SEO Tools and Resources

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 unusual patterns (e.g., unexpected conversion spikes), then analyzes several combinations of dimensions and metrics to determine probable causes. It then delivers explanations in plain language directly within the Analytics interface. Generated insights appear natively within detailed reports…

Four new AI-powered updates aimed at supercharging how brands create content, capture attention, and convert clicks to customers, all through smarter automation and immersive visuals, were unveiled at Google Marketing Live 2025. 1. Next-gen creatives: Lights, camera, Veo Google is upgrading its creative suite with cinematic AI tools: Image-to-video transformation, now powered by the company’s Veo model (recently demoed at I/O), lets advertisers convert still product shots into motion-driven visuals. It’s live in Merchant Center and coming soon to Google Ads. AI outpainting, the same tech used to expand “The Wizard of Oz” visuals at Las Vegas’ Sphere, now al…

Google Discover started rolling out on desktop to the Google homepage in New Zealand and Australia. And we’re getting our first look at it. We learned Google Discover is coming to desktop last month. Perhaps this will be among Google’s announcements at I/O, which takes place May 20-21? What it looks like. Here’s a screenshot of Google Discover from New Zealand that I am able to see: Why we care. This is potentially good news for publishers – especially those that have lost traffic due to AI Overviews and generative AI in the last year. Publishers that get their content into Discover can get massive amounts of traffic. The links. These were shared by Da…

YouTube pitched advertisers on a new suite of ad formats aimed at tapping into its massive connected TV audience. Among the highlights from yesterday: interactive shopping ads that let viewers browse and buy products directly from their television screens. YouTube is capitalizing on its dominance in streaming to blur the line between passive viewing and active shopping, positioning itself as a key player in the convergence of TV and ecommerce. The big picture. YouTube is targeting the “second screen” with interactive shopping features designed for how people actually watch TV today: A new shoppable CTV offering displays products on the side of TV screens duri…

Google Ads today announced AI Max, a new tool to reach untapped queries and tailor ads with a single click. Rolling out globally in beta later this month, Google said AI Max integrates its most advanced targeting and creative tools into Search campaigns. Smarter matching. Broad match and keywordless tech help advertisers tap into high-performing queries they may have otherwise missed. Google AI learns from existing keywords, creative, and URLs to identify new opportunities. Real-time creative adaptation. New “text customization” (formerly “automatically created assets”) creates headlines and descriptions tailored to a user’s query – adapting on the fly to matc…

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 tactics on LinkedIn. Why we care. The dispute highlights growing tensions between digital advertising platforms and privacy advocates as California lawmakers consider new regulations on data collection practices. AB 566 would require browsers and mobile operating systems to of…

AI-powered search is changing fast. Are you ready? Join our expert panelists for The Impact of ChatGPT and Generative AI on Search: Insights from Industry Experts where they will dive deep into the evolving landscape of AI and search marketing. In this insightful session you’ll discover: How AI search is reshaping SEO and what it means for your strategy. Practical tips to optimize your content for AI tools Why brand awareness and authoritative content are crucial for success in AI-powered search. Whether you’re an SEO professional, marketer, or business leader, this webinar offers the strategic insights you need to stay competitive in an AI-driven digit…

Google Ads has 718 reviews on TrustPilot with a 1.1-star rating. That’s a shockingly low score for a platform that has helped countless businesses grow and created entire careers in digital marketing. Let me preface this by saying that this isn’t meant to be an angry rant. Google Ads has provided incredible opportunities, but the overwhelming number of negative reviews clearly shows that advertisers face serious frustrations daily. Poor support, unexplained account suspensions, rising costs, and a lack of transparency have left many users feeling helpless. These aren’t just isolated issues – they’re widespread problems that need attention. So, wh…

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 and so on” because they don’t want to state what is becoming clear to most of us? That click-through rates from AI Overviews are, simply, lower? Because, on the organic side, data shows that is certainly the case (see our Dig Deeper section, below). Many websites have seen traffic decline since AI Overviews launched last May. The e…

Google has confirmed issues with the Local Service Ads advertiser console and said they are “investigating and working to resolve this with high priority.” Since this morning, advertisers trying to access the Google Local Service Ads advertiser console have been hit by timeouts, 500 status codes and other errors preventing them from manage LSAs. Confirmation. Ginny Marvin, Google’s Ads Liaison, confirmed the issue on X just minutes ago: The team is investigating and working to resolve this with high priority. — AdsLiaison (@adsliaison) April 2, 2025 The issue. There are a number of complaints on social media about LSAs not being accessible. Here are some …

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 price. Percentage off. Free shipping. You can turn each on or off, style them how you want, or let Meta choose what performs best. Each overlay can be toggled on or off, and you can customize the look – or let Meta decide what to show based on performance signals. The big picture. It’…

After a couple of months of testing, Microsoft has officially and formally announced the launch of Copilot Search in Bing. “Today we’re excited to introduce Copilot Search in Bing,” Microsoft announced on its Search blog. Microsoft explained Copilot Search in Bing as: “Copilot Search seamlessly blends the best of traditional and generative search together to help you find what you need – and meet you where you’re at in your discovery journey.” How to access it. You can access this new search experience: (1) Going to Bing.com and accessing it via the navigation bar. (2) Clicking on the suggested, related topics right under relevant answers in Bing. …

Most advertisers spend hours managing keywords, bids, and targeting – but overlook the one thing searchers actually notice: the ad itself. If your ads aren’t strong, nothing else in your account can save you. Why ad copy is the heart of your PPC account When I look at how many Google and Microsoft Ads accounts are being managed, I see a lot of time devoted to: Search term management. Complex bid strategies. Keyword research. Inactionable data analysis. In many accounts, the ads are often neglected. However, your ads are the most crucial part of your PPC account. Your ads are the only aspect of your account that a searcher sees. …

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 fairly troublesome issues. One of these issues, which we see repeatedly and completely derails the success of projects – even by experienced agencies – is the misunderstanding between SEO strategy and SEO planning. This article defines these terms and shows a simple way to ensure both strategy and planning are tackled with the rigor that the modern, h…

Google started placing ads inside chat conversations with some third-party AI assistants, according to a Bloomberg report, marking another step in its push to monetize AI-powered search alternatives. Driving the news. Google’s AdSense network — traditionally used for placing ads in search results and across websites — is now running ads within chatbot interactions, according to people familiar with the rollout. The company reportedly began testing the feature earlier this year with conversational AI search startups iAsk and Liner. A Google spokesperson confirmed that AdSense is available “for websites that want to show relevant ads in their conversational AI e…

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 numbers. It gives you context — by vertical, by strategy, and by conversion event — so you can benchmark smarter, optimize where it matters, and stop second-guessing your results. Download the full report to see where your landing pages really stand. View the full article

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 traffic drop by half, and others fell completely out of the rankings for posts that had been steady performers for years. The volatility didn’t just shake the search results; it shook people’s confidence in the entire system. Just eight days earlier, on March 5, Google launched its much-anticipated AI Mode, officially opening the floodgates fo…

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 that helps you identify which creative is actually moving the growth needle and where to go from there. This article covers: B2B creative trends to know for 2025. Paid social creative testing recommendations. Common paid social creative testing mistakes. General. LinkedIn. Meta…

Google Ads is upgrading Performance Max campaigns with new reporting tools that offer deeper visibility into channel performance, search terms, and creative assets. What’s new. Three new insight reports are coming soon: Channel-level reporting: This will give detailed breakdowns of how each Google platform (including Search, YouTube, Display, Discover, Gmail, Maps, and partners) contributes to campaign success. (Tests were spotted last month.) Full search terms reporting. This addition offers the same keyword-level visibility in Search and Shopping campaigns. Asset reporting. This expansion will include impressions, clicks, and cost data, so you can…

As AI-powered SEO platforms evolve, they’re rewriting the economics of search engine optimization. This transformation threatens to upend the traditional agency model in three ways: Dramatically lower costs. Automate technical capabilities. Provide unbiased, data-driven decisions. Yet, this disruption might lead to industry consolidation and expansion as fewer but larger agencies emerge to serve an expanding market of SEO adopters. This article looks at how to survive the new agency economics. The economics of disruption Today’s SEO agency model typically involves monthly retainers ranging from $2,000 to $20,000, depending on the scope and co…

Most marketers know the abbreviation ABC – “always be closing.” In SEO, there’s an even more important one – ABT, or “always be testing.” The more you test your theories about what works for your users, the more you’ll learn new strategies to optimize and improve your site. And testing is always valuable, even if your tests aren’t always winners (and they definitely won’t all end up the way you predict). One of the most interesting tests I’ve ever run was actually a failure. Our testing team developed some new CTA button copy, backed by user testing and keyword research, that we hypothesized would improve conversion rate. After testing our new …

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 view your method calls under Metrics. Look for any v17 activity, e.g. google.ads.googleads.v17.services.GoogleAdsService.Mutate. Why we care. Businesses and developers relying on the v17 API must migrate to a newer version to keep campaigns running smoothly. Any delay risks outages in campaign management, reporting, and automation. Need help? The Google Ads…

Google today published new guidance on how to “succeed” in its evolving AI-powered search experiences. What’s new. The only real (sort of) news here is that Google has put into writing what Google’s Elizabeth Reid and others have said in recent months – that AI-driven searches are increasing engagement and creating higher-quality clicks. Also: Google said tools like nosnippet and max-snippet apply to AI content as well. This is more of a reminder that you can limit how your website appears – or doesn’t – in AI Overviews. Google suggested going beyond text and thinking multimodal. In other words, use high-quality images and videos, plus make sure your Merchant…

Ad headlines are one of the foundational building blocks of your campaign. These tiny bits of text create a first impression for your target customer, and play a real role in convincing them to click (or scroll right past). And yet, if you’re honest with yourself, does writing headlines usually come as an afterthought? In this article, we’ll cover everything you need to know about crafting Google Ads headlines across campaign types, including: How many headlines do you need in Google Ads? What is a long headline in Google Ads? Will my search ad headlines always show up? How to get Excellent Ad Strength with your headlines How to craft ad hea…

“This call is being recorded for Google algorithm optimization purposes.” On April 22, Google Ads notified Local Services Ads (LSA) advertisers of a significant update to its Terms of Service, asserting the right to use, modify, and analyze all content within an advertiser’s LSA profile, including phone calls from prospective customers. These rights extend not only across Google’s platforms, products, and services, but also to its affiliates. And yes, Google has already been digitally eavesdropping on LSA phone calls. In July 2024, they replaced the previously manual (and relatively accurate) lead dispute process with an automated, AI-driven system. …