Category: Search
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One AI opt-out, two different prices
Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic now back one robots.txt line that says no AI training. At Microsoft it blocks training only. At Google it also maps to Google-Extended, which covers Gemini grounding. Here is why marketing should own the call, page by page, and what to check this week. Read more
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Reddit wants its lurkers to sign in
Reddit says it will become a primarily logged-in site, with tests outside the U.S. starting this quarter. The logged-out readers it is gating are the ones most brands reach through Google and AI answers. Here is what changes for community, AI visibility and paid plans, and what to do this week. Read more
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Exact match stops at the first question
Google is putting ads in AI Mode in ten more countries, including Canada, and in the U.S. it now sells ads inside follow-up questions. Exact and phrase match only qualify when a question looks like a product search, so the rest of the conversation goes to broad match, AI Max and Performance Max. Here is… Read more
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Ten languages, one English help desk
Google Ads now translates a whole Search campaign into ten languages in an afternoon, landing page included. That makes the ad the cheap part of a new market. The translated page lives only in the browser, bids arrive in US economics, and your emails, returns and support desk stay exactly as they were. Here is… Read more
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Which of your October rankings actually happened?
Google has been serving rank trackers complete, normal-looking results pages with the results swapped out. Ahrefs now says 5% to 20% of results are affected, depending on the provider. Every SEO report since mid-September rests on contested data. Here is what to do this week. Read more
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Profound’s agents answer to whoever set the trigger
Profound’s rebuilt Agents can watch AI search, draft fixes and publish to your CMS on a trigger. Most of the controls belong to one person: whoever set the trigger, clicked Always allow or made the last edit. Hand them to the team before the free beta ends. Read more
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ChatGPT sent a week of your visits to Direct
For about a week in October, a ChatGPT bug stripped the tag that tells your analytics a visit came from ChatGPT, and those visits landed in Direct. Your AI channel rests on a courtesy a vendor controls. Here is what to fix before budget season. Read more
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Your receipts now help choose Google’s ads
Since October 16, Google has been testing ads in AI Mode for people who connect Gmail, Calendar and Photos, and inferences drawn from those apps can help choose the ads they see. Your order confirmations are in there. Here is what lifecycle and search teams should change this week. Read more
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Who sends the cart reminder when the cart lives on Google?
Google’s Universal Cart went live in the U.S. on October 15 across Search and the Gemini app. Shoppers save items from many stores, and Google sends the price-drop and restock alerts. You never see the save, and your markdown writes the reminder. Plan holiday pricing, promo codes and measurement around that. Read more
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Set the partner percent before holiday budgets spike
Google Ads is rolling out channel prioritization and a percentage limit on Low priority networks starting October 15. The percent is a preference Google will try to honor, not a hard stop. Write it on purpose before Search partners and Display take a silent share of Q4 spend. Read more