Mackerel Media’s Search and Digital Marketing Roundup – October 2025
October has been a busy month in search, with new announcements from Google, Microsoft and OpenAI influencing how users are discovering and interacting with information online. Let’s take a closer look at the latest SEO news stories from October and what it means for brands and advertisers.
Google is planning on expanding ads within its AI Overviews to more English-speaking markets outside of the US. This latest development means that advertisers can now reach and target users within generative-AI searches, rather than relying on traditional ad placement. This update means that many advertisers will need to start to optimise their content for more natural, conversational searches, rather than conventional keyword bidding. This integration of ads within AI generated search results means a new opportunity for brands to drive engagement earlier on the users search journey.
Google Unites Chaotic Search Queries
On the reporting front, Google has announced Query Groups for Google Search Console. This new feature groups similar search queries together, showing click volume and whether the related searches are trending up or down. This update offers clearer insights on which search terms and overall topics that users are using to discover your website, rather than searching through a wide range of similar query variations. Google plans to roll this out gradually, starting with websites with a large volume of queries.
One Post to Rule Them All
Google now lets users publish a single post across multiple Google Business Profile listings at once. Rather than updating each location manually, you can now create a post for one profile and you’ll be given an option to copy the update to other profiles you manage. This update is a major time-saver for businesses with multiple locations and business profiles, helping them to more effectively update content across all listings.
Microsoft has launched a new Bing Places for Business platform, making it easier for businesses to create and manage their listings across Bing Search and Bing Maps. Their updated platform includes a simplified import process from Google Business Profile, new bulk editing tools and a recommendation tool which suggests high-impact updates like adding photos, updated social links, recommended business categories and transaction focused links such as booking and reservation options. This new update will help many organisations with their local SEO efforts, ensuring that their businesses remain visible across local search results and Copilot generative-AI results.
Shopping AND Chatting
OpenAI has teamed up with PayPal, so that soon users will be able to pay for purchases directly within ChatGPT. Beginning in 2026, PayPal plans on integrating into ChatGPT’s instant checkout feature, so that purchases can be made within the chat experience. With over 434 million users, PayPal’s integration will make AI chat based shopping faster and much more accessible to millions of users worldwide.
Google’s AI: Powered by YouTube
Finally, a recent study shows that YouTube is the most cited video source in AI search results, appearing over 200 times more often than any other platform. According to data from BrightEdge, YouTube accounts for nearly 30% of all citations within Google’s AI Overviews, far surpassing competitors such as Vimeo and TikTok, who receive less than 1% of citations. This finding highlights YouTube’s dominance in AI search and reinforces the growing importance of video visibility for brands to maintain a presence and relevance in generative-AI search.
Mackerel Media’s Search and Digital Marketing Roundup – September 2025
September saw a number of changes across search, ads and social platforms, including some important updates to site impression performance and changes to TikTok ads and the future of ChatGPT shopping. Here’s our breakdown of the latest news and updates to be aware of.
Google Pulls the Plug on Deep Diving
One of the most important updates from September is that Google has removed support for the ‘&num=100′ parameter from search result requests, which has changed how impressions are reported for pages ranking deeper in search results (pages 3+ and beyond). This update does not affect rankings or clicks, but it does alter how impression data is logged across reporting tools such as Google Search Console.
Previously, by appending &num=100 to a search query, Google returned the top 100 results on a single page. SEO reporting tools relied on this parameter to scan full search results in one request – meaning they were able to pull all 100 positions for a query on one page. This led to impressions in Google Search Console being attributed to queries in positions 49, 88, 90, 65 etc. when in fact they were generating low impression levels, often with little or no genuine user activity. Now Google enforces the default 10 results per page, which means reporting tools must crawl multiple pages to replicate earlier results. As a result, inflated impression counts generated by bots and scrapers have been removed, leading to lower reported impressions. On the plus side, average search position reporting hasy improved since they now reflect genuine user interactions rather than bot behaviour.
Google Takes Out the Trash
Also this month, Google’s August 2025 spam update has finished its rollout. This update initially began on the 26th of August and finished on the 21st of September. Google did not announce anything unique about this recent update, and is being classed as a general Spam update aimed at preventing the ranking of low quality content which holds no user value. Whilst Spam updates should not dramatically impact the ranking of most sites, if you feel that your website has seen a decline in search traffic, Mackerel Media can assist with reviewing your performance and outlining the next steps. Please contact us if you have any questions.
Google Ads have expanded reporting for Performance Max campaigns, making it easier to measure campaign and creative performance across different platforms. Google has added a new “Network (with search partners)” view which allows users to track campaigns on YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail and Maps. Reports can now also be segmented by user device, time and conversion type, making it easier to measure overall campaign performance. This update means that users can now more effectively manage budget allocation, content and creative planning and identify new opportunities for increasing conversions.
Pinterest is currently testing a new ad format called ‘Top of Search’, designed to place ads within the top 10 search results on Pinterest and in related pins. Pinterest data shows that 45% of clicks occur within the first 10 results, so these new ads will target users as soon as they start searching for products. Pinterest also reports that Top of Search ads deliver a 29% higher average CTR and are 32% more likely to draw new customers to brands. A recent study revealed that 36% of consumers start their searches on Pinterest instead of Google, this new ad format presents a strong opportunity for brands to highlight their products to a growing audience.
TikTok Wants to be Your Travel Agent
TikTok has launched Travel Ads, a new ad format which targets travelers during their initial discovery and booking stages. Powered by Smart+, ads use AI and catalog integrations to automatically generate personalised creative, helping to reduce the need for manual user setup. TikTok has reported that 66% of users use the app for travel inspiration, and that users are 2.6 times more likely to book after searching. With the growing popularity of TikTok and more people using the platform when planning upcoming holidays, Travel Ads will make it easier for brands to capture high intent audiences and increase booking conversions.
From Chat to Cha-Ching!
OpenAI is debuting a new feature called Instant Checkout within ChatGPT, which allows users to buy products directly within chat, integrating naturally into their conversation. When a user asks about anything product related, ChatGPT will provide product suggestions. If ‘Instant Checkout’ is available for these products, a user can simply press ‘Buy’, confirm their details, and complete the purchase without leaving the conversation.
OpenAI has stated that products will only be shown based on their relevance, rather than paid placement, and that whilst it is free for products to be discovered, a transaction fee will be applied on each sale. Currently this feature is only being introduced in the U.S, with plans to expand in the near future. OpenAI has partnered with Etsy and Shopify, meaning that any merchants on these platforms will soon be able to offer Instant Checkout functionality.
Mackerel Media’s Search and Digital Marketing Roundup – August 2025
As August comes to a close and Summer starts to wind down, now’s the perfect time to review the latest updates which are shaping the search and digital marketing space. This month’s roundup includes recent updates from Google, Meta, Amazon and Bing, and what they mean for the upcoming months ahead.
Google Ads Levels Up
Google Ads have expanded their Performance Max campaigns to include account-level reporting across all channels. This update means that advertisers can now see how Search, Shopping, YouTube and other ad placements perform across Google’s network in one view, rather than checking each individual campaign. With account-level reporting, you can compare campaign performance and identify which channels are performing well and which need optimisation.
A leaked internal document from Google has detailed that text and shopping ads will be introduced into their AI Mode. Instead of ads only being shown for a specific search query, the placement of ads in AI mode will be based around the wider context of a user’s conversation. So far, ad formats eligible for AI Mode include text and shopping ads. This is a departure from the traditional keyword targeting, and advertisers should ensure that their targeted terms, creative and ad copy can fit naturally into a conversation.
Relax Robots, Your Content is Safe!
Google’s Gary Illyes has recently clarified that AI-generated content will not automatically be penalised in search results. Instead, Google is focused on the overall quality, relevance and usefulness of the content regardless if it is human or AI-generated (which also includes AI-generated images). Google has said that all content must follow their helpful content guidelines, and that low quality or automated AI content which adds little value will still hurt your rankings. Whilst many companies are turning to AI for automation, it’s important that all content is reviewed, edited for clarity and is helpful to a user, whilst still maintaining the voice and tone of the brand.
Meta has upgraded their professional dashboard on Facebook to offer more detailed insights into campaign performance and monetisation.You can now get access to data on reach, engagement, audience trends and earnings potential, making it easier to track and monitor campaign performance all in one place.
LinkedIn: Turning Colleagues into Influencers
LinkedIn has expanded their Thought Leader Ads to include event-related posts. This means that companies can promote content and upcoming events from individual profiles rather than brand pages. Promoting through trusted voices has been shown to increase higher engagement rates compared to advertising through branded accounts alone, whilst also strengthening credibility, especially for any B2B marketing and events.
Amazon has resumed running Shopping ads on Google across all international domains (excluding the US), one month after pulling out. This move means that one the world’s largest online retailers is now back into direct competition with other advertisers on Google shopping ads. Amazon’s large product catalog and bidding budget means there will now be even greater competition for smaller retailers to compete and remain visible, and that advertisers will need to optimise their bidding strategy so that they don’t get overshadowed by Amazon.
Bing Webmaster Tools have doubled their performance data retention period, from 12 months to 24 months, along with new filters by country and device. This longer data window makes it easier to track year over year trends, measure seasonal performance and monitor organic performance over a longer time period. This is especially useful for businesses with seasonal spikes, such as ecommerce, travel or event related services.
Fewer Hashtags, More Laughs!
TikTok is now reducing the number of hashtags per post to five. TikTok are hoping that this will remove clutter and spam whilst improving the relevance of each post. This change coincides with other platforms reducing the dependence on hashtags, and instead relying more on engagement signals. Creators and advertisers must now be more strategic with their hashtag selection, focusing on hashtag relevance rather than more general hashtag popularity and volume.
Mackerel Media’s Search and Digital Round-Up – July 2025
There have been some big changes in search this month as Google rolled out its July Core Update. Google described this as a regular update, focusing on page quality and ensuring that the most relevant pages are shown to users on search results. Whilst it is still early days, Core Updates can often lead to broad ranking changes across all types of content. Mackerel Media are on hand to assist our clients in reviewing their current site ranking performance, and ensure that content aligns with Google’s quality standards. Please contact us if you have any queries or concerns about your search performance.
AI Who? Google Is Still Thriving
Whilst many on LinkedIn and other business platforms are claiming that AI is killing Google Search, Google’s latest revenue report tells a very different story. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, reported a 12% year on year increase in search revenue, reaching a record-breaking $54.19 billion in Q2 2025. These figures reveal that users still depend heavily on Google, rather than using the latest AI platforms for seeking information. For now, Google’s performance shows it’s far more resilient to the rise of AI and maintaining its position at the forefront of search than many skeptics believed.
On the AI front, Google launched a new AI-powered ‘Try On’ feature. This allows users to upload full body photos and virtually try on clothes across Search, Google Shopping and even product results on Google Images. For online retailers, this new feature should help increase purchasing confidence and conversions and reduce the amount of store returns. Currently this feature is being rolled out in the US with other countries to follow, and is accessible via the Google app on both Android and iOS.
Cloudflare: No Bots Allowed!
Cloudflare has announced that they are now blocking all AI crawlers for new websites by default. As part of its Content Independence Day initiative launched on July 1st 2025, Cloudflare is aiming to give website owners greater control over how their content is used in AI training. This recent update includes verification requirements for crawlers, one-click crawler blocking and even a ‘pay per crawl’ programme on new setups, which charges AI bots per request. For website owners, this update means that your website can be protected from being used and duplicated by AI, helping to preserve your original content.
OpenAI has also revealed that they plan on taking a commission on product sales directly through ChatGPT. This monetisation strategy means that ChatGPT doesn’t have to rely on paid ads as its revenue source. Users can discover and purchase products directly from ChatGPT, reducing the need for users to visit external websites to buy. As AI continues to grow, brands should start considering whether they want to use ChatGPT as a viable ecommerce sales channel.
YouTube’s Keeping It Real
YouTube has emphasised this month that they will only monetise videos that use original content and real human voices. Whilst this isn’t a new policy, YouTube is making clear that any videos that use any AI generated voices or generated images and videos will not be eligible for monetisation. Creators who are using AI must now ensure their content is original, else they could risk losing access to the YouTube Partner Program.
Instagram Content Gets Famous on Google
Over at Instagram, content from businesses and creator accounts are now going to be indexed in Google Search. This means that Instagram reels, bios, posts and carousels will now appear in search results, applying to posts as far back as 2020. This means that brands must ensure that their posts are optimised with meaningful captions to capture related search terms, and that their profile and older posts are reviewed and updated to ensure they match their current website branding.
Mackerel Media’s Search and Digital Marketing Roundup – June 2025
There have been several important search and digital marketing updates this June, including changes to Google Search and Google Ads, video updates in AI overviews and new advertising features within WhatsApp. Here’s a closer look at how these changes are affecting the digital space.
Google Gets A Spring Clean
Google has announced that it will soon be dropping support for seven structured data types, including book actions, course information, job-related estimated salaries, learning videos and special announcements. Google is hoping this change will simplify search results and reduce the amount of visual distractions that typically appear within rich results.
While these changes won’t affect rankings, the removal of rich results for these types could impact organic visibility and click-through rates for affected websites. Google notes that this move is to prioritise more essential structured data, and so it would be worthwhile to review your existing structured data and ensure that important elements are included (such as website schema, organisation schema, review schema, FAQ schema, breadcrumb schema, product schema) to ensure your website continues to show enhanced search results.
Offerwall: Watch, Click, and Win!
On the ad front, this month Google launched Offerwall, a new ad content tool that rewards users for engaging with specific ads such as filling in a form, completing a task or watching a video to proceed. This type of ad format gives users in-app rewards when they complete specific actions, with the aim of helping publishers monetise their audience more effectively through direct ad engagement. Unlike traditional display ads, Offerwall allows users to choose how they can unlock content. As a result, impressions are likely to be more deliberate and drive higher interactions and conversions.
From Queries to Quick Clips
Both Google and Bing have added short-form videos into their AI-generated overviews. Google’s AI Overviews and Bing’s Copilot search will start incorporating short videos from YouTube and TikTok, with the goal of providing users with more engaging content. This update shows the importance that video has on both brand marketing and visibility in AI search results, and how short form videos can help improve user engagement alongside traditional on-page content.
YouTube has reported that Shorts now receive over 200 billion daily views. The update was shared by CEO Neal Mohan, who also revealed that over one billion hours of YouTube content are viewed on television screens daily and that TV screens are the primary viewing method for more than half of the top 100 YouTube channels, showing the impact of television compared to mobile-first video marketing. With short-form video continuing to dominate user engagement, it’s important that brands ensure that Shorts are part of their video marketing strategy.
WhatsApp’s Marketing Makeover
WhatsApp has released new discovery tools to their Updates tab, which is used by over 1.5 billion people daily. These new features include promoted channels for users to discover branded content; paid channel subscriptions which allows creators to monetise content; and status ads which appear between updates in WhatsApp’s status section, similar to Instagram stories. These latest updates show that WhatsApp is growing from a messaging tool to a platform that brands and advertisers can engage with users on, and how WhatsApp marketing could be a valuable option for future advertising campaigns.
Mackerel Media’s Search and Digital Marketing Roundup – May 2025
May has been a busy month for search and digital marketing developments, especially with the rise of AI-overviews and the use of AI in performance marketing and Google ads. Let’s take a look at some of the top SEO stories from the past month.
AI-mazing Growth…
According to a recent study by Semrush, AI overviews now appear in 13.14% of Google search queries, doubling since January 2025. Over 88.1% of AI summaries appear for informational queries, and only a small share of keywords which trigger an AI overview are commercial, transactional or navigational queries. The industries that have seen the greatest increase in AI summaries being used are Science, Health, People & Society and Law & Government, mainly as these are industries which users are looking for informational content about. Real Estate and Shopping are the least affected by AI overviews, since these are areas which users have a more commercial and transactional search intent.
…But Sinking Search Clicks
Related to the Semrush study, a recent BrightEdge study revealed that Google’s AI Overviews have led to a 30% decline in click-through rates over the past year. Even though there has been a reported 49% increase in search impressions, AI generated summaries provide users with a more effective way of getting the answers that they need, which is in turn reducing the amount of clicks to traditional search results.
Whilst both the above findings primarily impact informational websites, such as articles, review sites and buying guides, the findings do highlight the importance of optimising your website for AI search. Ensuring that your content is correctly structured, relevant to user queries and that the content is authoritative will help your website be cited and remain visible as AI search continues to develop.
Google Gets Device-Specific
On the ad front, Google has introduced new device targeting for Performance Max campaigns. This means that advertisers can optimise their ad spend across different devices such as computers, phones, tablets and TVs. This is especially useful as it gives advertisers greater control over their ad placement. It also means that content can be tailored to specific audience groups based on user behaviour and engagement preferences, which will help improve campaign performance and overall return on investment.
Google has launched a new “What’s Happening” feature for Google Business Profiles. This feature allows local businesses to highlight real-time updates, such as upcoming events, new menus and offerings and seasonal promotions. Regularly adding these updates will also help signal to Google that your business is active and responsive, which can help influence search rankings.
Pin-terest-ing Developments
Pinterest has been rising up the ranks as the go-to search platform, especially amongst younger users and women. According to Adobe, 39% of consumers use Pinterest as a search engine, with 36% of users starting there instead of Google. The report reveals that users are drawn to its visual, personalised results. 61% of users say Pinterest’s search feels more tailored than Google’s. 80% of businesses who use the platform say that it outperforms Facebook, Instagram and Google Search in clicks and shares. This study shows just how important Pinterest is to brands, and the growing opportunity to reach audiences in a more visually orientated way.
