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.
Google Ads now is testing AI generated performance summaries. Google launched two new Googlebots, GoogleOther-Image and GoogleOther-Video. Google locked down the complaint thread on image thumbnails not showing in search. Glenn Gabe shared how to remove your content from Google AI Overviews. Google will discontinue third-party order with Google integration. Mikhail Parakhin from Microsoft joined the Perplexity advisory board. And I posted the weekly video recap – there as a lot to cover this week.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
Google announced they are rolling out AI Overviews in the US and many searchers want to turn it off, and some content creators want to opt out of them. Google also announced new AI search features that will roll out soon…
Remove Your Content From Google’s AI Overviews
When Google announced it is rolling out AI Overviews in the US search results and last year when Google launched SGE in labs, SEOs and content creators wanted to know how to prevent their content from showing up in these responses. Well, you can, but only through Google Search controls as I covered in my larger story.
Google Ads AI Summaries Live For Some Advertisers
Google Ads continues to roll out AI features within the advertiser console. Now some advertisers are seeing AI summaries of how their ad performance is doing. These AI summaries give you an overview of your Google Ads campaign performance over a specified period.
Order with Google For Food Delivery Going Away End Of June
Google looks like it will discontinue the direct ordering option with the Order with Google button by the end of June 2024. This will impact third-party food delivery sites, such as DoorDash, GrubHub and Uber Eats. I assume Google will instead link to third parties and not directly integrate with them in the search interface.
Two New Googlebots: GoogleOther-Image & GoogleOther-Video
Google has added two new Googlebots, Google crawlers, to its crawler list. They include GoogleOther-Image and GoogleOther-Video, which are part of the GoogleOther category of bots and are used for crawling of binary data for research and development reasons.
Google Locks Down Complaints Of Image Thumbnails Not Showing In Search
For the past few months we have covered the vocal and visual complaints around Google Search not showing image thumbnails for recipe search results and other search results that generally have image thumbnails attached to the search result snippet. Google has responded to the large Google Webmaster Help thread in the forums by saying we know, we are still investigating, follow our guidelines and then locked the thread down.
Mikhail Parakhin, Former Microsoft Bing Head, Joins Perplexity Advisor Board
Mikhail Parakhin, the former head of Bing Search and Microsoft Advertising at Microsoft, has announced he is now on the advisory board for Perplexity. Perplexity is a new AI search start up, which technically would be in competition with Microsoft’s Bing Search and Copilot.
Google Black & White Graffiti Wall
Here is a wall at the Google Brazil office which is made up of black and white graffiti art with the super G Google logo in the middle.
Other Great Search Threads:
A heads up: If you have access to @sistrix you can already see any site ranked keywords triggering AI overviews with the “AI Box” SERP Feature filter, Aleyda Solis on X
Great for being able to work alongside humans. Or… great information for when they need to fight them 😉 -> Google’s Robotic Body Language [Patent] “Google wants to patent “detection and attention estimation” for human-robot, Glenn Gabe on X
If you or your kids love Minecraft, Google it today and you’re in for a special treat! We have a very small team of passionate engineers and designers who helped make this (and many other delightful Easter eggs) happen!, Rajan Patel on X
The tool will generate product images, but it won’t generate product images that include brand names or logos., AdsLiaison on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
Google adds two new Googlebot crawlers: GoogleOther-Image and GoogleOther-Video
Snapchat outlines Three Es for advanced marketing measurement
Google AI Overviews: More searches, less satisfaction
Netflix ads tier hits 40 million subscribers
A better approach to B2B lead gen in 2024
How to run a successful site migration from start to finish
How to reappeal a Google Business Profile suspension
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
New ways to unlock revenue with first-party data, Google Blog
How to Track Referral Traffic in GA4: A Comprehensive Guide, SEOTesting
Industry & Business
AI Chatbots: OpenAI and Google Focus on Speech and Speed as Hype Fades, Bloomberg
AI Search Startup Perplexity Adds Veterans of Google, Bing as Advisors, Bloomberg
Baidu Revenue Growth Slows as China Economy Overshadows AI Push, Bloomberg
Google wants judge, not jury, decide upcoming antitrust case in Virginia, Yahoo Finance
OpenAI and Reddit Partnership, OpenAI
The video games that made us, Jono Alderson
Why Are Marketing Conferences Shrinking? And What Do Attendees Say They Want?, SparkToro
New support for AI advancement in Central and Eastern Europe, Google Blog
OpenAI Hires Google Veteran to Build ‘Google Search Alternative’, Analytics India Magazine
Links & Content Marketing
AI in Content Marketing: Benefits, Challenges & How to Use It, Semrush
The Dos and Don’ts of Pitching Journalists To Get More From Your Owned Media, Content Marketing Institute
Local & Maps
8 new accessibility updates across Lookout, Google Maps and more, Google Blog
Google is making Android and Google Maps more accessible with these changes, Android Central
Google Maps is getting geospatial AR content later this year, TechCrunch
Here’s the new Google Maps bottom bar with fewer tabs, 9to5Google
Thieves Wearing 3 Pairs of Socks Used Google Maps to Target Houses. It Didn’t Work, AutoEvolution
Mobile & Voice
Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant vulnerable to malicious commands, study reveals, VentureBeat
Bye Siri! iOS 18 will let you use voice commands without a wake word, Tom’s Guide
Google I/O 2024 — 7 best Gemini AI demos you need to see, Tom’s Guide
SEO
5 Technical SEO Best Practices You Can’t Ignore, BruceClay
Google March 2024 Core Update: Major SEO Changes Explained, Semrush
How to remove content and links from Google’s AI Overviews by using ‘preview controls’ like nosnippet, data-nosnippet, and max-snippet [Case Study, GSQI
SEO Tracking For Beginners: All You Need to Know, Ahrefs
What is Nesting in Schema Markup?, Schema App Solutions
Optimize Sitemaps for E-commerce Websites — Whiteboard Friday, Moz
Twitter is officially X.com now, The Verge
PPC
Access a powerful global marketplace with Microsoft Monetize, Microsoft Advertising
Google Ads Releases New Search Partner Insights & Controls Following Advertiser Concerns, WordStream
Five Product Feed Fixes To Optimise Your Google Shopping Campaign, PPC Hero
Upcoming Google Ads change – switching user accounts and account settings to a business email, Google Ads Developer Blog
Search Features
Bye Bye, AI: How to block Google’s annoying AI overviews and just get search results, Tom’s Hardware
Google Search gets a Minecraft Easter egg on 15th anniversary, 9to5Google
Google AI: Gemini comes to Workspace for Education, Google Blog
New Chrome extensions block AI and Reddit in Google Search, BGR
Other Search
Google Search Is Growing Up, Wired
Publishers Horrified at New Google AI Feature That Could Kill What’s Left of Journalism, Futurism
Google Gemini updates: Flash 1.5, Gemma 2 and Project Astra, Google Blog
Google’s Gemini AI plan for schools promises extra data protection and privacy, The Verge
OpenAI’s Flirty New Assistant, Google Guts the Web and We Play HatGPT, New York Times
Feedback:
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