Shopify reported strong second-quarter earnings, crediting AI search for tripling AI-driven traffic and orders year-over-year while enhancing merchant conversions through multidimensional product matching.
A new era of content discovery, AI Optimization (AIO), is emerging as AI models like ChatGPT and Perplexity become primary search tools. This shift requires content creators to optimize for AI-generated responses, distinct from traditional SEO, to capture growing organic traffic.
Getty Images partners with OpenAI to bring licensed content to AI search and ChatGPT, marking a strategic shift after banning AI-generated art and suing for copyright violations.
A WordPress VIP report reveals consumers distrust AI, with 60% finding AI messaging a turnoff and 86% preferring original sources. Brands face a dilemma: be visible to AI or maintain human trust.
A WordPress VIP report reveals consumers are increasingly skeptical of AI-generated content, with 60% finding "AI" messaging a turnoff and 86% preferring original sources. Brands face a challenge balancing AI discoverability with human trust.
A German court ruled Google liable for false statements in its AI Overviews, stating the tool makes "independent, new, and substantive statements" and that publishers' interest in removing false information outweighs Google's commercial speech rights.
Google is shifting its search engine to an AI-powered conversational format, with its AI summary feature used by over 2.5 billion monthly users. However, this has led to the "zero-click problem," where users are satisfied with AI summaries and don't visit original content sites, prompting Google to pilot a feature allowing content creators to opt-out of AI inclusion and track content usage in the UK, with plans for global rollout.
UK regulators have ordered Google to provide clearer attributions and links to publisher content in its AI-generated search features and allow publishers to opt out of these features. Google has nine months to comply.
The UK has mandated Google to allow publishers to opt out of content aggregation for AI search features. Google announced compliance, introducing a toggle in Search Console, a move hailed as a 'world first' by the CMA to empower publishers in negotiating content deals.
The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has mandated Google to grant publishers greater control over how their content is used in AI-generated search results. This move aims to ensure fair treatment, transparency, and choice for businesses and consumers, and strengthen publishers' negotiating positions.
Google is testing a new Search Console toggle allowing webmasters to exclude their domains from AI Overviews and AI Mode. The feature will first roll out in the UK, with global expansion planned. Opting out will prevent traffic from generative AI features and won't affect standard search rankings.
Ask.com, the search engine formerly known as Ask Jeeves, has officially ceased operations on May 1, 2026. The closure marks the end of the company's 25-year search business as its owner, InterActiveCorp, refocuses its strategy.
Berlin-based startup Peec AI has surpassed $10 million in annualized revenue, more than doubling its growth trajectory since its $21 million Series A six months ago. The company, which helps brands track AI search visibility, attributes its success to a strong focus on revenue growth, a key market shift in Europe's tech scene.
Google has officially transitioned its search engine to an AI-powered experience, with AI Overviews and Gemini becoming central. This shift, described as the most significant in search history, prioritizes conversational prompts and customized AI responses over traditional web links, potentially impacting content creators and the open web.
Google's new AI-powered search results are drawing criticism for creating large empty spaces and providing irrelevant AI summaries for simple word searches, such as 'disregard'. Users must scroll past significant blank areas to find traditional links, unlike Bing's less aggressive AI integration.
The Vergecast episode covers Google I/O news, including Sundar Pichai interview on AI agents and search changes, plus the podcast going daily from June 1.
Google's I/O 2026 event confirmed its strategic shift to AI-powered search, with AI Mode usage doubling quarterly and over 1 billion monthly users. New features like AI Overviews and generative UI aim to create a more conversational and integrated experience, reducing reliance on traditional blue links.
At Google I/O 2006, YouTube announced AI-powered search allowing conversational queries for specific video content and Gemini Omni for video creation and Shorts remixing.
Google's AI search will start citing its sources in several new ways.
Reform UK is ‘doing something right when it comes to visibility’ on multiple AI systems, say researchersAI platforms are more likely to reference Nigel Farage than any other UK leader when prompted about British politics, according to an AI search analytics firm.“We are confident in saying that Reform are showing up significantly more than you would expect,” said Malte Landwehr, an expert at Peec AI, the firm that did the research. “So they’re doing something right when it comes to LLM [large language model] visibility.” Continue reading...
YouTube launches 'Ask YouTube,' an AI-powered search feature for Premium subscribers in the U.S. that provides step-by-step results mixing text and video for queries like recipes and travel planning. Users can ask follow-up questions and get suggestions. Google plans to expand to non-Premium users.
Google is testing an AI-powered conversational search feature on YouTube called 'Ask YouTube' for Premium subscribers in the US. The feature pulls from longform videos, Shorts, and text summaries to provide comprehensive answers. Early tests show promise but also factual errors, highlighting the need for user verification.
