Google is upgrading its Local Service Ads, introducing an auto-select photos feature to display in businesses ads, with aims to enhance effectiveness and rankings. To fully take advantage, advertisers should start updating their LSA profile photos.

Google says URL parameters can create crawl and indexing inefficiencies. The issue is most common among e-commerce websites that use URL parameters to filter, sort, and specify items.

Last Monday, a federal judge ruled that Google is an illegal monopoly, but rivals say a slap on the wrist won’t cut it. Google competitors Yelp and DuckDuckGo push for the DOJ to enforce tougher action to break up the search monopoly.

As always, be sure to tune in for the latest in SEO here on the EDGE of the Web!

News from the EDGE:

[00:03:05] Google Upgrades Local Services Ads with Automated Photo Selection

[00:04:56] Google Alerts: URL Parameters Causing Crawling Problems

[00:09:15] EDGE of the Web Title Sponsor: Site Strategics

[00:10:45] What Competitors Seek After Google’s DOJ Antitrust Victory

AI Blitz:

[00:17:59] The 6 Best AI Content Checkers To Use In 2024 via @sejournal

AI Tools:

[00:23:56] Google Meet call will soon be able to take notes for you

[00:26:15] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: Inlinks

Barry Blast from Search Engine Roundtable:

[00:26:51] Google Search Listing srsltid URL Parameters From Merchant Center

[00:28:29] Google Featured Snippets With Emojis & Special Characters

[00:28:50] Google: We Don't Track How Expensive It Is To Crawl, Render, Index & Serve Pages

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 Upgrades Local Services Ads with Automated Photo Selection
• Google Alerts: URL Parameters Causing Crawling Problems
• What Competitors Seek After Google’s DOJ Antitrust Victory

• The 6 Best AI Content Checkers To Use In 2024 via @sejournal, @annabellenyst
• Google Meet call will soon be able to take notes for you
• Google Search Listing srsltid URL Parameters From Merchant Center
• Google Featured Snippets With Emojis & Special Characters
• Google: We Don't Track How Expensive It Is To Crawl, Render, Index & Serve Pages

#StandwithUkraine edgeofthewebradio.com/ukraine

Welcome back Founder of Flying Cat, Maeva Cifuentes. Maeva and Flying Cat recently published a report analyzing the extent to which different levels of AI-generated content impact content performance. The study takes metrics from 150 global content leaders, and today we dive into the aggregated results. AI content, SME processes, and confirmation bias… we take a look at the most significant factors when it comes to creating the best content. Tune in this week because, thanks to Maeva, we have tangible data to finally answer the question; Should you use AI to create SEO content?

Key Segments:

[00:03:57] Reintroducing Maeva Cifuentes

[00:07:27] AI Content Performance

[00:15:44] EDGE of the Web Title Sponsor: Site Strategics

[00:18:00] SME Processes

[00:22:57] The Importance of Using AI in Creating Content For SEO

[00:25:05] EDGE of The Web Sponsor: Wix

[00:26:16] Confirmation Bias in AI Content

[00:30:19] Navigating The Industry as a Fully Remote Agency

[00:39:26] Final Advice From Maeva

Thanks to Our Sponsors!

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

Wix: http://edgeofthewebradio.com/wix

Follow Our Guest

Twitter: https://x.com/maevaeverywhere

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maevaeverywhere

Resources

Flying Cat Marketing

Flying Cat AI Content Report

Google announces they will be hitting advertisers with a 2.5% service fee for ads run in Canada starting in October. Advertisers, be sure to keep an eye on your geographic targets to avoid these fees in certain jurisdictions.

Advertisers beware! Google Ads hit with major outage on August 1st, leaving advertiser information exposed to competitors! The data breach left merchant center information openly visible, raising major privacy concerns.

Lastly, Google confirms that the Robots.txt file does not meet necessary security standards. The file, intended to guide search engine crawlers, fails to restrict unauthorized users from accessing sensitive information.

As always, tune in for all the latest news to know what’s happening in SEO, as we ease into the 7th century of the EDGE of the Web!

News from the EDGE:

[00:02:54] Google Ads has new surcharges in certain regions

[00:06:07] Major glitch in Google Ads exposes competitor data

[00:11:06] EDGE of the Web Title Sponsor: Site Strategics

[00:12:26] Google says- Robots.txt can't block unauthorized access

Captain Obvious:

[00:16:42] Mordy’s bone to pick with LinkedIn

AI Blitz:

[00:19:03] Reddit CEO to Microsoft and AI search engines: Pay for our content

[00:21:40] Is Perplexity AI’s Revenue Share Plan Fair?

[00:23:37] OpenAI has a watermarking tech to detect text written by ChatGPT with 99.9% reliability, but the project launch has been mired in internal debates

AI Tools:

[00:30:26] AI Real Time Speech Translation

[00:31:13] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: Inlinks

Barry Blast from Search Engine Roundtable:

[00:33:48] Google Local Service Ads Automated Lead Dispute System

[00:35:10] Google To Allow Pubic Hair Grooming Ads In September 2024

[00:36:48] Google Search Ranking Volatility Bursting At The Seams

Thanks to our sponsors!

Site Strategics https://edgeofthewebradio.com/site

Inlinks https://edgeofthewebradio.com/inlinks

Resources:

• Google Ads has new surcharges in certain regions
• Major glitch in Google Ads exposes competitor data
• Google says- Robots.txt can't block unauthorized access

• Reddit CEO to Microsoft and AI search engines: Pay for our content
• Is Perplexity AI’s Revenue Share Plan Fair? via @sejournal, @martinibuster
• OpenAI has a watermarking tech to detect text written by ChatGPT with 99.9% reliability, but the project launch has been mired in internal debates (Wall Street Journal)
• AI Real Time Speech Translation
• Google Local Service Ads Automated Lead Dispute System
• Google To Allow Pubic Hair Grooming Ads In September 2024

• Google Search Ranking Volatility Bursting At The Seams

Follow Us:

Twitter: @ErinSparks

Twitter: @MordyOberstein

Twitter: @TheMann00

Twitter: @EDGEWebRadio

#StandwithUkraine edgeofthewebradio.com/ukraine

Patrick Hathaway is the Co-Founder of the revolutionary website crawler Sietbulb. The two-time winner of the best search software tool, Sitebulb makes technical SEO audits effortless and affordable. On August 5th, Sitebulb released a comprehensive JavaScript SEO report and we dive straight in to discuss everything covered. Discover what JavaScript SEO is and what it means to the modern website as Patrick shares key findings and hurdles discussed in the report, providing insights into optimizing JavaScript for SEO. We cover common issues websites face with indexing and rendering, revealing what the data shows about these challenges. Finally, we analyze the future of JavaScript SEO and how it will evolve the face of the web in the coming years. Join us as we fully break down the Sitebulb report and learn what JavaScript SEO means to the industry moving forward on this episode of EDGE of the Web!

Key Segments:

[00:03:39] Introducing Patrick Hathaway

[00:04:38] Patrick’s History in SEO

[00:11:49] JavaScript Expanding Content Delivery

[00:16:26] Sitebulb’s 2024 JavaScript SEO Report

[00:29:54] EDGE of the Web Title Sponsor: Site Strategics

[00:31:05] Trouble Optimizing with JavaScript

[00:45:42] Insights From Sitebulb’s Data

[00:49:12] EDGE of The Web Sponsor: Wix

[00:51:34] User Patterns Revealed in Patricks Report

[01:02:54] The Evolving Landscape of JavaScript SEO

[01:07:24] Final Advice for Digital Marketers Adapting to JavaScript SEO

This week’s guest is Maeva Cifuentes, founder of the Barcelona-based agency, Flying Cat. Maeva’s expertise also goes beyond the agency, working as an SEO marketing strategist for many major brands. With a strong multilingual background, Maeva specializes in marketing at a multi-language level, and she will help you decide if taking a multilingual approach to marketing and optimization is right for your business. Finally, get a first-hand look into the secrets of AI-powered marketing as we dissect Maeva’s report that reveals how Flying Cat clients are using AI to benefit their business processes. Discover marketing beyond linguistic restraint today and understand how AI is being used by top companies at an international level on this episode of EDGE of the WEB!

Key Segments:

[00:03:07] Introducing Maeva Cifuentes

[00:07:55] Marketing At A Multi-Language Level

[00:11:59] Should Organizations Take a Multilingual Approach Even If They Are Not International?

[00:13:44] EDGE of the Web Title Sponsor: Site Strategics

[00:14:53] Is AI a Viable Tool For Converting Content To Multilingual?

[00:22:55] EDGE of The Web Sponsor: Wix

[00:24:06] How Content Teams Use AI

Join us for episode 700 of EDGE of the Web! We’re grateful for each and every listener who keeps us motivated to push out new content each and every week, so raise a glass as episode 700 gets underway!

Reddit has limited all but one search engine from accessing its content. Surprise, surprise… It's Google. This move is sparked by an ongoing trend of publishers and websites aiming to protect their data from AI training models, although Google is an exception, likely due to their recent $60 million deal.

Cookie abolishment put on hold! That’s right, Google is switching up once again. Recent Google plans show they have gone back on their word and will keep cookies on Chrome; instead, they will incorporate updated user preference management.

What the heck is a GEO? Well, it may be your future. Speculation suggests that Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) may be the title of the future for SEOs as the digital landscape shifts from search to AI optimization.

This week, we cover major industry news and find out how truly intelligent AI Overviews really are, so tune in and enjoy episode 700 of the EDGE!

News from the EDGE:

[00:06:40] Reddit is limiting all search engines except one: wonder which one…

[00:11:03] So are we getting rid of cookies, or not?!

[00:16:05] EDGE of the Web Title Sponsor: Site Strategics

[00:18:02] Are SEOs going to throw away their business cards to become GEOs?

Captain Obvious:

[00:27:52] Nike Ad Campaign

AI Blitz:

[00:33:40] OpenAI starts testing the SearchGPT prototype, here’s what it looks like

AI Tools:

[00:38:18] Storyblocker - Visualized storyboard with real-time 3D and AI

[00:38:45] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: Inlinks

Barry Blast from Search Engine Roundtable:

[00:39:54] Report: How Often Google Mixes Ads Into Organic Search Results

[00:40:02] Ongoing Google Search Ranking Volatility For 2 Weeks

[00:42:03] Google: Core Update Isn't Extremely Far Away As Publishers Grow Concerned

Coming back for his second segment of this interview series is Marketing Lead and Demand Generation Manager at iPullRank, Garrett Sussman. We explore the psychology behind consumer intent and assess how SEOs can implement a content strategy that addresses the various cognitive biases. Learn why the strength of a brand will contribute to user bias across the SERP and how even Google shows bias in brands. Communication is king in marketing, learn how to best connect to your audience past a wall of bias this week on the EDGE of the Web!

Key Segments:

[00:03:53] Reintroducing Garrett Sussman

[00:04:57] What are AI Overviews on the SERP?

[00:07:37] Understanding Consumer Intent

[00:11:01] Garrett’s Cognitive Bias Concepts

[00:13:11] EDGE of the Web Title Sponsor: Site Strategics

[00:23:25] Serving Consumer Bias

[00:27:00] EDGE of The Web Sponsor: Wix

[00:32:24] Can You See Bias Through Analytics?

[00:39:31] Final Thought From Garrett

Welcome back to another episode of news from the EDGE! Erin is out traveling the world, so Mordy and Jacob guide the ship this week!

Google AI Overviews take a big hit! Reports show that Overviews have taken a downward spiral in result frequency, as the AI feature now only shows up in 7% of all queries. Noticeable drops come from education, entertainment, and e-commerce queries, while Reddit and Quora citing rates near zero.

Google confirms there is no way to prevent specific content from appearing in your Discover feed, unlike Google News. A critique of this limitation by Lily Ray finds Google Search Liaison intrigued, stating that they see value and will ‘pass it on’.

Last up, Amazon has released their AI shopping assistant, Rufus, to the public. Rufus is intended to create a personally tailored e-commerce shopping experience for each and every customer, pushing Amazon further along in the AI race.

Be sure to tune in to this episode for all the latest SEO awesomeness and we will see you next week for the big 700!

News from the EDGE:

[00:01:55] Google AI Overviews only show for 7% of queries, a new low

[00:05:24] Google Says There’s No Way To Block Content From Discover Feed

[00:08:31] EDGE of the Web Title Sponsor: Site Strategics

Captain Obvious:

[00:10:30] Podcasting ain’t easy!

AI Blitz:

[00:13:23] Amazon’s AI shopping assistant Rufus is live for all U.S. customers

[00:17:16] OpenAI is ‘going to build a search product’

[00:19:02] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: Inlinks

Barry Blast from Search Engine Roundtable:

[00:20:02] Google To Host More Creator Meetings

[00:21:04] Report: Google AI Overviews Barely Showing Reddit Or Quora Citations Anymore

[00:21:36] Google: Core Update Expected In The Coming Weeks

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 AI Overviews only show for 7% of queries, a new low

• Google Says There’s No Way To Block Content From Discover Feed

• Amazon’s AI shopping assistant Rufus is live for all U.S. customers

• OpenAI is ‘going to build a search product’

• Google To Host More Creator Meetings

• Report: Google AI Overviews Barely Showing Reddit Or Quora Citations Anymore

• Google: Core Update Expected In The Coming Weeks

#StandwithUkraine edgeofthewebradio.com/ukraine