Author Archives: SocialSignalCounter

Google Search Hits $63B, AI Mode Ad Tests Detailed

Google Search Hits B, AI Mode Ad Tests Detailed

Alphabet reported Q4 2025 revenue of $113.8 billion, beating Wall Street estimates and marking the company’s first year above $400 billion in annual revenue. Google Search grew 17% to $63.07 billion. On the earnings call, the company revealed how it plans to monetize AI Mode and shared new data on how AI is changing search […]

5 Google Analytics Reports PPC Marketers Should Actually Use

5 Google Analytics Reports PPC Marketers Should Actually Use

Google Analytics has never been perfect, but it used to feel familiar. The shift to Google Analytics 4 forced PPC marketers to rethink how they pull insights, not just where to click. Reports that once lived front and center now take more effort to find. Some require extra setup. Others feel less intuitive than before […]

Google lists Googlebot file limits for crawling

Google lists Googlebot file limits for crawling

Google has updated two of its help documents to explain the limits of Googlebot when it crawls. Specifically, how much Googlebot can consume by filetype and format. The limits. The limits, some of which were documented already and are not new, include: 15MB for web pages: Google wrote, “By default, Google’s crawlers and fetchers only […]

Google may be cracking down on self-promotional ‘best of’ listicles

Google may be cracking down on self-promotional ‘best of’ listicles

Google may finally be starting to address a popular SEO and AI visibility “tactic”: self-promotional “best of” listicles. That’s according to new research by Lily Ray, vice president, SEO strategy and research at Amsive. Across several SaaS brands hit hard in January, a pattern emerged. Many relied heavily on review-style content that ranked their own […]

How Google Ads quality score really affects your CPCs

How Google Ads quality score really affects your CPCs

If your CPCs keep climbing, the cause may not be your bid strategy, your budget, or even your competitors. You might be suffering from low ad quality.  Let’s break down the most foundational — and most misunderstood — metric in your Google Ads account. If you want to stop overpaying Google and start winning auctions […]

DOJ and states appeal Google search antitrust remedies ruling

DOJ and states appeal Google search antitrust remedies ruling

The U.S. Justice Department and a coalition of states plan to appeal a federal judge’s remedies ruling in the Google search antitrust case. The appeal challenges a decision that found Google illegally monopolized search but stopped short of imposing major structural changes, such as forcing a divestiture of Chrome or banning default search deals outright. […]

Google’s Mueller Calls Markdown-For-Bots Idea ‘A Stupid Idea’

Google’s Mueller Calls Markdown-For-Bots Idea ‘A Stupid Idea’

Some developers have been experimenting with bot-specific Markdown delivery as a way to reduce token usage for AI crawlers. Google Search Advocate John Mueller pushed back on the idea of serving raw Markdown files to LLM crawlers, raising technical concerns on Reddit and calling the concept “a stupid idea” on Bluesky. What’s Happening A developer […]

Anthropic says Claude will remain ad-free as ChatGPT tests ads

Anthropic says Claude will remain ad-free as ChatGPT tests ads

Anthropic is drawing the line against advertising in AI chatbots. Claude will remain ad-free, the company said, even as rival AI platforms experiment with sponsored messages and branded placements inside conversations. Ads inside AI chats would erode trust, warp incentives, and clash with how people actually use assistants like Claude (for work, problem-solving, and sensitive […]

Google Ads tightens access control with multi-party approval

Google Ads tightens access control with multi-party approval

Google Ads introduced multi-party approval, a security feature that requires a second administrator to approve high-risk account actions. These actions include adding or removing users and changing user roles. Why we care. As ad accounts grow in size and value, access control becomes a serious risk. One unauthorized, malicious, or accidental change can disrupt campaigns, […]

In Google Ads automation, everything is a signal in 2026

In Google Ads automation, everything is a signal in 2026

In 2015, PPC was a game of direct control. You told Google exactly which keywords to target, set manual bids at the keyword level, and capped spend with a daily budget. If you were good with spreadsheets and understood match types, you could build and manage 30,000-keyword accounts all day long. Those days are gone. In […]