SEO Tools and Resources

Google says it’s dramatically cut down on mistaken advertiser suspensions — a long-standing frustration for many legitimate marketers using its platform. By the numbers: Incorrect account suspensions are down over 80%. Suspension appeals are being processed 70% faster. 99% of appeals are now resolved within 24 hours. Why we care. Advertisers depend on uninterrupted access to Google Ads to reach customers and drive revenue. Erroneous suspensions can derail campaigns and business operations, especially for small and mid-size advertisers. How they did it: Clarified policy language to make compliance simpler. Used Google’s Gemini AI to sharpen d…

AI referral traffic accounts for just over 1% of all website visits across 10 major industries, according to a new Conductor AI search benchmark report. AI referral traffic. 1.08% of all web traffic came from AI referrals. Digging deeper: ChatGPT drove 87.4% of all AI referrals across the dataset. IT (2.8%) and Consumer Staples (1.9%) led all industries. Communication Services (0.25%) and Utilities (0.35%) saw the lowest shares. AI referrals increased by ~1% month over month across all industries. AI answer engine market share. ChatGPT overwhelmingly dominated, followed by Perplexity. There were some interesting differences by industry (e.g., G…

Advertisers setting up Performance Max (PMax) campaigns in Google Ads are spotting something unexpected — video assets from their Twitter (X) ad accounts showing up in the “Suggested” section for creatives. How it works: The discovered videos were automatically uploaded to a YouTube channel associated with the advertiser’s account. A transparency message confirmed the data’s origin: “Videos from other ad platforms are sourced by third-party provider @Pathmatics (by Sensor Tower).” Advertisers are prompted to confirm they have the legal rights to use and share the videos for Google Ads. What Google says. Google Ads Liaison Ginny Marvin confirmed the …

Google has released several new AI powered AI shopping search features across AI Mode, the Gemini app and Google Search. “Today we’re introducing a major AI shopping update across Google, just in time for this holiday season,” Google announced. What’s new. Here are quick bullet points on what is new: In AI Mode, you can describe what you’re looking for just as you’d say it to a friend and get an intelligently organized response that brings together visuals and all the details you need (like price, reviews and inventory info), helping you quickly and confidently decide what to buy. Simplify your shopping in the Gemini App . Now Gemini can brainstorm gift ideas,…

Court filings in Google’s antitrust case revealed FastSearch, a proprietary system few search marketers have heard of. It sits at the core of how Google grounds its AI Overviews, prioritizing speed over the deeper analysis behind traditional search results. That distinction raises an important question: what exactly does FastSearch prioritize? What is Google FastSearch? FastSearch is Google’s internal technology for grounding Gemini models and generating AI Overviews. While traditional Google Search analyzes massive amounts of web data using hundreds of ranking signals, FastSearch takes a more targeted approach. The antitrust case filing explains: …

As generative AI becomes more embedded in search and content experiences, it’s also emerging as a new source of misinformation and reputational harm. False or misleading statements generated by AI chatbots are already prompting legal disputes – and raising fresh questions about liability, accuracy, and online reputation management. When AI becomes the source of defamation It’s unsurprising that AI has become a new source of defamation and online reputation damage. As an SEO and reputation expert witness, I’ve already been approached by litigants involved in cases where AI systems produced libelous statements. This is uncharted territory – and while so…

Did you know that even a one-second delay in page loading speed can cause up to 11% fewer page views? That’s right, you might have the best content strategy and a solid plan to drive traffic, but visitors won’t stay long if your site lags. Page speed is one of the biggest factors in keeping users engaged and converting. In this guide, we’ll uncover the most common causes of slow websites and explore proven ways to boost website performance. Whether your site feels sluggish or you simply want to make it faster, these insights will help you identify what’s holding it back and how to fix it. Table of contents What do we mean by ‘website performance’ and why is it i…

As AI transforms how users search for information online, we all face a new challenge: ensuring our content is visible and impactful within emerging AI platforms. While traditional SEO tactics remain crucial, brands must also embrace AI SEO to truly excel. By optimizing content for AI systems, brands can ensure they stand out in AI-generated responses and large language models (LLMs) like Google’s Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, and ChatGPT. Ninety percent of businesses are concerned about losing SEO visibility as AI reshapes search, according to a recent survey. The same report also found that 61.2% of businesses plan to increase their SEO budgets due to the growing …

Link building is an essential part of SEO. It helps search engines find, understand, and rank your pages. You can write the perfect post, but if search engines cannot follow at least one link to it, your content may stay hidden from view. Table of Contents What is link building? What is a link? Internal and external links Anchor text and why it matters Why we build links Link building as digital PR Link quality over quantity Avoid shady link-building tactics How to earn high-quality links Link building in the era of AI and LLM search Examples of effective link building In conclusion TL;DR For Google to discover your pages, you need links from other websites. T…

Google parent Alphabet is expected to face a new EU investigation over claims that it demotes news publishers in search results if they run sponsored or promotional content, a significant revenue source for many media outlets. What’s happening. The European Commission, the EU’s top antitrust enforcer, is expected to announce the probe as soon as Thursday. The case falls under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a law that bars tech “gatekeepers” from unfairly favoring their own services or penalizing others. Companies that break the rules can be fined up to 10% of their global revenue. Site reputation abuse. Google’s enforcement against publishers is based on a…

Google is working to fix the Google Discover feed by removing the fake AI spam that has been creeping in over the past several weeks. “We’re actively working on a fix,” Google told the Press Gazette after the magazine documented many cases of the Google Discover feed being polluted with this AI spam. Google’s statement. Here is the full statement Google provided: “We keep the vast majority of spam out of Discover through robust spam-fighting systems and clear policies against new and emerging forms of low quality, manipulative content. We’re actively working on a fix that will better address the specific type of spam that’s being referenced here, maintaining our …

Google rolled out brand inclusion controls for Standard Shopping campaigns, a long-requested feature that gives advertisers direct control over which brands appear in their Shopping ads — without the need for complex workarounds. How it works: The new feature lets advertisers add or remove brand lists directly within the ad group targeting section of both Performance Max and Standard Shopping campaigns. Marketers can now define exactly which brands to include or exclude, preview the setup, and apply changes — all within the Google Ads interface. Why we care. Until now, brand targeting tools were only available in Performance Max and AI Max, leaving Standard Sh…

Google is expanding access to incrementality testing, rolling out major updates designed to help advertisers of all sizes measure the true, causal impact of their ads — what’s driving results and what’s not. Driving accessibility and accuracy. Google has slashed the minimum spend for incrementality tests from around $100,000 to just $5,000, dramatically lowering the barrier for smaller advertisers to measure ROI with scientific precision. Marketers can now run controlled experiments to isolate the lift generated by their campaigns and optimize budgets accordingly. At the same time, Google says it has improved the methodology behind incrementality testing through n…

If there’s one area of Google Ads that often baffles even seasoned practitioners, it’s audience targeting. Within audience targeting, there’s a special option called custom segments that allows us to build our own audiences using Google’s proprietary data. While custom segments can be immensely powerful, they are also immensely confusing. What is a custom segment in Google Ads? A custom segment lets you build a targeted audience based on the content a user has recently interacted with. Think of it this way: instead of saying, “I want to show an ad on a website about running shoes,” you’re saying, “I want to show an ad to a person who has recently shown in…

Google is rolling out two new AI-powered assistants — Ads Advisor and Analytics Advisor — built on its latest Gemini models to help advertisers manage campaigns and uncover insights faster. The tools, which begin rolling out to all English-language Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts in early December, are designed to turn complex campaign management and data analysis into simple, conversational experiences. Ads Advisor: optimization and automation in one place. Ads Advisor serves as an in-platform AI partner that helps advertisers manage, troubleshoot, and scale their campaigns. It learns from user interactions to deliver increasingly personalized …

The Alpha Beta account structure was the gold standard of paid search. Over the past several years, PPC marketers have adapted to Google’s push into automation and AI by first tweaking Alpha Beta – built on single keyword ad groups (SKAGs) – and eventually moving away from it altogether. SKAG maintenance and buildout are no longer ideal for paid search in 2026 and beyond – but that transition isn’t as simple as flipping a switch. Existing SKAGs still hold valuable data and insights you can carry into a more consolidated setup. This article covers the benefits of SKAG consolidation and best practices for building a structure that sets your campaigns up fo…

Brand visibility is replacing rankings as the most important metric in SEO. AI search engines now answer questions directly – often without a single click to a website. If your brand isn’t mentioned in those AI answers, you’re invisible where it matters most. This isn’t about being No. 1 in blue links anymore. It’s about being the brand ChatGPT recommends, the company Perplexity cites, and the solution featured in Google’s AI Overview. So how do you measure and track that presence? Here’s a simple three-step framework to help – starting with your brand visibility score. (Copy this free spreadsheet to benchmark your current visibility.) …

Google now lets merchants add their shipping and return policies to Google Search without having a Google Merchant Center account. You can do this within Google Search Console and/or by using new structured data. Google wrote: “We’re excited to announce that we’re now expanding the options for merchants to provide shipping and returns information, even if they don’t have a Merchant Center account. Merchants can now tell Google about their shipping and returns policies in two distinct ways: by configuring them directly in Search Console or by using new organization-level structured data.” Search Console. If Google determines that your site makes sense to add …

Microsoft is tightening its advertising standards. The company announced that all third-party publishers must now implement Microsoft Clarity — its free behavioral analytics tool — to remain eligible for paid impressions and clicks in Microsoft Advertising. The details: What’s required: Publishers must install Microsoft Clarity and enable Consent Mode to track and analyze user interactions while complying with privacy standards. What it does: Clarity helps publishers and advertisers visualize user behavior — including clicks, scrolls, and engagement patterns — to make data-driven CRO (conversion rate optimization) decisions. What changes: Only ad traffic fr…

Google Ads Editor just got a major upgrade. The 2025 release of version 2.11 introduces smarter automation, better visibility, and tighter controls for advertisers managing large-scale accounts. The update focuses on control and transparency — giving advertisers more say in how Performance Max, Search, and account-wide settings behave. Campaign-level negative keywords for Performance Max. Advertisers can now add negative keyword lists directly to Performance Max campaigns, giving finer control over where ads appear. It’s a long-awaited feature that prevents wasted spend on irrelevant searches — a crucial step toward performance parity with Search and Shopping campai…

Look, I get it. Every time a new search technology appears, we try to map it to what we already know. When mobile search exploded, we called it “mobile SEO.” When voice assistants arrived, we coined “voice search optimization” and told everyone this would be the new hype. I’ve been doing SEO for years. I know how Google works – or at least I thought I did. Then I started digging into how ChatGPT picks citations, how Perplexity ranks sources, and how Google’s AI Overviews select content. I’m not here to declare that SEO is dead or to state that everything has changed. I’m here to share the questions that keep me up at night – questions that sugg…

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, who invented the World Wide Web, is worried that the ad-supported web will collapse due to AI. In a new interview with Nilay Patel on Decoder, Berners-Lee said: “I do worry about the infrastructure of the web when it comes to the stack of all the flow of data, which is produced by people who make their money from advertising. If nobody is actually following through the links, if people are not using search engines, they’re not actually using their websites, then we lose that flow of ad revenue. That whole model crumbles. I do worry about that.” Why we care. There is a split in our industry, where one side thinks “it’s just SEO” and the other …

Google rolled out AI-powered ad carousels in the Images tab on mobile, now appearing across all categories — not just shopping-related ones. Why we care. Ads are now showing directly within image search results, giving brands a new, highly visual placement to grab attention where users are actively browsing and comparing visuals. With users often browsing images to explore ideas or compare options, these AI-powered carousels give brands a chance to influence discovery earlier in the journey. The details: The new format features horizontally scrollable carousels with images, headlines, and links. These carousels are powered by AI-driven ad matching, pul…

Google Business Profiles has a form where you can report negative review extortion scams, the form launched a month ago. You can find access to the form in this help document and I believe you need to be logged into your Google account with access to the Business Profile you want to report. Review extortion scams. This negative review extortion scams are on the rise and a huge concern for local SEOs and businesses. A scammer will message you, likely over WhatsApp or email, and tell you that they left a one-star negative review and the only way to remove it is to pay them. Google wrote in its help document, “These scams may involve a sudden increase in 1-star and …

Google Ads is updating its Destination requirements policy to block phone numbers tied to fraud or prior policy violations, part of the company’s ongoing effort to curb deceptive advertising practices. The timeline: Policy update effective: December 10, 2025 Enforcement ramp-up: Over roughly 8 weeks after rollout What’s changing. Phone numbers flagged as fraudulent or with a history of violations will now be deemed unacceptable under the Destination requirements policy, leading to ad disapprovals. Why we care. The change targets bad actors who use legitimate-looking phone numbers to mislead users or bypass enforcement, a recurring issue in sectors like…