A Search Engine World take on the MediaPost report, what it says about AI Overviews, and why site owners should…
Author: Brett Tabke
As the CEO and founder of Pubcon and WebmasterWorld., Brett Tabke has been instrumental in shaping the landscape of online marketing and search engine optimization. His journey in the computer industry has spanned over three decades and has made him a pioneering force behind digital evolution. Full Bio
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Opt-Out, Still Tracked: The Audit That Puts Google, Microsoft, and Meta Back Under the Microscope
A new independent privacy audit claims that opting out of tracking still does not reliably stop ad tech from doing…
Shocking: Meta Is Set to Pass Google in Digital Ads
Meta is projected to overtake Google in worldwide net digital ad revenue in 2026. EMARKETER pegs Meta at $243.46 billion…
Google’s New Back Button Hijacking Policy Comes With a Very Convenient Blind Spot
Google has published a new spam policy targeting back button hijacking, calling it an explicit violation under its malicious practices…
Google Expands Personal Intelligence in Search
Google has expanded “Personal Intelligence” in the U.S. across AI Mode in Search, the Gemini app, and Gemini in Chrome.…
Google Expands Stitch Into a Full AI UI Design Workspace
They’re calling the new paradigm “vibe design” – which sounds more like marketing fluff (and it is) until you realize…
Google Introduces “Ask Maps” and Immersive Navigation
Google releases major update to its mapping platform that pushes the app further into AI navigation. The update introduces the…
WordPress Pushes Third Update in 24 Hours, Reaches Version 6.9.4
WordPress users woke up to a familiar dashboard notice again this morning. Another core update. In less than a day…
Amazon Blocks Perplexity’s Automated Shopping Bot
A US federal judge has issued an injunction blocking the AI startup Perplexity from running its automated shopping agent on…
Post Google “…it’s just Not a Meaningful Driver of our Traffic”
We’ve been saying since 2023 that Google will eventually get to a point where they no longer consider sending traffic…
WordPress Security in 2026 What the Data Says and What You Must Do
In 2024 the WordPress ecosystem saw almost 8,000 new security vulnerabilities, roughly 22 per day. Nearly all of these were in third-party plugins, and a tiny fraction were in themes.
Tracking OpenAI – ChatGPT Bots – A Fresh Guide for Webmasters, Site Owners, and SEO’s
OpenAI runs multiple crawlers and user agents, and they do different jobs. Treating them as one single “AI bot” causes bad decisions. Below is the practical breakdown for webmasters, site owners, and SEO teams,
SerpAPI Responds to Google with Motion to Dismiss
SerpAPI argues that its service simply retrieves publicly available search result data on behalf of users. In its filing, the…
OpenAI Starts Showing Ads in ChatGPT, a New Frontier for Paid Search
For the first time, OpenAI has begun live testing of ads in ChatGPT for logged-in users on the Free and…
Bing Introduces AI Performance Reporting in Webmaster Tools
Microsoft has quietly shipped one of the more consequential reporting updates for technical SEOs and performance teams, rolling out…
Apple and Google Agree to UK App Store Changes After CMA Action
Apple and Google have agreed to adjust their app stores in the UK following heavy pressure from the Competition and Markets Authority.
Google Expands “Results About You” to Cover Government ID Numbers
Google has expanded its Results About You tool, adding support for monitoring and removing search results that expose government issued…
February 2026 Google Update
Here we go – Google just dropped the February 2026 Discover Core Update – the first core update focused exclusively…
Google Ads Introduces Multi-Party Approval To Address Mass Adwords Hacking
Google is rolling out a new account option in Google Ads called multi-party approval that requires a second admin to sign off on higher-risk act changes.
Updated 2026 – Big Search Engine List: Who Indexes What?
Last updated: 4-8-2026 For SEOs working at scale, understanding which search engines actually crawl and index the web, and which…
The Trust Stack: LLM Inputs – What Can We Push?
The current situation we are in was artfully describe by the hero robot from the 80’s classic Short Circuit. Johnny…
List of Website Directories for 2026 Updated
(Last Updated: 2-12-2026) Directory listings tend to get dismissed as legacy SEO, but that misses how they actually function today.…
It’s Official, Users HATE AI Search! 90% Want to Turn it Off
A staggering 90% of all search engine users that DuckDuckGo surveyed says they do not want AI in search. This…
Updated 2026 – Googles Full List of Googlebot IP Addresses Spider IP Addresses
Google provides a list of four JSON files for the the IP address it’s crawlers use. This post explores that and how to track GoogleBot.
Grounding in Truth – What are The Surfaces that Matter to LLMs?
We are witnessing a fundamental shift in how information “surfaces” are valued. While a “website” defined the first 30 years…
Google Talks About AI Search Controls, but it is Really Talking-Point Positioning
Google published a fresh post about “controls” for AI-powered Search features, but nothing new was announced. No tools shipped. No…
Yahoo Scout Is Here: Why a New AI Search Player is a Win for Everyone
Yahoo just launched a new AI answer engine called Yahoo Scout that feels like a breath of fresh air for…
Google Says 99% of the Web is Spam and Duplicates
I can’t think of a more important chart I have seen in SEO history. In a recent filing by Google,…
Overit Acquires Web Traffic Advisors
Overit, (a full-service marketing agency from Albany, New York) has taken over Web Traffic Advisors, a consultancy focused on SEO…