Author: Ryuzaki
Google introduced Creator Search, which allows advertisers to discover YouTube creators using keywords or channel handles, then narrow results by subscriber count, average views, location, and contact availability. The update significantly reduces the manual work involved in creator research and outreach. Alongside search, Google added a new Management section that centralizes creator communications. Advertisers can now see creator names, inquiry status, subjects, latest updates, and respond-by dates in one place, with direct email access built in. Why we care. As creator-led campaigns become more central to media strategies, advertisers need better tools to find the right creators and keep partnerships…
The PPC landscape in 2025 shifted faster than ever, with updates arriving at a pace unmatched in the industry’s 20-year history. At SMX Next, a panel of industry experts broke down what’s working, what’s failing, and what advertisers should prepare for in 2026 and beyond. The state of PPC The panelists agreed that 2025 marked a major shift, especially in how quickly Google responded to advertiser feedback. Ameet Khabra, founder of Hop Skip Media, called the year “interesting” and said he was genuinely surprised by Google’s willingness to listen to advertisers, especially on channel reporting for Performance Max. “It was…
Advertisers digging through Google Ads change history often lose time hopping between reports, campaigns, and ad groups. A new “Go to…” button cuts out those extra clicks — a small UI tweak that can save meaningful time during audits and troubleshooting. What’s new. Google has added a “Go to…” dropdown in the Change history report. Advertisers can now jump directly from a logged change to the relevant campaign or ad group. The feature is especially useful when reviewing bulk edits, script-driven changes, or updates made in Google Ads Editor. How it works: Select one or more changes in the Change…
Remember when link building was all the rage in SEO? While it never disappeared, its role evolved as Google introduced clearer guidelines and placed greater emphasis on quality, relevance, and intent. Today, as AI search reshapes the organic landscape, link building has shifted into a closely related – and increasingly prioritized – initiative: brand mentions. You might think of brand mentions as “citations,” but in the context of AI search, citations describe how brands are referenced by LLMs. Brand mentions are the input that leads to those citations. To avoid confusion, this article uses brand mentions to describe the tactic…
SEO now sits at an uncomfortable intersection at many organizations. Leadership wants visibility in AI-driven search experiences. Product teams want clarity on which narratives, features, and use cases are being surfaced. Sales still depends on pipeline. Meanwhile, traditional rankings, traffic, and conversions continue to matter. What has changed is the surface area of search. Pages are now summarized, excerpted, and cited in environments where clicks are optional and attribution is selective. When a generative AI summary appears on the SERP, users click traditional result links only about 8% of the time. As a result, SEO teams need a clearer playbook for earning…
Google is testing showing a blue “Send” button in the search box as you begin to type your query. The AI Mode button, which now shows at the right side of that search box disappears as you type your query and is replaced by this Send button. What it looks like. Shameem Adhikarath spotted this and posted a video of it on X: As you can see, as you begin typing your query, the AI Mode, Lens and Microphone buttons all disappear and is replaced by this blue Send button. That plus sign still remains, so that was not removed.…
PPC didn’t stand still in 2025. It adjusted. These articles resonated because they answered the real questions advertisers are asking: how to stay competitive, cut wasted spend, work with automation instead of against it, and prepare for what’s next. Below are links to the 10 most-read Search Engine Land PPC columns of 2025, written by our exceptional subject matter experts. With the right strategy, even the smallest business can stand out, win customers, and make a lasting impact. Here’s how. (By Sophie Logan. Published Sept. 16.) Shift your optimization mindset in 2025 with fresh strategies for keywords, Performance Max, and…
Pay-per-click (PPC) marketing in 2025 moved fast and grew more complex. Google drove many of the year’s most consequential changes, from deeper Search automation with AI Max and ads inside AI Overviews to long-awaited gains in transparency and control for Performance Max. At the same time, updates to Google Tag Manager and conversion tracking changed how advertisers collect and trust data. Policy shifts, automatic content extraction, and pullbacks from Google Shopping by major advertisers like Amazon and Temu also disrupted auction dynamics, exposing growing tension between platform power, advertiser control, and market stability. As 2025 winds down, let’s look at…
The third and likely final core update of 2025, the December 2025 core update, is now rolling out and complete. It started on December 11, 2025 and was completed about 18 days and 2 hours later on December 29, 2025. Google called this update “a regular update designed to better surface relevant, satisfying content for searchers from all types of sites.” This December 2025 core update came after waiting five months since the previous core update, the June 2025 core update. That June update came a few months after Google’s first core update on the 2025 year, the March 2025 core update.…
Google launched four official and confirmed algorithmic updates in 2025, three core updates and one spam update. This is in comparison to last year, in 2024, where we had seven confirmed updates, then in 2023, when we had nine confirmed updates and in 2022 and 2021, Google had 10 confirmed algorithmic updates. Fewer updates. Google appears to be confirming fewer updates, even though Google said a year ago, that we should expect more core updates, more often. But that doesn’t mean there were fewer updates. Google did reaffirm that it does not announce all core updates, that the search company only confirms…