Daily Search Forum Recap: March 4, 2025

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 posted new data that says they answer over 5 trillion queries per year, that is up a lot since the 2 trillion metric we had in 2016. 10% of Google Searches from younger people start with Circle to Search, Google said. And new data shows how searchers use Google, with 1/3rd not using Google all that much. Google Business Profiles now lets you create QR codes to get reviews faster. Google Merchant Center Next has new product analytics and renamed conversion settings to key events.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google Answers Over 5 Trillion Searches Per Year
  Google has posted some fresh data, saying they answer over 5 trillion searches per year. The last time we saw this data was in 2016, when Google was at 2 trillion searches per year and then 1.2 trillion in 2012.
• Report: 1/3rd Don't Use Google Search All That Much
  A new report released by Rand Fishkin at Sparktoro with the help of Datos' panel measure web browser activity showed that about 1/3rd of active web users don't use Google all that much, by that much it means they only do 1-20X searches per month.
• Google: 10% Of Younger Google Searches Start With Circle To Search
  Did you know that 10% of all searches on Google from a younger audience start with Google's new circle to search feature? That is what Roma Datta Chobey, the Managing Director at Google India, said last week.
• Google Merchant Center Next Updates Product Analytics
  Google has made a number of updates to the product analytics section within Google Merchant Center Next. Organic conversions have been renamed to Purchases. Plus, Google lets you specify it's traffic to PDPsm instead of products, and labels.
• Google Business Profiles Create QR Codes For Reviews
  Google added QR codes that you can give your customers to quickly leave you a review for your business on Google Search and Google Maps. This can be accessed in your Google Business Profiles under the reviews section.
• Emotional Alchemy Design At Google
  I am not fully sure what this is, but here is a photo of something called Emotional Alchemy that was designed and created at the Google office in New York.

Other Great Search Threads:

• Forbes Advisor is up 2,973X in the past month! As predicted, the parasites & content farms are coming back with the same crappy content but now with employees instead of contractors writing. As long as Goog uses brand authority over, Goog Enough on X
• Google now allows users to purchase a Google One subscription via the Google Search app., Radu Oncescu on X
• How to develop good backlinks, WebmasterWorld
• It doesn't make sense like that, so I'd recommend just removing the ambiguity. The next person to look at the file will be just as confused otherwise., John Mueller on Bluesky
• Remember this? The Google articles shown here were noindexed the next day., Lily Ray on X
• Whatever Google SERP feature this is claims to be using AI to summarize a description of the website shown here. But there is no website linked to from this panel. And the "summary" ends up just being a list of keyword spam. Looks like met, Lily Ray on Bluesky

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Google VP of Ads bets on AI to transform ads into tailored consumer journeys
• Google now sees more than 5 trillion searches per year
• Google expands Vehicle ads to include RVs and campers
• Google Merchant Center renames Conversion Settings as Key Event Setup
• Reddit for SMBs: A hidden SEO and engagement goldmine
• SEO shortcuts gone wrong: How one site tanked – and what you can learn
• How to craft search ads that stand out

Other Great Search Stories:

Industry & Business

• Breaking SEO News: Barry Schwartz on the Biggest Stories & Trends, Siege Media
• First Search Central Live in South Africa, Google Search Central Blog
• Hackers Abused Google and PayPal’s Infrastructure to Steal Users Personal Data, GB Hackers

Links & Content Marketing

• 8 Free AI Writing Tools To Speed Up Your Content Creation Process, Moz
• Is Using AI for Content Creation Cheating? (And How I Save 10+ Hours Every Month!), SuccessWorks
• Practical Guide to Finding Link Bait Inspiration, SEO Smarty
• Top Strategies for Content Optimization Post Google's Helpful Content Update, Wix SEO Hub

Local & Maps

• Google Releases Android Auto 13.9 With a Hint at What's To Come, AutoEvolution
• Is Listing Your Business Hours Crucial for Google Rankings?, Sterling Sky

Mobile & Voice

• Deutsche Telekom and Perplexity announce new 'AI Phone' priced at under $1K, TechCrunch
• Everything new in iOS 18.4 developer beta 2, AppleInsider
• Gemini app on iPhone adds Control Center, lockscreen widgets, 9to5Google

SEO

• AI Use Cases for Enterprise SEO & Digital Marketing Teams, Lumar
• Does Being Mentioned on Top News Sites Impact AI Answer Mentions?, Seer Interactive
• Organic Traffic: What It Is & How to Increase It (6 Ways), Backlinko
• What GenAI Is Doing To The Content Quality Bell Curve, SEO for Google News
• 5 Reasons Why You Should Count Queries in Search Console, SEO Gets
• Brand Building vs Performance Marketing & Their Role in SEO, Sitebulb
• SEO Is the Worst It’s Ever Been (And It’s Still Your Best Marketing Channel), Ahrefs

PPC

• A First Look at Creator Partnerships in Google Ads, PPC News Feed
• AI, personalization and the future of shopping, Google Blog
• Interview with Bernt Muurling: Exploring Fake Click Prevention in PPC Advertising, PPC News Feed
• The Future of Google Ads Match Types: Making Broad Match Work for You, Search Engine People
• Understanding Google’s Multiple Auction System for Different Ad Locations, Cypress North
• Publishers based in the US can use PayPal Hyperwallet to get paid, Google AdSense Help

Search Features

• Are Featured Snippets Losing Their Feature? How To Track Featured Snippet prevalence over time (as AI overviews take over), GSQI
• New Research: How Often Do Americans Search Google? Which Search Verticals Do They Use?, SparkToro
• Yandex to Launch Reasoning AI Model in 2025, International Search News

Other Search

• Google Cloud gen AI technology helps healthcare organizations, Google Blog
• What The Hell Happened To Google Search?, Ryan George Extra Plus on YouTube
• On GPT-4.5, Zvi Mowshowitz

Feedback:

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