Google confirms they have scaled back AI Overviews post-launch:

blog.google/products/searc…

It's gonna be a great Q3/Q4 for SEO.

Lots of hesitation in the first half of the year around SGE and high interest rates.

AI Overviews not looking like the end of the world plus a few rate cuts (should they happen) is going to unlock a strong back half of the year.

We measured AI Overviews’ impact over a 130,000,000 impression sample covering 43 sites.

Good news: Average CTR is up 3%, impressions are up almost 2% and total traffic is up 4%+!

SEO isn't dead, it's evolving.

View the report: siegemedia.com/seo/ai-overvie…

We measured AI Overviews’ impact over a 130,000,000 impression sample covering 43 sites.

Good news: Average CTR is up 3%, impressions are up almost 2% and total traffic is up 4%+!

SEO isn't dead, it's evolving.

View the report: siegemedia.com/seo/ai-overvie…

Kayak has world class SEO flight pages.

Was stopped in my tracks when I saw this interactive experience mid-way down their 'Flight to Denver' page.

So useful and beautifully designed.

👏 Kayak SEO/product teams.

kayak.com/flight-routes/…

Day 1: no noticeable traffic effect from SGE.

In fact, it's possible there is a slight uptick across the 20+ sites I looked at.

Of course, way too early/not done rolling out, but thought that was worth sharing.

Big news from Google on AI CTR:

'Hema Budaraju, the Senior Director of Product, Search Generative Experience, Google, told us that the link cards within AI Overviews generate a higher click-through rate than traditional web search results.'

searchengineland.com/google-rolls-o…

'AI Overviews' out of the gate defaults to queries that are the simplest of the simple.

These are queries Google won't get flack for.

Ironically, that's not getting that much value out of AI, but it may be enough to appease (or distract) investors for the time being.

My first impressions of 'AI Overviews' being live:

1) It fires almost always on 'What is' searches.

2) It sporadically fires on mid-complexity searches.

3) Of the many high cost-per-click (CPC) searches I did, it only fired on a few 'X software' searches.

I have the

You should expect a 11% to 18% decrease in traffic from AI Overviews.

The conversion impact should be smaller still.

How did I come to that number?

Recent data from Ubersuggest shows this experience appears 37% of the time. That number has been dropping, as has the pixel

OpenAI didn't technically launch a search engine, but they're getting closer to something that feels like one.

Users have open access without a login, there's a desktop app, and everyone can use a more sophisticated model for free.

It's more likely to be perceived as a weak

Anyone in the content/SEO world going to SaaStock?

Sam Altman denies rumors they will launch a search engine on Monday:

Next week should be fun!

In the last year, SEO has felt like this:

Fear → Normalcy → Fear → Normalcy

There's a strong chance we will enter another fear cycle tomorrow. But it's just that, a cycle.

Things will (probably) be normal again. Stay focused and keep shipping, not refreshing social media.

SEO has industry demand waves.

2020: Mattresses
2021: Crypto
2023-24: AI wrappers

These cycles inevitably wane, and most go to zero.

It takes discipline to turn them away and focus on the companies that will stick around for the long-term.

Need PT or FT graphic design help from someone with strong SEO experience?

I know a world-class graphic designer now looking for freelance or FT work I’d love to connect with someone.

Google just released their earnings report.

Ad revenue is up significantly YOY.

Comments about SGE from Sundar are here and generally sound optimistic about current/future state for publishers -- good news all around: youtube.com/live/A2O2f5dlz…

Pretend you are working at an agency if not already.

Would you use a (potentially) competitive agency's paid product (ex: software or marketplace)?

Big news: Jesse McDonald has officially joined Siege Media as our Senior Director, SEO!

Jesse brings a wealth of enterprise experience to Siege, from his last 5 years as a Global SEO Strategist at IBM to his previous half decade agency-side.