and neither will you.
My advice: check your SPF, DKIM and DMARC records today, then send a test to an Outlook.com address. If it bounces, send the full bounce message to your email provider.
Apple reportedly wants Siri to work like an AI agent next year
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says Apple could make Siri “more like an agent” as early as next year. 9to5Mac reads that as a feature for iOS 28. Siri got personal context in iOS 27, but it still can’t take on tasks by itself.
Gurman names Dots, Meta’s Muse and Grok as the agents Apple is up against. 9to5Mac says nobody knows yet what Apple will ship.
Why it matters An agent Siri would lean on App Intents to do things inside apps. If you have an iPhone app, good App Intents could put it in front of Siri users.
Vercel AI Gateway adds DeepSeek V4.1 Flash at over 1,000 tokens a second
Vercel’s AI Gateway now offers DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Ultrafast in public preview. It runs on Fireworks and answers at “upwards of 1,000 tokens per second”, with a 1 million token context window. There is no waiting room and no session time limit.
You pay the provider’s price, with no Vercel markup or platform fee. The model name for the AI SDK is deepseek/deepseek-v4.1-flash-1017-ultrafast. For coding agents, run npx vercel ai-gateway setup with the latest Vercel CLI.
Why it matters Fast answers make chat widgets and site search feel instant. It is an easy model to test if you already use the AI SDK.
Meta pauses the new terms that let it crawl business websites
Meta has paused four sets of business terms that were due on 20 November. One of them, the new Commercial Terms, would have let Meta crawl websites linked to business accounts. Meta paused them on 5 November with no new date, and the current terms stay in place.
The paused terms also made advertisers responsible for AI-made ad content. Meta’s help centre says “a further update” will come.
Why it matters If you run Facebook or Instagram ads, nothing changes on 20 November. Watch for the next version, because the crawling part may come back.
If you want to control which AI bots read your site, my guide on how AI search finds your website covers robots.txt rules.
Ziff Davis lost about 37% of its Google traffic in three months
Ziff Davis, the owner of sites like PCMag and Mashable, says organic Google referrals fell about 37% in the third quarter. A year earlier the drop was about 23%. Search Console showed its content in AI Overviews and AI Mode about 2.7 billion times, close to ten times its clicks.
The company also plans to cut staff by 10% by the end of the year. Teads said AI summaries cut publisher page views by 20% to 60%.
Why it matters Being seen in AI answers is not the same as getting visits. Track clicks and sales, not only impressions.
I still think SEO matters. But pages that answer one quick question now earn less, so give people a reason to click.
Google Analytics Data Manager beta warns about double conversions
Google has released Data Manager in beta inside Google Analytics Admin. It is one place for data streams, product links and first-party data imports. A connection map shows broken links, and some have a Fix button.
Google warns you not to run the same data pipeline in both Google Ads and Analytics, because “this can log conversions twice”. Subproperties and roll-up properties are not supported yet.
Why it matters Double conversions make your ads look better than they are. Keep only one active copy of each feed, and build new connections in Analytics.
Game decompilation site decomp.dev closes its index over AI “drive-by” code
decomp.dev, one of the biggest video game decompilation communities, is closing its main index. Its admin says AI has left the community “broken”. Existing projects keep their pages and history, but nobody can add new projects.
The admin says people fork unfinished projects and finish them fast with AI. Others release “barely-functional” ports, and leaderboards reward people who “burn tokens to make number go up”. The admin also says AI can help with the right guidance and code reviews.
Why it matters Open source projects everywhere face the same flood of AI pull requests. If you run one, clear contribution rules and human review are your best defence.
Backglow lets you control the glowing Apple logo on the new MacBook Pro
Designer Juan Buis has released Backglow, a Mac app for the glowing Apple logo on the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro. The free version sets the logo’s brightness, turns it off with one click, and adds a slow “Breathe” pulse.
Backglow Pro costs a one-time $9 for now, then $15 (US). Music mode syncs the logo to sound. Agents mode pulses while Claude Code works and blinks when it needs you.
Why it matters It is a fun idea with a real use. You can leave an AI agent running and glance at the lid to see if it is waiting.
Google Messages tests a new home screen with big pinned chats
Google Messages is testing a new home screen in its beta. Pinned chats become large contact photos above your conversation list. Search moves to a floating button next to “new chat”, and Gemini moves to a button in the top right corner.
The changes are rolling out bit by bit to beta users only.
Why it matters If you send SMS or RCS messages to customers, your business chat may sit lower in the list unless they pin it.
The new basic Kindle gets a sharp 300 ppi screen and USB-C
TechCrunch has reviewed Amazon’s new basic Kindle. It has a 6-inch flush screen at 300 ppi, up from 167 ppi on the 2019 model, and USB-C. The plastic version weighs 140g and lasts about six weeks per charge.
In the US it costs $169.99 for 16GB, or $189.99 for the aluminium model with 32GB. TechCrunch says prices rose $40 to $50 because of the memory chip shortage. There is no warm light, auto brightness or waterproofing.
Why it matters It is a small, light reader for long blog posts and ebooks, without the extras most people never use.
You can find it at Amazon Australia.
Quick hits
- Pinterest makes its GenAI rules part of its terms from 12 November, and abuse can cost your account. PPC Land
- Google Ads no longer uses campaign language targeting on Search, because the ad’s language now does that job. PPC Land
- Cloudflare lists 14 problems AI agents cause, and says websites pay for nearly all of them. Cloudflare
- agent-desktop from Vercel Labs is a Rust tool that lets AI agents use a computer, and it tops GitHub Trending. GitHub
- Need for Speed Underground 2 now runs in Chrome and Firefox through WebGPU, in a fan project not linked to EA. nfsu2.xyz
- Anker MagGo 2 Pro is a 10,000mAh power bank with cooled 25W MagSafe charging and a kickstand. 9to5Mac
- Chromagraph Camera is a new $12.99 iPhone camera app for natural point and shoot photos. 9to5Mac
- CueFlip, made by a 15-year-old guitarist, listens to you play and turns sheet music pages. 9to5Mac
- Oppo has reportedly cancelled the Find X10 Ultra, according to a leaker on Weibo. 9to5Google
You're all caught up
That's today's web, tech and SEO news. The next edition lands tomorrow morning, around 3 am Melbourne time.That was the news from Monday 9 November. A newer edition is waiting for you.
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That’s you caught up. If your store’s emails are bouncing at Outlook.com, my site updates team can check your SPF, DKIM and DMARC for you. Have a good week, and see you tomorrow.
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