Google, Meta, and the long history of misaligned incentives in paid media
From default settings to reporting, here’s how ad platforms shape performance — often making results look better than they are.
More from Search Engine Land: Page 39
How marketing leaders are getting unstuck from Salesforce
An executive fireside chat for brand-side marketers on how brands are moving into their next era — beyond Marketing Cloud.
Are low-quality listicles about to lose their edge in Google Search?
Google says it's aware of weak 'best of' lists and said it 'works to combat that kind of abuse' in Search and Gemini.
Human content is 8x more likely than AI to rank #1 on Google: Study
New Semrush data shows human-written pages dominate top Google rankings, while AI content appears in lower Page 1 positions.
Bing, not Google, shapes which brands ChatGPT recommends
Case study finds that even top brands disappear without a Bing presence. Here’s how ranking in Bing boosts visibility in ChatGPT.
SEO in 2026: Higher standards, AI influence, and a web still catching up
Technical SEO is getting easier by default — but decisions around bots, LLMs.txt, and structured data are becoming more complex.
How to design content that AI systems prefer and promote
See how passage-level retrieval works and why answer-first, well-structured content is more likely to be surfaced and reused.
How to produce content that naturally builds AEO clout
Backlinks still matter, but authority now extends to mentions and citations. Learn how to create content that earns both in AI search.
Guest post outreach in 2026: A proven, scalable process
Learn how to find the right sites, pitch relevant topics, and improve reply and publish rates with a repeatable outreach workflow.
Google is fixing a Search Console bug that inflated impression counts
Google Search Console misreported impression data since May 13, 2025 due to a logging error. Corrections will roll out in the coming weeks.
If you can’t say what problem your brand solves, AI won’t either
AI is collapsing discovery, search, and purchase into a single moment. Brands without clear positioning risk getting left out of the answer.
Strategy is the new keyword: What drives paid search performance now
Automation handles execution. Performance now depends on signal quality — data, creative, and conversion design.
Building high-ROAS ecommerce search campaigns in Google Shopping and Amazon Ads
Turn search intent into profit by routing queries from discovery to high-performing terms across Google and Amazon Ads.
Why AI search is your new reputation risk and what to do about it
From Reddit threads to repeated claims, learn how AI search constructs brand narratives — and how to audit, correct, and influence them.
ChatGPT ads favor clarity over creativity, new data shows
ChatGPT ads favor clarity because the platform rewards precise, context-driven messaging that delivers immediate value.
Build your marketing ark: A framework for AI, empathy, and design
Customers are overwhelmed and teams are burned out. Here’s how to use AI to simplify decisions and improve marketing performance.
Why your content doesn’t appear in AI Overviews (even if it ranks in the top 10)
Top rankings don’t guarantee AI Overview visibility. Learn how to optimize for retrieval, structure, and citations.
6 Google Ads mistakes that hurt ecommerce campaigns
Expanding beyond paid social? Learn how to structure campaigns, control spend, and unlock demand without relying on the Meta playbook.
Google adds channel performance timeline view to PMax campaigns
Google's new channel performance view for PMax gives advertisers a timeline breakdown of what's working across Search, YouTube, Display
Build your own AI search visibility tracker for under $100/month
Follow a practical framework to build an AI visibility tracker using vibe coding across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Google.
Google Ads experiments now auto-apply results by default
New Google Ads shortcut speeds rollout after a test wins, but only the metrics you picked get protected when changes move into campaigns.
Bing tests larger sponsored product carousel in shopping results
More paid slots could lift Microsoft Shopping clicks and squeeze organic visibility, but sightings suggest the rollout is still limited.
SEO leads martech replacements, but not for the reason you think
Marketers swap SEO platforms less frantically, driven by AI upgrades, budget pressure, and new demands from changing search experiences.
Why too many micro-conversions hurt PPC performance
Overusing micro-conversions can distort CPA and ROAS. Learn how to structure signals to align PPC performance with real revenue.
How to run Google Ads in sensitive categories without remarketing
Struggling with restricted targeting? Learn how to drive conversions using intent signals, creative messaging, and offline data.
20 practical ways to use AI in SEO
Based on hands-on SEO work, these examples show where AI fits across content, technical tasks, and reporting.
‘Google Zero’ misses the real problem: Your next visitor isn’t human
The real shift is machine-driven discovery, where AI agents research and decide before humans ever visit your website.
How to reduce cost-per-hire with LinkedIn recruitment campaigns
Attract qualified, ready-to-move candidates using intent signals, pre-qualification, and funnel segmentation — without wasting budget.
SMX Now: Learn how brands must adapt for AI-driven search
Join us April 1 for the first SMX Now, featuring iPullRank’s presentation: AI Search Picks Winners: Here’s the GEO Strategy Behind It.
YouTube adds AI creator matching and ad formats to its partnerships platform
AI matching and a reported 30% conversion lift give advertisers a good reason to take YouTube creator campaigns seriously.
AI search engines cite Reddit, YouTube, and LinkedIn most: Study
Wikipedia and Forbes rank among the most-cited sources in AI answers, with Yelp and G2 frequently appearing in recommendation queries.
Google Gemini may adapt AI answers to match user tone: Report
An internal system guides Google Gemini to align responses with user tone, intent, and emotional context, according to an unverified report.
Google expands Merchant Center loyalty features to 14 countries and AI surfaces
Member perks are now baked into product listings — and showing up on Gemini and AI Mode for the first time.
Google explains how crawling works in 2026
Google went through crawling, fetching, and the bytes it processes.
59% of SEO jobs are now senior-level roles: Study
SEO demand is shifting to senior strategists as AI takes over execution, raising salaries and expanding cross-channel ownership.
Technical SEO for generative search: Optimizing for AI agents
Control how AI bots access your site, structure content for extraction, and improve your chances of being cited in AI-generated answers.
The push layer returns: Why ‘publish and wait’ is half a strategy
See how AI systems process content through five entry modes — and why relying on crawling alone limits visibility, speed, and revenue
ChatGPT enables location sharing for more precise local responses
This should result in better local responses from OpenAI's ChatGPT.
5-step Google Business Profile audit to improve local rankings
Learn where competitors are outperforming you — from review recency to category selection — and how to close the gap.
A 6-point scorecard for AI-ready product pages
See how AI assistants evaluate product pages and what they need to recommend your products — from specs to reviews and use cases.