SEO Tools and Resources

A report from AdWeek claimed Google privately told clients it plans to introduce ads in its Gemini AI chatbot in 2026 — but Google’s top ads executive is publicly denying it. Driving the news. AdWeek reported that Google reps, in recent calls with major advertisers, suggested that Gemini would get ad placements in 2026, separate from the company’s existing ads in AI Mode, the AI-powered search experience launched in March. Buyers said no prototypes, formats, or pricing were shown. The conversations were described as exploratory and lacked technical detail. Google says that’s wrong. Dan Taylor, Google’s VP of Global Ads, disputed the report directly on X, w…

Google is quietly testing a new way to make Shopping ads feel more local. Select ads using local inventory feeds now display the merchant’s city or town directly above the product title — think “London” or “Tonbridge” — giving shoppers a clearer sense of where the store is based. Why we care. The new location labels make Shopping ads feel more local and trustworthy, helping nearby retailers stand out in crowded results. Clear city or town indicators can increase click-through rates and drive more in-store visits from shoppers who prefer buying close to home. It also gives merchants using local inventory feeds a competitive edge by highlighting proximity without n…

If it feels like the entire internet woke up one day and decided to start every sentence with “AI,” you’re not wrong. Marketers are being hit with a daily wave of LinkedIn thought leaders, half-baked prompt hacks, and promises that ChatGPT is either going to 10x your productivity or take your job entirely. And in the middle of all this? You (the digital marketer). Marketers are trying to figure out if this is just another buzzword cycle or the beginning of a complete rewrite of how we do content, SEO, PPC, reporting, and, well, everything. So let’s break it down. Consider this your AI starting guide, written for marketers who are tired of needing a young…

LLMs like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude now sit across search, content generation, and recommendations. Now, 80% of tech buyers rely on generative AI at least as much as traditional search to research vendors, according to a Responsive survey of B2B buyers. This effective transfer of trust in AI discovery has become an enablement tool for B2B buyers, quietly deciding which brands get remembered and which get ignored. And those decisions, once invisible, are now measurable. Previsible has been studying this shift through a new lens called LLM perception drift, the month-over-month change in how AI models reference and position brands inside a given catego…

OpenAI is trying to reassure paying users after ChatGPT surfaced what looked like ads from brands like Target and Peloton – and said those prompts weren’t ads at all. What happened. Paying ChatGPT users shared screenshots of promotional-style prompts, including a message urging them to “Shop for home and groceries. Connect Target.” In response, OpenAI said those prompts were recommendations for apps built on the ChatGPT platform, with “no financial component.” Users saw a brand logo and a call to action – and drew the obvious conclusion: these were ads. Users were not pleased. One response: “Bruhhh… Don’t insult your paying users.” What OpenAI is sayi…

A recent test run by the Adalysis team reveals that Google’s new AI Max setting is reshaping how search terms are matched and reported — creating blind spots for advertisers who rely on precise keyword control. When AI Max isn’t the right fit. AI Max isn’t inherently bad, but advertisers should think twice if: Broad match historically underperforms in your account. Your top exact/phrase match keywords are already constrained by budget. You prefer not to use text customization or Final URL expansion — both built-in components of AI Max. If you only need broad match, you can add those keywords manually and keep full control. How AI Max interacts with…

Gemini 3 launched in AI Mode just a couple of weeks ago, but now Google is expanding it to about 120 countries and territories for English queries. Google’s Robby Stein said, “Gemini 3 is now available in AI Mode, across nearly 120 countries & territories in English.” What is AI Mode with Gemini 3. Google shared how AI Mode in Search is now using Gemini 3 to enable new generative UI experiences like immersive visual layouts and interactive tools and simulations, all generated completely on the fly based on your query. Gemini 3 is used in AI Mode in Search with more complex reasoning and new dynamic experiences. Just last week, Google automatically began u…

Microsoft Ads introduced two updates that could significantly improve campaign management and reporting for advertisers. The changes: Asset-level disapprovals: Ads will now be disapproved at the asset level—whether a single image, headline, or text line—allowing the rest of the ad to continue running. This reduces wasted spend and prevents entire campaigns from being paused due to a single issue. Conversion reporting transparency: Advertisers can now measure the average time it takes for 90% of conversions—online or offline—to be recorded after a click. This provides critical clarity for evaluating campaign performance and optimizing bidding strategies. Th…

Google is gearing up to launch Partner Match, a new targeting option that allows advertisers to use third-party partner data to create custom audiences for YouTube campaigns, according to newly published help documentation. How it works. Partner Match enables approved third-party partners to upload hashed user data—such as email, name, or ZIP code—which Google will match to signed-in YouTube accounts. Advertisers can then target these matched segments across: Video Reach campaigns Video Views campaigns Demand Gen campaigns (YouTube channel only) It will not support ad sequences or YouTube Select guaranteed deals. Where it’s available. Partner Match …

Since its launch in June we have been rolling out our integration with Site Kit by Google. Every Yoast SEO Premium customer now has access to it. The update brings key Google Analytics and Search Console insights directly into your Yoast Dashboard, giving you a clear view of your site’s performance without switching between tools or tabs. Previously, only users of Yoast SEO (free) and Yoast SEO Premium who already had the Site Kit plugin installed could use the integration. Access is now available to all Yoast SEO Premium customers even if Site Kit is not installed, and it will become available to remaining Yoast SEO (free) users soon. What you can do with the new…

Now that anyone can use AI to generate keywords and spin up a paid search campaign in minutes, it’s easy to assume the hard work is done. But creating structured, scalable performance still requires a genuine understanding of how search works. Techniques like n-grams, Levenshtein distance, and Jaccard similarity give search marketers the ability to interpret messy search term data, apply client context, and build reliable frameworks that AI alone can’t produce. Here’s how. What n-grams reveal in PPC and SEO analysis Think of n-grams as the “n” words that make up a keyword. For example, in the term “private caregiver nearby,” we have: 3 unigrams (one …

Major SEO platforms, such as Ahrefs and Semrush, along with agencies like Seer Interactive and other leading companies, have released substantial studies that appear to offer definitive answers. But a closer look reveals something else entirely: nearly every possible narrative about AI search impact has a “study” to support it. The more I examined the data, the clearer a more uncomfortable truth became – no one has the definitive answer, and the numbers can be sliced to validate almost any storyline. The core consensus that isn’t really consensus At first glance, the major studies agree on fundamentals. Ahrefs reports that top-ranking organic results …

If you entered PPC 20 years ago, testing was scientific, comforting, and one of the biggest reasons to run paid search campaigns. We proudly talked about all the data we collected. You had Ad X and Ad Y. You waited. You declared a winner. You paused the loser. It was a binary world of “Yes” or “No.” We used to swear that the title case descriptions outperformed sentence case descriptions. Or that putting a period at the end of a description line was the secret to performance. Today, if you apply that same rigid framework to Google Ads or Meta, you’ll fail. The world isn’t black and white. You can’t draw hard conclusions from most m…

Google will shut down three long-running Google Groups support forums for advertising developers early next year as it consolidates technical support into official channels. Driving the news. Google announced it will stop responding to new posts starting January 28, 2026. The forums will remain visible as read-only archives until later in the year, when Google plans to disable new posts entirely. After Jan. 28: Support agents will no longer reply on Google Groups. Replies to existing threads will trigger a new email thread with Google support instead. Content will stay online for reference — including past discussions and solutions. The shift. Googl…

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman issued an all-hands “code red” to improve ChatGPT – a move that could delay the company’s advertising plans – according to an internal memo obtained by The Wall Street Journal. Driving the news. Altman told employees the company must urgently improve ChatGPT’s personalization, speed, reliability, and ability to handle a wider range of questions. Daily calls, temporary team reassignments, and a companywide push now center on one priority: make ChatGPT better, fast. Nick Turley, who leads ChatGPT, said the team is focused on growing the assistant and making it feel “more intuitive and personal.” Why now? Competition is catching up. The …

Google launched a long-awaited update to Performance Max reporting, giving advertisers their first real look at how Search Partners contribute to PMAX performance. Driving the news. The update is now live in Google Ads, surfacing Search Partners directly inside the PMAX Channel Performance tables. Advertisers can now view: How Search Partners contribute to PMAX results Whether they add incremental value Performance compared with other PMAX channels Total spend directed to Search Partners What’s changing. This added transparency gives advertisers a clearer understanding of where PMAX allocates budget across channels — especially in search — and he…

Google is expanding its customer lifecycle capabilities in Google Analytics, launching new audience templates and dynamic remarketing features designed to make high-value targeting and re-engagement easier for advertisers. Driving the news. Google has introduced two new suggested audience templates in GA to help advertisers instantly build lifecycle segments: High-Value Purchasers — powered by purchase count or lifetime value, with Google adding a new LTV percentile field so marketers can isolate their top-tier customers. Disengaged Purchasers — defined by days since last purchase, giving Google a built-in way to help brands re-engage lapsed buyers. Google…

ChatGPT is currently down for many users of the popular OpenAI service. When you try to ask ChatGPT a question, you likely won’t get a response. OpenAI confirmed the issue on its status page saying, “We’re currently experiencing issues.” OpenAI added, “We have identified that users are experiencing elevated errors for the impacted services. We are working on implementing a mitigation.” What it looks like. Many are seeing just a black dot as a response to their questions within the ChatGPT interface: Offline for many. The OpenAI status screen shows the uptime by service: Downdetector shows the service has been reported as offline by thousands o…

Black Friday 2025 was a bit of a head-scratcher. Year on year, spend rose, impressions fell, but clicks and engagement stayed strong. The data (so far): Source: Optmyzr-connected Google Ads accounts (5,000+ ecommerce, 16,000 lead gen advertisers active both years). Conversion value and ROAS are still coming in — we’ll update when the full picture is ready. Two big takeaways: Visibility got pricier. Spend up ~17% across ecommerce and lead gen. Impressions fell year over year. Translation: advertisers paid more to reach roughly the same audience. Engagement held steady. Clicks and CTR up across the board. Lead gen saw slightly l…

Today, we’re rolling out an improvement to Yoast AI Brand Insights, part of the Yoast SEO AI+ package. You can now scan how your brand appears in answers generated by Perplexity, in addition to ChatGPT at no extra cost. This builds on our mission to help marketers, bloggers, and business owners understand how their brand is represented across major AI platforms. AI powered answers are fast becoming a new gateway for discovery. People increasingly turn to AI tools to research, compare, and choose products or services. Those answers often mention brands as recommendations or sources. When someone asks a question in your niche, you should be able to see if your brand i…

Google’s AI Overviews have reshaped search almost overnight. For paid search marketers, the fight for above-the-fold visibility is no longer just about ad rank – it’s now a push to appear above the AI result itself. This shift follows the rapid surge in AI Overviews that Adthena highlighted in our previous study. That analysis showed AI Overviews quickly moving beyond informational queries and into shorter, high-volume commercial searches. The mechanism behind this decline is clear: AI Overviews intercept attention, cut click-through rates (CTRs), and push both organic and paid listings lower on the page. The result: fewer clicks and less revenue. Adthena’s ne…

Managing budgets across multiple paid media channels is one of the most important skills in a PPC marketer’s toolkit. You’re constantly deciding how to allocate spend across channels and campaigns, how to handle big budget swings, and whether to set total or daily budgets. In an AI-driven ad platform world, campaign budgets remain one of the few levers marketers still fully control – and they deserve careful thought. Structuring your budget effectively Depending on your business model, you may have more or less input into the overall paid media budget. However, you usually have more control over how that budget gets broken out across channels and cam…

Google’s Daily Hub is more complex than it first appears. It’s part of the broader acceleration toward hyperpersonalization we’ve been seeing in recent months – Preferred Sources, Profile Pages with followable elements in Discover, Brand Profiles in Merchant Center – all converging toward a single goal: anticipating your needs before you even formulate a query. Daily Hub is the concrete expression of the “News Digest and Daily Brief” agent identified during our investigations this summer into Google’s 90 AI projects via the AI Mode debug menu. The internal architecture of the system, which Damien Andell managed to decrypt and share with me in advance, reveal…

Google has changed its search bar on the Google home page by adding the ability to upload a file or an image, and then the user experience takes you directly to AI Mode. This is different from uploading an image and Google taking you to Google Search with image results and Google Lens features. Instead, this upload feature takes you into the AI Mode experience. What it looks like. Here is a video I made of the searcher’s flow: More AI Mode. Google continues to push searchers away from Google Search’s traditional search results, including AI Overviews, and directly into AI Mode. This includes Google most recently pushing searchers from AI Overviews into A…

Search has moved far beyond blue links and basic ranking signals. People now discover information on Google, TikTok, Pinterest, Amazon, YouTube, and an expanding layer of generative AI platforms that synthesize answers from trusted sources. As SERPs shift toward rich results and AI summaries, users often get what they need without needing to click at all. In this environment, brand authority isn’t just tied to your domain. It spans platforms, formats, and the systems that learn from your content. Modern off-page SEO must support both search engines and the AI models that evaluate and surface your expertise. This off-page optimization guide breaks down …