Maybe Microsoft finally read one of my posts, or maybe LinkedIn’s no longer seeing “record levels” of growth.
Either way, in Microsoft’s latest earnings update, it made no mention of LinkedIn’s engagement stats, for the first time since 2018.
As regular SMT readers would know, every time Microsoft releases its quarterly update, it includes a brief note about LinkedIn’s performance, and that short summary, invariably, is always some iteration of:
“Sessions growth of x% with record levels of engagement.”
Which can’t be true, right? Surely LinkedIn’s not seeing record levels of engagement every single quarter. But that’s what LinkedIn, and parent company Microsoft have gone with in basically every quarterly update since Microsoft took over the professional social app.
But maybe, as it looks towards the future, Microsoft’s turning over a new leaf. Or LinkedIn growth has slowed, I don’t know, they didn’t say.
In any event, LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky has come through with some LinkedIn-specific engagement data to accompany Microsoft’s update.
As per Roslansky:
- LinkedIn has seen a 24% increase in comments this year. That’s a significant rise, and it’s interesting to consider how LinkedIn’s evolving feed algorithm is helping to drive more engagement, by showing users more posts that they’re likely to be interested in. Though some have also suggested that this is due to a rise in bot interactions on posts (which we’ll get to later in this update).
- LinkedIn has now seen three straight quarters of double-digit growth in video uploads. LinkedIn has previously reported that video watch time rose 36% year-over-year in 2024, with short-form video creation growing at twice the rate of other post formats, while video posts are also shared 20x more than any other content type in the app. If you’re not tapping into the power of video, you’re missing out on opportunities.
- LinkedIn also says that its improving recruitment processes, powered by its AI Hiring Assistant, have helped to drive significantly higher InMail acceptance for several major corporations. LinkedIn’s Hiring Assistant provides automated tools to help you source staff, including generating applicant shortlists, scheduling interviews and managing follow-up. LinkedIn expanded access to Hiring Assistant to more regions last month.
In terms of financial performance, Microsoft did report that LinkedIn revenue “increased 10% and 9% in constant currency, driven by Marketing Solutions.”
Though also:
“The Talent Solutions business was impacted by continued weakness in the hiring market.”
Yet, even with those headwinds (note: I’m only using this term because I saw the real financial analysts doing it), Microsoft said that it expects LinkedIn to post revenue growth of 10% moving forward.
So the platform is doing fine. Not great, and there’s no mention of “record engagement” this time around. But it’s fine, it’s all good, and LinkedIn continues to tap into unique opportunities, based on its professional dataset.
Which is hugely valuable. No other platform has access to the same amount of professional insights, and that should see LinkedIn well-placed to capitalize on the value of its data through evolving AI offerings. Because in order to maximize insights from 1.3 billion members, you need to crunch a lot of data, and AI tools can do this in an instant.
And if any AI project wants to, say, project future career opportunities, or highlight training gaps, or market potential, LinkedIn data would be the ultimate input, which is why LinkedIn’s also been cracking down on data scrapers, in order to protect the value of its data assets.
Another element of focus on this front has been taking action on fake engagement, and eliminating spammers and scammers in the app. The more LinkedIn can clean up its data, the more valuable it will be, and it’s taking action to address false activity, through updated rules and legal enforcement.
Last month, LinkedIn’s VP of Product Oscar Rodriguez wrote a post outlining the platform’s efforts to combat fake engagement, taking specific aim at engagement pods, which have been a rising concern in the app.
LinkedIn is aware of this, and it is now implementing more processes to combat fake engagement.
As per Rodriguez:
“Our goal is to make engagement pods ineffective. We're continually improving our systems to spot suspicious patterns, flag posts that look artificially boosted, and limit their reach in the feed. We’re also cracking down on third-party tools, like browser extensions or plug-ins, that enable this type of manipulation. Beyond that, we’re reducing the number of low-quality posts, including clickbait, promotional content and automated comments. When we detect patterns that suggest a person or company may be creating this type of inauthentic engagement around their own posts, it can affect how that content is distributed across the platform. Additionally, we pursue legal action, when appropriate, against third-party tools that try to game the system.”
In August, LinkedIn updated its rules around inauthentic engagement to cover more of this type of activity, while LinkedIn says that between July 1 and December 31, 2024, it blocked over 80.6 million fake accounts at the point of registration.
So yes, more fake engagement is happening in the app, but LinkedIn is working to cut this off, and reduce the distribution of related activities.
Finally, LinkedIn also recently updated its rules around the use of user data for AI training, and how members can opt out of this if they choose.
From next week, LinkedIn will be allowed to share more user data with Microsoft and its affiliates for ad targeting, while it will also have more capacity to use member data for AI training, as it chooses.
That could be a concern for some, especially considering the sometimes sensitive nature of professional information, but again, you can opt out if you choose.
But it’s another element of LinkedIn’s broader push to maximize the value of its unique professional data set, which could end up making LinkedIn a heap of money, if it chooses to license such to other providers. That would take another amendment to its Privacy Policy, but maybe, that could be where LinkedIn is headed on this.
Overall, however, LinkedIn remains solid, and continues to produce results, even if not at the same “record levels” that all of us LinkedIn analysts know and love.
But video is performing well, and people are commenting more often. Maybe it’s worth spending some more time sifting through those post replies.
