Author Archives: SocialSignalCounter

Google expands Shopping promotion rules ahead of 2026

Google expands Shopping promotion rules ahead of 2026

Google is broadening what counts as an eligible promotion in Shopping, giving merchants more flexibility heading into next year. Driving the news. Google is update its Shopping promotion policies to support additional promotion types, including subscription discounts, common promo abbreviations, and — in Brazil — payment-method-based offers. Why we care. Promotions are a key lever […]

3 PPC myths you can’t afford to carry into 2026

3 PPC myths you can’t afford to carry into 2026

PPC advice in 2025 leaned hard on AI and shiny new tools.  Much of it sounded credible. Much of it cost advertisers money.  Teams followed platform narratives instead of business constraints. Budgets grew. Efficiency did not. As 2026 begins, carrying those beliefs forward guarantees more of the same.  This article breaks down three PPC myths […]

Why copywriting is the new superpower in 2026

Why copywriting is the new superpower in 2026

For the last few years, copywriting has been quietly written off. Not with outrage. Not with ceremony. Just sidelined. Replaced. Automated. Words – the core material of SEO, landing pages, ads, and persuasion – were demoted during the traffic rush and later the AI gold rush. Blog posts were generated. Product descriptions were bulked out. […]

What SEOs Need To Consider (ACP & UCP)

What SEOs Need To Consider (ACP & UCP)

In my last post, I referenced how there is now a growing split between the “human” web and the “agentic” web, where AI agents are becoming an additional audience/profile alongside the “traditional” human visitors we have been optimizing for for years. This shift is now becoming more aggressive, especially when it comes to the transactional web […]

Insights From Last Year’s Best Debates For 2026

Insights From Last Year’s Best Debates For 2026

Hosting my podcast, gives me a front-row seat to the unfiltered reality of our industry, the gritty, “in-the-trenches” reality shared by experts who manage millions in spend. Last year, my guests, including Greg Finn, Christine “Shep” Zirnheld, Julie Friedman Bacchini, Andrew Lolk and Shawn Walker didn’t hold back. They dismantled “best practices,” called out platform […]

Meridian, Robyn, Orbit, and Prophet explained

Meridian, Robyn, Orbit, and Prophet explained

Marketing mix modeling (MMM) has shifted from an enterprise luxury to an essential measurement tool.  Tech giants like Google, Meta, and Uber have released powerful open-source MMM frameworks that anyone can use for free.  The challenge is understanding which tool actually solves your problem and which require a PhD in statistics to implement. The landscape […]

WordPress X Account’s ‘Childish’ Trolling Causes Backlash

WordPress X Account’s ‘Childish’ Trolling Causes Backlash

An official WordPress.org social media account was used to troll the open source movement to decentralize the WordPress plugins and themes repository, creating what some feel was an undignified, even “childish”, representation of the WordPress community. What Is The FAIR Project? The Federated And Independent Repositories project is an open-source initiative that was launched in […]

The Technical Guide To Adobe Commerce (Magento) SEO Issues

The Technical Guide To Adobe Commerce (Magento) SEO Issues

Magento, now officially Adobe Commerce (but still known as Magento with SEOs), remains a powerful but demanding ecommerce platform, especially in the Magento 2 era. Adobe Commerce can deliver strong organic performance when built and optimized correctly, but it requires careful attention to technical SEO, site speed, and structured data. This guide outlines key Magento/Adobe […]

Google Announces AI Mode Checkout Protocol, Business Agent

Google Announces AI Mode Checkout Protocol, Business Agent

Google announced tools that let shoppers complete purchases directly within AI Mode and chat with branded AI agents in Search results. Users can purchase from eligible product listings on Google. Retailers are still the seller of record, while the checkout happens on Google surfaces instead of the retailer’s website. Universal Commerce Protocol Powers AI Mode […]

Google launches Universal Commerce Protocol for agent-led shopping

Google launches Universal Commerce Protocol for agent-led shopping

Google today unveiled the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open standard that lets AI agents work across the entire shopping journey, from discovery to purchase to post-sale support. Additionally, Google is introducing new AI tools for retailers, including branded shopping agents and ad formats optimized for AI-driven discovery. About UCP. UCP establishes a shared language […]