Ever wished you could double your traffic by reaching international audiences who don’t speak English? Imagine if you could click a few buttons to translate your entire WordPress site into 70+ languages without hiring a developer or professional translators. Sadly, most website translation tools are either crazy expensive, painfully slow, or so poorly built that they damage your SEO the moment yo

One of the major reasons PPC practitioners hold onto syntax-oriented keyword strategies is the disconnect between “query intent” and “conversion intent.” For years, you’ve likely relied on keywords to show you understand what your customers want and to prequalify traffic using syntax-oriented signals. As user behavior shifts to more conversational queries and AI becomes an increasingly relevant p

Google seems to be suspending Google Business Profiles due to user account restrictions. There may have been a wave of suspensions over the past several days related to this issue and local SEO experts are unclear if this is a bug or some other issue.

Microsoft, during its earnings call last week, announced that Bing hit a huge milestone of 1 billion monthly active users. Krishna Madhavan from Microsoft later confirmed these “users” do not include AI agents but are real actual humans.

Google previews Meridian GeoX, Meridian Studio, Data Manager updates, and visual Google tag setup ahead of Google Marketing Live. The post Google Previews Meridian GeoX, Data Manager Measurement Updates appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

How PPC strategists can validate bid strategy changes using conversion value by time and CRM data instead of relying on surface-level metrics. The post appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

In February 2025, the world watched as a small group of humanoid robots took the stage at the CCTV Chinese New Year show for the very first time. It was a charming performance, even if the steps were shaky and the movements were mostly limited to the arms. Just one year later, at the Spring Festival Gala, the shaky steps were gone and the humanoid robots were able to actually run and do standing

Google says a new wave of users are learning that Search can handle more complex questions, changing how they search. The post Google Says A New Wave Of AI Users Is Transforming Search appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

Google has posted an update and emailed advertisers on changes to its Google Ads data retention policy. What changed? Here is what Google said.

Similarweb published some data sharing the click-through rates for OpenAI’s ChatGPT ads. The overall CTR for ChatGPT ads are 0.68%, the top quartile is 1%, the best brands are 1.57% and the peak CTR is 5.4%.

Google posted new developer documentation for how to authenticate requests with Web Bot Auth. This is a “new cryptographic protocol that helps websites to validate that bots are authentic,” Google wrote.

Amid the second phase of a high-profile child safety trial in New Mexico, Meta is announcing new measures designed to ensure teens on its platforms are subject to age-related protections. Meta announced in a blog post Tuesday that parents in the U.S. on two of its social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram, will receive a notification with details about how to check and confirm their teens’ a

Google celebrates AI search growth while industry insiders warn of widespread job displacement. The post Google Says Search Is Fine, AI Insiders Say the Median Person Has No Future appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

Product SEO is one of the highest-leveraged — and most overlooked — strategies in B2B and SaaS marketing. While most teams pour resources into top-of-funnel content, the pages that actually drive pipeline decisions, such as feature pages, comparison pages, and pricing pages, often go unoptimized and underperform. Fortunately, fixing that gap doesn’t require rebuilding your entire site. With the r

In February 2024, Gartner predicted that traditional search volume would drop 25% by 2026. It didn’t. Google’s search revenue accelerated to 17% year-over-year growth, crossing $63 billion in Q4 2025 alone. But clicks per search are falling while query volume explodes. The pie got bigger. The slices got redistributed. And most search teams are still optimizing for the old pie. Are you still porin

Google says AI’s ability to surface common information makes human experience and subjective insights more valuable for content. The post Google: AI Makes Human Experience More Important For Content appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

A while back we reviewed Hippoo, the mobile app for WooCommerce store owners. They’ve shipped three significant Premium upgrades since then, and there’s a 15% discount for WP Mayor readers attached.

Want to build your own custom AI tools and automations, but don’t have coding or developer experience? Curious how Claude Code can help? In this article, you’ll discover how to set up Claude Code from scratch and build your first automation today. Why Use Claude Code? The biggest misconception about AI coding tools is that […] T

Here’s an interesting thought experiment. Imagine that you would be reincarnated into the soul and body of someone on Earth, 25 years old, at random. You won’t know what you know now, you’ll simply live their life. What year would you choose? Since it’s random, it’s not about picking the best year to be among the wealthiest 1% (only a hundred-to-one chance) or even to be a US citizen (3% chance).

This post was sponsored by Siteimprove. The opinions expressed in this article are the sponsor’s own. Why does my content get crawled but never cited in ChatGPT or Perplexity? How do I tell if my AI visibility problem is technical or content-quality related? What actually decides whether AI picks my page over a competitor’s? The gap between appearing in an AI answer and being retrieved by an AI s

Turning on DNSSEC makes your domain more secure — but if it’s misconfigured, newer certificate validation rules can stop SSL renewals in their tracks. Hey there, You know that satisfying click when you finally turn on DNSSEC? It feels like adding a shiny new deadbolt to your domain’s front door. You’re doing the responsible thing: locking down your DNS against spoofing and hijacks, and making the

Google’s Liz Reid unpacks consequential changes to user search behavior that also impact how to approach SEO. The post Google On Keyword Fragmentation And User Needs In AI Search appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

Google’s Liz Reid says AI Mode is suited to complex follow-up queries, while browsy searches may still benefit from the full search results

WordCamp US 2026 will take place August 16–19 in Phoenix, Arizona, and applications are now open for sponsors, speakers, and volunteers. WordCamp US is the flagship gathering for the WordPress community in North America, where contributors, builders, and users come together to share ideas and help shape what comes next for the open web. Full details are available on the WordCamp US 2026 site . Sp

Google Ads CTR is rising, but conversions remain flat. New Optmyzr data explains why performance is shifting and what it means for advertisers. The post Optmyzr Report Finds Google Ads Engagement Rising While Efficiency Holds appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web. Google explained how using AI in isolation works better for them…

Google said it has “resolved” an issue with logging data within Google Search Console reporting. The logging issue happened between May 13, 2025 through April 27, 2026, about 50 weeks. The resolution did not fix the past data, but it did fix the issue going forward. What Google said. Here is what Google posted : “A logging error prevented Search Console from accurately reporting impressions from

There’s a fundamental battle happening in search right now. On one side is topical authority — the darling phrase of every SEO consultant who needs to sell more content. On the other is brand authority — something marketers have talked about for decades, while much of search treated it as optional, vague, or something the brand team could handle after the sitemap was fixed. Now AI has walked into

With the right approach, webinars can evolve from awareness tools into consistent drivers of pipeline and revenue. The post appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

For years, HubSpot invested in making our platform the best place for marketing, sales, and service teams to do their work. With AI, we’ve been building it to do the work for them – through agents that qualify leads, resolve tickets, save deals, and drive outcomes across the business. That’s why we call HubSpot an agentic customer platform. But agents don’t click through dashboards or navigate in

The other day, I was putting together my version of a Lumascape of answer engine optimization (AEO) tools — I’m kidding, my computer doesn’t have that kind of bandwidth. Instead of mapping every tool — which would be outdated in minutes — I’m focusing on the ones I actually use to grow clients’ AI search presence. This is a deliberately short list: four tools I rely on, plus three I’m testing bef

The most effective ecommerce advertisers are pairing Performance Max with Standard Shopping to balance automation with control and maximize ROAS. The post Performance Max For Ecommerce In 2026: Why The Hybrid Strategy Is Better appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

A month ago, Google posted that between the dates of May 13, 2025 through April 27, 2026, just about 50 weeks, there was a “logging error prevented Search Console from accurately reporting impressions.” Google updated the post to now say “This issue has been resolved.”

IAC, the owners of Ask.com, have decided to get out of the search business and shut down one of the oldest and most legendary search engines of all time – Ask.com, formerly Ask Jeeves. IAC wrote, “As IAC continues to sharpen its focus, we have made the decision to discontinue our search business, which includes Ask.com.”

Google Ads has added a new option (although, I think Google has said this is coming) under the “add product source” section where you can select how to add products to your Google Ads account. The option reads, “Use AI to add products – beta.”

Nikola Todorovic, Director of Software Engineering at Google Search, spoke about a presentation he gave at Zurich in December at Google Search Central live (I was there). He dug into it on a recent Search Off the Record named How AI Is Changing Google Search and SEO. In there, he explained how AI and machine learning have been used in isolation within Google Search.

Google is testing a new label for the search results snippet named “Fresh updates.” This was spotted on a weather website result, Accuweather.

The conversation has shifted. We’re spending less time optimizing for clicks and more time trying to fix the AI ROI story. AI now sits at the center of discovery, shaping what gets seen, summarized, and cited. Here’s what’s working right now, what your peers are doing, and why SMX Advanced will feel different this year. The SparkToro wake-up call: Influence happens everywhere The foundation of an

Google’s Director of Software Engineering recommended using AI to boost providing value and said, “clearly, this is something we can advise.” The post Google Advises Using AI In Best Possible Way For AI Search appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

As a content writer with over 7 years of SEO experience, I can confidently say that keyword clustering is a critical technique—even in a world where the SEO landscape has changed significantly. Keyword clustering builds authority, boosts your business’s web presence, and helps you find your audience wherever they are in their buyer’s journey. But what is keyword clustering, and how does it work?

Since the early days of WordPress, Contact Form 7 has been helping website owners add simple forms to their sites. If you’ve trusted it on your own site, then you made a perfectly reasonable choice that millions of other site owners have made, too. But things have officially changed. At WordCamp Asia 2026, Contact Form 7 creator Takayuki Miyoshi confirmed on stage that the plugin will no longer r

Pay attention to what’s in front of you. Don’t let fear contaminate your understanding of the situation. Act with commitment. Notice the gap between event and reaction. Embrace the resources that are available to you. Optimism is a belief about possible outcomes, but equanimity adds a bias toward action, regardless of what happens. There’s enough noise, don’t create more. Simply take right action

Google’s Nikola Todorovic said AI can act “like a kind of a black box” while explaining why machine learning was hard to deploy in Search. The post Google’s Black Box AI Models: What Search Professionals Need To Understand appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

As you can probably guess, we’ve been ‘staff testing’ the new Unlimited Hosting package behind the scenes for a while. Which has been useful (we deal with any bugs so you don’t have to) and also super interesting! But also, it means we’ve been using it for a while. So, given that, I’d like to share with you how I’ve been using Unlimited alongside Dedicated . Important vs. test / playground

Data shows YouTube, Reddit, and aggregators lost US search visibility after Google’s March core update, while brand and government sites gained. The post Google’s March Core Update Shifted Visibility Away From Aggregators appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

Ask.com, formerly Ask Jeeves, which launched 29 years ago on June 3, 1996, before Google launched, shut down on May 1, 2026. Ask.com now has a turn down page that reads: Every great search must come to an end. As IAC continues to sharpen its focus, we have made the decision to discontinue our search business, which includes Ask.com. After 25 years of answering the world’s questions, Ask.com offic

Ask.com, the search engine formerly known as Ask Jeeves, has shut down. IAC discontinued the search business after nearly 30 years. The post Ask Jeeves Is Gone After Nearly 30 Years Of Search appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

AI-driven consumption is forcing brands to rethink content structure, clarity, and portability beyond traditional page-based experiences. The post Your Website Is A Source, Not A Megaphone appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

The actor, artist, mathematician, pianist, speaker, leader, tech nerd: Just like me, but talented. I’m not so sure. It might be more accurate to say “just like me, but dedicated.” The first approach lets us off the hook. The second approach opens the door to possibility.

Alphabet and Microsoft earnings show search ad revenue growing while Google Network revenue fell to $6.97B, continuing a multi-quarter decline. The post Google & Microsoft Earnings Show AI Search Revenue Surge appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

For hundreds of years, nostalgia was seen as a serious disease, with doctors across Europe scrambling for a cure. Hundreds of thousands of people died from it. In the original understanding of the term, it was a sort of homesickness. Soldiers from Switzerland were the first to get the official diagnosis–separated from their friends, family and homes, these young men would suffer from melancholy a

Google’s Preferred Sources is now available as a global signal that can help SEO for Top Stories and Google Discover. The post Google’s Preferred Sources Is Now A Global SEO Signal appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

Google’s web.dev guidance advises developers to treat AI agents as a distinct visitor type and recommends practices similar to accessibility practices. The post Google Tells Developers To Build For AI Agents, Not Just Humans appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

Key Takeaways: LinkedIn articles are long-form content published natively on LinkedIn. They live on your profile, get indexed by Google, and surface in LinkedIn search results long after you publish them. Feed posts drive reach. Articles build the kind of credibility that makes someone want to hire you, work with you, or trust your expertise. The strongest use case for articles is distribution,

Do you remember Friendster ? The early-2000s social networking platform has now returned roughly 24 years later with a whole new gimmick: Users can only connect with real-life friends. The founder of the new Friendster, Mike Carson, is promoting the relaunched social media platform as being free of any ads and algorithms. But, that’s not all that’s missing either. Friend currently exists as an iO

Microsoft Advertising is expanding its Performance Max reporting with publisher-level conversion and spend data — giving advertisers more visibility into where results are actually coming from What’s happening . According to Microsoft Ads Product liaison Navah Hopkins, the PMax Website Publisher URL report now includes conversion and spend metrics, moving beyond basic placement visibility into ac

Learn how AI search signals impact visibility. Enhance your SEO strategies with insights from leading experts in the field. The post 500M AI Searches Later: How To Actually Improve AI Search Visibility & Citations appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

Google is enforcing a hard cutoff for older API versions, meaning advertisers and developers who don’t upgrade risk losing access to critical campaign management tools. What’s happening. Google Ads API v20 will officially sunset on June 10, 2026. From that date onward, all requests to v20 will fail, requiring migration to a newer version to maintain uninterrupted API access. Why we care. If you r

You already track and analyze your SEO strategy — keyword rankings, organic traffic, SERP positions. But when a prospect asks ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google AI Overviews a buying question and your brand doesn’t appear in the answer, traditional rank tracking can’t tell you that. AEO prompt tracking helps you measure brand visibility within AI-generated answers by monitoring whether (and how) your

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…

I’ve built 10+ SEO agent skills in 34 days. Six worked on the first try. The other four taught me everything I’m about to show you about the folder structure most LinkedIn posts about AI SEO skills gloss over. What makes these agents reliable isn’t better prompts. It’s the architecture behind them. Here’s how to build an agent from scratch, test it, fix it, and ship it with confidence. Why most A

Google’s latest update exposes weak SEO strategies while rewarding original, structured, and credible content. The post Google AI Mode In Chrome Isn’t Killing SEO; It’s Exposing Weak SEO appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

Google repeats the bounce clicks claim. Alphabet and Microsoft report from the revenue side. More in this week’s SEO Pulse. The post Google Earnings Show AI Search Impact While Clicks Get Tested – SEO Pulse appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

This week in search, we are seeing yet again more Google search ranking volatility. Google sent out notifications about back button hijacking penalties to those sites that have the problem. Google AdSense vignette ads may trigger the penalty…

SEOs and site owners are always complaining about indexing issues with Google Search. Why is this page not indexed, why is that page not indexed. But some seasoned SEOs are asking if Google is more picky about what it indexes in the past month or so, than it was maybe a year ago.

Back in December, Google expanded Preferred sources globally, but only for English-language content. Now, according to The Verge, Google’s preferred sources support all languages globally.

Google annnounced a number of new updates for AI Max within Google Ads. These include (1) AI Brief, (2) text disclaimers and (3) Expansion with AI Max for shopping and Search Campaigns for travel.

Google is showing a new label on the Discover feed that says “You asked to see.” This label is added to items in your feed that are customized based on the Tailor Your Feed feature.

I missed last month’s Google Webmaster Report, so I am combining both April and May into one big report. Google completed rolling out the March 2026 spam update in March, and started the March core update, which completed in April. We also had a lot of other ranking volatility throughout.

Programmatic SEO (pSEO) has been viewed with suspicion by the market. For many SEOs, the term is synonymous with low-quality pages, duplicate content, and the old tactic of “find and replace” city names in static templates. Google’s spam policies on scaled content abuse are clear: generating vast amounts of unoriginal content primarily to manipulate search rankings is a violation. Modern pSEO rep

The trial is live, limited to the U.S. for now, and moving faster than you likely expected. ChatGPT ads launched Feb. 9 for logged-in users on Free and Go tiers, with 600+ advertisers already in. With 800 million weekly active users, a global rollout of ChatGPT ads is a matter of when, not if. OpenAI has confirmed the next expansion to Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. The latest update from Ad

The creators of the Blackberry were sure that customers loved the keyboard. That’s what they heard all day from their users, and it must have been right since they had a huge share of the mobile phone market. When the iPhone came out, it wasn’t seen as a threat because it had no keyboard. Blackberry was in the keyboard business, the iPhone sold something else. We make this mistake more often than

Discover the importance of AI in reviews and brand visibility. Learn how AI tools affect perceptions in our latest review.

Vulnerability reports and responsible disclosures are essential for website security awareness and education. Automated attacks targeting known software vulnerabilities are one of the leading causes of website compromises. To help educate website owners about potential threats to their environments, we’ve compiled a list of important security updates and vulnerability patches for the WordPress ec

Once we had decided on the software architecture and design of Unlimited , I decided to challenge our engineers to do something even more wild. I wanted to take one of our High Frequency servers