SERP Alert ⚡️

#1 Newsletter for the latest SERP feature changes by @brodieseo powered by @serplens • Subscribe:

[SERP Alert ⚡️ @SERPalerts]

Heads-up: Google seems to be struggling to show favicons for a large number of sites right now.

This happens from time to time and isn't necessarily an issue with your own site, but it could be worthwhile to replace it with a new favicon (based on the specs) if it seems outdated.

Or just leave it and wait for them to resolve it. Up to you.

[SERP Alert ⚡️ @SERPalerts]

Spotted in the wild! Google's test that was announced via @GinnyMarvin is now showing as live for some users.

@SachuPatel53124 was the first one to discover this, with two examples showing the "strong match". I was also able to replicate it for a "strongest match" variation.

📖 More details on this experiment: https://t.co/KBXXPdvz2y

📧 To keep updated on SERP changes, subscribe to my monthly newsletter: https://t.co/xFXEBdszs8

🔎If you're a macOS user (sign up to the waitlist for Windows/Linux), you can also use @serplens for your SEO: https://t.co/QmDSUvDoPR

[SERP Alert ⚡️ @SERPalerts]

ChatGPT is testing out a new ad display within its results, showing a descriptive heading that appears directly above the ad.

This is something that Google's AI Mode has had in its search results for some time now.

📖 More details on this experiment: https://t.co/KBXXPdv1d0

📧 To keep updated on SERP changes, subscribe to my monthly newsletter: https://t.co/xFXEBds1CA

🔎You can analyse your live ChatGPT results in @serplens (now on MacOS): https://t.co/QmDSUvCR0j

[Brodie Clark @brodieseo]

The future of Ecommerce AI SEO is in product feeds. This is the article to read to stay ahead of the trend.

I spent many hours learning about and testing in Microsoft's Merchant Center so you don’t have to.

There’s a case study in here that has some eye-opening results for free product listings on Bing.

Within the article, I compare and contrast Google to Bing’s Merchant Center, showing steps for accessing key reports, importing your feeds, relevant free listing surfaces, and more.

Including some details on the introduction of product feeds in ChatGPT, with it being highly likely that they will eventually rely solely on their own product feed integration for free listings.

Read here: https://t.co/k61H9j2llX

[SERP Alert ⚡️ @SERPalerts]

Google seems to be ranking store page URLs in search results quite prominently at the moment. For instance, the query "nike(dot)com" has the store page ranking as the top standard organic result (below the organic branded sitelink result)

[SERP Alert ⚡️ @SERPalerts]

Search Console really pushing the rollout of platform properties with this notification!

[SERP Alert ⚡️ @SERPalerts]

Google is now testing out AI-generated descriptions for product ads on mobile.

Once the products have loaded, there is a 'generating insights with AI' notice that appears below the product ads that transforms into a description, making the ad unit more prominent and engaging.

📖 More details on this experiment: https://t.co/iIfqdi3UNv

📧 To keep updated on SERP changes, subscribe to my monthly newsletter: https://t.co/CyLde59l8t

🔎If you're a macOS user (sign up to the waitlist for Windows/Linux), you can also use @serplens for your SEO: https://t.co/QmDSUvDoPR

[SERP Alert ⚡️ @SERPalerts]

Tough decision... do I prefer ads from response A or B 🤔

[SERP Alert ⚡️ @SERPalerts]

Mettez-vous à l'abri, les aperçus générés par l'IA arrivent

[SERP Alert ⚡️ @SERPalerts]

Looks like Google Merchant Center is really pushing this new 'Ask Advisor' chat integration within the dashboard.

Several prominent changes are now showing for some clients:

1. An AI summary for insights
2. A search box with suggested queries
3. A section for previous chats

[SERP Alert ⚡️ @SERPalerts]

Small update to the star ratings for product feed ads - now showing with a grey star rather than the yellow

[SERP Alert ⚡️ @SERPalerts]

New in ChatGPT: This is the first time I've seen a product-based ad within ChatGPT results!

This follows OpenAI giving the ability for stores to set up product feeds within the Ads Manager.

The formatting for feed-related ads appears slightly different to normals ads (in terms of the title/brand name sequence), with the primary difference being the star rating that is included.

I can even confirm that this ad has been generated through a feed-based method for Best Buy when looking at the URL parameters for the page, which include &utm_medium=feed

Interesting to see ChatGPT testing more ad formats in the wild!

[SERP Alert ⚡️ @SERPalerts]

Google is now testing out placing the AI Mode button within the search bar, appearing only after the user tries to refine their search.

The AI Mode button has been showing on the Google homepage by default, with this being the first time it has been integrated into the primary search bar on desktop.

📖 More details and examples on this test: https://t.co/iIfqdi3UNv

📧 To keep updated on SERP changes, subscribe to my monthly newsletter: https://t.co/CyLde59l8t

🔎If you're a macOS user (sign up to the waitlist for Windows/Linux), you can also use @serplens for your SEO: https://t.co/QmDSUvDoPR

[SERP Alert ⚡️ @SERPalerts]

ChatGPT seems to be experimenting with how it's linking out to sources from its output.

The same goes for the organic shopping experience, which now has a new display and product panel that appears after clicking.

Based on my testing, it is super buggy right now. Unclear exactly what they're going for here...

[SERP Alert ⚡️ @SERPalerts]

Whoa, ChatGPT is now showing multiple ads at the bottom of its output for the first time!

This is the first time I've seen ChatGPT showing more than one ad unit within its results, with the example I've seen showing two ads.

There have been a lot of changes lately with their ad formats, so you can expect to see standard ads (like pictured) being grouped with product feed ads.

Also worth noting that I'm also seeing multiple levels for query-fanout again in @serplens, where I've been seeing only a single fanout query (if any) for a while now.

📖 More details and examples on this test as I discover them: https://t.co/iIfqdi3UNv

📧 To keep updated on SERP changes, subscribe to my monthly newsletter: https://t.co/CyLde59l8t

🔎If you're a macOS user (sign up to the waitlist for Windows/Linux), you can also use @serplens for your SEO: https://t.co/QmDSUvDoPR

[SERP Alert ⚡️ @SERPalerts]

Seeing this happening again today - isn't having as big of an impact on tools as I would have expected

[SERP Alert ⚡️ @SERPalerts]

There is something bizarre happening with URLs in search results right now - both ads and organic listings.

Normally, an organic listing would show as the naked URL, sometimes with auto-tagging parameters. They're now showing at times (all of them) as google(dot)com/goto?=url parameters.

This is for every site, and is the URL that appears in search results, which then does a 302 (see @serplens screenshot) to the destination URL.

Even @ahrefs is picking it up in their tracking, with the amount of queries that it shows ramping up considerably in recent days.

I had written about a somewhat related situation recently as a potential explanation for why impressions were inflated in GSC: https://t.co/sJ1KK7YH5f - is this also a related issue that is having the opposite effect?

Is this Google again trying to make scraping of their search results difficult for LLMs to then repurpose within their own results?

[SERP Alert ⚡️ @SERPalerts]

RIP using the "site" search operator to see whether images from a page are indexed.

Now filled with ads for competing products. Do ads really need to be shown here by Google?

Was previously the most useful, and effectively the only way to be sure your images are being indexed.

[SERP Alert ⚡️ @SERPalerts]

Ads in Google's AI Mode: Out of all ad formats that are currently active, this is the most prominent by far.

It features 2 non-rich inline shopping ads, with the favicon, site name, shipping details, then sale pricing in green.

There are 4 other types: https://t.co/g8GoKkYSAf

[SERP Alert ⚡️ @SERPalerts]

Google is now testing out an Ask Anything box for AI Mode attached to the outside of the popular products grid on mobile.

Google has tested this same feature in the past but attached within the grid itself. This is the first time Google has tested this search box as attached to the outside of a free listings grid.

📖 More details and examples on this test: https://t.co/iIfqdi3UNv

📧 To keep updated on SERP changes, subscribe to my monthly newsletter: https://t.co/CyLde59l8t

🔎If you're a macOS user (sign up to the waitlist for Windows/Linux), you can also use @serplens for your SEO: https://t.co/QmDSUvDoPR

[SERP Alert ⚡️ @SERPalerts]

Google appears to be experimenting more with rich cards for related content within AI Mode.

Examples I've seen so far include an "expert buying guide" section and also a "product documentation" carousel for related content.

@SachuPatel53124 also recently shared an example of a rich carousel for "clinical guides".

📖 More details and examples on this test: https://t.co/iIfqdi3UNv

📧 To keep updated on SERP changes, subscribe to my monthly newsletter: https://t.co/CyLde59l8t

🔎If you're a macOS user (sign up to the waitlist for Windows/Linux), you can also use @serplens for your SEO: https://t.co/QmDSUvDoPR