Google Ads launched VTC-optimized bidding for Android app campaigns, letting advertisers toggle bidding toward conversions that happen after an ad is viewed rather than clicked. Previously, VTC worked as a hidden signal inside Google’s systems. Now, it’s a clear, explicit optimization option. The shift. Google is shifting app advertising away from click-centric logic and toward […]

Sergey Brin, Google’s co-founder, admitted that Google “for sure messed up” by underinvesting in AI and failing to seriously pursue the opportunity after releasing the research that led to today’s generative AI era. Google was scared. Google didn’t take it seriously enough and failed to scale fast enough after the Transformer paper, Brin said. Also: […]

Google has updated its JavaScript SEO basics documentation to clarify how Google’s crawler handles noindex tags in pages that use JavaScript. In short, if “you do want the page indexed, don’t use a noindex tag in the original page code,” Google wrote. What is new. Google updated this section to read: “When Google encounters the […]

The SEO industry is entering its most turbulent period yet. Traffic is declining. AI is absorbing informational queries.  Social platforms now function as search engines. Google is shifting from a gateway to an answer engine. The result is a sector running in circles – unsure what to measure, what to optimize, or even what SEO […]

This season, Google Search and Shopping Ads are expected to surge past $70 billion in holiday spending. But there’s a hidden flaw in the auction system — one most advertisers don’t realize is costing them money even when competitors aren’t in the game. BrandPilot calls this the Uncontested Google Ads Problem, and it’s becoming one […]

As marketing channels and touchpoints multiply rapidly, the way success is measured significantly impacts long-term growth and executive perception.  Click-based attribution – across models like last-click, first-click, linear, and time-decay – remains the default.  But as a standalone measurement strategy, it’s showing its age.  Click metrics now carry disproportionate weight in executive dashboards, and that […]

Every week, new data highlights both the overlap and the divergence between effective organic search techniques across traditional SEO (Google SERPs) and GEO (ChatGPT, AI Overviews, Perplexity, etc.).  It’s a lot to absorb. One week, headlines say traditional SEO tactics work fine for ChatGPT. The next, you’ll see reports that one platform is elevating Reddit […]

On episode 334 of PPC Live The Podcast, I speak to Sophie Fell Head of Paid Media at Liberty Marketing Group about a real PPC mistake involving location targeting. The conversation focuses on how small oversights can have big consequences—and how to recover from them professionally. The PPC F-Up: worldwide location targeting Sophie accidentally launched […]

When you go Live with Search, you can have a back-and-forth voice conversation in AI Mode to get real-time help and quickly find relevant sites across the web. And now, …

UK doctor and YouTuber Dr. Ed Hope said Google’s AI falsely claimed he was suspended by the General Medical Council earlier this year for selling sick notes. Hope called the allegation completely made up and warned that it could seriously damage his career. Google’s AI generated a detailed narrative accusing Hope of professional misconduct, despite […]