Google Appears to Be Testing New Branded Search Controls in AI Max Campaigns
Google is testing a new "Branded Searches" control within its AI Max campaign type, giving advertisers the ability to dictate how brand‑related queries are handled. The setting offers three modes: serve ads on all relevant searches, manage branded traffic with inclusion/exclusion lists, or restrict ads to unbranded searches only. This feature directly tackles long‑standing complaints that AI Max cannibalizes traffic from dedicated brand campaigns. The control is currently observed in a limited set of accounts and has not been officially launched.
How to Train Claude to Sound Like Your Brand
The article outlines how to create a Claude brand skill—a structured set of voice, tone, visual, and formatting rules that teach the Claude AI to write in a brand’s unique style. It walks readers through six steps: consolidating brand assets,...
How to Structure Paid Social Creative Testing for Better Performance
Paid social advertisers are shifting from sheer creative volume to differentiated concepts that tap audience psychology and emotional triggers. The article warns that flooding accounts with minor variations fragments budgets, prolongs learning phases, and obscures actionable insights. It proposes a...
Brad Geddes on 20 Years of Paid Search Evolution
Brad Geddes, a pioneer who started in SEO in 1996 and moved to paid search in 1998, recounts the 20‑year transformation of PPC. He credits Goto.com’s 1998 launch as the birth of pay‑per‑click and notes Google’s rise to dominance around...
Google Adds AI Shopping Visibility Insights to Merchant Center
Google is adding AI‑driven performance insights to Merchant Center, giving retailers visibility into how their products appear across Google’s AI‑powered shopping experiences. The new reports will benchmark share of voice, track funnel performance, surface popular conversational queries, and flag missing...
Vanessa Fox on the Birth of Google Search Console
Vanessa Fox, the architect behind Google Search Console, sat down for an in‑depth interview that traces the tool’s evolution from early XML sitemaps to today’s AI‑enhanced interface. She recounts life at Google’s Kirkland office, collaboration with Matt Cutts, and the...
Google Expands Customer Acquisition Targeting with “New Prospects” Mode
Google is launching a new “prospects” targeting mode that aims to reach consumers who have never interacted with a brand. The AI‑driven system automatically excludes past purchasers, brand‑searchers, site visitors, and YouTube engagers, focusing ad spend on cold audiences. The...
OpenAI Confirms Conversion-Focused Ads Are Coming to ChatGPT
OpenAI announced that conversion‑optimized ad campaigns will roll out for ChatGPT in early June. Advertisers who install the OpenAI Pixel or configure the Conversions API by June 1 will receive early access by June 5 and can begin tracking conversions today. The...
How to Get Your Google Ads Seen in AI Overviews
Google’s AI Overviews are reshaping search results by embedding product carousels and featured ad snippets directly within AI‑generated answers, reducing traditional click opportunities but creating premium visibility. The search engine recommends Shopping, Performance Max, and AI Max for Search campaigns...
Google’s Latest AI Ad Push Shows Ads Are Becoming Conversations, Not Clicks
Google unveiled more than 40 AI‑driven upgrades across Ads, Analytics, and creative tools, emphasizing conversational ad formats that let users ask questions and receive answers directly in search results. New features such as lead intent scores, journey‑aware bidding, and predictive...
SEO Changelogs: The Missing Layer of Enterprise Site Governance
Enterprise websites involve dozens of stakeholders who can push live changes that affect search performance, often without SEO visibility. SEO changelogs capture what changed, who changed it, the intended impact, and observed results, turning siloed deployment logs into a shared,...
Yes, You Need to Use AI, but You Need to Use It Strategically
Entrepreneurs are wasting resources building AI solutions that replicate existing software, while the most successful firms apply AI to concrete operational challenges. Strategic AI use—such as automated lead generation, rapid market analysis, and 24/7 virtual assistants—directly lifts revenue and cuts...
Google May 2026 Core Update Rolling Out Now
Google announced the rollout of the May 2026 core update, the second major algorithm change of the year. The update began today and may take up to two weeks to fully propagate across search results. Google reiterated that the change is...
Google Adds llms.txt Check to Chrome Lighthouse
Google has added a new Agentic Browsing audit to Chrome Lighthouse that checks for an llms.txt file at the domain root. The audit is part of a broader effort to evaluate how well sites are structured for AI agents, alongside...
Google Search Universal Cart, Expands UCP and AP2
Google unveiled a Universal Cart that lets shoppers add items from multiple retailers directly within Search, Gemini, YouTube and Gmail, then checkout with a single Google Wallet tap. The Shopping Graph now hosts 60 billion product listings, up from 50 billion earlier...