AI Overviews, Perplexity Daily Digest, Cookies and Bad Ads

DBE Perspective… 💬

Google announced the long-awaited public release of its Search Generative Experience (SGE) last week. Except it’s no longer called SGE but rather AI Overviews (apparently, SGE was its experiment name). The search marketing industry is buzzing about the launch and its potential impact. So, we thought it might be good to add our perspective in the form of an FAQ from Marc Engelman, our VP of SEO & SAIO…

Stay tuned as we conduct our own research into the next phase of Google Search!

• Sites that suffered significantly from the “Helpful Content Update” can recover search traffic losses if they fix things, according to Google’s John Mueller. What specific things to fix is not known, but our advice is to start from your perspective. Would you actually find your content useful? Then, ask someone else or a group of people in your audience. What do they have to say? 

• Tired scanning through all the various search results (Images, Videos, News, etc.) that appear above the Google search text listing? Now you can use the “Web” filter to see those text links (and maybe some text ads). The problem is that it may be hidden in the filter bar so be sure to click “More” to find it. Here’s an example of the All view vs. the Web view (pardon Marc’s home team bias). The wanted result is in green.

• Perplexity is now delivering a daily digest to those interested. Thursday’s digest was on Apple and OpenAI nearing a deal for integrating ChatGPT technology into iPhones. Buried in the third paragraph of Perplexity’s writeup is word that Apple is talking with Google about licensing its Gemini chatbot. It’s nice to see this form of a digest with multiple link citations.

• I wonder how many boring ads we’ve seen in our lifetimes – ads that were so bad that they weren’t worth the mental storage. With the death of the cookie, ads have to be more memorable and relevant than ever. Because even the best targeting goes to waste if the ad stinks worse than a triathlon athlete after the big race. This Emarketer article says to experiment and set the creative bar high!

• Emarketer shares a Hootsuite survey showing that marketers have the greatest confidence that LinkedIn delivers a positive return on investment (70% agreed). Per an Emarketer forecast, LinkedIn U.S. ad revenues are expected to rise by 13.9% this year. LinkedIn has always had strong support from B2B marketers but now it appears B2C marketers are seeing the value, too. Interesting, and not surprising, is confidence in X/Twitter is only at 30%.

Thoughts to Take With You… 💞

You ever get that buzzy feeling – like your brain chugged too many cups of coffee. It feels impossible to sit and get one task done.

I’ve had that feeling lately and these things have helped during the workweek:

1. Acknowledging that I’m jittery (it happens and it’s okay)
2. Then, adapting my workday to fit where I am.
   1. Put the phone out of sight. 
   2. Raise the desk to standing mode and take walking breaks to work off the extra energy.
   3. Deepen the breath and imagine metaphorically “landing” on the ground.

We are conditioned to be busy all the time. If we think we’re not productive, feelings of unaccomplishment and boredom seep in. For me, the jitters arise from the stress of being too busy. It’s a warning sign to slow down.

Yesterday was World Meditation Day, and it’s a reminder to incorporate stillness in our lives. Enjoying food without distractions. Gazing out a window. Focusing on the breath. Stillness helps us reset and crystallize our intentions. It gives us pause to appreciate the path we’re on.

Best Wishes 🙂

Natalie

Jillian Pransky, renowned yoga teacher, has a beautiful way of simplifying the art of deep listening in her book, Deep Listening: A Healing Practice to Calm Your Body, Clear Your Mind, and Open Your Heart. Recommend checking it out if you’re interested!