Google’s Trajectory: 2026 and Beyond
AI is shifting from tool to utility. Agentic AI Becomes the Default Interface 2026 prediction: Expect Google Search to become agentic by default. Not “here are 10 links” – more like “I booked the restaurant, here’s the confirmation.” Operator-style functionality baked into Search and Gemini app. Gemini 4 Likely Late 2026 The pattern is clear: […]
Google’s John Mueller Working On Christmas (2025 Edition)
Every year, for the past 18 or so years, Google’s John Mueller has been working on Christmas to provide support to those who need help with their Google Search ranking and SEO concerns. This year is no different; John Mueller has responded to several …
The 2025 SEO wrap-up: What we learned about search, content, and trust
SEO didn’t stand still in 2025. It didn’t reinvent itself either. It clarified what actually matters. If you followed The SEO Update by Yoast monthly webinars this year, you’ll recognize the pattern. Throughout 2025, our Principal SEOs, Carolyn Shelby and Alex Moss, cut through the noise to explain not just what was changing but why […]
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Google Ads Drops Active Visitors To 100 For Search Network & YouTube
Earlier this year, Google lowered the size of your data segment customer lists to 100 active visitors for the Google Display Network. Now, Google updated that to also be 100 active visitors for the Search Network and YouTube.
Confirmed Google Ads Dynamic Remarketing Tracking Reporting Bug
Google has confirmed there is a bug with Google Ads dynamic remarketing tracking where the data is not flowing into the reporting. Adesh, from the Google team, responded that the Google “teams are actively reviewing this and working toward a resolution.”
Google Search Forgot The Holiday Decorations In 2025
For the past 15 or so years, Google would post holiday-specific decorations at the top of its search results for Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. Well, this year Google did not. Google did post an Easter egg in the search results, which they do every …
Bing: Duplicate & Similar Pages Blur Signals & Weaken SEO & AI Visibility
Fabrice Canel and Krishna Madhavan from the Microsoft Bing team posted a useful blog post named Does Duplicate Content Hurt SEO and AI Search Visibility? The short answer is yes, and the long answer is also yes.
Google Ads Advisor Suggestions Within Google Ad Reporting
Google is testing pushing advertisers to use Google Ads Advisor from within the Google Ads reporting section. Google Ads suggested questions and prompts at the top of the report, which it thinks you would find helpful to chat with an AI bot about.
Bing Search Tests More Sources Section
Microsoft is testing a “more sources” section within the Bing Search results. This seems to load a different user interface, with long card-shaped search results that you can slide through as a carousel.
Google’s Ranking Signals
Popularity Popularity signals are derived from user interactions based on ingested user events. The more the users interact with a document, the stronger the boosts are. These data requirements check the overall readiness of your events to generate the popularity signals. This is regardless of the specific search app that you choose. Predicted CTR model […]
Google Ads MCC Accounts With Channel Performance Reporting
Some Google Ads MCC, Manager Accounts, are seeing channel performance reporting. This does not seem to have been rolled out to all advertisers yet, but Mike Ryan noticed it was rolling out on some of his MCC accounts.
Google Ads Adds Google Maps Channel For Demand Gen
Google Ads added a new channel control for Demand Gen to show ads in Google Maps. Some advertisers see the ability to select Maps as a placement in Demand Gen.
Google Search Traffic To News Publishers Drops From 51% To 27%
Google Search has been sending 25 percentage points less traffic to news publishers over the past two years, according to the folks over at Newzdash. In 2023, Google Web Search made up over 51% of traffic from Google surfaces to news publishers; that n…
Google Search Bar Tests Teases For AI Mode With Animation In Box
Google is testing prefilling the search bar in a new Chrome tab, with teasers to encourage you to search deeper with AI Mode. Google is putting in the search box, “Research a topic,” “Write something new,” “Ask Google,” and “Make a plan.”
Google Discover Notifications That Go AI Mode Responses
Have you seen those Google Discover notifications that pop up and seem like news notifications from the Google app but what they do is drive you into Google AI Mode. I find them incredibly annoying, because every time I click on it, I think I am going …
Daily Search Forum Recap: December 22, 2025
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
We had big Google search ranking volatility over the weekend, likely from the end of the December core up…
Google Tests Learn More Links After Ad Text
Google is testing appending “learn more” links to the end of the Google search ads text. So the Google Ad will have its normal ad description and at the end, Google is testing adding “Learn more” with an arrow to the right, in blue anchor underlined t…
Report: Google Deleting Local Reviews More Than Ever
GMBapi posted data that looks at tens of thousands of Google Business Profiles across multiple countries and showed that review deletions have increased significantly over the year, compared to previous periods.
Google Expands Ads In AI Overviews To More Countries But Not For Sensitive Verticals
Google quietly updated its AI Overviews ad documentation to say that ads in AI Overviews are supported in Australia, Canada, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, and US. Previously, it just said it …
Google Pushes Timeline For Gemini Replacing Assistant Into 2026
Anish Kattukaran, CPO at Google Home & Nest announced in the Google Gemini forums that Gemini will not be replacing Google Assistant by the end of 2025. He wrote, “We’re adjusting our previously announced timeline to make sure we deliver a seamless tr…