SEO Tools and Resources

Google is overhauling its ad blocking controls in AdSense and Ad Manager, replacing the “Ad networks” option with a new “Authorized Buyers” control starting Nov. 6. This move seems designed to give publishers more transparency and control over who can bid on their inventory. The change modernizes Google’s brand safety tools to reflect the current programmatic landscape, shifting focus from traditional ad networks to authorized buyers, including DSPs and trading desks that programmatically access Google Partner Inventory. Driving the news. The new Authorized Buyers page lets publishers allow or block specific buyers from bidding on their inventory and view detailed…

Google is working toward a future where it understands what you want before you ever type a search. Now Google is pushing that thinking onto the device itself, using small AI models that perform nearly as well as much larger ones. What’s happening. In a research paper presented at EMNLP 2025, Google researchers show that a simple shift makes this possible: break “intent understanding” into smaller steps. When they do, small multimodal LLMs (MLLMs) become powerful enough to match systems like Gemini 1.5 Pro — while running faster, costing less, and keeping data on the device. The paper, “Small Models, Big Results: Achieving Superior Intent Extraction through D…

Google is cleaning up outdated requirements in Google Ads, reflecting how legacy ad formats have evolved into newer, more automated products. What’s happening. As of March 17th, Google discontinued multiple ad format policies, including those related to form ads, image quality, responsive ads, and text ads. What changed. These requirements are being removed because the original formats have transitioned into newer campaign types and ad experiences, making the old policy frameworks no longer relevant. Why we care. This update simplifies the policy landscape in Google Ads, reducing confusion around outdated requirements tied to legacy formats. What advertise…

Google acknowledged that Performance Max (PMax) campaigns can be controlled through API placement exclusions — contradicting months of its own documentation and support guidance, according to new research from ad tech firm Optmyzr. This revelation gives advertisers more programmatic control over their PMax campaigns than previously thought possible, potentially saving significant time and resources in campaign management. The big picture. Performance Max campaigns, Google’s AI-driven ad format, have been a source of frustration for advertisers seeking more granular control over where their ads appear. Lead up. Earlier this year we saw that despite Navah Hopkin…

Google is rolling out Preferred Sources globally after launching the feature in the US and India last August. Plus, Google announced a new feature Spotlighting subscriptions that highlights links from your news subscriptions within Gemini and will later come to Google Search via AI Overviewa and AI Mode. Preferred Sources. Preferred sources let searchers star sources within the Top Stories section of Google Search, and then Google will use that information to show more stories from that starred source. It was in beta in June and then rolled old in the US and India in August. It is now rolling out globally. Robby Stein, VP of Product, Google Search, wrote, “We’re n…

Searchers can now find out who paid for the ads they see, as Google is beginning to roll out its Ads Transparency policy. This update makes ad funding more visible to users. This new label could impact how consumers perceive and trust advertisements. Advertisers now have less ability to obscure financial relationships. What it looks like. Google’s My Ad Center now features a new transparency section labeled Ads funded by. Anthony Higman, CEO of ADSQUIRE, spotted the implementation and shared screenshots on LinkedIn. Why we care. Google’s new Ads funded by labels expose previously hidden agency-client relationships and parent company connection…

Google AI Overviews are now available in several new European regions today, after Google began testing them earlier this month. As a reminder, Google has expanded its AI Overviews within Google Search to over 100 different countries. This is up from just several countries last year, including the US, UK, India, Japan, Indonesia, Mexico and Brazil. Then last October AI Overviews expanded to an additional 100+ countries. New regions. Google rolled out AI Overviews in these EU regions today: Germany (German and English) Belgium (English only at launch) Ireland (English) Italy (Italian and English) Austria (German and English) Poland (Polish and …

Google today began rolling out Gemini 3 Flash as the default model powering AI Mode in Search worldwide. The upgrade brings faster performance and stronger reasoning to AI-generated search responses, Google said. Why we care. With AI Mode, Google continues to transition toward an AI-first search approach. More queries could be answered directly in AI Mode, reducing reliance on traditional organic listings. Improved reasoning allows AI Mode to handle comparison and planning tasks, multi-intent searches, and research-style queries. What’s changing. Gemini 3 Flash now powers AI Mode in Search globally. It replaces earlier Flash-class models previously used in AI…

Google is expanding Merchant Center for Agencies worldwide, giving agencies a centralized way to manage product data, diagnose issues and spot growth opportunities across multiple clients. What’s happening. After launching in the U.S. and Canada, Merchant Center for Agencies is now rolling out globally to all agency users. The tool is designed to help agencies manage merchant accounts at scale as product data becomes more critical to performance across shopping and discovery experiences. Why we care. Managing product feeds across multiple clients has long been fragmented and time-consuming. This update brings those workflows into one place — helping agenci…

Google is adding three new “agentic” safety features to Ads Advisor, its AI assistant inside Google Ads, aimed at reducing manual work while tightening security and compliance. As campaigns grow more complex, advertisers are spending more time fixing policy issues, managing access, and handling certifications. Google’s pitch: let AI handle the heavy lifting so marketers can focus on performance. What’s new. The update introduces proactive troubleshooting, always-on security monitoring, and instant certifications — all powered by AI and Gemini capabilities. Zoom in: Ads Advisor can now flag and help resolve policy violations automatically, even before adve…

Google is rolling out new tools to help advertisers better understand performance across increasingly complex customer journeys. What’s happening. As AI continues to transform campaigns, creatives and targeting, Google is introducing updates focused on data integration, experimentation and media mix modelling — all aimed at helping marketers turn fragmented signals into actionable insights. Why we care. Automation has made it easier to run campaigns, but harder to understand what’s actually working. These updates make it easier to connect data, prove what’s actually driving results, and make smarter budget decisions across channels. As AI handles more of the execu…

Google is globally launching a new “Sponsored results” label across desktop and mobile, grouping text and Shopping ads under a clearer header. The update marks one of Google’s most visible ad labeling changes in years. It allows users to hide groups of ads directly on the search results page. How it works. Text ads will now appear under a larger Sponsored results header. The same label will apply to other formats, like Shopping ads. Users can choose to hide entire groups of sponsored results for a more personalized browsing experience. Why we care. Clearer ad labeling and the option for users to hide sponsored results could influence ad visibil…

Google is laying the groundwork for “agentic commerce,” where users can complete purchases directly inside AI-driven search experiences. What’s happening. Google has published a new onboarding guide for its Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) in Merchant Center, outlining how merchants can integrate with the system and enable checkout directly from product listings in AI Mode and Gemini. The big picture. As AI search evolves from discovery to transaction, Google is pushing to keep users within its ecosystem by embedding shopping and checkout into conversational experiences. How it works. Merchants must first complete a technical integration, then submit an inter…

Google launched a beta integration for Google Tag Gateway that lets advertisers deploy it through Google Cloud Platform (GCP) using a new one-click workflow inside Google Tag Manager and Google tag settings. What’s new. The GCP integration uses Google Cloud’s Global external Application Load Balancer to route tag traffic through an advertiser’s own first-party domain before sending it to Google. The goal is to streamline deployment while improving data signal quality and resilience against ad blockers and technologies like Apple’s Intelligent Tracking Prevention. Why we care. As browsers and platforms continue to limit third-party tracking, advertisers are loo…

Google’s long-awaited total campaign budget option is now appearing in Performance Max campaigns across non-U.S. This could be the start of a global beta rollout. What’s happening: The total budget option now appears alongside the traditional average daily budget in PMax. Google previously said the feature would expand to Search, Shopping, and PMax, and this rollout suggests that expansion is underway. Marketers in the field — including those flagged by Thomas Eccel and shared by Mohamed Hamed (Turki) — are already seeing it live. Why we care. Advertisers have spent years manually calculating average daily budgets from fixed totals — especially painf…

Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis says Gemini won’t get ads — at least for now — as Google prioritizes trust and core assistant quality over monetization. What’s new. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Hassabis said Google has “no plans” to introduce ads into Gemini, emphasizing a focus on building a better, more capable assistant across use cases and form factors. He suggested that monetization can wait while the technology matures. The contrast. The comments come just days after OpenAI announced it would begin testing ads in the free and low-cost tiers of ChatGPT. Hassabis called the move “interesting,” suggesting it may reflect revenue pressure rat…

Although Google continues to test ads in AI Mode, users who connect apps to enable Personal Intelligence won’t see ads — and that isn’t changing right now, a Google spokesperson confirmed. What’s happening. Google has been testing ads inside AI Mode in the U.S. Early results: users find these business connections “helpful,” per Google. But there’s a clear carveout: no ads for users who opt into app-connected, highly personalized experiences. The details. Google today expanded Personal Intelligence in AI Mode as a beta to anyone in the U.S., allowing Gemini to generate more tailored responses by connecting data across its ecosystem, including Google Search…

Google Search is entering an “expansionary moment” driven by longer queries, more follow-up questions, and growing use of voice and images. That’s according to Alphabet’s executives who spoke on last night’s Q4 earnings call. In other words: Google Search is evolving into AI-driven experiences where conversations increasingly happen inside Google’s own interfaces. Why we care. AI in Google Search is no longer an experiment. It is a structural change that is altering user behavior and is reshaping discovery, visibility, and traffic across the web. By the numbers. Alphabet’s Q4 advertising revenue totaled $82.284 billion, up 13.5% from $72.461 billion 2024: …

Google’s Nick Fox, the SVP of Knowledge and Information at Google, said in a recent podcast that doing optimization for AI search is “the same” as doing optimization and SEO for traditional search. He added, you want to build great sites, with great content, for your users. More details. This came up in the AI Inside podcast with Jason Howell and Jeff Jarvis interviewing Nick Fox. Here is the transcript from the 22 minute mark: Jeff Jarvis ask, “And is is there are there is there guidance for enlightened publishers who want to be part of AI about how they should view, should they view their content in any say differently no?” Nick Fox responded, “The short an…

Google has updated its JavaScript SEO basics documentation to clarify how Google’s crawler handles noindex tags in pages that use JavaScript. In short, if “you do want the page indexed, don’t use a noindex tag in the original page code,” Google wrote. What is new. Google updated this section to read: “When Google encounters the noindex tag, it may skip rendering and JavaScript execution, which means using JavaScript to change or remove the robots meta tag from noindex may not work as expected. If you do want the page indexed, don’t use a noindex tag in the original page code.” In the past, it read: “If Google encounters the noindex tag, it skips renderin…

Google said it is now able to catch 20 times the number of scammy pages within Google Search than it was previously. Google also said that it reduced the number of bad actors on the web impersonating airline customer service providers by more than 80% within Google Search. Google credits its AI and improved classifiers for these changes. The numbers. Google gave these two stats when it comes to improving the safety of the Google Search results: Google Search can “catch 20-times the number of scammy pages” Google Search has reduced fake phone number “scams by more than 80% in Search” AI and classifier improvements. Google credits these improvements to i…

Google Search Query Reports are becoming less literal and more AI-interpreted, reflecting inferred intent rather than exact user searches. What’s happening. Google has clarified that the search terms shown in Search Query Reports may not exactly match what users typed. Instead, the platform may display the “closest approximation” of a query because of the complexity of modern search behavior. What’s behind it. The change reflects how heavily AI now influences Google Ads matching systems. Rather than relying solely on exact keywords, Google increasingly interprets user intent, context and behavior signals to determine which ads to show. Why we care. For adv…

John Mueller from Google posted an SEO tip and reminder for those who use cloud services, such as AWS, Azure, Google Cloud or others, to host images, videos or other content. John explained that you should probably verify those within Google Search Console. This will give you the ability to track the performance of those files in Google Search, including any debugging information when necessary. Of course, in order to do this, you need to be able to control the DNS and most give you the option to do that through DNS CNAME. So you can set up your DNS to control those files in that cloud environment. For examples, it can be images.domain.com or videos.domain.com and …

Google Ads is rolling out a major policy change around how advertisers can use prescription drug terms, marking one of the biggest shifts in healthcare ad regulation on the platform in years. What’s new. Starting Oct. 29, Google will restrict the use of prescription drug terms in ads, landing pages, and keywords, with different rules depending on location. In the U.S., Canada, and New Zealand: advertisers may promote prescription drugs if compliant with local laws. Certification is now required to keyword-target prescription terms, applying to online pharmacies, telemedicine providers, and pharmaceutical manufacturers. Everywhere else: Promotion of prescriptio…

Google unexpectedly decided not to implement a new standalone prompt for third-party cookies in Chrome, allowing ad tech companies to continue using this targeting technology in the world’s most popular web browser. “We’ve made the decision to maintain our current approach to offering users third-party cookie choice in Chrome, and will not be rolling out a new standalone prompt for third-party cookies,” Anthony Chavez, VP of Privacy Sandbox at Google, wrote in a blog post. Between the lines. While Google is stepping back from the cookie prompt, a third party consent mechanism first mentioned in February, it isn’t abandoning Privacy Sandbox entirely. The company pl…