Link Building Strategies

Google is testing adding an AI label to some of the search ads, the sponsored results, within the search results. Clicking on the AI label does nothing, according to Brodie Clark who spotted this.View the full article

Microsoft Bing is testing making the links within the AI results, the Copilot Search results, less clickable. Typically, the whole line of text is clickable to the citation but here, Bing is testing only linking the citation mark at the end.View the full article

Google's Ginny Marvin, the Ads Liaison, has confirmed there are delays for some Demand Gen Image ads to be approved. Some of these delays are several days pending, not hours, but several days.View the full article

Google may be doing something right with improving the click-through rates from the organic search results page that contain AI Overviews. An update report shows the CTR is improving, after numerous times showing the CTR has been declining. View the full article

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today...View the full article

Google is testing using a superscript font for the cents portion of the pricing in the Shopping Ads. So when you see a price for a product and it is listed for $99.99, the 99 cents is in superscript.View the full article

I am seeing new signs of the Google search ranking volatility heating up. When I reported on it last week, the tools began to show volatility trend upwards. But now, while some of the tools are calm, the chatter within the forums has spiked over the past 24 hours or so.View the full article

Google is now showing the number of reviews that were deleted on a specific Google Business Profile due to defamation complaints. This seems to be live in Germany and not other countries right now.View the full article

As you know, Google announced a new search spam penalty for back button hijacking. Site owners have until June 15, 2026 to remove any such functionality from its site or it will be subject to a manual action and/or automated algorithmic adjustment. Now, Google is sending email notifications through Search Console as reminders.View the full article

Krishna Madhavan from Microsoft Bing demo'ed some new AI reporting features that should launch within Bing Webmaster Tools soon. They include citation share, grounding query intent, semantic topic label, and GEO-focused recommendations. View the full article

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today...View the full article

Google Ads is testing a way for advertisers to preview the impact of a change, like adding negative keywords. It seems to be called "Preview impact estimates" and lets you estimate the impact of, in this case, adding specific negative keywords.View the full article

Google is testing having the AI Overview box "Ask Anything" section stick to the bottom of the Google Search box as you scroll down the AI Overview and the search results. This keeps AI Mode in your face during the whole search experience. View the full article

Google is testing removing some of the action buttons on local panels, Google Business Profiles, including call and share, and replacing it with a numbered show more button. Clicking on that button opens up those additional action options.View the full article

Just a heads up, that a small setting within Google AdSense under the vignette ads may trigger your site to get a Google search penalty - specifically for the new back button hijacking search spam rule.View the full article

Generally, when Google wants to take you into AI Mode from an AI Overview, it uses a button that says see more or some variation of that. But now Google is testing "Enter AI Mode" as the call to action.View the full article

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web. Some Google AdSense vignette ads may trigger the new back button hijacking search penalty...View the full article

Microsoft reported its third quarter 2026 earnings and it showed that its search and advertising revenue was up for 1120% and that means its ad growth is growing again. The previous quarter it was up 10% before that, up 16% and the one before that was 21% and this quarter...View the full article

Google reported its earnings today, its Q1 2026 earnings report showed ad revenues up by 15.5% at $77.3 billion and overall revenue was up 22% at $109.9 billion...View the full article

Google Ads seems to have added a new tab to the recommendations section named "results." I assume this section will show the results of any implemented recommendations you selected within your Google Ads campaigns.View the full article

Google Ads is testing more transparency around its partner network, letting some advertisers select if they want to run their ads on the search partner network and/or Google Display Network. It is labeled Partners in Alfa. View the full article

Google may be testing showing more links and citations within the AI Mode results. Google has done this with AI Overviews a year or so ago and now may be testing it with AI Mode results.View the full article

Microsoft Advertising has added conversion and spend metrics to the PMax Website Publisher URL report. So if you check out the report, you will see a bunch more insight and data into the performance of those ads.View the full article

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web. Google and Microsoft reported earnings...View the full article

I missed last month's Google Webmaster Report, so I am combining both April and May into one big report. Google completed rolling out the March 2026 spam update in March, and started the March core update, which completed in April. We also had a lot of other ranking volatility throughout.View the full article