SEO Tools and Resources

Microsoft Advertising is starting 2026 with a broad set of updates aimed squarely at search-first marketers, with a focus on better controls, clearer insights, and easier campaign management across the platform. Driving the news. In its latest product roundup, Microsoft is rolling out new Performance Max capabilities, expanding audience targeting options, improving imports from Google, and automating more creative elements in search ads. The big picture. Performance Max continues to be the centerpiece. Microsoft is introducing a new customer acquisition goal in open beta, allowing advertisers to either prioritize net-new customers or exclusively target them within…

In 2026, AI is no longer something marketers are debating. It’s actively shaping nearly every part of digital advertising and creative. Because the human brain processes visuals far faster than text, video ads are becoming more important and more effective, especially as creative costs continue to fall. The question is no longer whether PPC teams should use AI for video advertising. It’s how to use it to drive better results, produce stronger creative, and avoid issues like hallucinations and governance gaps that can undermine performance. Why AI adoption alone no longer drives PPC performance Nearly 90% of advertisers now use generative AI to build o…

Google Ads is running a limited test that allows some advertisers to A/B test different product titles and images within Shopping Ads. The feature appears as “product data experiments” and promises results within three to four weeks. Who gets it. The test is currently live for a small number of merchants, according to Google Ads Liaison Ginny Marvin. Broader availability is expected later. Why we care. Product titles and images can make or break Shopping ad performance, but advertisers have had limited ways to test changes without risking live results. This update could bring much-needed experimentation to product feeds. What it does. Advertisers can compar…

If the same URL appears in both a Google AI Overview and the classic 10 blue links, Google Search Console counts it as a single impression, not two. That clarification comes directly from Google’s John Mueller. The background. Mark Williams-Cook, director at SEO agency Candour and founder of AlsoAsked, shared it publicly on LinkedIn after a discussion sparked by Jamie Indigo. The question emerged as SEOs try to understand how AI Overviews affect visibility metrics when a page appears multiple times on the same results page. Williams-Cook initially assumed the URL might generate two impressions. That assumption was based on how older SERP features, such as tw…

If you’ve spent any time in PPC communities, Reddit threads, Slack groups, or conference Q&As, you’ve probably noticed a recurring frustration: “Google Ads isn’t scaling. It’s not working, and we’re stuck.” On the surface, everything looks fine. The campaigns are running, impression share is high, shopping feeds are clean, and budgets are flowing. But growth isn’t materializing. This isn’t usually about “broken campaigns” – it’s about the limits of demand. In niche markets or categories shaped by seasonality, growth is naturally capped. Yes, running broad match or AI Max can expand your reach to adjacent queries, so impression share might not literal…

Have you ever tried to find inspiration for ads by scrolling your own Facebook feed? Then you know that most companies’ ads aren’t very compelling. Also, scrolling Facebook in this day and age is weirdly exhausting. Here’s the truth: most high-performing ads in 2026 aren’t winning the day because they’re wildly original or uniquely “viral” (do we still call something that?). They’re winning because they follow the same repeatable templates that smart marketers have been using for decades. (Yes, even now. Even with AI. Even with “creative strategy” and words like “scrollable” being used non-ironically in business initiatives.) This article goes back t…

AI Max is Google’s latest foray into semi-keywordless targeting. While you need keywords for the system to have a starting place, Google uses signals beyond keywords in deciding how to show ads to searchers. In accounts with a strong history of broad match success, AI Max can be highly effective at finding new conversions. If accounts are not well-optimized or have not been successful with broad match, AI Max can be a huge money pit. To clear up a rumor before we get into the data: you do not have to use AI Max to have ads appear in AI Overviews. Broad match keywords can show ads in AI Overviews regardless of your AI Max usage. We’re looking at…

Google has released v23 of the Google Ads API, the first update of 2026 and the start of a faster release cadence, introducing deeper Performance Max reporting, more granular invoicing, new AI-powered audience tools, and expanded campaign controls. What’s new: Performance Max transparency: Ad network type breakdowns are now available for PMax campaigns. More detailed invoices: Campaign-level costs, regulatory fees, and adjustments can be retrieved via InvoiceService. More precise scheduling: Campaigns can now use start and end date-times instead of date-only fields. Local data access: Store location details are available through PerStoreView, matching th…

For many local businesses, performance looks healthier than it is. Rank trackers still show top-three positions. Visibility reports appear steady. Yet calls and website visits from Google Business Profiles are falling — sometimes fast. This gap is becoming a defining feature of local search today. Rankings are holding. Visibility and performance aren’t. The alligator has arrived in local SEO. The visibility crisis behind stable rankings Across multiple U.S. industries, traditional local 3-packs are being replaced — or at least supplemented — by AI-powered local packs. These layouts behave differently from the map results we’ve optimized in the past.…

AI search visibility in beauty is increasingly shaped before a prompt is ever entered. Brands that appear in generative answers are often those already discussed, validated, and reinforced across social platforms. By the time a user turns to AI search, much of the groundwork has been laid. Using the beauty category as a lens, this article examines how social discovery influences brand visibility – and why AI search ultimately reflects those signals. Discovery didn’t move to AI – it fragmented Brand discovery has fragmented across platforms. AI tools influence mid-funnel consideration, but much discovery happens before a user enters a prompt. The signals…

Traffic from AI chatbots converts at a higher rate than traffic from Google, according to Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. He shared this tidbit on the company’s Q4 2025 earnings call: “And what we see is that traffic that comes from chatbots convert at a higher rate than traffic that comes from Google,” Chesky said on Feb. 12. Yes, but. He didn’t share specific conversion rates, and the company didn’t quantify chatbot traffic volume. But for Airbnb, early data suggests visitors arriving via AI chatbots may be further along in the booking process than those coming from traditional Google searches. Airbnb also didn’t specify which chatbots are driving traffic. Chesky…

Google published a new help document outlining how passkeys work in Google Ads — a timely move as advertisers face a rise in account hacks and phishing attempts. What’s happening. The new help page explains how passkeys function as a passwordless, phishing-resistant login method in Google Ads, and clarifies when they’re required — including for sensitive actions like user access changes and account linking updates. The documentation walks advertisers through device requirements, setup steps and security considerations. Why we care. Ad accounts are increasingly being targeted by attackers, with compromised logins leading to budget theft, campaign disruptio…

Today, we’re excited to welcome Yoast AI Summarize to our growing family of AI features. Just like our other AI tools, this new feature is designed to make your publishing process faster and easier by putting powerful, practical AI right where you work, in the WordPress Block Editor. Yoast AI Summarize is perfect for bloggers, content teams, agencies, and publishers who want to give readers instant value while also making sure their posts clearly communicate the intended message. What does Yoast AI Summarize do? You’ve finished drafting your post, great! But before you hit “Publish,” wouldn’t it be helpful to instantly see the core points your content is ac…

For years, SEO and PPC defined two sides of search – one focused on organic authority, the other on paid performance. Both aimed to capture traffic but often worked in silos, optimizing toward different goals. Now, that separation is ending. The rise of generative AI has redrawn the map, merging once-distinct disciplines into a single, fluid ecosystem. Search engines like Google and Bing have evolved into conversational AI platforms that deliver instant, often singular answers while seamlessly integrating ads. This shift – marked by zero-click results, conversational interfaces, and pre-packaged information – means no single strategy can guarantee…

AI Overviews, ChatGPT, zero-click results, and other recent developments have all triggered the latest wave of goodbyes to SEO. Except SEO isn’t dead. It might even be thriving. Search engines still command approximately 88% of all search traffic. But alongside this, AI usage is almost doubling. So what gives? Well, consumers don’t care about AEO versus GEO versus SEO. Or even necessarily choosing between Google and ChatGPT. They simply use both. Why the either/or narrative is dangerous The marketing world loves a good binary. But opposing search engines and AI search against one another is a false choice. These aren’t competing realities. They’r…

Picture a chocolate company with an elaborate recipe, generations old. They ask an AI system to identify which ingredients they could remove to cut costs. The AI suggests one. They remove it. Sales hold steady. They ask again. The AI suggests another. This continues through four or five iterations until they’ve created the cheapest possible version of their product. Fantastic margins, terrible sales. When someone finally tastes it, the verdict is immediate: “This isn’t even chocolate anymore.” Aly Blawat, senior director of customer strategy at Blain’s Farm & Fleet, shared this story during a recent MarTech webinar to illustrate why 82% of marketing teams are fail…

PPC advertising for medical and mental health services comes with many restrictions, but it remains an effective way for practices to maintain a steady flow of new patients and clients. Whether you manage ads for clients, run them for your own practice, or are just getting started, these tips will help you launch or improve your campaigns. Choosing keywords for medical and mental health advertising Consider the three main ways potential patients tend to search on Google. Symptoms and treatments Many people search for symptoms or treatment options without naming the professional they need, such as “treatment options for depression” or “why does my ankle h…

Google withdrew its antitrust complaint against Microsoft after EU regulators opened a new probe into Azure under the bloc’s tough tech rules. Driving the news. Google pulled its 2024 complaint—centered on Microsoft’s allegedly anti-competitive cloud licensing practices—just as the European Commission launched fresh investigations into whether Azure and Amazon Web Services fall under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Google says the withdrawal doesn’t mean it’s backing down. What they’re saying. “We filed our antitrust complaint…to give voice to our customers and partners,” said Giorgia Abeltino, Google Cloud Europe’s head of public policy. She added that Google stil…

OpenAI is reportedly nearing the launch of ads in the ChatGPT Android app, according to recent code findings. Meanwhile, one user says an ad has already appeared in the wild. What’s new. Early references to an ad system were found in the latest ChatGPT Android beta (v1.2025.329). Inside the APK, TestingCatalog spotted strings such as: “ads feature” “bazaar content” “search ad” “search ads carousel” These entries may suggest an ad framework under active development, likely focused on search, shopping, and product recommendation requests rather than disruptive display ads in every chat. Zoom out. ChatGPT ads will help OpenAI offset the cost of serv…

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…

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…

Reels continue to surge as a go-to format for entertainment, education, and discovery. But Meta’s message to advertisers is clear: success requires native creative — not repurposed assets. Think 9:16 framing, platform-first audio, and rapid storytelling built for swipes, not scrolls. Brand advertiser takeaways (per Meta’s data): Show your brand early: Branding and messaging in the first 5 seconds makes ads 1.7x more likely to rank in the top purchase-intent tier. Use dynamic branding: Multiple brand appearances across scenes = 1.8x lift in top-tier purchase intent. Combine speech + music: Using both doubles the likelihood (2.0x) of landing in the top 20% fo…

Google today released its 2025 Year in Search list, but don’t mistake it for a ranking of the “top searches” or the “most searched” terms. This year’s recap focused on trending queries – the topics that grew the fastest compared with 2024. That shift reveals a lot about where Google Search is heading, and how it’s been evolving for years. Why we care. Google chose to spotlight fast-rising, emerging queries. Freshness has long mattered in search, but the 2025 top trending queries list underscores an accelerating shift: the biggest AI search and SEO opportunities will come from new, developing topics – not evergreen informational ones. Your strongest wins may hinge on q…

Google announced new “AI-powered configuration” within the Search Console Performance report that lets you ask Search Console to show you a specific report, and Google will “instantly” configure a report for you. This feature is “experimental” and won’t show up for everyone today. This is a lot like AI-powered advisors in Google Ads and Google Analytics but for Search Console. AI-powered configuration. Google said AI-powered configuration “lets you describe the analysis you want to see in natural language. Your inputs are then transformed into the appropriate filters and settings, instantly configuring the report for you.” What it looks like. Here is a GIF of…