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.
A new study shows AI search engines way too often gets the answer wrong, this is an interesting study with a lot of interesting data (check it out. Another study says Google Search grew about 22% year-over-year in terms of searches. Advertisers are skeptical about Google Tag Manager changing how it loads its events. Google Shopping is testing price at checkout labels. Google is testing an expandable shopping ad carousel.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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Study: AI Search Engines Are Confidently Wrong Too Often
A new study from Columbia Journalism Review showed that AI search engines and chatbots, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT Search, Perplexity, Deepseek Search, Microsoft Copilot, Grok and Google's Gemini, are just wrong, way too often. I have said this time and time again, when I see an AI Answer, at this point, I just skip over it because I know I cannot trust it and this proves that. -
Data: Google Search Had 22% Growth In Searches Year Over Year
A new data report from Rand Fishkin at Sparktoro says that Google Search has seen 21.64% growth in searches year over year. This comes after his study that showed 1/3rd of Google searchers don't search all that much. -
Advertisers Skeptical About Google Tag Manager Changes
Google sent out an email to advertisers yesterday about changes coming to Google Tag Manager. Specifically, Google Tag Manager will send events before loading a Google tag and Google calls this a "small change" that "will not harm measurement performance." -
Google Shopping Results: Price At Checkout Label
Google can now show the "price at checkout" within the Google Shopping listings, both paid and organic. I am not sure if this is new, being that Google has had policies about suspending merchants who change their pricing at checkout and even allows Googlebot to add items to the cart for this reason. -
Google Tests Expandable Shopping Ad Carousel
Google is testing a new shopping ad format. This format expands product listings available within a store, shows the products with larger images and product details and then lets you swipe through a carousel of those items. -
Nearest Food Store
I bet you a local SEO named this store - it is named "Nearest Food Store." No joke, check out the signage on the store. We've seen plenty of stores named near me...
Other Great Search Threads:
- Dear Google, these in-line links are a WAY BETTER and FAIRER implementation of links within AI Overviews. More of these please., Lily Ray on Bluesky
- Mark your calendar: Google Marketing Live will be livestreamed on Wednesday, May 21 at 9am PT, Ginny Marvin on LinkedIn
- This may be because you are reaching people who show an interest in your targeted locations. By default, campaigns are set to "Presence or Interest". You can narrow that by selecting "Presence" to reach people in or regularl, Google Ads Liaison on Bluesky
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Google Marketing Live set for May 21
- Google is exploring ads in new AI Mode
- Google to change how Tag Manager works with Google Ads in April
- 4 SEO tips to boost click-through rate
- 8 common SEO mistakes to avoid
- Leveraging generative AI in ad scripts for Google Ads optimization
Other Great Search Stories:
Industry & Business
- Bernstein maintains Baidu stock rating, $108 target post-bond issue, Investing
- Google paid $12 million in bug bounties last year to security researchers, Bleeping Computer
Links & Content Marketing
- AI slop is suffocating the web, says a new study - Fast Company, Fast Company
- Content Churn in Google Doubled Over Five Years, Moz
- Writing Quality Content for a Boring Industry? Here's Help, Level343
- How Link Building Complements Technical SEO Auditing, Sitebulb
Local & Maps
- Android Auto apps hit with an annoying scrolling problem [Video], 9to5Google
- A Google Maps bug is wiping out Timeline history for some users, Android Central
- Now Google Maps is starting to use Android 16’s live update notifications, The Verge
Mobile & Voice
- Apple Readies Dramatic Design Overhauls for iOS 19, iPadOS 19, macOS 16, Bloomberg
- Can Gaming Save the Apple Vision Pro?, Wired
- I saw new Gemini and Project Astra, here's why it's fantastic | Digital Trends, Digital Trends
SEO
- How to best optimize the 5 headline fields, SEO For Journalism
- Navigating UK financial risk checks: What iGaming affiliates need to know, Receptional
- SEO Compression Study | Analysis of 42,000 Sites, Reboot Online
- Should Your Keyword Be In The First 100 Words Of Your Content?, Nikki Pilkington
- The Big Search Engine List: Who Indexes What?, Search Engine World
- Why Google May Adopt Vibe Coding For Search Algorithms, Search Engine Journal
- 'Do' Queries Are an SEO Priority, Practical Ecommerce
- SEO Insights with Google's Gemini Embeddings (A Free Tool Inside), Metehan
PPC
- Google Merchant Center Updates EU Energy Labeling Requirements, PPC News Feed
- Google Performance Max Gets a 2025 Upgrade, Receptional
- Message Assets Available in Performance Max, PPC News Feed
- Microsoft Advertising brings Australian and New Zealand inventory in-house, Microsoft Advertising
- New Challenges for Digital Agencies, Advanced Web Ranking
Search Features
- Google’s New AI Mode Could Be a Game-Changer for Search, Cypress North
- Case Study: Analyzing the Impact of AI Overviews on Organic Search Performance, Seer Interactive
Other Search
- Hugging Face's chief science officer worries AI is becoming 'yes-men on servers', TechCrunch
- How the AI Talent Race Is Reshaping the Tech Job Market, Wall Street Journal
- The AI Apocalypse for Publishers Isn’t Coming - it’s Already Here., Scott Purcell on LinkedIn
Feedback:
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