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Category: News

Boost Your Ad Strategy with Microsoft’s Asset-Level Reviews

Recently, I discovered that Microsoft Advertising has introduced asset-level editorial reviews, a game-changer for anyone running ad campaigns. This new feature allows us to see individual ad components like headlines and images get reviewed separately. If one part is non-compliant, it won’t hold back the whole ad, ensuring that compliant components keep running smoothly.

Here’s What’s New: Announced back in June, this feature provides a granular view of ad approvals. Now, I can easily spot which specific asset might be causing issues, instead of having to guess why an entire ad wasn’t approved.

Why I Care: This update is a relief because it minimizes campaign disruptions and speeds up the approval process. No more resubmitting entire ads just to fix one small mistake. I can now address the exact problematic asset swiftly.

How it Enhances the Workflow: The platform now flags disapproved elements right in the dashboard. It gives a clear warning when something is blocked and provides a detailed asset status, making it easy to stay on top of my campaigns.

The Bottom Line: This more precise system replaces the old all-or-nothing approval process, letting compliant ads run uninterrupted and putting more control in my hands as an advertiser. It’s definitely a step forward in ad management!

Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.

December 19, 2025
Google’s Legal Battle: SerpApi Accused of Unlawful Data Scraping
Today, I came across an intriguing development where Google has initiated legal proceedings against SerpApi. This lawsuit revolves around allegations that SerpApi has been bypassing Google’s security systems to scrape and resell copyrighted content from search results.

The Allegations: According to Google, SerpApi has:
- Circumvented the security measures and standard crawling controls Google has in place.
- Ignored directives from websites that specify content accessibility.
- Employed techniques such as cloaking, rotating bot identities, and large bot networks to scrape vast amounts of content.
- Appropriated licensed content from search features such as images and real-time data, subsequently selling it for profit.
Google’s Stance: Describing SerpApi’s actions as “brazen” and “unlawful,” Google expressed concerns over how stealthy scrapers like SerpApi override crawling directives, stripping sites of their choices. Alarmingly, Google noted a significant increase in SerpApi’s activities over the last year.

Quick Update: Interestingly, Google’s lawsuit mirrors similar legal action by Reddit, which also targeted SerpApi, Perplexity, Oxylabs, and AWMProxy. Reddit accused them of scraping content via Google Search results and concealing their identities to evade restrictions.
- Reddit has licensing agreements with Google and OpenAI, suspecting other entities of attempting to bypass these deals.
- They reportedly set a “trap” post, visible only to Google’s crawler, which eventually surfaced in Perplexity’s results as proof of scraping.
- SerpApi denied these allegations, claiming their operations are lawful.
SerpApi’s Previous Statements: In defense, SerpApi has maintained that “public search data should be accessible,” viewing its actions as protected by the First Amendment. They also warned that lawsuits like the one from Reddit could endanger the “free and open web.”

Why It Matters to Me: Should Google triumph in this case, acquiring reliable SERP data might become increasingly challenging and costly. This could particularly impact teams reliant on services like SerpApi, as they navigate the complexities of understanding search results, performance metrics, and achieving success in an evolving digital landscape.

Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.
December 19, 2025
Google Eases Pharma Ad Policies for AdMob Buyers

Starting in January 2026, I’ll see Google updating its Pharmaceutical policy for AdMob Authorized Buyers. This update allows ads for prescription drugs and services in certain markets without needing Google certification. However, they will tighten restrictions on what remains prohibited.

What’s changing? Google’s policy will now be called “Pharmaceutical products and services.” This change permits Authorized Buyers to promote prescription drugs and services legally in specific countries, without requiring Google certification as is usually demanded in Google Ads.

Although access is broadening, the basic rules remain stringent. The policy modifications intend to enhance clarity and readability rather than reducing enforcement.

Why do I care? This update lets me tap into pharmaceutical advertising inventory without needing Google certification, creating fresh opportunities and competition in programmatic auctions. However, it places more compliance responsibility on my shoulders, increasing the risk of policy violations if geo-targeting and creative controls aren’t precise.

I should consider that even non-pharma advertisers might experience changes due to increased demand and ad presence affecting pricing, brand safety, and placement strategies.

What’s still banned? Ads related to clinical trials, miracle cures, illicit drugs, addiction services, crisis hotlines, and experimental treatments remain banned across Google Partner Inventory.

Looking deeper. While Google is opening access, it’s also transferring responsibility to me as a buyer. By removing certain certification requirements for Authorized Buyers but maintaining strict controls, compliance risk is pushed firmly onto buyers and publishers.

What should I do now? As an app publisher using AdMob, I should review category blocking and ad controls to ensure unwanted pharma ads are excluded, especially as more inventory becomes permissible. I need to prepare for enforcing rules country-by-country and carefully audit creatives.

Bottom line. Google is opening the door wider for pharmaceutical advertising in programmatic settings, but I must remember that the rules are still complex, localized, and challenging for those who don’t follow them correctly.

Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.

December 19, 2025
Enhance Demand Gen with Google’s New Location Controls

As I dive into the latest updates from Google, I’m thrilled to share that they have now introduced native location targeting controls to Demand Gen campaigns. This update allows advertisers, like myself, to implement more precise geo-targeting, making our campaigns even more effective.

Recently, Google Ads started rolling out these new location targeting options specifically for Demand Gen campaigns. These new options bring these campaigns closer in functionality to Search, which is great news for enhancing our ad strategies.

What’s new? Now, I have the ability to choose explicitly between ‘Presence or interest’ and ‘Presence only’ when setting up Demand Gen campaigns. These options are readily available directly within the campaign interface, streamlining the process by eliminating the need for manual exclusions.

Why this matters for us. Up until now, targeting precision in Demand Gen was somewhat of a challenge. By making ‘presence only’ targeting a native feature within campaign setup, Google helps us avoid common workarounds and reduces the risk of geo-leakage. This means cleaner traffic, more accurate measurements, and increased confidence in our campaign performance.

The bigger picture. Demand Gen is crafted for reaching audiences in the upper and mid-funnel across platforms like YouTube, Discover, and Gmail. With these enhanced location controls, I’m now more assured that my impressions and clicks are from users situated in the target markets I’m aiming for.

Where I noticed it first. This exciting update was first spotted by the Google Ads specialist, Marcin Wsół, whose insights I follow on LinkedIn.

The takeaway for us. With these improved location targeting capabilities, setting up Demand Gen campaigns is now much simpler, giving me greater control and ensuring our budget stays focused within intended regions.

Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.

December 18, 2025
Discover the Top Brands Shaping AI Search Visibility
I’m excited to share that Semrush has launched the new AI Visibility Awards, highlighting which brands are excelling in AI-generated search results.

As AI chatbots increasingly become our go-to for travel plans and product recommendations, I often wonder how we can ensure our brands feature prominently in their answers.

Semrush seems to have found the solution and has introduced this award program to celebrate the trailblazers in this field.

The AI Visibility Awards honor brands frequently mentioned and recommended in AI-generated responses, assessed using Semrush’s AI Visibility Index—a dataset crafted from over 2,500 real prompts processed through ChatGPT and Google’s AI Mode.

Andrew Warden, Semrush’s CMO, notes:
- “This year marks a turning point in how visibility is achieved. It’s driven by actual user behavior rather than submissions or panels. These awards spotlight those marketers who have mastered AI interaction and earned significant trust inside the answers.”
What the AI Visibility Awards Measure

The awards recognize three performer types within four major industries:
- Category Leaders: Brands with the biggest presence in AI searches
- Growth Engines: Brands rapidly gaining visibility
- Challengers: Emerging brands gaining AI traction
To illustrate, Google tops the Business & Professional Services category, while Rippling stands out as a Challenger. In Consumer Electronics, Samsung leads, with Logitech and Nothing Technology recognized as a Growth Engine and Challenger, respectively.

Other notable winners include:
- Microsoft, named Category Leader for Digital Tech & Software
- UNIQLO as a Growth Engine in Fashion & Apparel
- Anthropic as a Challenger in Digital Tech & Software
AI Search Trends Marketers Should Watch

The award insights reveal some emerging truths about AI-powered discovery:
- Stability among leaders: Top brands display less than 20% monthly volatility in AI share-of-voice, suggesting AI platforms tend to “lock in” trusted names.
- Niches break through: Brands with niche relevance—like Patagonia in ethical fashion or Logitech in gaming accessories—prove advantageously positioned.
- Challengers can compete: Newer players, like Nuuly and Anthropic, gain traction with robust positioning and strategic momentum.
- Verticals behave differently: While some sectors, such as Business & Professional Services, stay fiercely competitive, others benefit from consistency or unique specialization.
These awards highlight a significant message for marketers: gaining AI visibility is turning into a crucial part of the competitive landscape. For certain brands, it’s already reshaping strategies.

Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.
December 18, 2025
Understanding Google’s JavaScript Execution on Non-200 Pages

As I delve into the intricacies of JavaScript and SEO, I came across a fascinating update from Google that caught my attention. It’s about how Google handles JavaScript execution on pages that don’t return a typical 200 HTTP status code.

Google recently updated their JavaScript SEO documentation to shed light on this topic. They explained that all pages with a 200 HTTP status code are automatically queued for rendering, irrespective of the presence of JavaScript.

However, if a page returns a non-200 status code, like a 404 error page, rendering might be bypassed, which is something Google emphasized in their updated guidelines.

Diving deeper, I discovered that Googlebot efficiently queues all pages with a 200 status code for rendering. This clarification came as a pleasant surprise to me as it paints a clearer picture of how Google handles such pages.

In fact, the specific section in the documentation that got an update provides a visual explanation, and I appreciated the added clarity it brings.

Google explained further that while pages with a 200 status code head to rendering, pages with other status codes might not meet the same fate.

Google’s weekly updates to the JavaScript SEO documentation also included other significant changes. Notably, they clarified aspects like JavaScript’s role in canonicalization and cautioned against using JavaScript for noindex tags directly in the original page code.

Why do we care about these updates? Well, understanding these nuances ensures I make informed decisions about my web pages. Ensuring my pages return a 200 status code is crucial; otherwise, Google might skip rendering them, which could negatively impact my website’s search ranking.

Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.

December 18, 2025
Boost Your Google Citations with AI Fan-Out Strategy
Upon evaluating a whopping 10,000 keywords, I’ve discovered an intriguing insight: pages that successfully rank for Google AI Overview ‘fan-out’ queries are significantly more likely to be cited. In fact, they account for more than half of all citations on these platforms.

From my analysis, it’s clear that pages leveraging these queries dramatically increase their chances of being referenced. As data from Surfer SEO suggests, these pages offer more citation opportunities compared to those focusing solely on the main search query.

An analysis of these 10,000 keywords revealed a strong correlation—precisely, a Spearman of 0.77—between the volume of fan-out queries a page ranks for and its likelihood of citation in Google’s AI Overviews.

Diving into the numbers. I found that pages ranking for fan-out queries are 161% more likely to be cited than those ranking exclusively for the main query. Consider this:
- 76% of the keywords evaluated triggered AI Overviews.
- Through Gemini, I extracted 33,000 fan-out queries.
- Pages ranking for both the main query and at least one fan-out constituted 51% of AI Overview citations.
- In contrast, pages ranking solely for the main query accounted for just under 20%.
Fan-outs outshine the main query. Recognizing the power of ranking for fan-out queries, I noticed such rankings were 49% more likely to earn citations than merely ranking for the main term. When the AI Overviews chose to reference organic results, here’s what stood out:
- Approximately 20% of cited pages ranked only for the main query.
- Conversely, around 30% ranked exclusively for fan-out queries.
Most AI citations skip top ranks. Fascinatingly, about 68% of cited pages didn’t appear among Google’s top 10 results for either their main or fan-out queries. However, for the top three most prominent citations, this figure dropped to roughly 46%.

But there’s more. It’s crucial to understand that correlation doesn’t equate to causation. Additionally:
- Achieving a ranking for fan-out queries alone won’t guarantee an AI Overview citation.
- User context and personalization affect fan-outs, with only about 27% remaining constant across test runs.
- Normal SEO practices don’t fully determine citation selection.
Why this matters to us. If your goal is to be cited in AI Overviews, striving for broader topic authority might be the answer. Surfer SEO advises crafting extensive topical content around core subjects, creating content that naturally responds to a variety of related questions, and allowing AI Overviews to recognize your pertinence across different fan-outs.

Dive deeper with the report. For more in-depth analysis, check out the full study on Ranking for Multiple Fan-Out Queries Dramatically Increases Your Chances of Getting Cited in AIOs (173,902 URLs Studied).

Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.
December 18, 2025
Boost Your App’s Visibility: Apple’s New Search Ads in 2026

I’ve heard that Apple plans to launch more ads within App Store search results in 2026, enhancing their ad inventory but maintaining their focus on relevance, not bid amount.

What’s changing? New ads are set to appear in-line with App Store search results, sitting alongside organic listings. Existing top-result ads will remain. And guess what? There’s nothing we need to do to get into these new placements — bidding won’t help.

What Apple is saying: According to guidance Apple shared with Apple Insider, relevance remains key: “If your app isn’t relevant to what the user is searching for, it won’t be displayed — no matter how much you’re willing to pay,” an Apple rep said.

They also mentioned that apps irrelevant to a user’s query won’t even make it to the auction, regardless of bid size. While relevance and bids matter, relevance is the real gatekeeper.

Why I care: As Apple expands its ad inventory, the competition might heat up, and this could affect how often ads show up during user discovery. Their relevance-first policy suggests that mere bidding isn’t enough, putting a premium on keyword strategy and creative finesse.

Without placement control, aligning closely with user intent seems to be the winning strategy for better exposure.

What I can control: The creative side still matters a great deal. Preparing multiple ad variations to align with different audiences or keyword themes can be a game-changer. If there’s no custom creative, Apple will auto-generate ads from the app’s product page.

Billing stays the same: Apple confirmed no pricing changes. We’ll continue to pay per tap or per install, depending on our current setup.

The big picture: Apple has been ramping up its ads business steadily. It added ads to the Today tab in 2022 and recently rebranded Apple Search Ads to Apple Ads, signaling its broader ambitions despite resisting traditional auction dynamics found elsewhere.

The bottom line: Apple is increasing ad density in the App Store search but not advertiser control. More ads are on the way — just not the ability to buy your way into better positions.

Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.

December 18, 2025
Google Resolves Page Indexing Report Delay for Instant Insights

I just discovered that Google Search Console has finally addressed the month-long delay in their page indexing report. It felt like a stroke of relief when I saw the report now displays data as recent as just a few days ago. This is the usual schedule for updates and I’m thrilled to have this crucial tool back on track.

Another piece of good news: emails notifying about indexing issues have resumed, so we site owners can stay informed directly through our inboxes once again.

Page Indexing Report. This indispensable tool helps me understand which pages on my site Google can find and index, along with highlighting any potential problems. It also allows me to submit any fixes and see if they’ve been successfully implemented. Previously, when the report was delayed, we couldn’t verify our fixes or check the indexing status of new and existing pages, which was quite frustrating.

Fixed Issues. Here’s a screenshot of the updated report, showcasing a more current date—December 14th—instead of the long-stagnant November 21st:

Besides, Google has also resolved the delays in performance reports just yesterday! It’s a relief to know that most significant reports are now functioning smoothly, though it’s always wise to stay prepared for potential future hiccups.

Why It Matters to Us. Over the past month, many of us struggled to provide up-to-date reporting to our SEO clients and stakeholders. With the recent fixes, we now have access to the latest data for both page indexing and performance reports.

This means we can get back to speed with our reporting tasks, just in time before the holiday season sets in.

Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.

December 17, 2025
AI Bots Boom, But Googlebot Still Reigns Supreme in 2025

In 2025, Googlebot once again led the charge in generating more web traffic than any other crawler, as revealed in a new report by Cloudflare. Google continued its tireless web crawling for both search indexing and AI training, proving its dominance over other search and AI bots.

According to the numbers from Cloudflare, Googlebot was responsible for more than 25% of all Verified Bot traffic. In fact, Googlebot alone accounted for 4.5% of all HTML request traffic, which is more than all other AI bots combined at 4.2%.

The surge in AI “user action” crawling, which is when bots simulate human behavior, saw an impressive 15x increase year over year. Despite the rise in AI crawlers, Googlebot still had a crawl volume that eclipsed every other AI bot, including those from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta.

In the world of AI crawlers, they were the most frequently disallowed in robots.txt files. Moreover, Anthropic notably had the highest crawl-to-refer ratio among major AI and search platforms, crawling much more content than it returned as traffic. Early in the year, this ratio hit ~500,000:1, before settling between ~25,000:1 and ~100,000:1 after May, as compared to OpenAI’s peak at ~3,700:1 in March and Perplexity’s lowest among major platforms.

Diverse search platforms exhibited different behaviors. Microsoft’s ratio oscillated between ~50:1 and ~70:1, with a notable weekly cycle. Google’s ratio climbed from just over ~3:1 to ~30:1 by April, dropped to ~3:1 by mid-July, then gradually increased again. Meanwhile, DuckDuckGo stayed below 1:1 until jumping to ~1.5:1 in mid-October.

Despite these changes, Google maintained its monopoly in search, delivering almost 90% of search engine referral traffic. Bing, Yandex, Baidu, and DuckDuckGo completed the top five, but their shares were significantly smaller.

Throughout the year, very little shift occurred; Google remained dominant as Yandex’s share dipped from 2.5% to 1.5%, and Baidu experienced a modest rise from 0.9% to 1.6%.

I found the full report quite insightful. If you’re interested in exploring it yourself, you can check out The 2025 Cloudflare Radar Year in Review for comprehensive insights on AI, post-quantum advancements, and notable DDoS attack trends.

Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.

December 17, 2025

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