Technology News and Industry Knowledge

Select Google Ads accounts can now access a new “segment” option for Performance (PMax) Asset Group performance, offering a long-awaited layer of granularity to campaign insights. This has been a highly requested feature for years, and Google has now delivered, enhancing the ability to monitor and optimize PMax campaigns. Why we care. This new segmentation tool empowers you to slice data directly in the Table View, allowing for deeper analysis of campaign performance. Notably, you can now see specific conversion actions and track the “days to conversion,” providing critical insights into the timing and value of conversions across different asset groups. With the UI having been a point of contention for advertisers in the past, this new ease in segmenting performance is a step in the right direction. How it works. The segmentation feature enables advertisers to break down Pmax Asset Group performance by: Time Click Type (consistently set to cross-network clicks) Conversions ...

Some ChatGPT users can now search the web with ChatGPT search, OpenAI announced today. ChatGPT has been able to search the web for several months , but today’s update is part of OpenAI’s larger push into AI search. OpenAI has an opportunity to challenge Google’s search monopoly with a much different user experience (e.g., less clutter, less search features, no ads). Why we care. We’ve long waited to see what OpenAI’s search product. Now it’s here. While it’s too early to tell what impact ChatGPT search will have on Google, we know that SearchGPT (despite having a small user base) was already sending more referral traffic to brands than other AI engines like Perplexity and Claude. How to search. Go to ChatGPT, click on the web search icon, and enter your query. Here’s what ChatGPT’s search icon looks like: Categories. ChatGPT search includes up-to-date information and unique visual designs in these specific categories: Weather. Stocks. Sports. News. Maps. Sources. C...

The SEO landscape is changing fast, and many of the tactics we rely on today are becoming obsolete. To keep driving organic traffic and real value, we need to rethink our approach. New developments – like Google’s AI Overviews, rolled out in May – are reshaping search results, shifting us away from the old “10 blue links” model. AI is influencing not just platforms and processes but also how users behave and interact with content. This article covers key insights and practical strategies to help you adapt to these changes and prepare your SEO efforts for 2025 and beyond. 1. Having a featured snippet may translate into an AI Overview citation When you search for “what is a zap in Zapier,” you may notice that the featured snippet appears as a citation in the AI Overview.  This is not an isolated case. Many reports highlight similarities between featured snippets and the answers provided in AI Overviews.  Some experts have even suggested that this redundancy could l...

If you’re looking to level up your SEO efforts, having the right tools is essential. This article explores four of the best technical SEO tools today: Screaming Frog. Ahrefs. URL Profiler. GTMetrix. Each tool offers unique capabilities to help optimize website performance, visibility and user experience.  1. Screaming Frog SEO Spider Top-line overview Desktop-based tool. Cost-effective. Produces vast quantities of data. Steeper learning curve. Limited to technical SEO findings only. Detail and usage A long-time staple for technical SEO specialists, Screaming Frog is a cost-effective tool that can be downloaded and executed from a desktop environment. As with most desktop-based tools, Screaming Frog uses your workstation’s processing power and your network’s bandwidth. There is no need for a cloud platform, making it cost-effective. The paid version of the tool (highly recommended) costs only $259 per year, whereas many cloud-based alternatives cost this much...

Google will release a new algorithm update “fairly soon.” However, many of the sites impacted negatively by previous updates should not expect to recover their lost traffic after the next update is released. This news comes out of a Web Creator Summit Google hosted at the Googleplex for a dozen or so content creators whose Google search rankings declined over the past year or so. Key points. Here’s a summary of takeaways shared by attendees of the Web Creator Summit: A new Google algorithm update should be released soon. Google did not promise those who attended would see any recoveries with this next update. Google acknowledged there are ways to improve its algorithm to reward content creators. Content may not have been the problem with their site. Google is aware of some larger sites trying to manipulate its search rankings. Some attendees believe the takeaway is that they need to move on to new or different projects. However, some creators are still working toward, and ...

Relying solely on Google for SEO is no longer enough. Expanding your SEO efforts to platforms like TikTok , Reddit and Quora can help you reach new audiences, build brand credibility and foster authentic connections. This article covers nine essential strategies for diversifying your SEO approach beyond Google. These will allow your brand to thrive on various channels and meet users where they are. 1. Even Google is telling us it’s important to look elsewhere Whether it’s helpful content , the tenets of E-E-A-T or the SERPs themselves, Google has been uncharacteristically transparent over the last few years in nudging marketers to share their experience and first-party perspectives to connect authentically with users. This effort is part of why the SERP looks dramatically different today than it did a few years ago. Compare this: To this: You can see that sections like AI Overviews, Perspectives and Discussions and Forums, all of which prominently showcase content fro...

How much of your spend is being allocated to search terms hidden under Google’s “other” category, versus those in your reports? Adthena analyzed accounts from various locations and discovered that, on average, 51% of spend is associated with search terms that Google doesn’t surface, categorizing them as “other terms” or similar.  As marketers, this begs the question: How much of our budget is slipping through the cracks? (Example of search term report over the past 12 months showing £5 million of ad spend hidden under ‘Other search terms’ – revealing a significant gap in visibility.)  This lack of transparency also extends to Performance Max (PMax) campaigns. In Adthena’s research, only 26% of PMax traffic was tied to visible search terms, leaving a large portion of your performance in the dark. Why visibility gaps in search terms could be costing you Google’s failure to disclose certain search terms creates blind spots in performance analysis and reporting....

Google search advertising spending rose 11% year-over-year in Q3 2024, showing resilience despite slower pricing growth and the introduction of AI-powered features according to Tinuiti’s latest Digital Ads Benchmark Report. Overall performance . Google search ad spending grew 11% YoY in Q3 2024, decelerating from 14% growth in Q2. Click growth remained stable at approximately 3% YoY. Cost-per-click (CPC) growth moderated to 8% YoY, down from 12% in Q2. Shopping Ad momentum . Shopping ad spend maintained strong 16% YoY growth in Q3, matching Q2 performance. Click volume improved to 6% YoY growth, up from 4% in Q2. Shopping CPC growth decelerated to 9% YoY, continuing a downward trend. Competitive landscape . Amazon dominates shopping ad impressions with 58% share in Q3, though down from 63% in Q2. Notable mid-September dip to 45% share before quick recovery. Walmart holds a distant second position with 22% share. Temu’s presence declined significantly compared to 20...