I’ve recently noticed that Google Trends has introduced a fascinating update to its Explore page, and I’m thrilled to share what I’ve learned with you. This update is powered by something called Gemini, which aims to make it easier for us to discover and compare trending search terms within our areas of interest.
When I explored the new layout, I found a fresh and handy ‘Suggest search terms’ button at the top right. Here’s a look at the updated interface:
Clicking on ‘Suggest search terms’ allows me to enter a keyword or even a natural language sentence. Gemini then helps break down all relevant terms and compares them, offering insightful suggestions. It’s amazing how Google automatically identifies and contrasts trends pertinent to my interests, providing a list of suggestions to delve deeper into.
And here’s something cool I found during my exploration:
The redesign offers a sleek, modern aesthetic that I find very appealing. Each search term is now paired with dedicated icons and colors, making it easier to match terms with their respective lines on the graph. I’ve noticed that Google has increased the number of terms I can compare and has doubled the amount of rising queries on each timeline. This is helpful in understanding why certain queries are trending.
For a bit of nostalgia, here’s a glimpse of the old design:
This update is being gradually rolled out, so while I’ve had the chance to explore it today, I understand that some of you might not see it immediately. Google has informed us that it’s currently a gradual release on desktop.
Why should you care? Well, this innovative tool presents new ways to uncover fresh and exciting content ideas for your site. Go ahead and give it a try; you might just be pleasantly surprised by what you find.
Having worked closely with Google’s Shopping platform, I’ve seen the evolution of their policies first-hand. Recently, they’ve made significant updates for 2026, allowing advertisers more creative ways to engage with consumers through various promotions.
Google’s updated Shopping policies are expanding eligibility criteria for promotions, offering merchants greater flexibility starting next year. This change is a game-changer for those of us looking to leverage newer promotional formats like subscriptions and localized payment incentives.
What brought this change? Google is enhancing its promotion guidelines to include more types like subscription discounts, common promotional abbreviations, and specific payment offers in Brazil. These updates aim to align better with current consumer purchasing behaviors.
Why it matters to me. Promotions are vital for standing out in Shopping results, impacting both visibility and conversion rates. With these updates, I now have the chance to use new promotion formats that resonate with today’s buyers, particularly for subscriptions and cashback deals. The expanded flexibility reduces the risk of disapproval and makes my Shopping ads far more compelling during critical decision-making moments.
If you’re like me and rely on subscriptions or local payment incentives, this policy update opens up new avenues for visibility and conversion on Google Shopping.
What’s new? Now, promotions can be linked to subscription fees, with possibilities for free trials or discounts on initial billing cycles. Setting these offers up is straightforward: select “Subscribe and save” in Merchant Center or use the subscribe_and_save redemption option in promotion feeds. Examples could be offering a free first month or a significant discount for the first few subscription periods.
Additionally, there’s a relaxation on language restrictions. I’m excited that common promotional abbreviations like BOGO, B1G1, MRP, and MSRP are now supported, making it easier to reflect real-world retail lingo without risking ad disapproval.
In Brazil only, Google is now accommodating promotions linked to specific payment methods, including cashback deals associated with digital wallets. Merchants need to opt for “Forms of payment” in the Merchant Center or use the forms_of_payment redemption restriction. As of now, there are no plans to expand this to other markets.
Reading between the lines. These policy changes indicate Google’s intent to better align promotional strategies with modern retail dynamics — particularly focusing on subscriptions and localized payment methods, thereby reducing hurdles for merchants like me.
In summary. By broadening the categories for promotions, Google allows us as advertisers to compete on added value, not just pricing, with upcoming Shopping policy updates set for January 2026.
Have you ever imagined a marketing approach where the emphasis is on outcomes rather than just the tools? Let me introduce you to Genmark Flow, a groundbreaking concept in AI marketing that is more than just software; it’s a comprehensive service.
Genmark Flow is an AI Service as Software solution that delivers results through expertly managed growth strategies. This revolutionary system prioritizes delivering tangible results over merely providing tools. AI-powered and expertly managed, it ensures your marketing goals are not just met, but exceeded.
With Genmark Flow, you’re not only accessing cutting-edge technology, but you’re also leveraging a service that supports you in achieving your growth ambitions. Get ready to transform your marketing strategies and witness significant outcomes.
I’ve embarked on a detailed examination of the top home services SEO agencies for 2026. Our team scrutinized 45 agencies, honing in on the ones that demonstrate exceptional performance based on several key criteria:
Home Services Clients (30%): Agencies with a rich history of providing SEO services to home services companies show strong expertise and promise for future successes.
Leadership Experience Score (20%): Leadership shapes agency trajectory and culture. We assessed the marketing experience of executives and lead marketers in the home services sector.
Year Established (10%): Agencies with longevity exhibit resilience to changes in SEO trends, Google’s algorithms, and economic shifts.
Median Employee Tenure (15%): Agencies with long-standing employees benefit from accumulated experience and developed skills.
Founder Status (10%): Agencies led by their original founders often maintain their initial high standards for quality.
Media References (5%): The frequency of mentions in credible news and online sources reflects an agency’s thought leadership and reliability.
Approach to Home Services SEO (10%): We favor innovative strategies that deliver consistent, high ROI results for their clients.
Below, I share the top eight agencies that stand out in the home services SEO landscape:
Here’s a table summarizing our findings:
Rank
Company
Established
Founder Led
Leadership Experience Score
Average Reviews
Median Employee Tenure
Media References
Notable Clients
Specialty
1
First Page Sage
2009
Yes
4.9
4.8
4.3 years
~810
Ovele, Fortress Building Products, Rainbow Waterproofing & Restoration
Localized thought leadership with SEO for high ROI
2
Focus Digital
2018
Yes
4.3
4.8
No data
~20
Stego Wrap, Twin Home Experts, Pacific Aire
SEO, content marketing, and lead generation
3
LeadHub
2011
Yes
4.3
4.7
3.3 years
~60
Champion AC, Gotelli Plumbing, Window World
Digital marketing and OTT advertising
4
Lemonade Stand
2012
Yes
4.5
4.7
3.3 years
~90
Rightime Home Services
Backlinking strategy and reputation management
5
C Social
2012
Yes
3.5
4.5
2.3 years
~40
Fiber Mortgage, RealtyTek
Social media and geotargeted SEO
6
Home Service Website Design
2015
Yes
4.6
4.6
No data
~10
Augusta Lawn Care, Black Label Built, New Again House Wash
Technical SEO and web design
7
Lemon Seed
2019
Yes
3.9
4.5
1.8 years
~10
Above + Beyond Service Company, Advantage, Air Solutions Heating & Air Conditioning
Let’s dive deeper into why each of these agencies made the list:
First Page Sage: Known as the largest home services SEO agency in the US, they excel in geotargeted SEO and generative engine optimization. Their targeted approach aligns perfectly with businesses keen on lead generation.
Having amassed 14 years of industry experience, they’re headquartered in San Francisco, CA, offering additional services like conversion optimization, PPC, and web design.
Focus Digital: Though small, this boutique firm delivers outstanding SEO services at competitive prices. They specialize in generating qualified leads through high-intent keywords, ideal for small businesses seeking quality services.
Operating for 6 years from Greensboro, NC, they also focus on Google PPC and email marketing.
LeadHub: By combining OTT advertising with comprehensive digital marketing, they captivate the home services audience across numerous channels. Midsized businesses with larger advertising budgets benefit most from their services.
With a 12-year presence in San Antonio, TX, they offer additional services like creative design and branding.
Lemonade Stand: This full-service agency offers a cohesive marketing approach, integrating backlinking strategies with reputation management, social media, and YouTube advertising.
Headquartered in Riverside, CA, they have a strong reputation management expertise developed over 11 years.
C Social: Known for their ‘blueprint’ model, they provide marketing strategies rich in social media and video marketing, optimal for businesses in design-driven fields.
Based in Carlsbad, CA, and with 11 years in business, they specialize in web and video marketing services.
Home Service Website Design: Specializing in the technical spectra of SEO and web design, they craft strategic keyword-focused sites. Ideal for companies looking to enhance existing content with solid technical support.
Operating for 9 years out of Bellingham, WA, they focus on technical SEO and web design.
Lemon Seed: This agency specializes in branding and graphic design, offering a complete marketing package, making them perfect for businesses wanting a fresh market image.
Located in Diboll, TX, they’ve expanded over 4 years into branding and social media marketing.
LocaliQ: Formerly ReachLocal, they excel in local SEO for small businesses, enhancing visibility in regional markets.
With 19 years of experience from McLean, VA, LocaliQ offers a wide range of digital marketing services.
Upswell: Their innovative SEO combined with direct mail sets them apart, especially for small firms targeting long-term growth.
Founded in Kennesaw, GA, and for 15 years, they’ve offered marketing services including mobile geofencing and social media.
I’m excited to share my insights from our in-depth report on the top eCommerce SEO agencies of 2026. After carefully analyzing 49 companies between November 2025 and January 2026, our experts pinpointed the leading agencies based on several critical factors.
We evaluated these agencies based on the following criteria:
Notable Clients (25%): This involved a nuanced review of each agency’s previous clients, focusing on the size and prominence of their top three partners.
Average Review Score (35%): This score reflects the average ratings on major review platforms, with an emphasis on eCommerce clients, while removing excessively positive reviews to ensure fairness.
Company Size (20%): We assessed the number of employees to understand each company’s growth and stability.
Years in Business (10%): This metric highlights the company’s ability to navigate various market and economic challenges.
Estimated Media References (10%): We gauged how frequently each agency was cited by reputable media outlets.
Our detailed table, below, includes an overview of the top agencies, highlighting their unique SEO approaches and providing links for those interested in learning more.
The Top eCommerce SEO Agencies of 2026
Each agency on our list has been meticulously evaluated, and I hope my findings help you find the perfect partner to enhance your eCommerce success.
I recently came across a fascinating study revealing that 37% of consumers are now starting their searches with AI tools instead of Google. The frustration with traditional search methods seems to be steering many of us towards AI, compelling brands to maintain their visibility and credibility across both platforms.
Personally, I find it intriguing how AI is reshaping the initial stages of search, impacting how we identify and evaluate brands. This hybrid approach begins with an AI-generated answer, followed by traditional search for confirmation. To keep their credibility intact, brands must ensure consistency across both platforms as the emphasis on visibility, trust, and clarity increases.
According to the study, over a third of consumers—37% to be exact—are kicking off their searches with AI tools over traditional engines. The appeal lies in the promise of a quicker, clearer answer without the need to sift through ads and multiple links. Users described AI as faster, clearer, and less cluttered.
Many of us are experiencing what could be termed as ‘traditional search fatigue’. The chief grievances include excessive clicking through links (40%), overwhelming ads and sponsored results (37%), and difficulty in getting straightforward answers (33%). The redundancy of information also ranks high in complaints at 28%.
AI’s trustworthiness is gaining traction, with six out of ten respondents confident about the superiority of AI-generated answers compared to traditional search. However, a significant portion—85%—still cross-checks AI responses.
Traditional search engines remain favored for product reviews, current news, multimedia, and health information. Interestingly, nearly half of the consumers trust AI to make brand recommendations, reshaping brand discovery by offering concise lists with brand assessments.
AI’s influence extends to purchasing decisions as noted by the survey, with consumers using AI to decide on purchases (47%), find best prices (57%), compare products (54%), and even get review summaries (48%). While younger audiences lead this adoption, it actually cuts across all categories from daily items to travel and finance.
Looking ahead to 2026, it’s expected that AI will continue to grow, with 63% of participants anticipating increased AI usage and nearly half expecting AI to handle comprehensive tasks. Yet, there’s still room for AI to improve in terms of fact-checking, transparency, and context personalization.
The Eight Oh Two survey canvassed 500 active AI users last November, delving into AI’s role in search behaviors, trust levels, and purchasing influences, giving us a window into the evolving dynamics of search landscapes this year and moving forward.
Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the endless clicks in Google Ads’ change history, hunting through reports, campaigns, and ad groups? I know I have! But there’s good news—a ‘Go to…’ button has been introduced to streamline this painstaking process. It’s a subtle change that significantly speeds up audits and troubleshooting.
Discovering What’s New: Google has integrated a ‘Go to…’ dropdown within the Change history report. This feature allows me to leap directly from a logged change to the relevant campaign or ad group, saving precious time, especially when dealing with bulk edits or script-driven updates.
How It Works:
First, I select one or more changes from the Change history report.
Then, I use the ‘Go to…’ dropdown to directly navigate to the impacted entity.
This eliminates the need to manually sift through the account structure.
Community Insights: PPC Specialist Arpan Banerjee was the first to notice this update, sharing it on LinkedIn.
Hana Kobzová, founder of PPC News Feed, observed that this feature “cuts down the steps in troubleshooting and quickens navigation, especially when reviewing bulk changes or those made with scripts or Google Ads Editor.”
Why This Matters: For anyone managing extensive accounts or leveraging scripts and Google Ads Editor, this feature greatly reduces the hassle of identifying and locating changes. It saves me time during audits and troubleshooting, allowing for more efficient account management.
The Bottom Line: While it might not be the most glamorous update, for those of us who frequently work in Change history, this shortcut is a true time-saver.
2025 was a whirlwind year for those of us in the pay-per-click (PPC) marketing world, with changes coming fast and growing increasingly complex.
I noticed how significant many of Google’s updates were throughout the year, from the introduction of deeper automation with AI Max to ads being integrated directly into AI Overviews and more transparency and control being offered with Performance Max campaigns.
There were also key updates to Google Tag Manager and conversion tracking that really changed how I trust and collect data, not to mention the effects of policy shifts, automatic content extraction, and major advertisers like Amazon and Temu pulling back from Google Shopping, shaking up auction dynamics.
Now that 2025 is coming to a close, let me walk you through the headlines that caught my attention, ranked by pageviews.
10. Google changed how Tag Manager works with Google Ads
On March 10th, Google updated Google Tag Manager, ensuring that the Google tag would load before any events, thereby improving tracking accuracy and data collection from April 10th onwards. For me, this meant GTM automatically loaded the Google tag for containers with Google Ads and Floodlight tags, allowing simplified access to Enhanced Conversions and cross-domain tracking directly within tag settings.
9. Google Performance Max campaign API placement exclusions
On January 28th, Google revealed we can actually control Performance Max campaigns using API-based placement exclusions, overturning prior documentation and support guidance that stated otherwise. I found research from ad tech firm Optmyzr confirming that these API exclusions effectively blocked spending on excluded placements, providing stronger programmatic control over PMax campaigns.
8. Search Terms visibility in Google Performance Max campaigns
On March 21st, Google gave us the ability to see which search terms were triggering ads in Performance Max campaigns and introduced the option to add negative keywords directly from the Search Terms report, enhancing transparency and giving us more control.
7. Google Ads AI Max for Search campaigns beta
On May 6th, Google introduced AI Max, a one-click enhancement for Search campaigns, offering us the power of advanced AI to expand reach and dynamically generate ads, while adapting creative elements in real time.
6. Google AI Overviews ads
Starting May 22nd, Google began placing ads directly within AI Overviews, marking a significant shift in monetizing its generative search experience. This new feature was confirmed during Google Marketing Live 2025.
5. Google Ads allowed multiple ads for the same business on one results page
On March 31st, Google allowed the display of multiple ads for the same business on a single results page, provided they appeared in different locations, thereby opening up opportunities for larger brands to increase their visibility.
4. Google launched automatic marketing content extraction
On April 3rd, Google introduced a feature that automatically pulls existing marketing content from merchants to boost visibility across Search, Shopping, and Maps. Merchants were auto-enrolled, but could opt-out anytime?
3. Temu pulled its U.S. Google Shopping ads
On April 14th, Temu’s abrupt withdrawal of its U.S. Google Shopping ads revealed the heavy reliance on paid acquisition. This move, coinciding with increased tariffs and strict enforcement of import regulations, significantly impacted its market presence.
2. Amazon pulled out of Google Shopping ads
On July 25th, Amazon’s unexpected cessation of Google Shopping ads shook the market, given its historical role in driving auction competition and ad revenue. A month later, it resumed internationally but remained absent in the U.S.
1. Google Ads simplified conversion tracking with new tag manager feature
Google Ads, on February 5th, simplified conversion tracking within Google Tag Manager by introducing a wizard-style setup for creating conversion events without manual coding, revolutionizing my approach to tracking and optimization.
PPC in 2025 was undoubtedly dominated by major headline-worthy updates, largely centered around Google’s changes. Moving forward, I expect 2026 to bring even deeper AI integration. The real game-changer will be how expertly we can apply AI strategically.
I recently delved into OpenAI’s intriguing move towards integrating ads within their AI responses, which could potentially transform digital marketing by providing advertisers with a highly contextual channel.
OpenAI is laying the foundation for developing an advertising model, which could signify a shift from solely relying on subscriptions and enterprise agreements for revenue generation.
Unpacking the Strategy. As reported by The Information, OpenAI is in the early stages of discussing ad formats and partnerships, potentially placing ads within AI-generated responses. These discussions are preliminary, but it’s clear that ads are becoming an integral part of OpenAI’s long-term financial strategy.
The Implications. This exploration into ads embedded in AI responses offers a unique opportunity to reach users right as they seek information. It positions OpenAI to compete with industry giants like Google and Meta, while also raising questions about user trust and engagement. Early adopters might gain a competitive edge since the dynamics differ from traditional digital ads, marking a new era in advertising.
Navigating User Experience. OpenAI seems to be cautiously approaching this initiative, focusing on maintaining a seamless user experience and not watering down trust in their AI models. Initially, any ad implementation will likely be carefully curated and contextually relevant to enhance, rather than disrupt, user interactions.
Considering the Broader Impact. Given the escalating costs of infrastructure and the increasing demand for revenue growth, integrating ads could be pivotal for OpenAI. This becomes especially relevant as generative AI continues to redefine how users search for information and discover products.
Future Developments. As these ad plans evolve from internal planning to public trials, a critical area to watch will be how transparently they are implemented and whether users will embrace ads within AI-driven results.
In Conclusion. OpenAI isn’t hurrying to deploy ads on the market, but the groundwork is being set. Their eventual full-scale deployment could reshape not only AI tools but also the digital advertising landscape as we know it.
