THE LATEST IN SEO

DOJ considers breaking up Google following monopoly ruling

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)J is considering breaking up Google and implementing other measures to address monopoly concerns in its search business.

A final ruling on these remedies is expected by August 2025, with potential appeals likely to follow.

Google responds to DOJ's proposed antitrust remedies

"We are concerned the DOJ is already signaling requests that go far beyond the specific legal issues in this case," Google stated.

​Google argues that the DOJ's proposed remedies, including sharing search data and splitting off Chrome and Android, could harm consumer privacy, hinder American innovation in AI, disrupt the online advertising market, and create friction for users and businesses.

Google introduces ads in AI Overviews for enhanced customer reach

Ads are now being displayed within AI Overviews in Google Search, allowing marketers to reach customers at key moments when they're seeking information or solutions.

This feature aims to help users quickly connect with relevant businesses and products while they're searching for answers.

Google launches CrUX Vis, a tool for analyzing Core Web Vitals

The Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX) is a dataset that reflects how real-world Chrome users experience popular destinations on the web.

​CrUX Vis is an experiment by the Chrome team to help you explore this data with visualizations and helpful links to articles, for a particular web page or origin.

Google enhances Search with AI-powered visual, voice, and organizational features

Google has introduced new AI-powered features to Search, including video understanding in Lens, voice questions for Lens, improved shopping results, song identification via Circle to Search, and AI-organized search results pages.

These updates aim to expand Search capabilities and improve user experience across various input methods.

Bing expands generative search capabilities for informational queries

Microsoft has extended Bing's generative search experience to cover informational queries, such as how-to questions.

This update combines traditional search results with AI-generated content to provide more comprehensive answers, aiming to enhance user experience for complex searches and research tasks.

Google extends Store ratings on Search to more English-speaking countries

Google has expanded its Store ratings feature on Search to Australia, Canada, India, and the United Kingdom, previously only available in the US.

This feature allows merchants to display customer feedback and ratings in shopping search results, helping shoppers make informed decisions about where to buy products online.

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MORE STUFF FOR YOU FROM OLGA ZARR

All you need to know about website ranking drop

I've got you covered.

In my latest guide, you will learn how to diagnose a rankings drop and its most common reasons. I also share the most common mistakes.

It's all based on my years of experience doing SEO audits and traffic/rankings drop analyses.

Thinking of Quitting SEO Your SEO Job? Here's What Happened When We Did

In this episode, I talk with my friend Adrijana, an SEO mindset coach who recently boldly decided to leave her dream job and pursue coaching full-time.

As someone who made a similar leap, I relate deeply to Adrijana's experience.

​

Charging SEO Audits $5K +

I was honored to be a guest on Adrijana Vujadin's YouTube channel (she is a mindset coach for SEO professionals) and shared a few things about my SEO auditing approach and career.

​

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MORE UPDATES & SEO TIPS

Google Search Reliability

In this episode of Search Off the Record, Ben Walton and David Yule from the Google Search Site Reliability Team (SRE) walk us through their day-to-day work, which surprisingly is not just about putting out fires!

Learn what Search SREs really do, how they handle incidents that occasionally occur, and what it takes to be an SRE for Google Search.

I strongly recommend checking the SRE handbook: https://sre.google/sre-book/table-of-contents/​

Your expert-led roadmap for learning SEO

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• The SEO strategies and techniques of 11 industry leaders
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• An official record of completion to share with your network and future clients

YouTube expands Shorts to 3 minutes and adds new features

​YouTube is extending its Shorts video length limit to 3 minutes and introducing new features like templates, AI-generated backgrounds, and enhanced remixing tools.

The platform is also adding a Shorts trends page and giving users the option to see fewer Shorts on their homepage.

​Going through Google Latest Search Updates [Presentation]

Learn about the latest trends in recent Google Core Updates, the criteria and process to analyze Core Updates & SERPs shifts, and the steps to follow if you've been hit.

These are the slides from the one and only Aleyda Solis.

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SUPER INTERESTING SEO ARTICLES

SEO grew up, a lot of SEOs didn’t

Philipp Götza provides his insights on how to navigate the industry's maturity crisis with the right mindset. Learn to create value, not just optimize, for long-term success.

Is Google Losing Search Market Share?

​Rand Fishkin challenges a Wall Street Journal article claiming Google is losing search market share to AI and TikTok.

His analysis shows Google's search advertising revenue is still growing, just at a slower rate than competitors like Amazon.

The apparent decline in Google's market share is mainly due to new entrants in the search advertising space, such as Walmart and Instacart, rather than a significant threat from AI search engines or TikTok.

Mobile SEO issues remain crucial in Google's mobile-first indexing era

​Glenn Gabe highlights the ongoing importance of addressing mobile SEO issues in Google's mobile-first indexing world.

He demonstrates how seemingly minor mobile-specific problems can significantly impact SEO performance through case studies.

These issues include missing canonical tags and reduced content on mobile versions of web pages.

Forbes Marketplace: A case study in aggressive parasite SEO tactics

Lars Lofgren exposes Forbes Marketplace, a separate entity from Forbes, that has rapidly dominated Google search results across various niches.

This company, which only partially involves Forbes, has grown from zero to over 27 million monthly search visits in less than five years.

Comprehensive guide outlines key local SEO strategies for contractor

​Julian Hooks provides an in-depth guide on local SEO for contractors, covering crucial aspects such as optimizing Google Business Profiles, using local keywords, managing online reviews, and implementing mobile-friendly website design.

Study reveals significant variability in local search rankings across US states

​Go Fish Digital conducted an exploratory study analyzing search results for 500 non-branded keywords across 50 US states, totaling 25,000 queries.

The research, prompted by increased ranking volatility following Google's March 2024 Core Update, found significant variations in search results based on location.

Local SEO experts can provide diverse value beyond traditional optimization

"My advice is simple: use your SEO person or people to the max," says Phil. The article outlines 50 ways local SEO professionals can assist businesses.

BrightonSEO Recap: Local SEO Strategies

"Reviews are the backlinks of local SEO," says Michel van Luijtelaar. The article summarizes insights from BrightonSEO 2024.

Some include the importance of managing Google Business Profiles, gathering authentic reviews, creating location-specific content, and optimizing web pages based on user feedback and local SEO best practices.

Keyword intent crucial for SEO success and user experience

"Understanding intent helps marketers tailor content to match user expectations, enhancing chances of higher rankings and increased engagement," says Jo Cameron.

The article explains the four types of keyword intent (informational, commercial, transactional, and navigational.

It also explains their importance in SEO, and how to use tools to build intent-based keyword lists for better content optimization and conversion rates.

SaaS SEO metrics: Measuring value beyond traffic

"I've managed to halve our organic traffic!" says Erica Ylimäki.

The article highlights how focusing on SaaS-specific metrics like active users, activation rate, and Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) can better demonstrate SEO value than traditional traffic metrics.

SEO FOLLOWS OF THIS WEEK

If you aren't following these folks, then stop whatever you are doing and follow them because you are missing out a lot!

• ​Tazmin Suleman (Confidence & Wellbeing Coach | SEO Mindset Podcast | Speaker & Trainer)
• ​Sarah Chaya Presch (Digital Marketing Director @ Dragon Metrics │ Co-Founder @ Neurodivergents in SEO)

Do you have any recommendations on folks I should give a shoutout to? Please add them to my LinkedIn post.

Niche Site Project Doug Cunnington Want to learn about side hustles, affiliate marketing, & SEO? Join the Niche Site Project list, by the creator of the Keyword Golden Ratio. Subscribe​