SEO Tools and Resources

YouTube is upgrading its Promotions tool, letting creators target potential viewers by interests, not just age, gender, or location. What’s new. Creators can now target users by interest categories like Food & Dining. These categories are built from aggregated, anonymized signals, including search behavior and viewing habits. Example: Users who frequently search for recipes and watch cooking content may be grouped into a food-related interest segment. How it works.YouTube uses patterns across Google services to infer interests, then applies those signals at scale — without exposing individual user data. Why we care. Creators who pay to promote vid…

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…

As search marketers, we tend to focus on what we can control: keywords, links, Core Web Vitals, indexed pages. We have dashboards for our dashboards. But not everything that shapes search behavior lives inside GSC, GA4, or your favorite rank tracker. One of the most influential forces sits just outside traditional SEO reporting: the social media halo effect. When a Reel takes off or a LinkedIn post hits the right nerve, it doesn’t just earn likes and comments. It creates curiosity about the brand, the product, or the person behind the post. And that curiosity almost always shows up in the same place: the search bar. The problem is that most SEO teams …

Customer lifetime value (CLV) is often treated as a static metric. In practice, it is shaped by how different types of customers behave – and churn – over time. One of the most important dynamics to understand is the “shakeout effect,” where early churn removes lower-value customers from a cohort, leaving a smaller, more stable group with higher engagement and more predictable purchase behavior. This article takes a closer look at the shakeout effect in CLV analytics, why it happens, and how marketers should account for it when evaluating churn, retention, and long-term profitability. What is the shakeout effect in the context of CLV analytics? Imagine…

Google is quietly giving advertisers more granular control over how data flows when consent is limited. Driving the news. A new feature called Data Transmission Control is appearing in Google Ads, adding an extra layer on top of Advanced Consent Mode that determines how advertising, analytics and diagnostic data are actually transmitted. What’s new. Advertisers can now independently restrict advertising data, behavioral analytics and diagnostic data. When ad_storage consent is denied, there are two options: allow limited advertising data with identifiers redacted (while still enabling conversion modeling), or block advertising data entirely until consent is grante…

Google Ads is experimenting with a quicker way for new advertisers to get up and running. Driving the news. Over the past few weeks, some users have seen a new setup option in Google Ads: “Create an account with campaign for faster setup.” The feature surfaced publicly after being spotted by Anthony Higman on X, with others noting it only appeared recently. Why we care. Account setup can be a friction point for new advertisers. By bundling account creation with an existing campaign, Google can shorten time-to-launch — and reduce the chances that advertisers stall before spending. The big picture. Google has been steadily streamlining onboarding, nudging ad…

Google is rolling out a new update for the Trends Explorer page that is powered by Gemini. The goal is to make it easier for users and researchers to find more search terms to explore. “The updated Explore page has a new side panel that uses Gemini capabilities to automatically identify and compare relevant trends for your area of interest,” Google wrote. What it looks like. There is this new layout and new “Suggest search terms” button at the top right of the page. Here is a screenshot: When you click on “Suggest search terms,” you can enter in a keyword or a natural language sentence and Gemini will help you break out all the terms and compare them to each o…

Google has introduced “Personal Intelligence” in the Gemini app as a beta which allows Gemini to give you a more personalized response by connecting across your Google ecosystem, including Google Search, Gmail, Photos, and your YouTube history. Google said this is “Launching as a beta in the U.S., this marks our next step toward making Gemini more personal, proactive and powerful.” This will also be coming to Search in AI Mode soon, Google told us. While Gemini could already retrieve information from these apps, with Gemini 3, it can now reason across your data to surface proactive insights. Here is how it looks. Here is a video of how it works: Avai…

Google introduced a low-visibility setting that could impact brand control for location-based ads. Driving the news. In the Shared Library under Location Manager, Google Ads now includes an option called “Google Owned Location Data.” When enabled, Google can automatically pull imagery from its own library and use it in ads tied to your business locations. Why we care. While Google frames the setting as a way to support performance goals, it allows creative assets to appear in your ads that you didn’t upload, select, or explicitly approve — a potential issue for brand-sensitive advertisers. The big picture. Automation in Google Ads continues to expand beyon…

In 2025, the SEO industry debated whether AI required a strategy shift. In 2026, we are still debating, but we are moving further into the testing and execution phase. To navigate the new search landscape, we have to kill the channel silo and let the SEO team act as the strategic quarterback for brand authority. Organic search has always been a treasure trove of insights into consumer behavior, platform changes, brand presence, and organic influence. Right now, LLMs are binging on a diet of earned media. Press releases, social media content, UGC, your website, your retailers’ sites, YouTube videos, and Reddit threads all have a huge influence on th…

Between a teetering economy and AI tools rapidly replacing entry-level roles, marketing careers – and many others – can feel increasingly unstable. There is a silver lining for those willing and positioned to look for it. In marketing, it’s this: professionals who can adapt, think critically, and integrate AI thoughtfully into their work can accelerate workflows, sharpen strategy and targeting, and spend more time on initiatives that drive meaningful impact. It’s still early in the AI era, but more than a decade as a marketing leader has made certain patterns clear. Across my own team and the in-house teams we work with, some PPC marketers are better pos…

AI-powered search isn’t coming. It’s already here: Google’s AI Overviews now reach 2 billion monthly users. ChatGPT serves 800 million users each week. Perplexity processed 780 million queries in a single month. As rankings and clicks matter less, citations matter more. Businesses now need content that AI engines trust and reference when answering questions. That’s the role of AI content optimization. Want to see where you stand? Get a free GEO audit of your website in under 60 seconds. What is AI content optimization? Generative engine optimization (GEO) adapts digital content and online presence to improve visibility in AI-generated answers.…

Google’s AI Overviews feature has become the face of our search engine results. Type almost any question into your Google search bar, and the first answer you receive will be AI generated. Many are thrilled about this. Others are wary. Marketers and those in the online reputation management (ORM) field are among those urging caution. Why? Because Google AI Overviews are often littered with information stemming from online forums like Reddit and Quora. And oftentimes, this user-generated content can be inaccurate — or entirely false. Why Google AI Overviews heavily rely on content from Reddit and Quora But how and why have Google AI Overviews c…

As AI-led search becomes a real driver of discovery, an old assumption is back with new urgency. If AI systems infer quality from user experience, and Core Web Vitals (CWV) are Google’s most visible proxy for experience, then strong CWV performance should correlate with strong AI visibility. The logic makes sense. Faster page load times result in smoother page load times, increased user engagement, improved signals, and AI systems that reward the outcome (supposedly) But logic is not evidence. To test this properly, I analysed 107,352 webpages that appear prominently in Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, examining the distribution of Core Web Vitals at the p…

If there’s one takeaway as we look toward SEO in 2026, it’s that visibility is no longer just about ranking pages, but about being understood by increasingly selective AI-driven systems. In 2025, SEO proved it was not disappearing, but evolving, as search engines leaned more heavily on structure, authority, and trust to interpret content beyond the click. In this article, we share SEO predictions for 2026 from Yoast SEO experts, Alex Moss and Carolyn Shelby, highlighting the shifts that will shape how brands earn visibility across search and AI-powered discovery experiences. Key takeaways In 2026, SEO focuses on visibility defined by clarity, authority, and trust rat…

Remember when a handful of links from sites in your niche could drive steady organic traffic? That era is over. Today, Google’s AI Overviews and the rise of answer engines like ChatGPT raise the bar. You have to do more to stay visible. Hiring an experienced link building agency is one efficient way to meet that challenge. It’s also one of the most important investments you’ll make. The right partner doesn’t just build links. They position your brand as a trusted, cited source in the AI era. So how do you choose the right agency for your company? While the interface has changed, the core ranking signals remain largely the same. What’s changed is their prio…

Yoast AI Brand Insights now lets you track how your brand appears in Google’s Gemini. You can see your Gemini data alongside ChatGPT and Perplexity, all in one dashboard. With a single analysis, you can see how different AI platforms describe your brand with the Yoast SEO AI+ plan. You’ll see which sources they use and how sentiment compares across the tools your customers use most. Why this matters AI platforms use different methods to answer questions about your brand, often leading to different results. Seeing these results side-by-side helps you spot gaps or missed opportunities in your brand’s AI presence. ChatGPT is designed as a conversational a…

News executives expect search referrals to drop by more than 40% over the next three years, as search engines continue evolving into AI-driven answer engines, according to a new Reuters Institute report. That shift is squeezing publisher traffic and accelerating a move away from classic SEO toward AEO and GEO. Why we care. Google’s AI Overviews and chatbot-style search are changing how people get information, often without clicking through. SEO visibility, attribution, and ROI models built on old playbooks are breaking fast. What’s happening. Publishers expect search traffic to nearly halve. Survey respondents forecast search engine traffic down 43% within three y…

Live sports advertising is getting more programmatic — and more measurable. Driving the news. Google is rolling out new biddable live sports capabilities in Display & Video 360, including programmatic access to NBCUniversal’s Olympic Winter Games inventory, ahead of a packed 2026 global sports calendar. Why we care. Live sports remain one of the few media environments that consistently deliver massive, attentive audiences. By bringing premium sports inventory into biddable CTV, Google is giving advertisers more control, better measurement, and easier activation — without sacrificing reach. What’s new. Advertisers can now combine Google audience signals wit…

Google is broadening what counts as an eligible promotion in Shopping, giving merchants more flexibility heading into next year. Driving the news. Google is update its Shopping promotion policies to support additional promotion types, including subscription discounts, common promo abbreviations, and — in Brazil — payment-method-based offers. Why we care. Promotions are a key lever for visibility and conversion in Shopping results. These changes unlock more promotion formats that reflect how consumers actually buy today, especially subscriptions and cashback offers. Greater flexibility in promotion types and language reduces disapprovals and makes Shopping ads more…

Apple is teaming up with Google to power its next generation of AI features, including a long-awaited Siri upgrade. What’s happening: Apple will use Google’s Gemini AI models and cloud infrastructure to support future Apple Foundation Models. The multi-year partnership is expected to roll out later this year. Why we care. With Gemini powering Siri, Apple’s assistant should become a true AI answer engine. That will likely change how millions of iOS users find information, ask questions, and interact with search. Driving the news. Apple said it chose Google after a “careful evaluation,” calling Gemini the “most capable foundation” for its AI ambitions. We l…

PPC advice in 2025 leaned hard on AI and shiny new tools. Much of it sounded credible. Much of it cost advertisers money. Teams followed platform narratives instead of business constraints. Budgets grew. Efficiency did not. As 2026 begins, carrying those beliefs forward guarantees more of the same. This article breaks down three PPC myths that looked smart in theory, spread quickly in 2025, and often drove poor decisions in practice. The goal is simple: reset priorities before repeating expensive mistakes. Myth 1: Forget about manual targeting, AI does it better We have seen this claim everywhere: AI outperforms humans at targeting, and…

For the last few years, copywriting has been quietly written off. Not with outrage. Not with ceremony. Just sidelined. Replaced. Automated. Words – the core material of SEO, landing pages, ads, and persuasion – were demoted during the traffic rush and later the AI gold rush. Blog posts were generated. Product descriptions were bulked out. Landing pages were templated. Content teams shrank. Freelancers disappeared. And a convenient narrative emerged to justify it all: “AI can write now, so writing doesn’t matter anymore.” Then Google made it worse. The helpful content update, followed by AI Overviews and conversational search, didn’t just …

Marketing mix modeling (MMM) has shifted from an enterprise luxury to an essential measurement tool. Tech giants like Google, Meta, and Uber have released powerful open-source MMM frameworks that anyone can use for free. The challenge is understanding which tool actually solves your problem and which require a PhD in statistics to implement. Open-source MMM tools are often grouped together but solve different problems The landscape can be confusing because these tools serve fundamentally different purposes despite being mentioned together. Google’s Meridian and Meta’s Robyn are complete, production-ready MMM frameworks that take your marketing data a…

Google today unveiled the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open standard that lets AI agents work across the entire shopping journey, from discovery to purchase to post-sale support. Additionally, Google is introducing new AI tools for retailers, including branded shopping agents and ad formats optimized for AI-driven discovery. About UCP. UCP establishes a shared language between AI agents and commerce systems, removing the need for custom integrations across agents or platforms. UCP works with existing standards (e.g., Agent2Agent, Agent Payments Protocol, and Model Context Protocol). Google co-developed it with partners including Shopify, Etsy, W…