Sticky Video Player Fuels Massive Requests and Privacy Nightmare
I have been saying forever, "Hell hath no fury like a user scorned". And don't even get me started about the 'sticky video player' -> An analysis of a NYT article load finds 422 network requests totaling 49MB, triggering a sprawling programmatic ad auction, an example of “hostile architecture” *CPU throttles, tracking and privacy nightmares *The Sticky Video Player *Innovative Hindrances And more... https://t.co/lt3Vcxu0VT
Google Adds Opt‑out for Generative AI in Search
Whoa, opting out of AIOs and AI mode could very well happen (for pubs that want that) -> From Google today: "We are developing further updates to our controls to let sites specifically opt-out of generative AI features in Search."...
Apple Bans AI Vibe‑coding Apps over Code‑execution Rule
Confirmed: Apple Cracks Down on ‘Vibe Coding’ Apps "Apple has quietly prevented AI vibe coding apps such as Replit and Vibecode, which help people create games and other applications, from releasing updates to their mobile apps on the...
Live Sports Data Essential for AI-Powered Search
Yep, AI Mode will need this if it's the future of Search. Cool find from @MordyOberstein -> Live Sports Data In Google AI Mode https://t.co/FPYw5CuGVy https://t.co/hg21eRaevb
80% of Local Pack Listings Missing Call Buttons
Focus on Local? Watch those call buttons... -> Are Local Packs Losing Their Call Buttons? From the study: "Out of 2,580 results we checked, just 510 had a call button. That's a 19.8% call button rate. If you search for a local...
Yahoo Scout Pushes AI to Funnel Users to Publishers
Yahoo's @jlanzone to @reckless about why it's important to drive users downstream to publishers via AI responses (and why that's a key feature of Yahoo Scout) Yahoo believes users want to go downstream to publishers, they want to check sources, and...
Amazon's 3‑Hour, 1‑Hour Delivery Threatens E‑commerce Competition
Focus on ecommerce? When speed is important for an order, good luck competing with Amazon -> Amazon begins 3-hour deliveries in ~2K US cities and towns and 1-hour deliveries in hundreds of those areas, after 2025 pilots; 90K+ products...
OpenAI Launches ChatGPT Ads and Tests Ads Manager
It's rare to see a post published on SER in the afternoon. But Barry is out and I just did it. :) -> OpenAI Continues To Expand Ads in ChatGPT and Tests Ads Manager I cover OpenAI testing an Ads...
Chrome Image
The extension would load affiliate codes, essentially stealing commissions from the original link that was clicked -> Your favorite image-saving Chrome extension was scraping your data for cash "The save image extension reportedly injected its own affiliate links from 578 sites,...
Shopify Preps AI Personal Shoppers for Tailored Commerce
Focus on ecommerce? He's referring to a Jarvis-like experience -> Shopify is preparing for AI shopping agents to change everything, exec says “We’re going to begin to use these agentic applications as these kinds of personal shoppers,” he said, adding that...
Britannica and Merriam-Webster Sue OpenAI for Content Theft
More OpenAI lawsuits -> Encyclopedia Britannica and its Merriam-Webster subsidiary sue OpenAI for allegedly misusing their reference materials to train its AI models "Britannica's lawsuit said that OpenAI unlawfully copied nearly 100,000 of its articles to train GPT large language models....
Julia Angwin Leads Class Action Against Grammarly’s Parent
Not a doppelgänger, it was a sloppelgänger -> Julia Angwin, whose name was offered as editing help for Grammarly users, explains why she is lead plaintiff in a class-action against Grammarly's parent company Superhuman https://t.co/ep8f5X414i
OpenAI Begins Rolling Out ChatGPT Ads, Announces Ads Manager
OK, I just spotted Bigfoot :) I finally started seeing ads this morning in ChatGPT, and a number of them. So OpenAI is definitely ramping up ads... They aren't particularly exciting and some weren't really targeted, but hey, at least...
Crafting a User Research Roadmap for AI Features
Would love to see the roadmap :) -> "You will guide your team in conducting foundational and iterative research to inform the development of AI Mode, AI Overviews, and other related features." "Develop and execute a comprehensive user research roadmap for...
AI Bots Now Dominate the Internet, Outpacing Defenses
Yep, I wrote about the AI bot problem in October. And this was probably 1000X worse than what I was referring to... "The internet is now populated, in meaningful part, by sophisticated AI agents and automated accounts. We knew bots were...
Shopify Products Stay in ChatGPT, Checkout Shifts to Merchant Sites
The shift away from buying in ChatGPT continues. And Shopify's email to customers was as clear as mud :) -> Here's what's actually going to happen: Shopify merchants’ products will still appear inside ChatGPT conversations, but buyers will typically...
Autonomous Home Robot Startup Secures $165M Series B
They might be able to help with Thanksgiving dinner :) -> Sunday, which is building autonomous home robots, raised a $165M Series B led by Coatue at a valuation of $1.15B, and aims to begin testing in homes ...
Meta Delays Avocado, Considers Licensing Gemini AI
Gemini is on a roll :) -> Meta delayed the launch of its Avocado model to at least May over performance concerns and discussed temporarily licensing Gemini to power its products "The model, code-named Avocado, outperformed Meta’s previous A.I. model ...
Claude Now Creates Custom Charts and Diagrams in Chat
Claude news -> Anthropic says Claude can now generate custom charts, diagrams, and other visualizations directly in a conversation, available to all users in beta https://t.co/cTV9no67Of https://t.co/9xpHA1rfQ0
Amazon Expands AI Shop Direct to Third‑party Catalogs
Focus on ecommerce? -> Amazon opens up new AI-enabled Buy for Me, Shop Direct options for merchants "Amazon’s Shop Direct debuted in 2025 as a means for Amazon to display products that were relevant to shoppers, even if those products weren’t...
OpenAI Builds AI Agents to Thwart Prompt Injection
Yep, the systems are evolving (like they have to...) OpenAI is addressing prompt injection inputs but also manipulation (social engineering) -> Designing AI agents to resist prompt injection Covers: *Social Engineering Model *Safe URL Mitigation *Source-Sink Analysis *Sandboxing *Safety training https://t.co/jduzjq6Ipk
Google Search Console's Branded Queries Filter Now Universal
Heads-up, the branded queries filter in GSC is rolling out to all. I see it now... you should too. :) Note, you can also see this in the Insights reporting (top-level percentage). https://t.co/4Ty3Wo6vv4 https://t.co/EEWOO8eGzQ
ChatGPT Now Generates Interactive Math and Science Visuals
Announced yesterday, trying to catch up to Gemini :) -> ChatGPT can now create interactive visuals to help you understand math and science concepts https://t.co/k5C8IgUINj https://t.co/GIz0Xfospg
Google’s Hidden TLD Disavow Tool: Powerful, Risky, Avoid
New post from RustyGabe on SER this morning :) -> Google explains undocumented way to disavow entire TLDs (and why you probably shouldn't) @johnmu said it's a "big hammer" and he's right. Google never documented the ability to disavow *entire TLDs*...
Amazon Brings Health AI to Website, Offers Personalized Care
Will be interesting to see product recommendations on Amazon for those choosing to use Health AI... -> Amazon expands its healthcare AI assistant Health AI to its website and app; the service was previously only available on the app...
Adobe Launches Prompt‑driven AI Assistant for Photoshop
Smart move, it's prompt-based -> Adobe is debuting an AI assistant for Photoshop "The feature, now rolling out to users, can help them remove objects or people from images, change colors, or adjust lighting through prompts. Users can also use natural...
YouTube Adds Likeness Detection for Leaders, Journalists
Like ContentID but for likeness -> YouTube expands likeness detection to civic leaders and journalists "This tool works similarly to Content ID, but for likeness. It looks for a participant's likeness in AI-generated content, and if a match is found—like...
AI Relies on Google for Real‑time Data and Authority
Good interview about Google's AI systems -> "A lot of these AI systems that are trying to get real-time info are effectively using Google to query. Google will perform a bunch of queries based on your initial question & start...
Debunking GEO Myths: It's Not Just SEO
Great article. I hope many c-level executives read it -> GEO hype busted: How it differs (and how it doesn’t) from SEO *Myth: There are proven GEO tactics that guarantee AI mentions *Myth: AI visibility is the new traffic *Myth: GEO is just...
Investors Skeptical of OpenAI's Profitability Ahead of IPO
Investors are concerned about OpenAI's ability to turn a profit -> OpenAI’s IPO Hopes Face Skeptical Investor Community "The mood is mixed. Investors expect the company to raise tens or potentially hundreds of billions of dollars in its initial public...
Google Adds Personal Intelligence to Gemini Live
Of course Personal Intelligence makes sense for Gemini Live -> Google is quietly working on a big upgrade for Gemini Live "So, for example, if you have booked a flight but have forgotten the time, you'll be able to use your...
ChatGPT Leads, but Gemini & Claude Accelerate in AI Race
Both Gemini and Claude have surged -> A look at the top 100 GenAI consumer apps: ChatGPT leads but the race for the “default AI” is on, global usage is splintering by product, and AI agents arrive https://t.co/s0iDDAXa0x https://t.co/gUpqS0Yvrv
Even Founders Warn: GEO Hype May Be Misleading
From the cofounder of an AI search visibility platform (@lil_bsz) on Reddit -> The GEO Bullshit - State of GEO in 2026 From him: "I’m a co-founder at an AI search visibility platform. By all accounts, I should be...
AI Accelerates Spam, Not New Problem, Says Liz
Great interview. I highly recommend watching it. Here is Liz about fighting AI slop... Yep, slop is not new and Google must fight it on the Search side -> "People have created slop for a long time before it was...
Meta Unveils Vibes AI Studio to Rival Sora
Transforms it into a tool like Sora or Google Flow -> Meta silently launches Vibes AI editor to challenge rivals "Meta’s Vibes appears to be transitioning from an AI video feed into a dedicated creation studio. After earlier indications of a...
AI Advice Used by Half of Brits, Shaking Wealth Industry
Financial advice... I'm sure we will hear a range of stories as this becomes more prevalent -> A Lloyds-commissioned study of 5,000 people in the UK finds that 50%+ of the adults used generative AI platforms for financial advice; ChatGPT...
Google Penalizes AI‑written Casino Sites with Manual Actions
Remember this story about journalists being replaced by AI writers? Seems that may have caught the attention of Google's webspam team. Looks like two of their sites might have received manual actions this weekend. And that could be for 'Site...
Google Allows Whole‑TLD Disavowals, But It’s Overkill
News on the disavow front. It ends up you CAN disavow an entire TLD (like xyz, biz, info, etc.) This was never documented by Google, but John Mueller explained you can actually do that. He also said that Google probably...
Claude Surpasses ChatGPT with Over One Million Daily Signups
Claude's on fire -> Claude hits one million daily signups, passing ChatGPT in Google Play Store "Claude is gaining significant traction, with a new report stating that the company is seeing in excess of one million user signups on a daily...
Microsoft Tests AI‑personalized Copilot Discover Feed
Like ChatGPT Pulse... and it takes a while to build -> Microsoft tests AI-generated Discover feed on Copilot web "Microsoft is testing a new Copilot Discover page that generates AI-personalized content feeds based on user history, moving away from MSN...
Google Warns Disavow Tool Is More Harmful than Helpful
From Barry: "As a reminder, John Mueller of Google often says that disavowing links is a waste of time. Heck, like Bing, Google may remove the disavow tool at some point. In fact, Google said the disavow tools hurts many...
Google Unveils Hidden Workspace CLI for AI Integration
"Greasing the wheels for OpenClaw users". Also includes provisions for MCP integrations -> Google has quietly released an unsupported Workspace CLI, making it easier for agentic AI tools to access Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, and other apps "The Google Workspace CLI...
Unlock AI Search Visibility with My New Video
If you found my latest blog post about AEO/GEO vs SEO interesting, you should check out the companion YouTube video I just published. I cover everything in detail and provide some additional context. My video covers all of the information...
Debunking SEO Generative Retrieval Misinformation: Facts Explained
Great post from @dawnieando. And the visuals are killer :) -> Debunking and Demystifying Generative Information Retrieval: Misinformation in The SEO Space Covers 'chunking', information gain, llms.txt, and more. Dawn provides a great breakdown of the misinformation going on today while...
Google AI Mode Boosts Recipe Links, Tracking Remains Tough
Finally seeing this live today and I really like it. Much better for recipe publishers... But good luck trying to track that in GSC. Standard rules apply for impressions in AI Mode... I'll see if I can find some data...
OpenAI Shifts ChatGPT Purchases to Partner Apps
Wait, nobody is actually buying things in ChatGPT? SHOCKING :) Big advantage Google -> OpenAI is scaling back shopping directly inside ChatGPT via Instant Checkout by having checkouts instead take place in the specific apps that plug into ChatGPT "OpenAI staff...
Google Adds Doc Confirming Frequent Right‑URL Crawls
Yep, frequent crawling (OF THE RIGHT URLs) is a good sign. :) New page added to Google's "Crawling Infrastructure" documentation. https://t.co/qMQRYGeknj
OpenAI Launches GPT‑5.3 Instant for Sharper Web Answers
"More useful, well-synthesized answers when using the web"... Not sure about that. More on that soon -> OpenAI releases GPT-5.3 Instant, which it says delivers more accurate answers and better-contextualized results when searching the web, for all ChatGPT...
Google Discover Traffic Plummets 46%, Search Remains Steady
Big Discover drop but Google search is relatively stable -> Reach (The UK’s largest commercial news publisher) explained Google Discover traffic dropped by 46% in the second half of 2025 but overall Google search traffic is stable "Chief executive Piers North...
Google Docs New UCP Checkout Integration for Merchants
Heads-up for ecommerce sites -> Google Publishes Help Page for Universal Commerce Protocol and UCP-powered checkout feature on Google "Now, the new documentation clarifies how merchants can implement the native_commerce attribute to enable a Buy button that moves checkout directly onto...
