Digital Marketing

Google updated reporting for Demand Gen campaigns, giving advertisers more granular visibility into how YouTube placements perform. Why we care. Until now, Demand Gen reporting lumped all YouTube traffic together, making it hard for advertisers to know whether Shorts, In-Feed, or In-Stream placements were driving results. The new segmentation means marketers can finally align creatives…

The search and marketing world never slows down. Last week’s inaugural edition of Semrush’s Marketing Countdown, featuring Search Engine Land, explored how the landscape is rapidly shifting under our feet. We unpacked five of the biggest stories making waves: Generative AI is changing search, but Google is still where people start: Study How Perplexity ranks…

Google rolled out deeper reporting for Search AI Max campaigns, giving advertisers fresh visibility into how its AI expands reach. What’s new. Advertisers can now see two new metrics at the all keywords level: AI Mas expanded matches: Traffic from broad-match keywords generated by AI based on the ones you’ve added. AI Max expanded landing…

In a Friday court filing, Google’s lawyers wrote: “The fact is that today, the open web is already in rapid decline.” That line directly contradicts what Google executives and representatives have been saying for months. CEO Sundar Pichai (May, The Verge interview): “When we crawl, when we look at the number of web pages available…

Logan Kilpatrick, lead product manager for Google, said on Friday that Google’s AI Mode will be the “default” search experience for Google Search “soon.” We know Google said AI Mode is the future of Google Search, Liz Reid, the head of Google Search announced that in May 2025. And now that may be happening soon….

For as long as marketers have been chasing leads online, the debate over gated versus ungated content has raged.  Entire conference sessions, whitepapers, and LinkedIn flame wars have been dedicated to the question: Should you hide your best stuff behind a form fill, or give it away for free to maximize search rankings and reach?…

The search marketing community today is remembering Alan Bleiweiss, a veteran SEO consultant known for his detailed forensic site audits, sharp wit, and tireless mentorship. Bleiweiss passed away Aug. 22, but news of his death was only revealed publicly last night. As I’ve written before about Bleiweiss, he was known for being selfless, friendly, insightful,…

For years, I’ve updated my working definition of SEO to capture how the discipline has evolved.  Here’s how those definitions have changed over time: 1998 to 2023 SEO is “the art and science of persuading search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo to recommend your content as the best solution to a user’s problem.”…

The European Commission fined Google 2.95 billion euros ($3.45 billion) for its dominance and anti-competitive ad-tech business. The EU Commission accused Google of unfairly favoring its own display advertising technology services and told Google to end these practices. What’s happening. The Commission also ordered Google to “bring these self-preferencing practices to an end” and “implement…

Generative AI has quickly shifted from experimental novelty to everyday utility – and with that shift comes growing scrutiny.  One of the most pressing questions is how these systems decide which content to trust and elevate, and which to ignore. The concern is real: a Columbia University study found that in 200 tests across top…

Google will switch to a monthly release cycle for the Google Ads API release schedule. This will result in more frequent releases, with more updates more often. This new release schedule begins in 2026. The new schedule. The new schedule will have three to four major releases and several minor releases. This is the new…

As Google Ads leans further into AI-driven automation, savvy advertisers are looking for ways to stay in control – ensuring that automation truly drives efficient results. Yet, the data available often tells only part of the story, with some advertisers reporting that 20%-80% of their ad spend is tied to hidden search terms. So where…

Apple is preparing its own AI-powered search engine. Known internally as World Knowledge Answers, it will debut next spring as part of a long-awaited Siri overhaul, Bloomberg reported. The goal: Transform Siri into an “answer engine,” pulling information from across the web in a style similar to Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity. The upgrade….

PPC advertising has never stood still.  Efficiency, scalability, and smart automation are now essential for success, but that wasn’t always the case.  When I started more than 15 years ago, campaign management meant adjusting CPCs by a cent or two at the keyword level – manually. Since then, the role of a PPC specialist has…

AI has fundamentally changed how people search and engage with information online.  Features like AI Overviews may boost visibility, but they’ve also reduced clicks, leaving many websites with less traffic despite stronger rankings.  Discovery no longer happens in just one place.  It’s fragmented across search engines, social platforms, paid ads, and AI tools, creating a…

A viral social media post is roasting Google’s AI Overviews – the company’s AI-generated answers in search results – accusing it of breaking the spam policies Google enforces on everyone else. The post. It was published by Nate Hake on X, minutes after Google’s announcement about the release of the August 2025 spam update: “I’d…

Your brand message is no longer entirely yours to control.  AI systems have become storytellers, shaping how consumers discover and understand your brand. Every customer review, social media post, news mention, and errant leaked internal document can feed AI models that generate responses about your company.  When these AI-generated narratives drift from your intended brand…

For years, optimizing content meant focusing almost entirely on Google and other traditional engines.  But with the rapid rise of generative AI chatbots – tools that don’t just link but summarize – content strategies need to adapt.  It’s no longer enough to rank in search; you now need to be referenced, cited, and surfaced by…

Amazon advertising operates within its own closed ecosystem, making ad delivery very different from other platforms.  If you come from a Google or Bing background, you may be surprised to learn why your ads aren’t delivering.  Often, it’s not about spending more or targeting. It’s about quickly identifying the real cause. After reviewing hundreds of…

Getting your service area business verified on Google can be challenging, especially when video verification is required.  What Google expects to see isn’t always clear, and that uncertainty can lead to denials.  But with a little preparation, you can eliminate the guesswork and ensure a smoother verification process.  Learn how to get your business verified,…

Google’s role in everyday information seeking is shrinking, while AI tools – particularly ChatGPT – are quickly gaining ground. That’s according to a new Higher Visibility survey of 1,500 U.S. users. By the numbers. Google’s share of general information searches fell from 73% in February to 66.9% in August. Other survey findings: ChatGPT use nearly…

Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode and OpenAI’s ChatGPT often give consumers different brand recommendations – a potential warning sign for marketers chasing AI visibility – according to a new BrightEdge analysis. The big picture. ChatGPT and Google’s AI Mode and AI Overviews disagreed on brand recommendations nearly two-thirds of the time (61.9%), according to BrightEdge’s…

Simplified personas built as fictional characters with broad pain points are outdated in the future of search.  Think “Curious Cathy,” who just wants to learn more about your product, or “Technical Tom,” who has years of experience in his field and can handle more detailed breakdowns. Static personas once helped, but they no longer reveal…

Google has confirmed it fixed an issue with its crawlers impacting “some sites.” The issue was “reduced / fluctuating crawling” from Google’s end with Googlebot. It is now resolved and Google said the crawling should pick back up in the near future. What happened. Starting around August 8, 2025, a number of savvy SEOs and…

Let’s be clear: affiliate fraud is happening.  Most of the time, the question isn’t whether there are violations in an affiliate program. The real question is: Can you see them? Now, fraudsters don’t just break the rules; they hide the violations.  With cloaking, geotargeting, and redirect chains, affiliates can run violating campaigns without ever being…

Google has remained a stable source of traffic to news publishers over the past year. Although many websites have seen their traffic significantly impacted by Google’s AI Overviews, Chartbeat data shows that for 565 U.S. and UK news publishers: Search referrals made up 19% of traffic in July, little changed since early 2019. Google dominates…

Google’s AI results are changing everything about how local businesses get discovered—and reviews are now at the center of it all. They shape visibility, build trust, and, when leveraged effectively, drive conversions. In this live webinar, GatherUp VP of Marketing Mél Attia and renowned Local SEO expert Miriam Ellis will share never-before-seen research findings on…

TikTok is capping hashtags at five per post, a shift some users have recently noticed through in-app notifications. Details. TikTok hasn’t formally announced the update. A Reddit user said a TikTok notification explained the change is aimed at: Reducing hashtag clutter, Discouraging spammy usage, Improving discovery relevance. TikTok is the latest social platform to sideline…

Have you ever found yourself staring at an underperforming Google Ads account, weighing whether to optimize the existing structure or rebuild entirely? Restructuring isn’t a decision to take lightly. It’s a calculated risk that can unlock significant gains or reset months of algorithmic learning. Account architecture often degrades gradually, creating compounding inefficiencies.  What began as…

Shopify powers over 5 million active stores and remains the go-to ecommerce platform for many fast-growing brands.  Its out-of-the-box setup helps you launch quickly – but fast deployment doesn’t guarantee organic visibility. By default, Shopify’s structure can leak SEO value: Duplicate URLs dilute authority. Schema markup is minimal. Performance bottlenecks slow down pages. Meanwhile, the…

Marketing has never had more data – and never been more blind.  Third-party cookies are disappearing, ad platforms guard their insights, and reports are riddled with blind spots.  Privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA, browser updates, and iOS changes have fractured tracking into pieces too small to give a full picture. Meanwhile, the customer journey…

The war for naming and defining the new search is more ferocious than ever. I don’t care what you call it, just don’t call it “answer engine.” Search has reinvented itself again and climbed back to the top of the food chain. Job boards are full of “head of” roles for this new search era….

Facebook is rolling out an enhanced web version of its Professional Dashboard, adding fresh creator insights, streamlined navigation, and improved parity with its mobile tools. Details: Web refresh: New home screen highlights earnings, content performance, and engagement; simplified navigation groups tools for monetization, audience connection, and education; Comments Manager now matches mobile functionality. Coming soon:…

LinkedIn expanded its Thought Leader Ads format to let advertisers sponsor member posts that link directly to a LinkedIn Event Page. Why we care. Trust is currency in B2B marketing – and people trust people more than brands. LinkedIn’s 2025 B2B Marketing Benchmark Report found: 94% of marketers say trust is the key to B2B…

Google Ads is rolling out a new Cost Slider in Performance Max (PMax) campaign reporting, giving advertisers visibility into how much of their spend is going to each channel. Why we care. This toggle surfaces Share of Cost data – the percentage of total PMax spend each network or placement consumes – offering advertisers a clearer path…

Google is rolling out a suite of updates to boost iOS app marketing performance, from fresh ad formats to AI-powered bidding and privacy-preserving measurement tools. Details: New ad formats: Expanded reach on YouTube Shorts, Search, and Display; co-branded creator ads now in YouTube in-feed and Shorts; playable end cards available on select AdMob inventory. AI…

How consumers discover and engage with brands is fundamentally changing. With millions now turning to AI search platforms for instant answers and recommendations, your brand’s visibility and reputation are increasingly shaped by how it is mentioned and portrayed in AI-generated responses. This paradigm shift means brands can no longer solely rely on traditional SEO techniques;…

YouTube rolled out a set of creator-friendly updates, including doubling the image limit in Community Posts, improving auto-dub editing, and adding fresh call-to-action buttons for in-stream promotions. Community Posts. Starting this week, creators can upload up to 10 images per post (up from five) across all surfaces, enabling richer context and potentially boosting engagement. Auto-dubbing…

Google is deploying large language models (LLMs) from its Ad Traffic Quality team, Google Research, and DeepMind to better detect and block invalid traffic – ad activity from non-human or uninterested sources – across its platforms. Why we care. Invalid traffic drains advertiser budgets, skews publisher revenue, and undermines trust in the digital ad ecosystem….

Many articles detail the top-level costs of SEO.  The fee paid to an SEO consultant or agency is part of the cost of SEO. However, getting results also requires a business or brand to contribute time and effort. This article will look beyond the surface at the full spectrum of costs associated with doing SEO…

YouTube is testing a new AI Overviews carousel. It will appear in search results for select queries. The feature uses AI to highlight the most relevant clips from videos tied to a user’s search. Why we care. Google AI Overviews have reduced visibility and traffic to websites. If this experiment is rolled out, could YouTube’s…

In the world of digital advertising, data is king. Yet, many PPC advertisers underutilize one of their most valuable sources of insights: their CRM data.  Whether you’re a B2B or B2C marketer, your CRM is a gold mine of customer information that can significantly enhance your paid media strategy.  To boost efficiency and scale, focus…

By now, you’re almost certainly feeling the effects of the tariff teeter-totter by the U.S. that started earlier this month.  Economic instability seems to be a fact of life nowadays.  Large shifts in supply chains, along with stock market volatility, can be scary for advertisers.  It’s hard to contemplate spending money on advertising when uncertainty…

Google Analytics just made it easier to get quick insights and more accurate attribution. The Reports snapshot section now includes pre-built templates focused on user behavior, sales and revenue, and marketing performance. That means less time building custom reports and more time actually using the data. Alongside the templates, the card library has been updated,…

Meta introduced a small but potentially powerful tweak to its Advantage+ Catalog campaigns: dynamic overlays. Advertisers can now add price, discount, and shipping labels directly onto product images – styled like stickers – to make promotions pop in the Facebook Feed. How it works. You’ve got four label options now: Current price. A strikethrough sale…

Alphabet spent much of its Q1 2025 earnings call last night talking up the growth of AI Overviews, but dodged a question seeking clarity on how Google’s AI-generated answers impact click-through rates and conversion. Why we care. Did Google decide that last night wasn’t “the moment to go into details of click-through rate and conversion…

Google today expanded its Checkout on Merchant feature to Demand Gen campaigns serving on YouTube In-stream inventory. Previously available only for Performance Max campaigns and organic shopping results, this update brings the streamlined checkout experience to more advertising channels. By the numbers. Advertisers providing checkout URLs have seen an average 11% increase in conversion value…

Google Ads API v17 will officially sunset June 4. Any requests made to it after that date will fail. If you haven’t upgraded yet, now’s the time. What to do: Upgrade ASAP to the latest version of the Google Ads API. Check your usage: Head to the Google Cloud Console, open APIs & Services, and…

Shopify is changing how it handles checkout. If you’re running Google Ads or Analytics, you’ll need to act soon. Key deadlines. Shopify Plus merchants must migrate by Aug. 28, 2025. Non-Plus merchants have until Aug. 26, 2026. Missing these dates could result in a total loss of conversion tracking on your Thank You and Order…

There are so many ways to reach your ideal customer using audience targeting in Google Ads. We’ve recently covered Detailed demographic segments, Lookalike segments and Engaged Audiences, Today, we’re exploring how to use Life Events segments effectively. This article will cover: What are Life Events segments in Google Ads? How are Life Events different from…

The platform behind your site plays a bigger role than you might think. From site speed and mobile responsiveness to content scalability and technical SEO, the foundation you choose can make or break your organic performance. If your goal is seamless, secure, and engaging digital experiences that also support strong search visibility, it’s time to…

ChatGPT can now personalize searches using your memories. Memory with Search is a new addition to ChatGPT search, and was quietly added as an update in its changelog. What is Memory with Search. ChatGPT said it can “use memories to inform search queries when ChatGPT searches the web using their-party search providers.” Not a lot…

Google will now allow relevant Search ads from advertisers who showed amongst top ads to also participate in the bottom ads auction. As a reminder, the definition of top ads changed about a year ago, as Google began mixing ads in various organic positions throughout the search results. With this change, Google also reminded us…

Remember when meta keywords were all the rage?  Fast forward to 2025, and while search engines have evolved dramatically, meta tags remain crucial building blocks of your SEO foundation, just not the ones you might remember. You’re juggling countless priorities, so it’s tempting to view meta tags as “set it and forget it” HTML snippets….

Google Analytics is rolling out major updates aimed at sharpening marketing insights – boosting data completeness, adding richer context, and flagging issues before they become problems. Key updates. Google announced these updates to Google Analytics 4: Enhanced data completeness. New aggregate IDs and smart fallback tools keep reports accurate even without traditional tracking, helping you…

The U.S. Department of Justice successfully prosecuted its antitrust case against Google, with Judge Leonie Brinkema ruling that the company operated an illegal monopoly in the advertising technology industry. The court determined that Google engaged in anticompetitive practices that allowed it to dominate critical components of the digital ad market for more than a decade….

AI Overviews, Google’s AI-generated summaries that sit above organic search results, are already eroding traffic for many publishers and creators. However, publishers are getting “higher-quality clicks,” according to Elizabeth Reid, Head of Google Search, in a new interview. Why we care. Google Search is continuing to evolve in the direction of AI Overviews, where less…

Return on ad spend (ROAS) has been the default metric for evaluating Google Ads performance for years.  It’s easy to calculate, works well with automated bidding, and provides a quick snapshot of efficiency.  However, as ad costs rise and tracking becomes less reliable, relying solely on ROAS is no longer enough, especially for businesses focused…

Fueled by “impressive YoY growth,” paid search advertising revenues hit a new high in 2024, according to a new report. In total, search accounted for $102.9 billion of a record $258.6 billion in U.S. digital advertising revenues, according to the IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report: Full Year 2024, conducted by PwC. That is a $14.1…

Affiliate networks aren’t one-size-fits-all.  Between evolving tracking laws, new tech capabilities, and shifting fee structures, the best choice depends on your business model and goals.  This guide breaks down top affiliate networks by use case, so you can make a smarter, more strategic decision. The data-driven approach to choosing an affiliate network If you’re ready…

Google announced the release of version 19.1 of its Google Ads API, focusing on expanding capabilities for Demand Generation, video campaigns, and Local Services Ads. The details. Google announced the v19.1 release of the Google Ads API, maintaining backward compatibility for users already on v19. Updated client libraries and code examples will be published next…

When we talk about search, we usually focus on what people are looking for – keywords, queries, and intent. But in 2025, there’s a more powerful question to ask: “Where are they searching – and why that platform, in that moment?” The search landscape is evolving fast.  AI tools like ChatGPT are gaining traction.  Social…

Apple is officially dropping the “Search” from Search Ads to better represent its expanding ad placements across the App Store. The rebrand reflects Apple’s growing ad footprint beyond App Store search results — a signal that the iPhone maker is eyeing a more aggressive play in the broader digital ad market. What’s changed: The original…

Google’s 2024 Ads Safety Report, released today, shows a massive uptick in how AI – particularly large language models (LLMs) – is helping the company block policy-violating ads before serving a single ad, thanks to earlier fraud detection at the account setup stage. By the numbers. Google Ads last year: Removed 5.1 billion bad ads Restricted 9.1…

Advertisers are receiving step-by-step guidance emails from Google Ads aimed at improving campaign performance over a three-month period. The details. Google Ads is sending emails with the subject line “Personalised action plan for growth” to business advertisers, according to an X post from Govind Singh Panwar. The email contains: A three-month structured improvement plan delivered…

Google will begin redirecting its country code top-level domain names (ccTLD) versions of its Google domain to Google.com. That means if you frequent google.fr (in France), google.ng (in Nigeria) and so on, you will be redirected to Google.com. Why the change. Google said, “Over the years, our ability to provide a local experience has improved. In…

Google is being criticized for sending emails to small business owners urging them to oppose California Assembly Bill 566, legislation that would strengthen consumer privacy protections in digital advertising. The outreach campaign, which asks recipients to sign a Connected Commerce Council letter opposing the bill, has prompted marketing professionals to publicly rebuke the tech giant’s…

In 2025, the battle for attention is being won in under 60 seconds.  Short-form video is increasingly delivering measurable performance outcomes.  This article explores how you can harness short-form video and creator-driven content as part of a performance marketing strategy.  The rise of short-form: More than just eyeballs With YouTube Shorts alone amassing over 70…

Generative AI (GenAI) has undeniably transformed the marketing function, from automated customer interactions to content creation. But while everyone has been focused on chatbots and creating new blog posts, a quiet revolution has been brewing in Digital Asset Management (DAM). It began with addressing long-standing challenges related to asset findability and reuse but today we…

The dust still hasn’t settled. If you’re a recipe, travel, or lifestyle blogger, chances are the past few weeks have felt like a gut punch.  On March 13, Google rolled out its first core update of 2025 – a sweeping algorithmic change that lasted 13 days and left many independent creators reeling.  Some saw their…

Widely used bidding and targeting algorithms have left paid social advertisers with fewer levers to drive differentiated campaign performance in 2025. One of those levers – and perhaps the biggest in B2B campaigns – is creative.  But this article isn’t about how to design beautiful, on-brand, high-performing creative elements.  It’s about building a testing process…

Google Ads introduced customer lifecycle features in Performance Max, which will let you bid more aggressively for lapsed customers and track acquisition costs more precisely. PMax is also getting new image tools to boost creative flexibility. Customer Lifecycle management expands. Retention goals are now widely available, giving you the power to bid more strategically for…

Online advertising platform Marin Software announced plans today to dissolve the company, subject to shareholder approval. Marin’s board of directors approved a formal Plan of Dissolution and Liquidation. The San Francisco-based software provider, founded 19 years ago (in April 2006), was once a leading search and social marketing platform. Why we care. Marin was one…

Uber Advertising will integrate Instacart’s Carrot Ads solution to extend the reach of Uber Eats’ Sponsored Items to more Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) advertisers in the U.S. market. By the numbers. Instacart’s advertiser network includes more than 7,000 brands. More than 220 retailer banners use Carrot Ads to power their retail media. How it works….

A few weeks ago, we caught Google linking text within its AI Overviews to its own search results. Well, today that has become a new official feature within AI Overviews. “To help people more easily explore topics and discover relevant websites, we’ve added links to some terms within AI Overviews when our systems determine it…

You don’t need a site redesign to improve performance. Sometimes, small changes—like a different headline, image, or layout tweak—can have a measurable impact. This free guide offers 26 practical A/B testing ideas that digital marketers can use to boost clicks, signups, sales, and more. You’ll find test examples for: CTA buttons and placement Product detail…

A few weeks ago, Google promised us the 24-hour data in the Search Performance report view would soon come to the Search Console API, with a way to go back 8 days. Well, today this API access is rolling out and Google is giving us 10 days, not 8 days. What Google said. Google posted…

© 2025 Search Engine Land is a Trademark of Semrush Inc. Third Door Media operates business-to-business media properties and produces events, including SMX. It is the publisher of Search Engine Land, the leading digital publication covering the latest search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) marketing news, trends and advice. The company headquarters is 800…

With Google’s introduction of its vision match feature, users can now describe a product they’re looking for, and AI will generate suggestions similar to that item.  The real kicker is that the product generated likely doesn’t exist.  The AI will create something that you want, show you the product, and then try to match the…

© 2025 Search Engine Land is a Trademark of Semrush Inc. Third Door Media operates business-to-business media properties and produces events, including SMX. It is the publisher of Search Engine Land, the leading digital publication covering the latest search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) marketing news, trends and advice. The company headquarters is 800…

Google is crediting its AI advancement, such as Gemini, to help detect and remove fake reviews and listings within Google Maps. “AI has been a pivotal tool in helping us stop scammers in their tracks, and we’re now using it to scale our protections even more,” Google wrote. The metrics. Google shared these metrics for…

Google’s Performance Max (PMax) campaign type has reached its third anniversary. It has evolved from what critics called “an experiment funded by advertisers” into a mature advertising solution that’s reshaping digital marketing across platforms, according to Mike Ryan, head of ecommerce insights at Smarter Ecommerce. By the numbers. Here are some of the key findings…

Google Analytics introduced a new AI-powered feature called Generated insights that automatically detects and explains significant data fluctuations. The feature uses natural language to surface trends and anomalies — potentially saving you hours of manual work and so you can react faster to what’s really going on. How it works. The Generated insights feature identifies…

Google now lets you automatically add screenshots of landing pages in Demand Gen campaigns. This new feature is designed to boost engagement. The feature appears as a checkbox option labeled “Show a screenshot of your landing page in your ads” and is reportedly enabled by default for some advertisers. Who benefits: Companies with visually appealing…

President Trump extended the deadline for ByteDance to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations by 75 days, pushing the cutoff date to mid-June and preventing an immediate shutdown. This is the second extension Trump has given to China-based ByteDance to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations, temporarily averting a potential ban of the popular app. Driving the news. the…

Apple’s internal playbook for rating digital assistant responses has leaked — and it offers a rare inside look at how the company decides what makes an AI answer “good” or “harmful.” The leaked 170-page document, obtained and reviewed exclusively by Search Engine Land, is titled Preference Ranking V3.3 Vendor, marked Apple Confidential – Internal Use…

SEO is widely recognized as a long-term investment, which creates pressure for businesses to translate performance into measurable revenue. Early on – or even over time – disconnects can emerge between expectations and actual ROI. One major disconnect lies in understanding what SEO truly means in terms of strategy and tactics. Another, often magnified if…

A great piece of content doesn’t just rank—it drives the right traffic, at the right time, with the right message. In Your Content Marketing Blueprint from MoreVisibility, you’ll get a practical blueprint for building a smarter content strategy rooted in search behavior. What’s inside: A framework to align your content with real search intent A…

In the early days of SEO, owning an exact match domain (EMD) was like holding a cheat code.  If someone searched for “siamese kittens,” you could bet that siamesekittens.com would be sitting pretty at or near the top of the search results. The algorithm heavily weighted the presence of keywords in the domain, and for…

© 2025 Search Engine Land is a Trademark of Semrush Inc. Third Door Media operates business-to-business media properties and produces events, including SMX. It is the publisher of Search Engine Land, the leading digital publication covering the latest search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) marketing news, trends and advice. The company headquarters is 800…

You’ve probably played around with Demographics in your Google Ads campaigns, but have you experimented with Detailed Demographics? This audience targeting technique is a powerful tool for reaching your ideal customers – and excluding your not-ideal customers. This article will discuss: Basic vs. Detailed Demographics: What’s the difference? What type of Detailed Demographics are available…

If you’re still chasing a flat 10% conversion rate across all campaigns, it’s time for a reset. According to Unbounce’s latest Conversion Benchmark Report , industry medians range from just 3.8% (SaaS) to 12.3% (Legal) — and that variance can reshape how you interpret your landing page performance. This free report doesn’t just give you…

Sick of seeing the error “Discovered – currently not indexed” in Google Search Console (GSC)? So am I. Too much SEO effort is focused on ranking. But many sites would benefit from looking one level up – to indexing. Why? Because your content can’t compete until it’s indexed. Whether the selection system is ranking or…

Microsoft Advertising will require advertisers to provide explicit user consent signals starting May 5. First communicated to advertisers a few weeks ago, this change ensures compliance with global privacy regulations while maintaining the ability to gather insights that optimize ad performance. Why we care. As data privacy concerns grow, businesses face increasing pressure to protect…

Reddit Ads is introducing a suite of new tools aimed at helping small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) streamline campaign management, optimize ad performance, and improve data accuracy. Easier Campaign Setup and Management: Campaign Import. Reddit Ads now allows advertisers to import campaigns directly from Meta in just three steps. After signing into their Meta account…

Google has dropped its AI while browsing feature, formerly known as SGE while browsing. Google didn’t say why it removed the feature but posted a note in its help documentation that the feature is no longer. What is AI while browsing. Google originally wrote: “SGE while browsing was specifically designed to help people more deeply…

Google is rolling out new conversion tracking columns for Demand Gen campaigns, giving advertisers a more nuanced view of social-style performance tracking. Details. 100% attribution to last Demand Gen touchpoint. Available at campaign and ad group levels. Specifically designed for platform-to-platform comparisons. Why we care. Advertisers can now directly compare Demand Gen campaign performance with…

Email is more than just a communication tool. It serves as the backbone of first-party data, identity resolution, and personalized marketing strategies — all essential for success in today’s privacy-first, omnichannel landscape. In this new white paper from AtData, Is Email Dead? Exploring the Evolution and Vitality of Email, readers will find a data-backed look at why…

To meet the web content crawlability and indexability needs of large language models, a new standards proposal for AI/LLMs by Australian technologist Jeremy Howard is here. His proposed llms.txt acts somewhat similarly to robots.txt and XML sitemaps protocols, in order to allow for a crawling and readability of entire websites, putting less of a resource…

Google concluded a 14-year legal battle over advertising billing practices, agreeing to a substantial settlement without admitting any wrongdoing. The resolution marks a significant moment in the company’s complex history of digital advertising regulations. The big picture. The lawsuit centered on allegations that Google manipulated its AdWords platform between 2004 and 2012, specifically targeting two…

I always ask the same hypothetical question to friends and coworkers: If you were 20 years younger with the hindsight you have, what career path would you take differently? It’s fairly easy to look back. But what’s (much) harder is to look forward in time and identify areas that will increase in value in the…

LinkedIn released automation updates that could help advertisers leverage advanced forecasting, automation, and insights to streamline ad creation and maximize ROI with new levels of efficiency. The big picture: The new Media Planner helps you forecast ad performance before launch. Ad Duplication and Dynamic UTMs simplify campaign creation and tracking. Marketing Overview, Measurement Insights, and…

The first core update of the 2025 year, the March 2025 core update, is now done rolling out and complete.  It started on March 13, 2025 and completed about 14 days later on March 27, 2025. This update was a typical core update where Google updates its core ranking system to make search results more relevant…

Are all Google Ads conversions created equal? Let’s say a $500 sale and a $50 sale both land in your lap: do you treat them the same? If not, you need to test Maximize Conversion Value, one of the four Smart Bidding strategies in Google Ads. We’re going to cover: What is Maximize Conversion Value…

Over the last few years, AI has upended many aspects of our world, including search. The rise of generative AI threw many of us for a loop. If you’re one of them, still scrambling to make sense of this new normal, you might be wondering: what matters most in SEO now? The answer may surprise…

A new profile of Elizabeth Reid, the head of Google Search, confirms that Google is moving away from its longstanding model of sending its users to websites. As one former unnamed senior executive put it: “Giving traffic to publisher sites is kind of a necessary evil.” As for the iconic Google Search bar? It will…

How does adding coordinates to the EXIF data affect local rank? Our team wanted to find out. That’s why we recently conducted a 10-week study on the effects of geotagging for local rank. The geotagged images seemed to only affect the ranking for “near me” queries in the areas the EXIF data coordinates specified. Their…

Google is now rolling out access to AI Mode to its second batch of users. Google first allowed Google One AI Premium subscribers access to AI mode, when it first launched on March 5th. If you opted into AI Mode and are based in the United States, you may now have access. How to access…

SEO is something of a nebulous concept. To some, SEO is technical; to others, it is creative.  Neither of these is 100% right or wrong.  SEO is all of this and more, depending entirely on the unique situation and goals of the business looking to use SEO. This loose definition leads to some common and…

Google’s AI Mode became available earlier this month as a Google Search Labs experiment. After performing hundreds of AI Mode searches across transactional, navigational, commercial, and informational intents on both desktop and mobile platforms, carefully tracking metrics including word count, citation frequency, blue link prevalence, thumbnail usage, local intent signals, and other distinctive patterns, here’s…

In December Google added 24-hour data to the Search Performance report in Google Search Console. Now, that data will soon be available in the Search Console API, and you get not just the past 24-hours of that 24-hour data, you can get the hourly data for the past 8 days. Announcement. This was announced by…

Relying solely on Google for search visibility is no longer viable today.  Search behavior is diversifying, particularly among younger demographics. Gen Z is increasingly turning to platforms like TikTok, Pinterest, and Reddit for information discovery. This shift highlights the need for brands to embrace a total search strategy – an approach that integrates multiple search…

Google is rolling out a significant update to its Performance Max campaigns, giving advertisers more transparency and control over their ad placements. The big picture: Performance Max search terms are now visible in the standard Search Terms report Advertisers can add negative keywords directly from the report The update integrates with Google’s recent addition of…

When Google launched the March 2025 core update last week, Google said there will be a series of improvements aimed to help “better surface relevant, satisfying content” from content creators “thoughtout this year.” But you should not expect all sites to fully recover by the end of the 2025 year, that simply won’t happen. What…

PPC marketing isn’t easy. Juggling campaigns across Google, Microsoft Bing, and social platforms while maximizing every click is a challenge – and those clicks aren’t cheap. That’s why Chrome extensions are PPC game-changers. They sit in your browser, ready to help without the hassle of switching tools. Imagine this: you’re analyzing competitors, tweaking ad copy,…

If you’re managing multiple campaigns for your brand or your clients, you know how hard it is to scale landing page creation without sacrificing performance. This guide breaks it down—with real examples, tactical insights, and repeatable strategies from a designer who helped generate 14.8 million conversions using Unbounce. Inside, you’ll get: 5 high-performing landing page…

Reddit’s presence in Google Search has surged over the last year, largely thanks to the Google-Reddit content licensing deal.  As a result, Reddit threads are claiming prime real estate in search results, often outranking brand websites and even original content sources. While Reddit isn’t new, its growing influence has put it back in the spotlight. …

Consumers are redefining what loyalty looks like. Values like sustainability, authenticity, and transparency are driving decisions — and personalization is no longer a nice-to-have, it’s expected. Whether you’re shaping in-house campaigns or developing strategies for clients, this new white paper, Beyond the Purchase: The Future of Consumer Behavior in 2025, breaks down the trends that…

Maximizing return on ad spend (ROAS) in Google Ads is crucial for driving profitability.  However, without revenue data, PPC advertisers often default to focusing on cost per purchase – a strategy that can limit long-term growth.  While ROAS optimization enhances ad spend efficiency, it falls short if it doesn’t account for customer lifetime value (LTV). …

Google Ads has begun rolling out channel control for select Demand Gen campaigns. This feature will let you specify where your ads appear across Google’s properties. Yes, but. While the feature is live, segmentation by individual channel (e.g., YouTube, Discover, Gmail) is not yet available. This will limit your ability to make data-driven adjustments. Why…

Bluesky is quickly gaining attention as a growing social media platform – but what does that mean for the PPC community?  Here’s what you need to know and how to prepare for potential ad opportunities What is Bluesky? Bluesky is a social media platform that was originally founded as a research initiative at Twitter in…

Traffic from generative AI surged to U.S. retail sites over the holiday season and that trend has continued into 2025, according to new Adobe data. Between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31, traffic from generative AI sources increased by 1,300% compared to the year prior (up 1,950% YoY on Cyber Monday).  This trend continued beyond the…

From automating review responses to suppressing negative search results, AI is making online reputation management (ORM) faster, smarter, and more effective.  But while AI offers powerful tools, businesses must use them strategically to maintain authenticity and trust.  Here’s how AI is reshaping ORM – and what brands need to do to keep up. Online reputation…

Google today released the March 2025 core update. Google said this core update “rollout may take up to 2 weeks to complete.” Google also wrote: “Today we released the March 2025 core update to Google Search. This is a regular update designed to better surface relevant, satisfying content for searchers from all types of sites….

Short-form videos may dominate social media, but long-form content remains essential – especially on YouTube.  From in-depth tutorials to video podcasts, longer videos can drive engagement, build communities, and even get featured in Google’s AI Overviews.  If you’re looking to make the most of long-form video in 2025, here are the key strategies you need to…

Staying ahead in Google Ads means adapting fast.  With Video Action Campaigns (VAC) being phased out and absorbed into Demand Gen, you have a new opportunity to drive growth.  Fortunately, Google is rolling out powerful new tools to help maximize performance.  This article breaks down what’s changing and how to optimize your Demand Gen campaigns…

Google released new information about its ad review process, explaining its hybrid approach to enforcing policy violations across its advertising ecosystem. The details. Google’s clarification emphasizes: Reviews use a combination of AI systems and human evaluators Multiple information sources factor into violation determinations Content removal decisions apply to ads, assets, destinations, and entire accounts English…

Google will be replacing Google Assistant with Gemini later this year, this is across mobile phones, tablets, cars and devices that connect to your phone, such as headphones and watches and even some TV-connected devices. This comes as no surprise to most, because when Google launched Bard (the name Google used for Gemini early on),…

Google’s controversial site reputation abuse policy certainly ruffled a few feathers since its rollout last year. Well, like it or not, the policy is here to stay. That’s why publishers must fully understand what is and isn’t allowed – and what Google is actually trying to achieve – before making any drastic decisions. Acting too…

YouTube is rolling out new features that make it easier for creators and brands to connect their collaborative content with advertising campaigns. This comes after their introduction last year of tools to help brands better leverage creator content and its fast-growing Shorts format to drive measurable business outcomes The details. The platform has introduced two…

The SEO industry is undergoing a profound transformation in 2025.  As large language models (LLMs) increasingly power search experiences, success now depends on withstanding traditional algorithm fluctuations and strategically positioning brands within AI knowledge systems. This article explores key insights and practical implementation steps to navigate this evolving landscape. Withstanding algorithm updates in 2025 Traditional…

Is your landing page converting better—or worse—than your competitors’? If you’re not sure, now’s the time to find out. Unbounce’s new Conversion Benchmark Report provides a clear, data-backed look at how landing pages are performing across industries. The report includes median conversion rates by sector, giving marketers a useful baseline to assess their own performance….

For years, digital marketing has seen constant debates about the “death” of SEO.  But as long as people search for information, products, and services online, optimization will remain essential. Search platforms may evolve – whether Google, social media, ecommerce, or AI-driven search – but the core principle stays the same: content must be optimized for…

AI search engines and chatbots often provide wrong answers and make up article citations, according to a new study from Columbia Journalism Review. Why we care. AI search tools have ramped up the scraping of your content so they can serve answers to their users, often resulting in no clicks to your website. Also, click-through…

Google is gearing up for its annual Google Marketing Live event, set to stream on Wednesday, May 21, at 12 p.m. ET / 9 a.m. PT. What’s new: Ginny Marvin, Google Ads Liaison, announced the date on LinkedIn and encouraged advertisers to register for the event Vidhya Srinivasan, Google’s VP of Ads, shared a letter…

Google Ads scripts have long been a powerful way to automate account management, improve efficiency, and reduce manual work.  Whether it’s managing search terms, optimizing bids, or generating reports, scripts allow you to scale your efforts while maintaining control over your campaigns. Now, with generative AI, particularly GPT, scripts are becoming even more accessible and…

SEO is evolving faster than a fruit fly colony in a genetics lab – constantly adapting, mutating, and surprising even the experts. One day, long-form content reigns supreme; the next, AI-generated summaries are stealing the spotlight. Staying ahead requires smarter, data-driven insights. AI-powered tools like OpenAI’s Deep Research are reshaping how marketers approach content strategy,…

English-language keywords are becoming more competitive daily, making it harder to rank for popular terms – even with an unlimited budget.  To maximize your efforts, consider alternatives like multilingual or international SEO. Before we dive in, let’s clarify the difference:  Multilingual SEO involves multiple languages, regardless of the target country. For example, adapting a U.S….

After 12+ years in SEO, selling to hundreds of clients – from small businesses to global brands – I’ve learned what works when it comes to landing and retaining SEO clients. While every client is unique, there are clear strategies that consistently lead to success. This article tackles my best advice for winning new SEO…

Microsoft is bringing more transparency to its search advertising with a new feature that explains ad placement decisions directly in Bing results. Details: The feature appears as a dropdown option next to ad URLs in Bing search results Currently shows varying levels of detail depending on the user or region How it works. When users…

TikTok’s global advertising revenue is projected to reach $32.4bn this year, representing 24.5% year-over-year growth, even as the platform faces potential shutdown in its largest market according research done by WARC media. By the numbers (according to WARC Media): Global TikTok ad revenue is forecasted to hit $32.4 billion in 2025, marking a 24.5% YoY…

© 2025 Search Engine Land is a Trademark of Semrush Inc. Third Door Media operates business-to-business media properties and produces events, including SMX. It is the publisher of Search Engine Land, the leading digital publication covering the latest search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) marketing news, trends and advice. The company headquarters is 800…

Google appears to be testing channel reporting functionality for Performance Max campaigns, potentially addressing a major advertiser criticism of the automated campaign type. Driving the news: Documentation about Channel reporting coming to Performance Max was reported by Kirk Williams, Founder of Zato, with Google Search Lead Tetsuo Konno tagged in the reference on X. A…

Microsoft is ramping up its advertising efforts in Copilot, introducing new interactive ad formats and reporting improved ad relevance metrics. This is meant to enhance interactivity and personalization for users. The big picture. Copilot ads are now fully implemented in English, French, and German markets, with Spanish and Japanese coming soon. New ad formats. Microsoft…

Google AI Mode is now here and available within Google Search Labs; it is a new search mode that goes beyond AI Overviews with a more immersive Google Search AI interface that provides “more advanced reasoning, thinking and multimodal capabilities,” Google announced. Google also announced that AI Overviews are now powered by Gemini 2.0 and…

Google today rolled out new AI-driven shopping features to help users visualize and try on fashion and beauty products virtually. These updates aim to make online shopping more interactive and personalized. Key features: Vision match. Users can describe desired clothing items and AI generates visual suggestions with similar shoppable products. For example, search for a…

Google is beta testing Creator Partnerships in Google Ads. This new feature lets advertisers find and promote high-quality YouTube Shorts featuring their brand. How it works: Advertisers can discover Shorts videos from YouTube creators that mention their brand or products. The feature is powered by BrandConnect, Google’s creator marketing platform. Once enabled, Creator Partnerships can…

Google processes more than 5 trillion searches per year. This is the first time Google has publicly shared such a figure since 2016, when the company confirmed it was handling “more than 2 trillion” queries annually. By the numbers. Google revealed the new figure in a blog post today, saying it is based on internal…

Google’s Ads and Commerce product lead, Vidhya Srinivasan, today outlined how the company is reimagining advertising as “avenues for tailored exploration” in response to unpredictable consumer behavior. The big picture: Google is focusing on three key solutions to help advertisers break through: AI-powered shopping innovations. Google launched several new shopping features, including ads in Lens,…

Starting on Saturday, March 1, 2025, some advertisers have noticed their ads are not running and not getting impressions or clicks. The ads are simply not being served or delivered. In fact, there are tons of complaints about this in the Google Ads Forum. Google has not yet commented on the issue. What we know….

Branded search refers to the results that Google or an LLM (like ChatGPT) shows when someone searches for your brand name.  Whether you’re a small company or a large, established brand, ranking highly for these queries is essential – but it’s not always easy. If your brand is new or shares its name with other…

Google updated its documentation on how the Google Ads auction works to say, “We run different auctions for each ad location.” Previously, that document did not say that and the PPC community is wondering what changed and why Google did not announce this change more broadly. What changed. Google added these lines to the top of that…

Success in Google Ads hinges on how well you use your data. With AI-driven features like Smart Bidding, traditional PPC tactics like campaign structure and keyword selection don’t carry the same weight. However, Google Ads provides a goldmine of insights into performance, user behavior, and conversions.  The challenge? Turning that data into action. Enter Google’s…

It’s no longer groundbreaking to say that the SEO landscape is evolving. But this time, the shift is fundamental.  We’re entering an era where search is no longer just about keywords but understanding. At the core of this shift is vector-based SEO. Optimizing for vectors gives websites a major advantage in search engines and overall…

I’ve been auditing Google Ads accounts for over 10 years. I can confidently say that the same issues appear in most accounts. The good news? These issues are easy to fix and can quickly improve performance. The five key areas where I consistently find missed opportunities include: Location targeting: A default Google Ads setting can…

No SEO strategy is one-size-fits-all, but there are common practices we follow when helping websites recover from traffic losses or drive growth.  We see these patterns across projects, making them best practices within our agency.  While they may not apply to every situation, they consistently deliver results. Here are the SEO pitfalls to avoid if…

Searchers are twice as likely to click on a brand they know than a top-ranked result, according to a survey from link building agency Page One Power. 59% of Americans click on search results of brands they know. Less than one-third click on the top-ranked result. Why we care. Trust remains critical for brands in…

Google announced the release of version 19 of its Google Ads API, introducing several new features and improvements for developers. What’s new. Google published the highlights of what is new and those include: Added support automatically generating enhanced video assets for Performance Max campaigns. Removed all feed-related entities from the Google Ads API like Feed, FeedMapping, FeedService, AdGroupFeed, feed_placeholder_view. Users should now…

Shoppers expect fast, accurate, and personalized search results—but many retailers still struggle with product discovery. The State of Product Discovery in Digital Commerce 2025 report, based on insights from 200+ retailers, reveals how AI-driven search is transforming ecommerce. Conducted by London Research in partnership with Crownpeak, this report reveals how leading brands are: Optimizing site…

Understanding the difference between search bots and scrapers is crucial for SEO.  Website crawlers fall into two categories:  First-party bots, which you use to audit and optimize your own site. Third-party bots, which crawl your site externally – sometimes to index your content (like Googlebot) and other times to extract data (like competitor scrapers). This…

Webpages are significantly harmed when excluded from Google’s AI Overviews, but benefit when included in AI Overviews. That’s according to a new study by Terakeet, a company that focuses on brand management for global brands. AI Overviews benefits. Webpages featured in Google’s AI Overviews benefit from increased traffic, regardless of their original ranking. Of note:…

Microsoft is testing a new version of Bing named Copilot Search, where it uses Copilot AI to provide a different style of search results. It looks different from the main Bing Search, it looks different from Copilot and it looks different from the Bing generative search experience. More details. The folks over at Windows Latests…

Chegg, the publicly traded education technology company, has sued Google over its AI Overviews, claiming they have hurt its traffic and revenue. The company said that AI Overviews is “materially impacting our acquisitions, revenue, and employees.” What Chegg said. Chegg wrote: Second, we announced the filing of a complaint against Google LLC and Alphabet Inc….

LinkedIn introduced two new features aimed at helping marketers optimize their campaigns and prove their impact: the Conversions API (CAPI) and the Revenue Attribution Report (RAR). Driving the news: Conversions API (CAPI). Enables marketers to securely connect first-party online and offline data to LinkedIn. Tracks conversions from website actions, phone sales, and in-person events. Sends…

Geotargeting is one of the most powerful tools in a PPC advertiser’s arsenal. Whether you’re running ads for a local business, an international ecommerce brand, or a luxury travel destination, targeting the right locations can significantly impact performance. While most advertisers understand the basics (i.e., choosing countries, cities, or setting a radius), many aren’t fully…

Even in 2025, as platforms like LinkedIn (not known for creativity) double down on video, many new clients coming to us still haven’t made it part of their organic strategy. So, why should you invest in video?  Here are three key reasons: Increased SERP visibility: With a targeted strategy, YouTube videos have a higher chance…

A panel of three PPC marketing experts – Greg Finn (Cypress North), Kerri Amodio (Refine Labs), and Menachem Ani (JXT Group) – tackled a fundamental question at SMX Next: Is AI making marketers better? The panel discussed artificial intelligence’s evolving role in marketing, offering insights into its promises and pitfalls. The discussion was nuanced. While AI…

Google Ads is making a major change to its Search Partner Network by automatically opting all accounts out of serving ads on parked domains, websites that are registered but not actively developed, starting March 19. Details: Google will automatically opt out all advertiser accounts from showing ads on parked domains. The change will roll out…

The European Commission is preparing to charge Google with violating the Digital Markets Act (DMA) after the tech giant’s proposed changes to search results failed to satisfy regulators and rivals, according to sources familiar with the matter. The big picture. The EU has been investigating Google since March 2023 over concerns that it favors its…

Google AI Overview rankings – the webpages cited in the AI-generated answers – are more volatile than Google’s “classic” organic search rankings. Also, within two to three months, 70% of AI Overview rankings changed, according to a new analysis by Authoritas, an ecommerce SEO platform. Ranking volatility. Google’s organic search is volatile and has been…

Google is enhancing Search ads with AI-powered changes that aim to increase asset flexibility, improve performance, and deliver more relevant ad experiences. Driving the news. Here’s what’s changing: Greater flexibility in RSAs: Google’s AI now assembles and serves headlines, descriptions, and assets dynamically to improve performance. In some cases, Google may omit certain content, like…

Google announced it is expanding AI Overviews to show on more Google Lens results, including more novel or unique images. This is still only showing on a subset of searches, but now more than when Google first added AI Overviews to Google Lens in May of 2024. Plus, Google is also adding to its Chrome…

As of a few days ago, Google now allows advertisers to use fingerprinting to track users across devices and websites, collecting data points like IP addresses, operating system details, and screen resolution. Why we care. Google’s decision to permit fingerprinting, a powerful user-tracking technique it banned in 2019, raises significant privacy concerns and has already…

A new “Advanced Plans” section within Google Ads’ Reach Planner tool was spotted by digital marketing expert Brent Neale. How it works. Advanced Plans suggests a mix of ad types based on advertisers’ goals, creating specific plans for both conversion creation and capture. Why we care. The feature could help advertisers more effectively allocate their…

The traditional marketing funnel doesn’t reflect how users actually search and engage with content today—and it’s hurting your SEO. With access to more data than ever before, marketers now have a better framework for driving organic traffic: the spiderweb. By structuring your content strategy around interconnected, high-value pages, you can drive faster rankings, more organic…

We rely on search engines to find information every day, but what if there was a better way?  Instead of manually gathering details from multiple sources, AI agents can do the heavy lifting for you.  They don’t just retrieve information. They analyze, organize, and personalize it in real time. This article explores: How AI agents…

If you manage both SEO and PPC, striking the right balance is key to maximizing efficiency and ROI.  When paid search campaigns compete with high-performing organic listings, brands end up spending more while gaining little additional traffic.  Keyword cannibalization dilutes search performance, inflates costs, and reduces overall marketing effectiveness. This guide will help you recognize…

Google is capping Customer Match list durations at 540 days, a significant shift that could impact advertisers’ targeting strategies and campaign performance. By the numbers: New maximum duration: 540 days Implementation date: April 7, 2025 Affects: All Google Ads and Display & Video 360 platforms The big picture. The change aligns with growing privacy concerns…

Google released comprehensive answers to the most frequent questions about Performance Max, based on feedback from webinars, advertiser roundtables, and account team interactions. The big picture. Performance Max has become a central piece of Google’s advertising ecosystem, but marketers have expressed concerns about its “black box” nature and effectiveness across different business goals. Why we…

Google had this really visible bug over the past week, where the number of reviews shown on a Google Business Profile, was showing fewer reviews than it should have. In short, Google was not adding up the reviews accurately but no reviews were actually removed from the business listing. That being said, Google posted an…

As marketers, we love to explore emerging strategies and trends to stay ahead of the curve. However, what’s relevant and effective is always changing, despite countless case studies and think-pieces predicting the next big trend. Content marketing, in particular, is highly susceptible to speculation and testing because it is fluid and heavily influenced by consumers’…

After 25 years of working in SEO, I’ve seen firsthand how traditional keyword research methods fail to keep up with Google’s advancements.  In my SMX Next presentation, I challenged SEOs to go beyond outdated keyword methodologies and embrace an intent-driven approach.  Here are six key insights from that session. 1. Traditional keyword research is failing…

Join experts from OneTrust and Snowflake for an exclusive look into how modern organizations are integrating privacy and consent management into their data ecosystem. In this session, Snowflake and OneTrust will share real-world use cases and insights into how organizations are activating consent for marketing purposes, all while streamlining compliance at scale. Tune in on…

The concept of the funnel is so fundamental to digital marketing, it’s hard to imagine a world where it doesn’t serve as the go-to metaphor for lead generation and capture. There’s only one problem: it doesn’t fit with the way real humans engage with information on today’s internet. With access to more data than ever…

Google has updated its Merchant listing structured data guidelines to add a new beta for member pricing priceType, aka validForMemberTier property. Google also clarified the active prices, sale prices, strikethrough prices with more examples and instructions. What Google said. Google added examples and instructions for using the priceType property and new beta validForMemberTier property to encode active prices, sale prices,…

Google Analytics now allows administrators and editors to customize report collections and groupings, making navigation more tailored to business needs as announced by Carly Boddy, Product Manager at Google Analytics. How it works. Creating a Collection: Admins and editors can create up to seven collections per property. Navigate to Library in the left-side menu. Click…

Google Ad Manager and other ad services, including Campaign Manager 360 and Display & Video 360, are experiencing technical issues, causing disruptions for advertisers and publishers. What’s happening. Google Ad Manager. Users have reported error messages, high latency, and other unexpected behavior since 10:00 UTC on Feb. 12. Some hosted video creatives are stuck in…

Less than 1% of views of YouTube videos come from Google search clicks, according to a member of Google’s legal team. The quote. Here’s what Attorney John Schmidtlein said, according to Courthouse News Service: “Roughly less than 1% of views on YouTube come from people who click on [search] links,” Attorney John Schmidtlein of Williams…

Google will soon fully transition to automatically generated publication pages next month, in March. Back in April 2024, Google told us Publisher Center will soon stop allowing you to add publications and now this is the next step. This means that all publication pages in Google News will be generated automatically by Google. What Google…

Website migrations are one of the most challenging aspects of SEO. No matter how much experience you have in technical SEO, how detailed your plan is, or how thorough your checklist may be, unexpected issues can still arise.  That’s why post-migration monitoring is just as crucial as the migration itself – especially in the first…

Last week, Avinash Kaushik said, “The best way to make a Super Bowl ad effective is through ‘spike and sustain’ marketing.”  He also explained that releasing teasers, ads, and extended versions before the Big Game is part of the “sustain” strategy, building momentum ahead of the “spike” in viewership.  Super Bowl LIX drew 113 million…

Google introduced a new prediction model to better evaluate the quality of landing page experiences for search ads. This update is designed to reduce frustrating ad experiences and make it easier for users to find the information they need without unnecessary backtracking. Driving the news. Google’s new model improves its ability to predict whether a…

Google just made a move that disrupted rank tracking, potentially increasing costs and changing how search visibility is measured.  In January, Google implemented a requirement for JavaScript to render search results, which significantly impacted SEO tools that rely on scraping. (You may recall there was suddenly a great deal of volatility in the SERPs that…

In digital marketing, a common belief is that everything can be measured – clicks, conversions, and ROI.  Many advertisers assume that brand awareness is unnecessary and that performance marketing alone is enough to drive sales. After all, brand awareness campaigns don’t always generate immediate traffic or conversions visible in analytics. Their effects unfold over time,…

Mastering user intent is all about putting yourself in your user’s shoes. It’s easier to do that if you know what kind of shoes they’re wearing and why. Create and incorporate user personas in SEO decision-making to create actionable insights in the best interest of your actual users. Build your search personas User personas can…

UK news site the Sun ended 2024 by losing half of its audience, due in part to “algorithm changes at certain platforms,” according to the latest earnings report from parent company News Corp. On the earnings call, News Corp Chief Financial Officer Lavanya Chandrashekar was more specific, blaming “industry headwinds on search algorithms.” Yes, that…

Meta is expanding its AI-powered advertising tools to help businesses get better results from their campaigns, with early tests showing significant cost reductions and performance improvements. Details. Meta is rolling out these new features: A streamlined Advantage+ campaign setup that automatically applies AI optimizations to sales, app, and leads campaigns — removing the need for…

People are adopting AI as a complement to classic search, not a full replacement, according to a new survey by digital marketing agency Higher Visibility: 71.5% reported using AI tools for search; 14% use them daily. 79.8% prefer Google or Microsoft Bing for general information searches. 20.2% have changed their primary search platform within the…