WordPress Leader Mullenweg Silences Joost De Valk
Feb 9, 2025
Mullenweg bars Joost de Valk from speaking at WordCamp Asia, saying he feels Joost "stabbed" him when he was down.
Search Engine Journal
Google’s Advice on Fixing Unwanted Indexed URLs
Feb 7, 2025
Google's John Mueller offered advice on what to do when Google indexes duplicate URLs with query parameters
Search Engine Journal
Google Market Share Slips, AI Referrals & Regional Search Engines Rise
Feb 7, 2025
Google leads organic search with 94.8% traffic, but AI tools and smaller engines show growing competition.
Search Engine Journal
New in the rater guidelines – filler content, scaled content abuse and guidance around AI use
Feb 7, 2025
The rater guidelines represent the ideals Google is trying to get their systems to reward. The changes in this update are significant!
Marie Hynes
Daily Search Forum Recap: February 7, 2025
Feb 7, 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.
Many Google reviews go missing for a ton of local businesses. We now have more details on Google's new AI Mode test. Google said author bios for SEO are easy to spot. Google Ads keyword planner added auto-organize new keywords. Google Business Profiles updated its reinstatement process again. Google added a new document on using Google Analytics and Search Console data together. Plus...
Search Engine Roundtable
Building Trust In The AI Era: Content Marketing Ethics And Transparency
Feb 7, 2025
Find out how to navigate the content overload era ethically. Focus on quality, trust, and audience connection for successful content marketing.
Search Engine Journal
Google: Author Bios For SEOs Are Easy To Spot
Feb 7, 2025
John Mueller from Google wrote on Bluesky, "and let's be honest, people can tell when author bios are used purely as an SEO tactic. It's kinda awkward, not reassuring." This was in response to a post from Nikki Pilkington who said "Stop treating author bios as an SEO tactic and start treating them as what they are – a tool for building trust with your actual human readers."
Search Engine Roundtable
Google Ads Keyword Planner With Auto-Organize New Keywords
Feb 7, 2025
Google Ads has a new feature in the keyword planner tool that will auto-organize new keywords into ad groups for you. This feature will take your new keywords and auto-organize them into keyword ideas in ad groups.
Search Engine Roundtable
Google Business Profiles Updates Reinstatements To Include Case & 5 Upload Documents
Feb 7, 2025
Google has updated its Google Business Profiles reinstatement emails to now include the case number on the first appeal email. Plus, Google added five proof upload boxes to upload more evidence for Google to review.
Search Engine Roundtable
More Details On Google's AI Mode
Feb 7, 2025
In December, we reported that Google was experimenting with something they call AI Mode. Well, now, we have more details and even screenshots of AI Mode in Google Search.
Search Engine Roundtable
Google Local Reviews Decreasing
Feb 7, 2025
I am seeing a ton of complaints in the Google Business Profiles forums about reviews going missing. A lot of people are saying the review counts have dropped from one number to a lower number.
Search Engine Roundtable
Google Adds Doc On Using Google Analytics & Search Console Data Together
Feb 7, 2025
Google added a new developer document and video explanation on how to use Google Analytics data and Google Search Console data together. One of the biggest confusions I see is when people try to compare the data between those two analytics tools - they measure different things in different ways.
Search Engine Roundtable
63% of Websites Receive AI Traffic (New Study of 3,000 Sites)
Feb 6, 2025
We studied 3,000 sites to work out how much traffic you should expect from AI, and which chatbots are the most generous AI referrers.
Ahrefs
Google Adds New Guidance For Merging GA4 & Search Console Data
Feb 6, 2025
Google releases updated guidance on merging GA4 and Search Console data via Looker Studio to enhance SEO insights.
Search Engine Journal
Daily Search Forum Recap: February 6, 2025
Feb 6, 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.
Updated Google quality raters guidelines warns about recipe bloggers adding too much fluff and requiring too much scrolling to find the recipe. Google Ads now looks at the user experience of the landing page and will show less ads that have bad experience. Google says don't update the lastmod date when you only change the footer's copyright date. Google's Gary Illyes says focus on originality for 2025. ChatGPT Search is open even without an account...
Search Engine Roundtable
Brands are gambling millions by using the same legacy Super Bowl equation - is there a way to up the odds?
Feb 6, 2025
Are brands Super Bowled over by tradition, or are they ready to play the odds with a new playbook?
Brainlabs
TAM, SAM, SOM: Understanding Their Role In Enterprise-Level SEO Strategy
Feb 6, 2025
Learn how TAM, SAM, and SOM can provide clarity and guidance in evaluating market opportunities and fine-tuning your SEO strategy.
Search Engine Journal
Google Quality Raters Guidelines Warns Of Significant Scrolling On Recipe Blogs
Feb 6, 2025
Another update in the revised Google Quality Raters Guidelines that was updated on January 23rd was that they added a section for recipe sites and said that requiring "significant scrolling" or making it hard to find the jump to recipe button is not a good thing.
Search Engine Roundtable
Google Ads Now Looks At Quality Of User Navigation Experience
Feb 6, 2025
Google has announced it made some updates to its ad quality where it now takes into account better measurements for understanding the user navigation experience and if that user will or will not be happy with the ad landing page.
Search Engine Roundtable
Google Says Focus On Originality In 2025
Feb 6, 2025
Gary Illyes from Google reportedly said at event the other day that it is important for us to focus on originality in the coming year. "Originality is something we're going to be focusing on this year. That's going to be important," is how he was quoted.
Search Engine Roundtable
Google Says Don't Update Lastmod Date With Copyright Date Changes
Feb 6, 2025
Gary Illyes from Google ranted on Bluesky about folks updating the lastmod date in their sitemap files when all they have changed was the date in their footers copyright line from 2024 to 2025. Gary said, don't do it, it is not enough of a change to the page's content to warrant a lastmod date update.
Search Engine Roundtable
ChatGPT Search Drops Account Requirement; Google Releases Gemini 2.0 & Microsoft Think Deeper in Copilot
Feb 6, 2025
OpenAI announced big news that its ChatGPT Search service is now open and no longer requires a login or an account. It comes the same day that Google expanded access to Gemini 2.0 to all users and where Microsoft said Think Deeper in Copilot is free for all users.
Search Engine Roundtable
Ask An SEO: How To Repair & Recover Negative Brand Mentions In SERPs
Feb 6, 2025
Rebuild your brand reputation. Learn practical strategies to overcome negative listings and mend the broader brand relationship.
Search Engine Journal
YouTube Analytics Update: Device
Feb 6, 2025
YouTube updates Analytics with more prominent device data, helping you tailor content to shifting viewing habits.
Search Engine Journal
LinkedIn Report Reveals 5 Key Trends Reshaping B2B Marketing
Feb 6, 2025
LinkedIn report highlights five key trends reshaping B2B marketing, emphasizing revenue metrics, AI attribution, and ROI-focused strategies.
Search Engine Journal
Smart Bidding In Google Ads: An In
Feb 5, 2025
Master Smart Bidding in Google Ads with this up-to-date guide. Learn strategies, avoid pitfalls, and optimize campaigns for better PPC performance.
Search Engine Journal
Google Ads Update: Misleading Landing Pages Now Demoted
Feb 5, 2025
Google’s new ads rules demote confusing landing pages and reward those aligned with user intent.
Search Engine Journal
More AI innovations coming to Search – Google’s Q4 2024 earnings call
Feb 5, 2025
Google’s latest earnings call was all about AI. We will see them appear for more queries. Project Mariner and Project Astra are going to change how we interact with computers. And Search is going to change significantly over the next year.
Marie Hynes
Daily Search Forum Recap: February 5, 2025
Feb 5, 2025
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today...
Search Engine Roundtable
Google Search Ranking Volatility February 4th & 5th
Feb 5, 2025
I am seeing a lot of renewed chatter within the SEO industry of a possible unconfirmed Google search ranking update touching down in the past 24-hours or so. The weird thing is that the tools are not really showing much of a spike in volatility but the chatter seems incredibly high.
Search Engine Roundtable
Microsoft Advertising Performance Max & Feature Updates
Feb 5, 2025
Microsoft published its new Microsoft Advertising features that it released over the past month. This goes across Performance Max tools, reporting, new values, targeting, and more.
Search Engine Roundtable
Google AI Overviews Comparison Mode
Feb 5, 2025
Google AI Overviews are now able to show super detailed comparison within Google Search. If you search for two very specific models, Google may give you a ton of details directly in the AI Overview.
Search Engine Roundtable
Alphabet Google Ad Revenue Up Again, Hitting $72.5 Billion
Feb 5, 2025
Google / Alphabet reported its Q4 2024 earnings last night, where its ad revenue hit $72.46 billion, up 10.6% from last year's quarter of $65.52 billion. Google's revenue was up 12% with $96.47 billion and its profit was up 30.7% to $30.9B. Search revenue specifically was up 12.5% to $54 billion.
Search Engine Roundtable
Report: Google AI Overviews Are Hurting Click Through Rates
Feb 5, 2025
The folks at Seer put together a study looking at how the click-through rates of the Google organic and paid search results are impacted by having AI Overviews on the page. And the short answer is, AI Overviews seem to be hurting the click-through rates in a big way.
Search Engine Roundtable
Where Are The Missing Data Holes In GA4 That Brands Need?
Feb 5, 2025
Are you missing important data in Google Analytics? Find out how to independently verify and interpret GA4 event-based data.
Search Engine Journal
Mastering SERP Analysis: A Step
Feb 5, 2025
Improve your SEO strategy with SERP analysis. Deconstruct the pages that rank, their search intent, and consider the opportunity of search features
Search Engine Journal
Google’s Q4 Earnings Point To An AI-Focused Future
Feb 4, 2025
Alphabet's Q4 revenue rose 12%, driven by AI advancements, cloud growth, and infrastructure investments.
Search Engine Journal
LinkedIn Video Views Up 36%, New Tools & Courses Available
Feb 4, 2025
LinkedIn video viewership is up 36% YoY. The platform adds new tools and free training courses to boost video creation.
Search Engine Journal
The Best AI Content Optimization Tools for 2025
Feb 4, 2025
Content optimization tools make writing and ranking top-quality content a whole lot easier. That goes double for AI-powered tools.
Ahrefs
Daily Search Forum Recap: February 4, 2025
Feb 4, 2025
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today...
Search Engine Roundtable