Archive for the ‘seo news’ Category
Friday, November 3rd, 2023
The Guardian has accused Microsoft of damaging its brand by adding an offensive AI-generated poll to one of its articles.
In a story reporting on the death of 21-year-old Lilie James, whose body was found with serious head injuries in Australia, the tech giant’s AI asked readers to vote on the cause of her passing, giving them the options of murder, accident or suicide.
Furious readers reacted by describing the poll as “disgusting” and calling for the instant dismissal of the journalist – who had nothing to do with the poll.
Why we care. Microsoft’s decision to use AI instead of human writers is causing problems again. This is a clear reminder of why businesses should utilize AI to support human efforts rather than replace them. Neglecting this approach could damage your brand’s reputation and adversely affect your search rankings.
How this happened. Microsoft has agreements with major news organizations around the world, such as The Guardian and CNN, under which it can republish their articles in return for a portion of ad revenue. However, when the tech giant republished this story, its AI technology automatically added the offensive poll.
What The Guardian is saying. Anna Bateson, chief executive of the Guardian Media Group, wrote to Microsoft’s president, Brad Smith, accusing the company of upsetting James’ family, as well as causing “significant reputational damage” to both the newspaper and the journalist. She said:
- “This is clearly an inappropriate use of genAI [generative AI] by Microsoft on a potentially distressing public interest story, originally written and published by Guardian journalists.”
Bateson then asked Smith to reassure her that:
- “Microsoft will not apply experimental AI technology on or alongside Guardian journalism without the news publisher’s approval; and Microsoft will always make it clear to users when AI tools are used to create additional units and features next to trusted news brands like the Guardian.”
What Microsoft is saying. A Microsoft spokesperson said:
- “We have deactivated Microsoft-generated polls for all news articles and we are investigating the cause of the inappropriate content. A poll should not have appeared alongside an article of this nature, and we are taking steps to help prevent this kind of error from reoccurring in the future.”
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History repeating itself. This isn’t the first time Microsoft’s generative AI has landed the tech giant in trouble. In September, the company was heavily criticized after publishing an AI-generated obituary for NBA star Brandon Hunter.
The former Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic player passed away suddenly this week, aged 42, after collapsing during a hot yoga class in Orlando, Fl. Shortly after his passing, fans were shocked to see the father of three described as “useless” in an obituary published on MSN. The headline read:
- “Brandon Hunter useless at 42.”
Readers reacted by branding Microsoft “lazy” for leveraging AI to create articles and urged the company to rehire the editorial staff it replaced with AI.
Deep dive. Read the Guardian’s response in full for more information.
The post The Guardian accuses Microsoft of damaging its reputation with offensive AI-generated poll appeared first on Search Engine Land.
Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
Thursday, November 2nd, 2023
With customer and revenue growth hitting new highs in Q3, Semrush achieved its first profitable quarter since Q1 2021. That ends a stretch of nine straight quarters posting a net loss.
Semrush’s third quarter revenue was $78.7 million, up 20% year-over-year ($65.8 million) from 2022.
Earlier this year, Semrush said it expected to break even or show a profit for 2023, after losing $33.8 million in 2022.
Customers. Semrush had about 106,800 paying customers as of Sept. 30. This was up nearly 14% from the “over 94,000” figure it reported a year ago. Also:
- 20% growth in customers who pay more than $10,000 annually.
- 987,000 registered free active customers (up 25%)
Price increases starting. On the investor call, Eugene Levin, President, discussed one of the company’s growth pillars – to “maximize the value” Semrush generates from its users. Pricing changes started rolling out in Q3, according to Levy:
- “We took the opportunity to optimize our pricing strategy to better align with the tremendous value our product delivers. During Q3, and into the early part of Q4, we tested price increases with a cohort of customers, and we were encouraged by the response, as net adds, and retention were in line with our expectations and recent trends.
- “In our view, this indicates customers have a strong need for our offering and are willing to pay more given the unique benefits it provides them with. While we are still in the early phases of pricing adjustments, these initial findings suggest there may be room to prudently raise prices to better capture the value we provide, which we think, over time, would also contribute further to our growth.
- “Our plan is to be thoughtful and measured. We expect to continue testing and analyzing data so that any broader pricing changes are backed by customer insights while maintaining our commitment to delivering exceptional value.”
Why we care. Many Search Engine Land readers use Semrush daily, so it’s good to know the company continues to be in good shape financially. Meanwhile, these results show SEO and SEO platforms continue to be in-demand. However, be aware pricing changes have started – and if you haven’t seen them yet, they are coming.
Read the full press release. Semrush Announces Third Quarter 2023 Financial Results
The post Revenue, customer growth returns Semrush to profitability in Q3 appeared first on Search Engine Land.
Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
Thursday, November 2nd, 2023
Google has introduced several updates to assist advertisers in maintaining brand safety and suitability on YouTube and the Google Display Network.
Danielle Wolinsky, Google’s Global Lead for Advertiser Trust and responsibility, presented various options for brand protection, such as a new feature that enables marketers to easily select topics they want to exclude on both YouTube and the Google Display Network.
Below, is a roundup of the five new ways advertisers can safeguard their brands on YouTube.
1. Simplified ability to exclude themes
Now, worldwide, you can easily filter out themes on YouTube and the Google Display Network that don’t fit your brand, offering more precision and clarity. These filters offer more accuracy and clarity when removing specific content types.
2. Estimated Impact in Google Ads
This tool helps you assess the impact of your settings on inventory, impressions, and costs. – and it is now accessible to all YouTube advertisers. You can use this tool to analyze how excluding certain content may affect ad reach and performance. It can also be used to help agencies can assist clients in making informed choices.
3. Leveraging AI for ad safety
YouTube’s AI technology can now spot patterns that help the platform to detect similar content that’s previously been removed – sometimes even before it’s seen. It’s also used to automatically identify and remove spam and content that has already violated YouTube’s rules. The same approach is applied to YouTube comments and ads as well.
4. Content-level brand safety accreditation
YouTube has received content-level brand safety accreditation from the Media Rating Council for the third year in a row following an extensive audit. YouTube advertising is 99% effective in ensuring brand safety for in-stream, livestream, Shorts, and Watch Next/Home feed content, meeting GARM brand safety standards.
5. Tailoring YouTube ad placements
YouTube now offers expanded suitability inventory types to more areas, including YouTube Shorts, allowing marketers to align their campaigns with specific content categories. The recommended choice for most advertisers is the standard inventory, ensuring adherence to YouTube’s advertiser-friendly guidelines. Depending on your brand, you can opt for either limited or expanded inventory, giving you flexibility in reaching your target audience.
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What Google is saying. Danielle Wolinsky, Google’s Global Lead, Advertiser Trust & Responsibility, said in a statement:
- “In our dynamic industry, one thing won’t ever change: marketers and users alike need to trust the entire ad ecosystem. That’s how we can keep the web open and free.”
- “Brand safety and suitability are top priorities for us. We actively enforce our publisher policies and work to ensure your ads on YouTube don’t appear next to harmful content.”
- “Because there is no one-size-fits-all approach, we’re prioritizing transparency and control for marketers of all sizes.”
Deep dive. Read Google’s announcement in full for more information.
The post 5 ways Google and YouTube advertisers can protect their brands appeared first on Search Engine Land.
Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
Thursday, November 2nd, 2023
Google’s November 2023 core update is now rolling out and may take up to two weeks to complete.
This is the fourth broad core algorithm update of 2023. the first core update of 2023 was the March 2023 core update, which started rolling out on March 15 and was completed on March 28. The second core update of 2023 was the August 2023 core update, which started rolling out on August 22 and was completed on September 7. The third core update was the October 2023 core update, which started rolling out on October 5 and was completed on October 19.
New in the core update. Google said, that this core “update involves an improvement to a different core system than last month.” Google said its guidance about core updates is the same for both.
Reviews update coming next week. Google said a reviews update will also be coming next week. Google said this “will also mark a point when we’ll no longer be giving periodic notifications of improvements to our reviews system, because they will be happening at a regular and ongoing pace.”
More details. Google posted a more detailed Q&A over here, explaining more about the new core update and the upcoming reviews update.
- Why another core update so soon? Google said, “We have different systems that are considered core to our ranking process; this month’s core update involves an improvement to a different core system than last month.”
- Difference between a ranking update and ranking system? Google said, “Ranking systems are what we use to generate search results. We use multiple ranking systems that do different things. We have a guide to Google search ranking systems that explains some of our more notable ones. Updates are when we make an improvement to a ranking system.”
- What do updates do? Google said, “We use automated systems to rank search results, and like anything, these aren’t perfect. We’re always looking at ways to improve these systems to show better results.”
- Why do some updates overlap? Google said, “We do try to separate notable updates, so that if they produce changes, site owners can better identify which system is involved. However, given we have so many updates overall, it’s not always possible. In addition, when an update is evaluated and approved because it will make Search better, we don’t want to hold that back.”
- Why are some updates during the holiday season? Google said, “We do try to avoid having updates during the late-November to mid-December period when possible. But it’s not always possible. If we have updates that can improve Search, that have been developed over the course of several months, we release them when they’re ready.”
What to do if you are hit. Google has given advice on what to consider if you are negatively impacted by a core update in the past:
- There aren’t specific actions to take to recover. A negative rankings impact may not signal anything is wrong with your pages.
- Google has offered a list of questions to consider if your site is hit by a core update.
- Google said you can see a bit of a recovery between core updates but the biggest change would be after another core update.
Why we care. Whenever Google updates its search ranking algorithms, your site can do better or worse in the search results. Knowing when Google makes these updates gives us something to point to understand if it was something you changed on your website or something Google changed with its ranking algorithm. Today, we know Google has released a core ranking update, so keep an eye on your analytics and rankings over the next couple of weeks.
Although with the spam update rolling out at the same time, it might be hard to isolate which update or updates impacted your site.
Previous core updates. Here’s a timeline and our coverage of recent core updates:
Other recent Google algorithm updates. Google recently rolled out the October 2023 spam update, while rolling out the October 2023 core update and in September, Google rolled out the September 2023 helpful content update over a 14-day period.
Google recently fixed a bug with the core update a couple of days ago, that impacted Discover traffic.
You can read more about past Google updates here.
The post Google November 2023 core update released appeared first on Search Engine Land.
Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
Wednesday, November 1st, 2023
Google declared a “Code Yellow” after user queries slowed in February 2019 to find out why. Ben Gomes, then the head of Google Search, became concerned about a thinning firewall between Search and Ads, according to emails revealed during the ongoing U.S. vs. Google antitrust trial.
Why we care. We’ve been concerned to learn Google has increased ad prices to meet quarterly revenue goals and Ads, Search and Chrome teams working to boost ad revenue. While Google talks about always doing what’s best for users, clearly it also has done what’s best for Google revenue and profits.
The emails. In one 2019 email, a “frustrated” Gomes told other executives that the Search team was “getting too close to the money,” Bloomberg reported:
- “I think it is good for us to aspire to query growth and to aspire to more users. But I think we are getting too involved with ads for the good of the product and company.”
- “I am getting concerned that growth is all we are thinking about.”
- “We could increase queries quite easily in the short term in user negative ways (turn off spell correction, turn off ranking improvement, place refinements all over the page).”
However, Gomes said during his testimony that he was “discussing things we would never do,” in that last bullet.
Code Yellow aftermath. The “emergency” lasted seven weeks, after which Google created a new metric to measure groups of queries, rather than user queries as a metric (“I think this metric of just using queries is not one that optimizes appropriately,” Gomes explained.).
Gomes left his role about a year later, when Prabhakar Raghavan became the new head of Google Search.
The post Ex-Google Search head worried his team was ‘too involved with ads’ appeared first on Search Engine Land.
Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
Wednesday, November 1st, 2023
Google declared a “Code Yellow” after user queries slowed in February 2019 to find out why. Ben Gomes, then the head of Google Search, became concerned about a thinning firewall between Search and Ads, according to emails revealed during the ongoing U.S. vs. Google antitrust trial.
Why we care. We’ve been concerned to learn Google has increased ad prices to meet quarterly revenue goals and Ads, Search and Chrome teams working to boost ad revenue. While Google talks about always doing what’s best for users, clearly it also has done what’s best for Google revenue and profits.
The emails. In one 2019 email, a “frustrated” Gomes told other executives that the Search team was “getting too close to the money,” Bloomberg reported:
- “I think it is good for us to aspire to query growth and to aspire to more users. But I think we are getting too involved with ads for the good of the product and company.”
- “I am getting concerned that growth is all we are thinking about.”
- “We could increase queries quite easily in the short term in user negative ways (turn off spell correction, turn off ranking improvement, place refinements all over the page).”
However, Gomes said during his testimony that he was “discussing things we would never do,” in that last bullet.
Code Yellow aftermath. The “emergency” lasted seven weeks, after which Google created a new metric to measure groups of queries, rather than user queries as a metric (“I think this metric of just using queries is not one that optimizes appropriately,” Gomes explained.).
Gomes left his role about a year later, when Prabhakar Raghavan became the new head of Google Search.
The post Ex-Google Search head worried his team was ‘too involved with ads’ appeared first on Search Engine Land.
Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
Wednesday, November 1st, 2023
Google has released a range of new generative AI product imagery tools for advertisers in the U.S.
Merchants can leverage these capabilities to create product imagery simply by using text prompts, completely free of charge in Product Studio.
Why we care. These tools have the potential to save advertisers significant time through instant product image creation and recreation, and they may also cut costs by reducing the necessity of hiring professional picture editors. However, the quality of Product Studio’s AI-generated images is still unverified, and copyright issues related to AI-generated content should be considered.
Capabilities. Advertisers can leverage these new features for various purposes, from basic tasks like altering the background color behind product images or creating a solid background, to more advanced jobs such as customizing product placement within specific scenes. The tools can also be used to enhance low-quality images without the need for a reshoot.
Availability. The new tools have already started being rolled out to all Merchant Center Next users in the U.S, as well as users of the Google and YouTube apps on Shopify.
Metadata AI label. The AI-generated images won’t have a clear tag or watermark to inform users that they were manipulated, however, Google states that this information will be stored in the image’s metadata.
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What Google is saying: Matt Madrigal, Vice President, GM, Merchant Shopping, said in a statement:
- “In e-commerce, eye-catching images are a business’s digital window displays — and merchants with the right mix of imagery online can get better results. In fact, while many product offers on Google have just one image, we see an increase in both impressions (+76%) and clicks (+32%) for product offers that include more than one image.”
- “It’s not always easy to get a range of high-quality images, though. Businesses tell us creating lifestyle images gets expensive and time-consuming.”
- “Our new Product Studio, designed with Google’s Ai Principles top of mind, brings the benefits of generative AI to businesses of all sizes, helping them easily create unique and tailored product imagery for free and get more value from the images they already have.”
Deep dive. Read Google’s original Product Studio tools announcement for more information.
The post Google rolls out generative AI tools for product images in the U.S. appeared first on Search Engine Land.
Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
Wednesday, November 1st, 2023
Google has released a range of new generative AI product imagery tools for advertisers in the U.S.
Merchants can leverage these capabilities to create product imagery simply by using text prompts, completely free of charge in Product Studio.
Why we care. These tools have the potential to save advertisers significant time through instant product image creation and recreation, and they may also cut costs by reducing the necessity of hiring professional picture editors. However, the quality of Product Studio’s AI-generated images is still unverified, and copyright issues related to AI-generated content should be considered.
Capabilities. Advertisers can leverage these new features for various purposes, from basic tasks like altering the background color behind product images or creating a solid background, to more advanced jobs such as customizing product placement within specific scenes. The tools can also be used to enhance low-quality images without the need for a reshoot.
Availability. The new tools have already started being rolled out to all Merchant Center Next users in the U.S, as well as users of the Google and YouTube apps on Shopify.
Metadata AI label. The AI-generated images won’t have a clear tag or watermark to inform users that they were manipulated, however, Google states that this information will be stored in the image’s metadata.
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What Google is saying: Matt Madrigal, Vice President, GM, Merchant Shopping, said in a statement:
- “In e-commerce, eye-catching images are a business’s digital window displays — and merchants with the right mix of imagery online can get better results. In fact, while many product offers on Google have just one image, we see an increase in both impressions (+76%) and clicks (+32%) for product offers that include more than one image.”
- “It’s not always easy to get a range of high-quality images, though. Businesses tell us creating lifestyle images gets expensive and time-consuming.”
- “Our new Product Studio, designed with Google’s Ai Principles top of mind, brings the benefits of generative AI to businesses of all sizes, helping them easily create unique and tailored product imagery for free and get more value from the images they already have.”
Deep dive. Read Google’s original Product Studio tools announcement for more information.
The post Google rolls out generative AI tools for product images in the U.S. appeared first on Search Engine Land.
Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
Wednesday, November 1st, 2023
Google has added new details to both Google Business Profiles listings and some shopping listings. Google added a new business attribute named “small business” that will show up on a business’s Google Maps and local listing, as well as their shopping results. Plus, Google added more information to their listings that Google says will make it helpful for searchers to learn more about that business.
Small business attribute. Google now lets you edit your Google Business Profile or Merchant Center details to say you are a “small business.” Then, Google will show a small business icon and label in your Google local and shopping search results.
Here is a screenshot of the shopping results showcasing which products are from small businesses:
If you edit your Google Business Profile, you can now select “Is a small business.”
Other information. In addition to the small business attribute, Google said it will also show “other helpful shopping information, like current deals, shipping and return policies, customer service information and ratings and reviews.” This will show up in the knowledge panels for some merchants in some regions.
Google also said the knowledge panel will show up for more merchants.
Product studio. Google said this week they are starting to roll out Product Studio to all Google Merchant Center Next users in the U.S. That includes Google’s “experimental AI-powered scene generation feature, which uses a text-to-image generative AI model to help you place products into any creative scene you dream up,” Google added.
You can learn more details on that announcement over here.
Why we care. If you are a business that can benefit from the small business attribute or from these additional features and labels that can show up in Google Search, make sure to add then to your listings.
If you have clients that can benefit from this then help your clients gain these new labels and attributes as well.
The post Google adds small business attribute and other information to business profiles and shopping listings appeared first on Search Engine Land.
Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
Wednesday, November 1st, 2023
Google has added new details to both Google Business Profiles listings and some shopping listings. Google added a new business attribute named “small business” that will show up on a business’s Google Maps and local listing, as well as their shopping results. Plus, Google added more information to their listings that Google says will make it helpful for searchers to learn more about that business.
Small business attribute. Google now lets you edit your Google Business Profile or Merchant Center details to say you are a “small business.” Then, Google will show a small business icon and label in your Google local and shopping search results.
Here is a screenshot of the shopping results showcasing which products are from small businesses:
If you edit your Google Business Profile, you can now select “Is a small business.”
Other information. In addition to the small business attribute, Google said it will also show “other helpful shopping information, like current deals, shipping and return policies, customer service information and ratings and reviews.” This will show up in the knowledge panels for some merchants in some regions.
Google also said the knowledge panel will show up for more merchants.
Product studio. Google said this week they are starting to roll out Product Studio to all Google Merchant Center Next users in the U.S. That includes Google’s “experimental AI-powered scene generation feature, which uses a text-to-image generative AI model to help you place products into any creative scene you dream up,” Google added.
You can learn more details on that announcement over here.
Why we care. If you are a business that can benefit from the small business attribute or from these additional features and labels that can show up in Google Search, make sure to add then to your listings.
If you have clients that can benefit from this then help your clients gain these new labels and attributes as well.
The post Google adds small business attribute and other information to business profiles and shopping listings appeared first on Search Engine Land.
Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
