Deep, Non‑commodity Content Wins in AI Search
Google's Nick Fox (@thefox) was asked about GEOs entering the scene and gaming Google, and how a similar thing happened in the early 2000s. Are we seeing that again?? Nick: We published a document last week covering how to optimzie for AI Search (which is basically what you should do for SEO)... But it's important to go beyond the surface level with your content. The content that will perform the best in AI goes deeper. (Me: i.e. "Non-commodity" content.) And regarding the cat and mouse spam game, we'll how that plays out. The models are really smart so they should be able to figure it out... He does worry about prompt injection and Google is keeping an eye out for spammy tactics trying to game AI/Google. https://t.co/kEuZx38TJn
Google App to Add Personalized Video Tab
Maybe joining the Images tab in the Google App -> The Google app could soon have a video tab with videos it thinks you'd like to watch "When it does go live, the feature could surface videos based on your...
May 2026 Core Update Launches, Expect Bigger Impact
Here we go! The May 2026 broad core update is rolling out. I hope it's more impactful than the March core update. That was a dud IMO. :) I'll be posting updates based on what I'm seeing in the SERPs....
YouTube Launches Shoppable Ads via Universal Commerce Protocol
UCP Everywhere :) -> UCP Coming to YouTube: YouTube is enhancing its advertising capabilities by introducing shoppable ads that integrate a 'Buy now' button leveraging Universal Commerce Protocol https://t.co/abrXcgNBHm https://t.co/drDpt8vOvi
Google Launches AI-Powered Conversational Search for YouTube Premium
I've covered this before since I had it available in Premium (testing). It's like AI Mode for YouTube -> Googleadds a conversational search feature to YouTube, initially for Premium users, and integrates Gemini Omni into YouTube Shorts Remix and...
Master Google Gen‑AI SEO: Prioritize Original, Agent‑Ready Content
Good podcast from @Marie_Haynes based on the Google document published on Friday about Gen-AI optimization. She covers a number of important topics. Note, I had YouTube's "Ask" feature build the chapters in case that's helpful for you. :) https://t.co/3zWmm7A4eL Here are...
YouTube Expands AI Search Features to TVs and Consoles
YouTube adds conversational search, like counts, chapters in descriptions, title cards and more to Smart TVs and Gaming Consoles https://t.co/zg7r09kPuY https://t.co/gRnNql2jm7
Google Hands Discover Profile Control to 54 Publishers
Is Discover important for you? -> Google quietly gave 54 publishers control over their Discover profiles. Here’s what they did with it https://t.co/unwhQQr2SD via @AndellDam https://t.co/k1lheKnZC6
Google Integrates Klarna, Affirm Into Gemini AI Checkout
Buy now, pay later services in AI surfaces -> Google Adds Klarna, Affirm as AI Shopping Payment Options in Gemini app and in AI Mode "When shoppers are making a purchase from Gemini or Google search results, Affirm and Klarna...
Google Confirms Discover Data Logging Glitch, Clicks Down
Heads-up if Discover is important for your site. Confirmed by Google (for 5/7 - 5/8). "You may notice a decrease in clicks and impressions in the Discover performance report. This issue affects data logging only."
Spotify Launches Full-History Wrapped for All Users
Whoa, new Wrapped but for your entire music history. Just went through it. Very cool. I joined in 2011. 15 years ago... Damn. :) "Starting today, Spotify mobile app users can access a new Wrapped-like experience that features “never-before-shared data”...
Chrome Update Showcases AI Mode as Search’s Future
My "Your Chrome was updated" tab today was heavily promoting AI Mode's latest features and functionality (including linking to an unlisted video about the changes that was published two weeks ago). Again, AI Mode (or some form of it) is...
Reddit Tests App Push on Logged‑Out Mobile Users
But I thought logged-out users were now super-valuable to Reddit?? Very interesting test from Reddit here... Will be interesting to follow. Terrible user experience if you are forced to download the app. See the quote from Reddit below about this...
Amazon Now Rolls Out 30‑minute Delivery Across U.S. Cities
Are we approaching a "6-minute abs" situation? I'm sure the 15-minute service is coming :) -> Amazon launches Amazon Now, its 30-minute delivery service, in dozens of US cities including Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Philadelphia, and Seattle, after pilots https://t.co/vn3ndFyrCX https://t.co/1Tt94hiHxO
Anthropic Engineer Prefers HTML Over Markdown for AI Agents
From an Anthropic engineer. HTML beats Markdown -> An Anthropic engineer argues HTML is a better output format for AI agents than Markdown, citing information density, ease of sharing, and two-way interaction "I’ve started preferring HTML as an output...
Schema Additions Don't Boost AI Citation Rankings
Interested in Schema impact on AI citations? Here's the latest study from @ahrefs -> We Tracked 1,885 Pages Adding Schema. AI Citations Barely Moved "We tracked 1,885 web pages that added JSON-LD schema between August 2025 and March 2026, matched them...
Gemini Omni Generates Realistic Video From Simple Prompts
Omni examples -> Gemini ‘Omni’ video model shows up with some early demos "One demo used input of “a professor writes out a mathematical proof for trigonometric identities on a traditional chalkboard, explaining the step he is currently on in the...
Gemini Turns Paper Notes Into Digital Study Guides
"Gemini can distill your hard work into study guides or flashcards..." -> You can digitize your paper notes with Gemini and create study guides https://t.co/lh874dFBa9 https://t.co/djDP8PjV3V
NYT Mistakenly Publishes AI‑generated Quote as Politician’s Statement
And this is the NYT... -> The NYT says it wrongly used an AI-generated summary of a Canadian politician's views as his quote in an article, potentially violating its AI use policy "This article was updated after The Times learned...
FAQ Snippets Removed From Google SERPs for Government, Health Sites
And I can confirm, FAQ snippets are officially gone from the SERPs (for the gov and health sites that still had them). See the CDC example below. The first was captured by Semrush recently, the second is that search today.
Apple Pays $250M, Highlights AI Lag Behind Rivals
Oof and why it's smart they are partnering with Google for AI -> Apple Reaches $250 Million Settlement Over Claims It Misled People on A.I. "The settlement underscores Apple’s challenges in a global technology race to dominate A.I. The iPhone...
Claude Extension Flaw Lets Other Add‑ons Hijack It
This was one of the first things I thought could happen when reading about Claude's chrome extension -> ClaudeBleed: A Flaw In Claude’s Browser Extension Allows Any Extension to Hijack It I believe this is partially patched now, but underscores...
AI Responsible for 40% of 2025 Breaches, to Dominate 2026
Ah, AI... -> Experian says 40% of the 5,000 data breaches it serviced in 2025 were AI-powered, and predicts agentic AI will be the leading cause of data breaches in 2026 https://t.co/huKoCEldFh
Google Eliminates FAQ Rich Results From Search in 2026
After cutting down FAQ snippets in 2023 and just showing them for authoritative gov and health sites, Google is now nuking them totally. From Google: "As of May 7, 2026, FAQ rich results are no longer appearing in Google Search....
Google Unlikely to Tailor Spam Policy for EU Advantage
I have a hard time believing that Google will adjust a spam policy for just the EU. That would give news publishers in the EU an unfair advantage. And I highly doubt Google will get rid of the spam policy...
NewsCorp CEO: AI Licensing Beyond Transaction, Protect IP
More about AI and publishers -> NewsCorp CEO Robert Thomson touted its recent AI content licensing deal with Meta as greater than “purely transactional,” though he warned of other firms illegally scraping the company’s content “IP powers AI,” he said. “IP is an...
Anthropic CEO Hopes 80x Growth Slows
80X -> Anthropic’s C.E.O. Says It Could Grow by 80 Times This Year “I hope that 80-times growth doesn’t continue because that’s just crazy and it’s too hard to handle,” Mr. Amodei said. “I’m hoping for some more normal numbers.” https://t.co/KK9IupDFoN
Google Ads Expands Out‑of‑stock Display Options
Running Google Ads? This is a good change -> Out-of-Stock Product Landing Page Requirements Updated It used to be a single requirement for a grayed-out button... Advertisers can now indicate out-of-stock products with several options: *Display text such as “Sold Out” or “Item...
Apple Testing Camera‑enabled AirPods for Visual Siri Queries
Sorry, another Jarvis reference. :) Jarvis will need eyes -> Sources: AirPods with cameras reached an advanced testing stage; the cameras will feed data to Siri to help answer questions, rather than take photos or video "Apple wants users to be...
TikTok Risks Google Penalty for Back‑Button Hijacking
More about 'Back button hijacking'. @DMFanGossip13 replied to me last week that TikTok could be impacted by the new spam policy. It's an interesting example, since you are taken into the app when on mobile (for those that have the...
Google Launches AI Health Coach for 24/7 Personalized Wellness
Wait until Google Health Coach is connected via Personal Intelligence. This is all part of the roadmap for Google's version of Jarvis -> Google Health Coach is becoming globally available "Now, you can have the most personalized, holistic, adaptive coaching possible,...
Google Disables Back‑button Trigger for Vignette Ads
And there you go! I knew they would just remove the back button trigger for vignette ads. Great move by Google. A win for all users. :) "Google explained that the back button trigger will no longer work after June...
Google Revises Spam Policy to Dodge EU Antitrust Fine
Wait, what? Google might change its 'Site reputation abuse' spam policy for this? -> Google offers changes to spam policy to avert EU antitrust fine "Google has proposed changes to comply with the DMA, the document said, giving interested parties until...
Fewer Stories, More Views: Quality Beats Quantity
Output down, page views up. Good lesson here -> Axios' total Q1 content output was down 22% YoY, but page views rose 30% and page views per visitor rose 22%, as the outlet shifts away from chasing traffic “Write...
AI Search Favors Listicles Due to “Best” Fanout Bias
Well, if the listicle situation is going to be addressed in AI Search, then fanouts could be one way to improve the situation -> Patterns in ChatGPT fanouts "Listicles consistently show up as top sources in AI search results, and...
Google's Passage Ranking Debuted 2020; Bing Now Follows
Remember, Google rolled out passage-based ranking in 2020. Maybe Bing is just catching up now. :) "Passage ranking is an AI system we use to identify individual sections or "passages" of a web page to better understand how relevant a...
Grounding Indexes Add Evidence‑strength Layer to Search
New post from Bing's @kmadhavan77 on the differences between search indexing and grounding indexing. "Search optimizes for likelihood of relevance. Grounding must measure strength of evidence." -> Evolving role of the index: From ranking pages to supporting answers Grounding does not replace search: "A common misconception is...
Google Ads Adds Automatic Site Visits Metric
Running Google Ads? -> Google Officially Introduces Site Visits Asset "Site visits is an automated asset that shows how many times your website has been visited. This non-clickable text appears directly in your ads, giving potential customers a clear...
Reddit's Copyright Bans Surge 90% Amid DMCA Flood
Reddit and takedown requests -> Reddit Reports Resurgence in User Bans over Copyright Infringement First, the volume of content published on Reddit: "Overall, the transparency report reveals the massive volume of content that’s added to the site. In just six months, Redditors...
Buying Directly From SERPs Remains Uncertain Despite Google’s Push
But again, who is buying items like that directly from the SERPs? OpenAI already pivoted from Instant Checkout while Google continues to drive forward. In theory, this is cool, but I'm still not sure users will buy from the SERPs....
Gemini and Search Integration Spreads Across Accounts, Including AI Mode
The mixing of Gemini and Search continues. I see this in some of my accounts now as well. This is also in AI Mode btw.
GPT‑5.
YMYL mention: 52.5% fewer hallucinations on YMYL prompts (which they call "high-stakes prompts" -> OpenAI says GPT-5.5 Instant is smarter, provides more accurate answers, with less to sort through "In internal evaluations, GPT‑5.5 Instant produced 52.5% fewer hallucinated claims than...
Pennsylvania Sues Chatbot for Faking Psychiatrist Credentials
Oh boy, it even gave a bogus license number -> Pennsylvania sues https://t.co/Xso93XhOzA, alleging that one of its characters posed as a psychiatrist, as the state seeks to prevent chatbots from impersonating doctors "One character, "Emilie," allegedly told a...
Google's Remy Mirrors OpenClaw, Echoing OpenAI Acquisition
Again, Jarvis... I've been saying that A LOT recently :) -> Google is testing a “personal agent” codenamed Remy in the Gemini app that integrates with Google services to take actions for users "The report says Remy sounds very similar to...
Amazon to Blend AI Chat with Traditional Search
Sounds like AIOs are coming to Amazon search (for open-ended queries) -> Amazon Could Offer ‘Hybrid Mode’ AI Search on Retail Site From the article: "Amazon sees its traditional search tools as most useful for a straightforward shopping query, where having too...
Anthropic Previews Orbit: Proactive Assistant for Knowledge Workers
Jarvis will need to be proactive -> Anthropic is working on Orbit, its upcoming proactive assistant "Across recent web and mobile builds, more references and supporting scaffolding have surfaced, though for now the tool only manifests as a toggle in the...
Anthropic Launches 10 AI Agents for Finance Tasks
Work in finance? -> Anthropic unveils 10 new AI agents for the financial sector, including for drafting pitch decks, reviewing financial statements, and escalating compliance cases "Anthropic PBC unveiled a set of new artificial intelligence agents designed to handle a...
ChatGPT Shows Accurate Reddit Citations, Confirms Ahrefs
And here are Reddit citations in ChatGPT. I pinged ahrefs about this since it looked off to me... They said it's accurate based on looking into the data. Not sure, but worth noting based on what Lily shared below for...
OpenAI Accelerates AI Phone with Dual NPUs, Custom SoC
OpenAI's version of Jarvis -> Kuo: OpenAI appears to be fast-tracking its AI agent phone with two NPUs and a custom MediaTek Dimensity 9600 SoC, targeting mass production as early as H1 2027 Real-world visual sensing: "The ISP is the headline spec,...
Meta's AI Scans Bone Structure, Not Faces, to Flag Kids
What could go wrong? :) -> Meta is using AI on Facebook and Instagram to detect under-13 users by analyzing bone structure, height, and visual cues, but says it's “not facial recognition” "We’re also adding visual analysis as a...