Baidu has quietly added a new section to its webmaster tools: AI Traffic Analysis. Chinese webmasters began spotting the menu item around September 15, and Baidu confirmed it in an official notice on September 16. There is one catch. The data isn’t live yet. Baidu says the feature is rolling out in phases and the…
Publishers that want to target international audiences often struggle with the right approach. Expanding your audience beyond your own country’s borders is challenging for a whole raft of reasons, and search is one of them. I’ve consulted on dozens of international SEO projects for publishers. Most publishers have a preference for a specific approach, which…
New research published in August confirms that Google’s AI Search reduces clicks to publisher websites and presents a user experience that is so bad it makes them seek out alternative search engines like Duck, Duck, Go, Bing, and Yahoo. The findings directly contradict Google’s assertions that people love AI search and that it is sending…
The “site:” search operator in Google/Bing has been the mainstay of SEOs wanting to check if a page is in a search index if they didn’t have access to Google Search Console or similar. So simple, so effective. Likewise, if you wanted to check to see if page content is indexed (or duplicated in the…
Organic traffic is declining, but conversions are proving more resilient. In Search Engine Journal’s survey of search professionals, 39% saw traffic decline or remain flat while leads and conversions held or improved. Only 15% lost both traffic and conversions. That split changes how marketers should evaluate search. Traffic still measures reach, but it no longer…
Google, Cloudflare, and Microsoft are testing ways to compensate websites for AI access to or use of their content. Each company has its own set of rules about what triggers payment, who defines that unit, what control content owners have over terms, and what information comes back. Those differences decide what a site owner can…
Google is paying some publishers when their content helps generate its AI answers. Barry Schwartz covered it at Search Engine Roundtable on September 14, following Digiday’s report that morning. Google confirmed the program to Digiday. It’s called the AI contribution pilot. Publishers who accept the terms get an earnings figure in Search Console each month.…
The latest social media ban for kids? All 27 countries in the European Union. Announced Thursday after plans revealed in July, the proposed EU KIDS Act will “enhance the online safety of children,” banning kids in the EU under 15 from setting up their own accounts on social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat.…
Google published a brand new guide that explains how to add a Search Profile badge to websites in order to help audiences find the Search Profile. The Google Search profile badges themselves are a symptom of and a reaction to the decline in search traffic due to Google’s AI Search. What Would Be Better What…
Brand protection in search and AI means finding where a personal brand, company, or product is represented incorrectly, confused with something else, impersonated, abused, misused, or used to intercept branded traffic. The goal is to correct what you can, report genuine abuse, and make accurate information and official channels easier to verify. It overlaps with…