Author: Ryuzaki
Ginny Marvin, Google’s Ads Liaison, is clarifying how keyword match types interact with AI Overviews (AIO) and AI Mode ad placements — addressing ongoing confusion among advertisers testing AI Max and mixed match-type setups. Why we care. As ads expand into AI-powered placements, advertisers need to understand which keywords are eligible to serve — and when — to avoid unintentionally blocking reach or misreading performance. Back in May. Responding to questions from Marketing Director Yoav Eitani, Marvin confirmed that an ad can serve either above or below an AI Overview or within the AI Overview — but not both in…
Google rapidly expanded AI Overviews in search during 2025, then pulled back as they moved into commercial and navigational queries. These findings are based on a new Semrush analysis of more than 10 million keywords from January to November. AI Overviews surged, then retreated. Google didn’t roll out AI Overviews in a straight line in 2025. A mid-year spike gave way to a pullback, suggesting Google moved fast to test the feature, then eased off based on user data: January: 6.5% of queries triggered an AI Overview July: AI Overview visibility peaked, appearing in just under 25% of queries. November:…
Rediscovering Intimacy: The Beauty of Love and Connection After 60 As we journey through life, our perspectives on intimacy and love evolve. Popular culture often suggests that sexual vitality is reserved for the young, leaving many older adults to believe that romantic connections fade with age. However, countless couples in their 60s and beyond are embracing the notion that not only can intimacy thrive in later years, but it can also deepen and become richer with experience. The stigma around portrayals of sex in films often leads us to think that sexual desires diminish after 50. Yet research and personal…
We are navigating the “search everywhere” revolution – a disruptive shift driven by generative AI and large language models (LLMs) that is reshaping the relationship between brands, consumers, and search engines. For the last two decades, the digital economy ran on a simple exchange: content for clicks. With the rise of zero-click experiences, AI Overviews, and assistant-led research, that exchange is breaking down. AI now synthesizes answers directly on the SERP, often satisfying intent without a visit to a website. Platforms such as Gemini and ChatGPT are fundamentally changing how information is discovered. For enterprises, visibility increasingly depends on whether…
Google’s pitch for AI-powered bidding is seductive. Feed the algorithm your conversion data, set a target, and let it optimize your campaigns while you focus on strategy. Machine learning will handle the rest. What Google doesn’t emphasize is that its algorithms optimize for Google’s goals, not necessarily yours. In 2026, as Smart Bidding becomes more opaque and Performance Max absorbs more campaign types, knowing when to guide the algorithm – and when to override it – has become a defining skill that separates average PPC managers from exceptional ones. AI bidding can deliver spectacular results, but it can also quietly…
Shopify powers more than 6 million live ecommerce websites, supported by a robust app ecosystem that can extend nearly every part of the customer journey. Anyone can develop an app to perform virtually any function. But with so many integrations to choose from, ecommerce teams often waste time testing add-ons that promise revenue gains but fail to deliver. Having worked across a wide range of Shopify implementations, I’ve seen which tools consistently improve checkout completion, recover abandoned carts, and increase revenue. Based on that experience, I’ve organized the most effective integrations into three tiers by priority – so you can…
Google’s Nick Fox, the SVP of Knowledge and Information at Google, said in a recent podcast that doing optimization for AI search is “the same” as doing optimization and SEO for traditional search. He added, you want to build great sites, with great content, for your users. More details. This came up in the AI Inside podcast with Jason Howell and Jeff Jarvis interviewing Nick Fox. Here is the transcript from the 22 minute mark: Jeff Jarvis ask, “And is is there are there is there guidance for enlightened publishers who want to be part of AI about how they…
We celebrated a major milestone in June: the return of SMX Advanced as an in-person event. It was our first since 2019. More than a conference, SMX Advanced 2025 was a reunion. Search marketers from around the world came together to connect, exchange ideas, and learn the most current and advanced insights in search. But search never stands still. With rapid shifts in AI SEO, constant algorithm changes, and the challenge of balancing generative AI with a human touch, the need for truly advanced, actionable education has never been greater. Help shape SMX Advanced 2026 We’re committed to making the…
Google Search Console seems to have fixed the weeks long delay with the search performance reports. For the past few weeks, we had 50+ hour delays for these reports, but as of the past several hours, the reports seem to be up-to-date. Now up-to-date. If you go to the search performance report, you should just see anywhere between about 2 – 6 hours of delay, which is typically normal. At some point over the past few weeks, the delays were over 70 hours. This is what I see: The delays started a few weeks ago and it took about three…
Managing large catalogs in Google Performance Max can feel like handing the algorithm your wallet and hoping for the best. La Maison Simons faced that exact challenge: too many products and not enough control. Then they rebuilt their segmentation with Channable Insights and turned a “black box” campaign into a revenue-generating machine. Step 1: Stop segmenting by category Simons originally split campaigns by product category. It sounded logical – until their best-selling sweater ate the budget and newer or overlooked products never had a chance to surface. Static segmentation meant limited visibility and slow decisions. Marketers stayed stuck making manual…