Erin has traveled west this week for some much needed summer relaxation. Thankfully Andrew Cock-Starkey stepped in to help Mordy and Jacob deliver the news for this episode.

Universal Analytics takes its final ride into the sunset this month. Google announced that on July 1st, 2024 they will fully discontinue and shut down this web traffic metrics tool. We sure hope you have, but if you haven’t, don’t forget to migrate to GA4 ASAP!

A recent study has unveiled a rise in authority for E-Commerce and User-Generated Content indicating that these forms of content are being prioritized by Google on the SERP as affiliate marketers are losing visibility fast.

Google has released their June 2024 Spam Update. The update is intended to continue to penalize low-quality content by identifying and targeting sites with keyword stuffing and unnecessary backlinks.

Tune in as we say goodbye to our friend Universal Analytics and discuss all that’s new in the search realm this week here on the EDGE of the Web!

News from the EDGE:

[00:04:54] Universal Analytics Ends on July 1: Essential Information You Need

[00:06:44] SEO Visibility in 2024: Review Sites Decline, eCommerce and User-Generated Content Rise

[00:12:59] EDGE of the Web Title Sponsor: Site Strategics

[00:14:11] Google Releases June 2024 Spam Update

[00:18:35] Lily Ray’s New Rabbit Hole: a post on LinkedIn

AI Blitz:

[00:22:55] Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas responds to plagiarism and infringement accusations

[00:25:05] AIs are coming for social networks

[00:27:56] Google using ML to review Local Service Ads (LSA) and "automatically review all leads"

[00:30:01] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: Inlinks

Barry Blast from Search Engine Roundtable:

[00:31:08] Google Search Tests Black Sitelinks

[00:32:01] Google AI Overviews FAQs Including Why You Can't Disable AI Overviews

[00:34:14] AI Overviews and Reddit

[00:37:25] Local SEO - Google Maps exploit

Mark Williams-Cook & Jack Chambers-Ward are back for their second segment this week as we dive head first into SGE and AI in search. Changes are on the horizon with Search Generative Experience. We weigh out the looming pros and cons as we explore the potential repercussions of Google’s integration of Search Generative Experience. Discover how you can optimize for Search Generative Experience and what helpful content really means in today’s search landscape as we take a trip down the SGE rabbit hole this week on the EDGE of the Web!

[00:02:29] Reintroducing Mark Williams-Cook & Jack Chambers-Ward

[00:07:21] Changes On The SERP

[00:11:52] EDGE of the Web Title Sponsor: Site Strategics

[00:12:37] A New SERP Challenge With SGE

[00:27:38] Optimizing Content With SGE

[00:30:24] Can You Track AI Overview Metrics?

[00:32:34] EDGE of The Web Sponsor: Wix

[00:35:12] Can We Put Trust In AI?

[00:40:49] Mark’s LinkedIn Insights

[00:44:01] Screaming Frog Version 20

Thanks to Our Sponsors!

Site Strategics: http://edgeofthewebradio.com/site

Wix: http://edgeofthewebradio.com/wix

Follow Our Guest

Twitter: https://x.com/jlwchambers

LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/jlwchambers

Twitter: https://x.com/thetafferboy

LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/markseo

Resources

Candour

Search with Candour Podcast

Candour Youtube Channel

Welcome back to the EDGE! Google is accused of sending a $2.3 million check to successfully avoid a jury trial in their antitrust lawsuit. This payment has secured Google a Judges approval on a bench trial, causing a major setback to the Justice Department’s antitrust push against Big Tech.

Reddit is revamping its comment stream ad placement with hopes to increase reachability to users. The updated ads will be larger and appear inside of conversation threads to reach users at the highest engagement level.

Google Ads is phasing out credit and debit card payments for advertisers. By July 31st, advertisers must attach a bank account and follow a monthly invoice payment format. This move is supposed to only affect high-growth accounts, but the spend thresholds have not yet been released.

Plus, Mordy unleashes all of his frustrations in an all new segment ‘Captain Obvious’.

Keep riding the SEO wave with us as we give you all you should know about SEO and digital marketing this week on the EDGE of the Web!

News from the EDGE:

[00:06:43] Google pays $2.3 million to secure bench trial in adtech antitrust case

[00:09:22] Reddit Launches Updated Conversation Ads

[00:13:57] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: Site Strategics

[00:15:59] Google Ads phasing out card payments

Captain Obvious:

[00:18:07] You can't have product or service differentiation unless you are actually different in some way.

AI News:

[00:21:35] Spotify announces an in-house creative agency, tests generative AI voiceover ads

[00:23:15] Color and OpenAI tackle AI cancer care

AI Tools:

[00:25:20] Researchers teach AI to speak dogs?

Barry Blast from Search Engine Roundtable:

[00:26:51] Google Business Profiles Websites No Longer Load - 404

[00:28:10] The Maddening Adventure Of Tracking AI Overviews In Google Search Console

[00:30:01] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: Inlinks

Thanks to our sponsors!

Site Strategics https://edgeofthewebradio.com/site

Inlinks https://edgeofthewebradio.com/inlinks

Follow Us:

Twitter: @ErinSparks

Twitter: @MordyOberstein

Twitter: @TheMann00

Twitter: @EDGEWebRadio

Resources:

• Google pays $2.3 million to secure bench trial in adtech antitrust case
• Reddit Launches Updated Conversation Ads
• Google Ads phasing out card payments
• Spotify announces an in-house creative agency, tests generative AI voiceover ads
• Color and OpenAI tackle AI cancer care
• Researchers teach AI to speak dog
• Summarize, connect, and remember online content
• Google Business Profiles Websites No Longer Load - 404
• The Maddening Adventure Of Tracking AI Overviews In Google Search Console

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