Google AdsCovered by 2 sources
- Microsoft has launched AI Max globally for Search campaigns, bundling automated targeting, creative generation, and landing page selection.
- The suite includes Search Term Matching for broader reach and Text Customization to generate ad variations using AI.
- Final URL Expansion allows Microsoft to direct users to the most relevant page on a site based on their intent.
- AI Max is an opt-in feature that includes brand controls and supports importing settings directly from Google Ads.
Marketers can now automate end-to-end ad delivery on Bing and Copilot to better match conversational AI queries while maintaining control through brand exclusions.
Google AdsCovered by 2 sources
- Microsoft Advertising is launching AI Max globally for all search campaigns.
- The tool automates search matching, text customization, and URL expansion.
- New advertiser controls have been added to give marketers more oversight of the AI's output.
Marketers should test these automated features to potentially increase reach, but must monitor the new controls to ensure brand safety and message accuracy.
Google AdsCovered by 2 sources
- Google is testing an 'Enhanced matching' setting for Customer Match in Google Ads accounts.
- The feature uses consented first-party data to reach additional consented users across participating publishers.
- This new opt-in setting aims to scale audience reach beyond Google's own internal matching capabilities.
- The rollout currently appears limited to select accounts as part of a testing phase.
Marketers can potentially scale their first-party data reach across more websites without needing to collect new customer emails or phone numbers.
AI SearchCovered by 2 sources
- OpenAI is expanding ChatGPT advertisements to 31 European countries including Germany, France, and Spain.
- Ads will only appear for users on Free and Go tiers, while paid subscribers remain on an ad-free experience.
- Ad placements are focused on high-intent categories like travel planning, software selection, and shopping.
- Access for advertisers is currently restricted to OpenAI partners and direct teams, with a self-service manager coming later.
Marketers should prepare for a new performance channel that targets European users at the exact moment of product research and high-intent decision making.
Industry NewsCovered by 2 sources
- OpenAI is expanding ChatGPT Ads to 31 European countries including Germany, France, and Spain.
- Ads will display only for users on the Free and Go subscription tiers.
- A self-service Ads Manager is expected to launch globally later this summer.
Marketers can now reach European audiences within AI chat interfaces, requiring a shift in strategy from keyword bidding to conversational placement.
AI Search
- New data from Promptwatch indicates a significant decrease in Reddit citations within ChatGPT Search results.
- The decline follows a previous surge in visibility for the platform within OpenAI's search interface.
- Specific reasons for the drop remain unconfirmed by both OpenAI and Reddit.
Marketers relying on Reddit for visibility should recognize that AI search citations are volatile and driven by shifting platform partnerships or algorithmic preferences.
Local SEO
- A study of Gemini local search found that business websites account for 60% of all citations, outperforming directories and review sites.
- Reddit is a significant source for local AI answers, ranking second with a 13.7% citation share.
- Researchers identified 'Grounding Drift,' where repeating the exact same query in Gemini produced the same top result only 7% of the time.
- Gemini and ChatGPT rarely overlap, recommending the same top business only 4.2% of the time for identical local queries.
Marketers should focus on optimizing their own websites and Reddit presence rather than just directories, while understanding that AI search results are currently too volatile to serve as stable KPIs.
Technical SEO
- A controlled experiment revealed that only Google's crawlers successfully executed JavaScript to discover internal links.
- Major AI bots from OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, and Amazon failed to discover a single page linked via JavaScript.
- Even within Google, the primary indexing bot reached only 2% of JS-linked pages compared to its secondary crawler.
- The study used a directory site to compare hard-coded HTML links against JS-injected links over a 41-day period.
To ensure your content is discoverable by AI search engines and indexed efficiently by Google, you must use server-side rendering or plain HTML links rather than relying on client-side JavaScript.
AI Search
- AI search engines prioritize recommending decisions over specific products based on available evidence.
- A SaaS case study revealed that missing data points, rather than lack of authority, leads to exclusion from AI answers.
- Brand visibility in AI depends on how well content satisfies specific decision-making criteria used by LLMs.
Marketers must audit their content to ensure it explicitly addresses the specific attributes and comparison points AI models use to validate recommendations.
Industry News
- Organic reach on LinkedIn and clicks from Google have significantly decreased for many publishers and brands.
- The decline is attributed to structural changes in how platforms prioritize content rather than a simple loss of audience interest.
- Marketers are warned against using traditional tactics to solve modern algorithmic shifts.
Marketers must shift from chasing legacy volume metrics to building direct audience relationships as platform algorithms become increasingly restrictive.
Google Ads
- Google Ads added a new customer retention setting specifically for loyalty program members.
- The feature allows advertisers to bid higher to reach members and display specific program benefits.
- This update separates loyalty program bidding from general lapsed customer strategies.
Marketers can now prioritize ad spend specifically on high-value repeat customers to drive loyalty program engagement and retention.
AI Search
- Google is integrating its generative UI technology directly into standard AI Overviews.
- The system creates custom visual layouts and interactive components rather than just text.
- This move expands functionality previously restricted to Google's experimental AI Mode.
Marketers must adapt to more interactive search results where custom-built tools and visual elements may displace traditional organic link placements.
Search Features
- Google has significantly reduced the frequency of video carousels appearing in search results.
- Data from Semrush shows a decline from 30% to under 20% of all queries.
- Specific tracking of major brand names showed an even steeper drop, from 40% down to 5%.
- This change follows Google's 2022 decision to stop supporting specific video carousel schema markup.
Marketers relying on video content for brand visibility may see a significant drop in organic traffic and should pivot to optimizing for other SERP features.
Google AdsCovered by 2 sources
- Google Ads is testing a new 'Enhanced Matching' setting for Customer Match lists.
- The feature aims to increase match rates by using data from connected user lists to find more customers.
- Advertisers are expressing caution as 'expansion' settings often decrease targeting precision in favor of scale.
This setting may improve your audience reach but requires careful monitoring to ensure the expanded matching remains relevant to your specific customer segments.
Industry News
- Google's John Mueller confirmed that official updates are announced almost immediately after they begin rolling out.
- Ranking volatility observed days before an announcement is typically due to smaller, unannounced algorithm tweaks rather than the major update.
- The search team attempts to sync announcements with the 'button-pushing' phase, though time zone differences can cause slight delays.
Marketers should not attribute early week volatility to a later-announced update, as these are usually separate ranking events requiring different diagnostic approaches.
Google Ads
- Google Ads now displays proactive sitelink suggestions within the advertiser interface.
- The feature automates the creation process by generating relevant links instead of requiring manual input.
- Account owners can review and add these suggested extensions directly to their campaigns.
Marketers can save time on campaign setup by using Google's automated suggestions to improve ad real estate and click-through rates.
Local SEO
- Google is testing a new feature that displays view counts directly on Google Business Profile posts.
- The feature has been spotted by select users but is not yet appearing for all account holders.
- This data appears within the business dashboard to help owners track engagement metrics.
Marketers can use these metrics to identify which types of local content resonate best with customers and refine their posting strategy accordingly.
Google Ads
- Bing is testing a new ad format that includes multiple swipeable images within a single search result.
- The layout was observed in a sponsored result for the keyword 'SEO' by Forbes.
- Users can interact with the ad by swiping through at least three different images in a single unit.
Marketers using Bing Ads should prepare visually rich assets to capitalize on higher engagement rates and increased real estate if this multi-image format rolls out globally.
Google Ads
- Google Ads API v25.1 introduces new reporting for Brand Lift and Conversion Lift studies for allowlisted accounts.
- A new 'original_conversion_value' metric allows advertisers to see conversion data before Google's automated value adjustments are applied.
- The update adds granular benchmarking by specific product categories and includes brand sentiment data via ContentCreatorInsightsService.
- Advertisers can now segment performance reporting by loyalty program tiers and use parental status for reach forecasting.
Marketers can now audit Google's automated bidding adjustments and access deeper competitive benchmarking through third-party reporting tools.