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Tag: Google

Unveiling Google’s PMax Timeline: Boost Your Ad Strategy

Recently, I discovered that Google has launched an exciting new feature for Performance Max campaigns. As an advertiser, I’m always on the lookout for tools that provide clearer insights, and this new channel performance timeline view does just that. It offers a comprehensive breakdown of how different channels like Search, YouTube, and Display contribute to my campaign results over time.

What’s New

The latest update introduces a timeline graph that showcases channel-level contributions over a selected period, complete with investment and performance filters. This means I can quickly identify which channels are excelling and which ones might need a bit more attention.

The chart features helpful visual cues—like a yellow box highlighting channel performance evolution over time, and a pink box indicating different ad types, such as All Ads, Ads Using Product Lists, and Ads Using Video.

Why I Care

Managing Performance Max campaigns across multiple channels often left me guessing about where my budget was working best. This new view provides valuable insights into channel-level trends, allowing me to adjust strategies or budgets more efficiently. If I notice YouTube underperforming while Search is thriving, I can now make informed decisions without relying purely on guesswork or exported data.

The Big Picture

This new view empowers me to evaluate PMAX performance more effectively, without relying solely on Google’s automated decisions. Now, I can see consistent underperformance or excellence across channels, which guides my budget and asset strategies moving forward.

The Bottom Line

Though it’s not full transparency, this update is a significant move in the right direction. I now have a more structured way to detect trend anomalies in PMax campaigns early and make necessary adjustments to optimize performance.

First Spotted

This feature was first noticed by Axel Falck, Head of Search at Le Mage du SEA, who shared his insights on LinkedIn.

Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.

April 2, 2026
Google’s Global Expansion: Experience AI-Driven Search Live

I was thrilled to learn that Google has rolled out its Google Search Live globally, expanding its reach to over 200 countries and territories where AI Mode is available. You can check which languages and regions are supported.

Google attributes this remarkable expansion to its cutting-edge audio and voice model, Gemini 3.1 Flash Live. This model offers more natural and intuitive conversations, and because it is bilingual, it allows individuals worldwide to engage with Search in their language of choice.

How it works. To get started with Search Live, I simply open the Google app on my Android or iOS device and tap the Live icon beneath the Search bar. From there, I can speak my question out loud and receive a helpful audio response. It’s seamless to continue the conversation with follow-up questions or delve deeper using the provided web links. When I need visual context, like figuring out how to install a new shelving unit, I just enable my camera, and it complements Search Live’s suggestions with relevant information from the web.

Moreover, if I’m already using Google Lens to capture an image, tapping on the Live option lets me have a real-time conversation about what I see, bringing what’s in front of me to life.

More. Back in September, Google made Search Live with video available in the U.S., appealing to those who enjoyed its earlier iterations. Initially, it was an opt-in beta, and before that, it featured a talk and listen mode, minus the video component.

Why we care. This development offers a fresh approach for users to interact with Google’s AI through conversation rather than text queries. While this might reduce traditional web traffic, since users get direct answers, the inclusion of citations and links might still benefit content creators and brands, even if users are less compelled to click through for more depth.

Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.

March 26, 2026
Enhance Forum Visibility: Google’s New Structured Data Update

I recently discovered that Google has enhanced its structured data support for forum and Q&A pages. This update introduces new properties that allow us to better signal reply threads, quoted content, and identify whether content is generated by AI or humans.

With these changes, which aim to boost Google’s accuracy in interpreting discussions and Q&A content, we can now ensure our content is represented more precisely.

What’s New. Google has updated its QAPage documentation to include commentCount and digitalSourceType. Moreover, the DiscussionForumPosting documentation now supports sharedContent alongside these new properties.

The Details. Using Q&A markup, I’m able to apply commentCount to questions, answers, and comments, showcasing the total number of comments even if they are not fully marked up. This total should align with answerCount + commentCount, representing all types of replies.

How It Works. The digitalSourceType property allows me to indicate whether content is produced by a model or simple automation. I can use TrainedAlgorithmicMediaDigitalSource for advanced outputs and AlgorithmicMediaDigitalSource for basic bots. If this property is left out, Google assumes the content is human-generated.

What’s New for Forums. The sharedContent property helps me to mark the primary item that’s being shared in a post. Google supports various content types like WebPage, ImageObject, and more, including quotes or reposts.

Why This Matters. This update provides me with greater control over how Google interprets community content, which is particularly important for sites rich in forums, support communities, UGC platforms, and Q&A sections. Google can now distinguish between answers and comments more effectively, tally partial threads across multiple pages, and recognize when a post primarily shares specific media types.

Documentation. The official documentation was updated on March 24, providing all the details I need to apply these new capabilities.

Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.

March 26, 2026
Identical Google Ads Metrics Spark Industry Concerns
I recently stumbled upon an intriguing issue with Google’s paid search ads. Imagine my surprise when I noticed multiple competing ads displaying identical web statistics! This strange occurrence immediately made me question whether it’s a bug or perhaps a deliberate change by Google.

What’s happening? I’ve seen several paid search ads showcasing the same website statistics simultaneously, despite these metrics usually being unique to each site. This uniformity makes the data appear dubious, leaving me uncertain if it’s a display glitch, an experimental test, or something more intentional.

Why we care. Trust signals in search ads play a crucial role in helping users like us make informed decisions. They boost click-through rates by instilling confidence in the results. If identical stats appear across competing ads, it risks undermining their credibility—potentially impacting the confidence and trust advertisers rely on.

What we don’t know.
- Whether Google is testing this actively or it’s an unintended bug
- How widespread the issue is across different search queries or markets
- Whether it’s affecting user click behavior or advertiser performance
No official word. So far, Google has not confirmed or commented on this behavior. Paid Media expert and Founder Anthony Higman was the first to notice and flag this anomaly, sharing his findings on LinkedIn.

The bottom line. If trust signals can’t be trusted, they fail to serve their purpose. As someone invested in digital advertising, I’m keenly watching whether this pattern gains momentum or fades away. Observing these developments is critical for both advertisers and users.

Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.
March 23, 2026
Inside Google AI: Why It’s Citing Itself More Than Ever
It’s fascinating to see the evolution of Google’s AI Mode and how it increasingly cites Google itself. In fact, almost one out of every five sources in its AI-generated answers now originates from Google, often guiding users back to more Google searches.

Why does this matter to us? As someone deeply involved in the world of digital content and SEO, I’m aware that AI search should highlight the best online sources. If Google prioritizes its own content, there’s a risk that we might encounter fewer direct links and see a reduction in traffic as users remain within Google’s ecosystem.

So let’s delve into the details. Research by SE Ranking reveals that Google.com is the most cited source within AI Mode responses, making up 17.42% of all references. This makes Google more mentioned than even the combined total of the next six well-known platforms: YouTube, Facebook, Reddit, Amazon, Indeed, and Zillow.

In an accelerated trend, back in June 2025, Google referenced itself in only 5.7% of AI-generated answers, but now that figure has tripled.

Almost one out of five AI citations is from Google. When considering YouTube, Google-owned properties account for about 20% of all sources.

This self-referencing is quite pronounced, with AI Overviews linking heavily to Google properties such as Maps, Images, and YouTube. AI Mode expands on this by further embedding users within the Google environment, often through presenting additional search results rather than directing them to external sites.

This strategy keeps users engaged with Google platforms where monetized content such as ads and reviews can be found.

What’s changed? Previous research showed that Google was mostly citing Google Business Profiles. However, this trend has shifted:
- Travel: 53.18% of citations
- Entertainment & hobbies: 48.74% of citations
- Real estate: 30.54% of citations
Interestingly, the one area where Google is not the top source is Careers and Jobs, where Indeed appears more than three times as often as Google.

The data supporting these findings were gathered by SE Ranking, who analyzed 68,313 keywords across 20 industries, reviewing over 1.3 million AI Mode citations to determine how frequently Google.com was referenced.

If you’re interested, I recommend checking out the full report titled “Is Google stealing your clicks in AI Mode? (1.3M+ citations analyzed)” for an in-depth exploration.

Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.
- 59% of citations now direct to conventional Google search results.
- 36.1% still reference Google Business Profiles.
- A smaller portion links to Google Support (1.7%), Google Flights (0.1%), and other Google services.
- Often, these AI citations are accompanied by a mini search results panel beside the answer, effectively creating a new search opportunity.
Industry differences are also evident. Google dominates citations across several topics, but some sectors show a stronger dependency on Google:
- Travel: 53.18% of citations
- Entertainment & hobbies: 48.74% of citations
- Real estate: 30.54% of citations
Interestingly, the one area where Google is not the top source is Careers and Jobs, where Indeed appears more than three times as often as Google.

The data supporting these findings were gathered by SE Ranking, who analyzed 68,313 keywords across 20 industries, reviewing over 1.3 million AI Mode citations to determine how frequently Google.com was referenced.

If you’re interested, I recommend checking out the full report titled “Is Google stealing your clicks in AI Mode? (1.3M+ citations analyzed)” for an in-depth exploration.

Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.
March 6, 2026
Overcoming Google’s Biggest Crawling Challenges: A Personal Review
Managing my website’s URLs efficiently is crucial to prevent crawlers from slowing it down. If you’re like me, you want your site to load fast, ensuring both visitors and search engines have a seamless experience.

Just the other day, I listened to Google’s latest insights on their year-end report for 2025. It was fascinating to hear Gary Illyes discuss on the Search Off the Record podcast about the major crawling challenges Google faces, like faceted navigation and action parameters, which make up a whopping 75% of the issues.

What’s the issue? Well, I’ve learned that crawling problems can seriously impact site performance, potentially making it unusable or inaccessible. Crawlers can sometimes get stuck in an infinite loop on a site, wreaking havoc on server performance.

According to Gary, once a set of URLs is discovered, the crawler has to check a significant portion to determine its quality. By the time this is done, the damage is done—your site slows down dramatically.

The Biggest Crawling Challenges Here’s what caught my attention as the major issues from the report:
- 50% relate to faceted navigation. These are very common in e-commerce sites where endless filtering options exist for products based on size, color, price, etc.
- 25% pertain to action parameters. These come from URL parameters that trigger actions instead of significantly changing page content.
- 10% involve irrelevant parameters like session IDs or UTMs.
- 5% are due to plugins or widgets that cause confusion by creating problematic URLs.
- 2% encapsulate other “weird stuff”, which includes strange issues like double-encoded URLs.
Why this matters to me is simple. A well-structured URL strategy keeps my server healthy, ensures quick page loads, and prevents search engines from misunderstanding which URLs should be indexed as canonical.

The Podcast: Here’s where you can listen to the discussion yourself:

Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.
February 3, 2026
EU Focuses on Google’s AI and Search Data: What It Means for Competition

I’ve noticed the European Union is turning its gaze towards Google once more, scrutinizing how it handles its AI and search data. This could lead to changes that might open up its Android features and search data, ultimately reshaping the competitive landscape.

The European Commission is now formally outlining the ways Google must share specific Android functionalities and its search data with competitors, in line with the Digital Markets Act.

Tuesday marked the start of two official proceedings by the Commission, aimed at establishing a structured approach for Google to meet key obligations under the DMA. It’s fascinating to see these regulatory dialogues become more concrete.

Why I care. This move by the European Commission could alter the dynamics in mobile AI and search. With Google potentially needing to share its search data and Android AI capabilities, it could boost the competition from other search engines and AI services. Such changes might impact where advertisers allocate budgets, alter the availability of advertising inventory, and shift campaign dependencies away from Google’s platforms.

First focus — Android and AI interoperability. The regulators are delving into how Google must enable third-party developers to access Android hardware and software features as freely as Google’s own AI services, like Gemini.

– The objective is to allow rival AI providers the same level of integration with Android devices as Google’s native tools.

Second focus — search data sharing. The Commission aims to define how Google should provide anonymized search data including ranking, queries, clicks, and views to rival search engines under fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory conditions.

– This includes specifying the types of data to be shared, how it will be anonymized, eligibility for access, and whether AI chatbot providers can use this dataset.

Between the lines. It’s not just about ticking off compliance boxes. The Commission is making it clear that AI services are under the DMA’s watchful eye, especially where data and device control could influence emerging markets.

What’s next: Within three months, the Commission plans to send Google its initial findings and recommended actions. The full proceedings should wrap up within six months, accompanied by non-confidential summaries for public input.

The backdrop. Since March 2024, Google has been required to comply with DMA obligations, having been identified as a gatekeeper in services like Search, Android, and YouTube.

Bottom line. The EU is moving from planning to action with the DMA, testing how strongly it will influence competition by overseeing Google’s AI functions and search data management.

Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.

January 27, 2026
Unveiling Google’s New AI Overviews with Gemini 3 Pro
Recently, I’ve noticed that Google has started using Gemini 3 Pro to create AI Overviews on their search platform. This change primarily enhances the handling of more complex search queries.

Back in November, Google announced this improvement for AI Mode results. Then, in December, they began implementing Gemini 3 Flash for AI Mode. Now, it’s exciting to see Google integrating Gemini 3 Pro for generating AI Overviews.

Gemini 3 Pro is now crafting AI Overviews for complicated queries in English, accessible globally to all Google AI Pro & Ultra subscribers.

What Google Shared with Us. Robby Stein, VP of Product at Google Search, expressed this in his recent update:
- “Update: AI Overviews now tap into Gemini 3 Pro for complex topics.”
- “Behind the scenes, Search will intelligently route your toughest Qs to our frontier model (just like we do in AI Mode) while continuing to use faster models for simpler tasks.”
- “Live in English globally for Google AI Pro & Ultra subs.”
Why It Matters to Me. The AI Overviews you see might look quite different than they did recently. Google’s consistent efforts to refine its Gemini models signify ongoing improvements in their AI technologies within Google Search, which includes both AI Overviews and AI Mode.

Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.
January 19, 2026
Google’s Blue Send Button: Revolutionizing Search Experience

As I type my search query in Google, I’ve noticed an interesting change. The usual AI Mode button is sometimes replaced by a striking blue ‘Send’ button right in the search box.

Google is currently testing this new feature. Traditionally, the AI Mode button appears on the right side of the search box, but it seems this might be changing. As soon as I start typing, the ‘Send’ button takes its place.

What it looks like. Recently, I came across a post by Shameem Adhikarath, who shared a video of this new feature on X.

From the video, it’s clear that when I start typing my query, the AI Mode, Lens, and Microphone buttons vanish, leaving behind this new blue ‘Send’ button.

Interestingly, the familiar plus sign remains unaffected, sticking around as always.

Why this matters. While this is currently just a test, it could have significant implications. If implemented, it might mean fewer users are directed to Google’s AI Mode, prompting more straightforward searches.

For those of us who rely on AI Mode, this change could make accessing it a bit more challenging, urging us to adjust how we initiate searches.

Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.

January 2, 2026
Unveiling 2025’s Top SEO Changes: Google’s AI Revolution
Reflecting on another year in the world of search, I’ve seen how Google labeled 2025 as year three of a 10-year transformative shift. This change, centering on AI, became undeniably evident. No longer just an experiment, AI has now firmly integrated into the core processes of search.

Here, I’ll share the most significant SEO news stories of 2025 from Search Engine Land.

Note: This overview excludes Google algorithm updates, which Barry Schwartz has covered in a separate recap published today.

10. Perplexity Ranking Factors and Systems

Diving into the intricacies, independent researcher Metehan Yesilyurt examined browser-level interactions, revealing how Perplexity scores, ranks, and sometimes drops content. His findings uncovered a three-layer machine learning system reordering entity searches, manual authority whitelists, and many engagement signals.

He also observed that authoritative domains, early strong performance, and tech-focused topics received boosts. The ranking further mirrored time decay, interconnected content clusters, and trending YouTube content that amplified visibility.
- How Perplexity ranks content: Research uncovers core ranking factors and systems
9. Google Search Console Query Groups

In a move all about clarity, Google introduced Query groups to the Search Console Insights report. By employing AI, it groups similar search queries into distinct audience topics. These don’t influence rankings but make performance trends more apparent, especially for high-volume sites.
- Google Search Console adds Query groups
8. HubSpot’s SEO Decline

I was surprised to see HubSpot’s organic traffic plummet from 13.5 million to 8.6 million within a month, mainly impacting its blog. This followed several Google updates, with SEOs pointing to thin, broad content not aligned with HubSpot’s core expertise.
- HubSpot’s SEO collapse: What went wrong and why?
7. SEO vs. GEO

The ongoing identity debate in SEO continues as Google rejects new terminologies like GEO (generative engine optimization) and AEO (answer engine optimization). They maintain that strong SEO practices are also effective for GEO, underpinning AI Overview rankings’ fundamentals.

Yet, as AI answers replace clicks, traditional search still plays a vital role in discovery, despite search behavior evolving with users seeking AI for quick answers but relying on Google for extensive research.
6. Google AI Mode

The expansion of Google AI Mode from a trial to an almost default, comprehensive search experience was rapid. It incorporated more in-depth research, agentic activities, personalization, and the advanced Gemini 2.5—a drastic evolution toward complex search behaviors.

This AI Mode initially struggled with transparency, breaking referral tracking and merging its performance data with standard Search Console reports, sparking concerns over visibility and attribution in a more AI-centric search landscape.
5. Cloudflare vs. Google

When Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince spoke about AI disrupting the web’s search-driven business model, it resonated with many. He highlighted the disproportionate relationship—Google and AI companies scrape extensive content while returning minimal traffic, jeopardizing original publishing unless the economic model adapts.
- Cloudflare CEO: AI is killing the business model of the web
4. Google Search Market Share Drops

Seeing Google’s search share dip below 90% globally for the first time since 2015 was significant, driven by shifts in Asia and the U.S. This opened opportunities for Bing, Yandex, and Yahoo to capture some of Google’s shrinking share.
- Google’s search market share drops below 90% for first time since 2015
3. AI-Generated Content

Google’s stricter stance on AI-generated content was clear when it instructed quality raters to assign the Lowest ratings to predominantly auto-generated pages. The expanded spam definitions targeted scaled, low-effort AI implementations.

Concurrent tests of AI-generated and AI-summarized search snippets indicated a future where AI not only critically examines content but also influences its presentation in searches.
- Google quality raters now assess whether content is AI-generated
- Google testing AI-generated descriptions for search snippets
2. Impact of Google AI Overviews on Clicks

I noticed analysis from various sources showing a troubling trend: Google Search offered more impressions and AI Overview visibility but resulted in fewer clicks. This was especially evident with non-branded, informational queries where AI Overview overshadowed classic results.

Brands mentioned in AI Overviews saw improved CTR, whereas those outside these features lost prominence, emphasizing that AI visibility is pivotal in driving successful outcomes.
1. R.I.P., num=100

Google’s removal of the &num=100 search parameter has widely impacted the SEO industry, disrupting rank-tracking tools and coinciding with a noticeable decrease in Google Search Console impressions and query counts.

Initial evaluations suggested that the majority of sites experienced reduced visibility, especially beyond Page 1, hinting at historic overreported metrics and a more realistic view of organic performance going forward.
Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.
December 29, 2025

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