Daily Search Forum Recap: December 12, 2024

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 is testing using Gemini 2.0 to power AI Overviews. Apple released Apple Intelligence upgrades, including visual intelligence. Google Ads is testing video assets for search campaigns. Bing removed the cache link. Google sitelinks with arrow downs to show more is being tested.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google Is Testing Gemini 2.0 Powered AI Overviews In Search
  Google announced its "new AI model" named Gemini 2.0 and with that confirmed Google has begun testing using Gemini 2.0 to power AI Overviews in Google Search. Sundar Pichai, Google's CEO, said the improved AI Overviews can "tackle more complex topics and multi-step questions, including advanced math equations, multimodal queries and coding."
• Apple Visual Intelligence Is Out With ChatGPT & Google Integration
  Apple released a ton of new Apple Intelligence features yesterday, including what I've been waiting to play with - Apple Visual Intelligence. It seems, at least for now, that Apple Visual Intelligence works with ChatGPT and Google Search but I was not able to trigger it for Apple Maps like the initial demo showed.
• Official: Bing Search Drops Cache Link
  After months of testing, and after Google was the first to make this move, Bing has dropped support for its cache operator and the cache link in Bing Search. Bing wrote on X, "This week, we've removed cache links from Bing search results."
• Google Ads Testing Video Assets For Search Campaigns?
  Google Ads is testing a new asset type named video. It seems Google may be testing allowing advertisers to add video assets to their search ads and other Google Ads campaigns.
• Google Tests Sitelinks With Arrow Down To Show More
  We've seen our share of Sitelinks tests in Google Search. Including a number of variations around expandable sitelinks. But here is a version where you can click an arrow down to expand and show more sitelinks.
• This Is A Black Hat 🤠
  This is an oldie but when I saw it, I had to share it here. Dave Davies shared an old hat he got that is a white hat, with white text on it, that reads, "this is a black hat." Those in SEO will get this joke.

Other Great Search Threads:

• Structured data with microdata is supported by Google Search ( developers.google.com/search/docs/... ), but most (I think) of the new types are based on schema.org / JSON-LD markup, John Mueller on Bluesky
• That was only an issue for the ca 3 hours of the duration there, and these things are generally only issues for new content that hasn't been indexed before. If you're seeing something else, that would be unrelated. Happy to take a look., John Mueller on Bluesky

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Meta’s platforms hit by global outage
• Bing officially removes cache link from search results
• Analysis: 75% of Google AI Overview links come from top 12 organic rankings
• Google Ads tests video asset option
• Google Gemini 2.0 coming to Search and AI Overviews
• How to segment traffic from LLMs in GA4
• Google Search Console rolling out new date controls for performance reports
• How to use negative keywords in PPC to maximize targeting and optimize ad spend

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

• Monitor Text Selections on Your Site Using GA4 Events, Decode Digital Market

Industry & Business

• Google Asks FTC to Kill Microsoft’s Exclusive Cloud Deal with OpenAI, The Information
• Lawsuit: A chatbot hinted a kid should kill his parents over screen time limits, NPR
• Google gifts $1M to NCCU for AI research institute, WRAL
• Google vs. DoJ: the story so far and the implications for businesses, Hallam
• Google-parent Alphabet hits record high after Trump taps Andrew Ferguson as FTC chair, Reuters
• Google’s Top Lobbyist Departs Amid Continued Regulatory Scrutiny, Bloomberg
• Microsoft’s Mustafa Suleyman hires ex-DeepMind staff for AI health unit, Financial Times (Sub)
• OpenAI CFO sees Trump as AI president, trusts Musk to prioritize national interest, Reuters
• The State of Digital Agencies in 2024: Big Challenges, Bigger Optimism, and Is Remote Work Here to Stay?, SparkToro
• Facebook, Google and TikTok to fund Australian journalism under new tax plan from government, ABC News

Links & Content Marketing

• 5 tips on how to create good seasonal content, Yoast
• Will your audience actually care? How to gauge interest, SERP's Up SEO Podcast

Local & Maps

• Google Maps now harvests dashcam imagery to update changing road conditions, Android Police
• Google Maps on Android rolls out new teal accent color, Android Authority
• Google Maps widely rolling out on-device Timeline history notice, 9to5Google
• Updates to Android's unknown tracker alerts for Find My Device tags, Google Blog

Mobile & Voice

• Apple Intelligence now features Image Playground, Genmoji, and more, Apple
• Google introduces Gemini 2.0: A new AI model for the agentic era, Google Blog
• Here's how OpenAI uses your data when you use ChatGPT through Apple’s integrations, TechCrunch
• How to test Gemini in Google Assistant on Nest Mini, Audio, 9to5Google

SEO

• AI Overviews show in 63% of real estate searches, SEO Savvy Agent
• Estimate Your SEO Potential With This Free ChatGPT Bot, Ahrefs
• How I Built 4 SEO Bookmarklets with AI Tools, Decode Digital Market
• How I TRIPLED Organic Traffic in 12 Months By Focusing on Value, Not Search, BuzzStream
• Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) for SEO, semKaizen
• Robotcop: enforcing your robots.txt policies and stopping bots before they reach your website, Cloudflare
• The Importance of Content Knowledge Graphs, Schema App Solutions
• The Role of SEO in making branding understood by search engines and AI., I Love SEO

PPC

• 'New Button' Gains Additional Features, PPC News Feed
• Can Brand Be Built Using Paid Search?, PPC Live
• Google Ads: When to Use Multiple Campaigns for One Goal, Jyll Saskin Gales
• How to Master Performance Max for Microsoft Advertising, PPC Hero
• Video Assets Spotted in Google Ads Asset Section, PPC News Feed
• Perplexity’s AI search ad are being pitched to UM clients, Ad Age

Search Features

• Are your customers switching to AI tools (and how much)? SparkToro's new Search & AI Tools feature has the answers, SparkToro
• Gemini website tweaks text field, adds model info to Android app, 9to5Google
• OpenAI expands ChatGPT Canvas to all users, VentureBeat

Other Search

• How WhatsApp became an unstoppable global cultural force, Rest of World
• Gemini 2.0 Flash: An outstanding multi-modal LLM with a sci-fi streaming mode, Simon Willison
• Scaling Laws – O1 Pro Architecture, Reasoning Training Infrastructure, Orion and Claude 3.5 Opus “Failures”, SemiAnalysis
• Uncovering ChatGPT Search Sources, BrightLocal

Feedback:

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