Google’s Ads Chief Details UCP Expansion, New AI Mode Ads
Google’s VP of Ads & Commerce published her annual letter previewing agentic commerce updates, AI Mode ad expansion, and creator-brand matching tools for 2026.
About
Matt G. Southern, Senior News Writer, has been with Search Engine Journal since 2013. With a bachelor’s degree in communications, Matt specializes in gathering details, checking facts, and making complex subjects easy to understand. In addition to writing articles, Matt oversees strategy development for SEJ’s news department.
Articles
Hidden HTTP Page Can Cause Site Name Problems In Google
Google’s John Mueller explains how a leftover HTTP homepage invisible to Chrome users can cause site-name and favicon problems in search results.
From Article to Short-Form Video That Holds Attention
Effective article-to-video workflows prioritize what to cut, what to keep, and how to structure 150 words that actually hold attention.
Google Can Now Monitor Search For Your Government IDs
Google’s Results about you tool now monitors Search results for government-issued IDs like passports, driver’s licenses, and Social Security numbers.
Bing Webmaster Tools Adds AI Citation Performance Data
Bing Webmaster Tools now shows publishers how often their content is cited in Copilot and AI-generated answers, with page-level data and grounding queries.
OpenAI Begins Testing Ads In ChatGPT For Free And Go Users
OpenAI is testing ads in ChatGPT for free and Go tiers in the U.S. Ads appear below responses, labeled as sponsored. Paid tiers remain ad-free.
Google Revises Discover Guidelines Alongside Core Update
Google updated its “Get on Discover” docs, adding page experience guidance and naming clickbait and sensationalism, alongside the February Discover update.
Discover Core Update, AI Mode Ads & Crawl Policy – SEO Pulse
This week’s SEO Pulse covers ranking volatility inside Discover, expanding AI ad inventory, and growing scrutiny of bot-facing content practices.
Google Releases Core Update Targeting Discover Feed
Google has started a Discover core update. The rollout may take up to two weeks, with expansion to more countries and languages later.
Google Search Hits $63B, Details AI Mode Ad Tests
Google is testing ads in AI Mode as Search revenue grew 17% to $63 billion. AI Mode queries run 3x longer than traditional searches.
Google’s Mueller Calls Markdown-For-Bots Idea ‘A Stupid Idea’
Google Search Advocate John Mueller is pushing back on the idea of serving Markdown files to LLM crawlers.
Google’s Crawl Team Filed Bugs Against WordPress Plugins
Google’s crawl team filed a bug against WooCommerce for add-to-cart parameters wasting crawl budget. WooCommerce fixed it. Other plugins haven’t.
Google Updates Googlebot File Size Limit Docs
Google updated its Googlebot documentation to clarify file size limits, separating default limits that apply to all crawlers from Googlebot-specific details.
LinkedIn Shares What Works For AI Search Visibility
LinkedIn tested what drives AI search visibility and shared results. Content structure, expert authorship, and timestamps showed the clearest impact.
AI Recommendations Change With Nearly Every Query: Sparktoro
SparkToro research finds AI tools produce different brand recommendation lists more than 99% of the time when given the same prompt.
SEO Pulse: Google Explores AI Opt-Outs, Gemini 3 Powers AIOs
This week’s SEO Pulse covers potential opt-outs from AI search, deeper AI Overviews integration, and what model tradeoffs mean for content workflows.
Google May Let Sites Opt Out Of AI Search Features
Google says it’s exploring new controls that would let websites opt out of AI search features specifically, as the UK CMA opened a regulatory consultation.
Google AI Overviews Now Powered By Gemini 3
Google is making Gemini 3 the default model for AI Overviews and adding a direct path to ask follow-up questions in AI Mode.
Sam Altman Says OpenAI “Screwed Up” GPT-5.2 Writing Quality
Sam Altman said OpenAI prioritized coding and reasoning in GPT-5.2 and “screwed up” writing quality. He says future GPT-5.x versions will address the gap.
Why Google Gemini Has No Ads Yet: ‘Trust In Your Assistant’
Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis says Google doesn’t have any current plans for ads in Gemini, as OpenAI moves toward ChatGPT advertising.
SEO Pulse: Google’s AI Mode Gets Personal, AI Bots Blocked, Domains Matter in Search
This week’s SEO Pulse breaks down how Gmail-powered AI answers, crawler access decisions, and free subdomains are shaping who gets surfaced in search.
TikTok US Deal Closes After Years Of Regulatory Uncertainty
TikTok’s US spinoff to Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX has closed after a White House official said the US and China finalized the deal.
Google Launches Personal Intelligence In AI Mode
Google’s Personal Intelligence connects Gmail and Google Photos to AI Mode, delivering personalized responses for AI Pro and Ultra subscribers.
56% Of CEOs Report No Revenue Gains From AI: PwC Survey
A survey of 4,000+ CEOs from 95 countries finds 56% haven’t seen revenue or cost benefits from AI.
YouTube CEO Announces AI Creation Tools, In-App Shopping For 2026
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan previews 2026 priorities: AI tools for Shorts creation, text-to-game features, in-app shopping checkout, and image posts in Shorts.
OpenAI Search Crawler Passes 55% Coverage In Hostinger Study
Hostinger analyzed 66.7B bot requests across 5M+ hosted sites and found AI training crawlers are blocked more often, while OpenAI’s search bot expands.
Google’s Mueller: Free Subdomain Hosting Makes SEO Harder
Google’s John Mueller explains why free subdomain hosting services attract spam and make it harder for legitimate sites to gain search visibility.
19 WordPress Alternatives: From Simple Builders To Enterprise CMS
WordPress no longer your default choice? Get a clear breakdown of when Wix, Squarespace, Webflow, Shopify, Ghost, Drupal, and others are the smarter move.
SEO Pulse: UCP Debate, Trends Gets Gemini, Health AIO Concerns
This week’s SEO Pulse highlights the implications of Google handling more of the journey, from discovery to checkout, inside its own ecosystem.
Google Health AI Overviews Cite YouTube More Than Any Hospital Site
A study of 50,807 German health queries finds Google AI Overviews cite YouTube most, as Google pulls some health summaries after a Guardian report.