SEO Daily News Recap for Thursday, September 11, 2025
Organic SEO & Search News
Google updates search quality raters guidelines adding AI Overview examples & YMYL definitions – Google made minor updates to its rater guidelines, providing more clarity on AI Overview and YMYL content.
Google Quality Raters now rate AI Overviews – Marie Haynes – Google’s Quality Raters now assess AI content, as highlighted in the latest update by Marie Haynes.
Optimizing for AI: How search engines power ChatGPT, Gemini and more – Learn how to optimize your content for AI models like ChatGPT and Gemini to enhance search engine visibility.
Paid Search & Platform Innovations
TikTok touts 2x purchase lift with Search Ads – TikTok’s Search Ads Campaign shows promising results with a significant increase in purchase intent.
Google Tag Manager adds event parameters to Ads and Floodlight tags – Google Tag Manager now supports custom event parameters in Ads and Floodlight tags for better tracking and optimization.
Google Ads AI Max For Search Campaigns Globally Available & More – Google Ads unveiled AI Max for Search campaigns worldwide, along with other updates to enhance marketing strategies.
General Digital Marketing
Pinterest Announces 2025 ‘Pinterest Presents’ Event – Pinterest will showcase its latest projects and developments at the upcoming event, offering insights for marketers.
FTC Launches Investigation into Potential Harms of AI Chatbots – The FTC is investigating the potential negative impacts of AI chatbots, particularly in relation to young users.
How to produce a better PPC QBR for your stakeholders – Enhance your PPC Quarterly Business Reviews to demonstrate impact, engage stakeholders, and drive future strategies effectively.
Dive into our detailed sections for more insights and updates.
Organic SEO & Search News
SEO Daily News and Algorithm Updates
Pinterest Announces 2025 ‘Pinterest Presents’ Event
Pinterest will showcase its latest projects and developments at the event.
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Social Media Today – Latest News
Pinterest Highlights Rising Summer Search Trends
Some trend notes for your Pin planning.
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Social Media Today – Latest News
Google updates search quality raters guidelines adding AI Overview examples & YMYL definitions
Google told us this is a "minor update to our rater guidelines with small clarifications and a handful of new examples."
Source:
Search Engine Land
Google Quality Raters now rate AI Overviews – Marie Haynes
Today Google’s Quality Rater Guidelines updated September 11, 2025 with some minor changes. I think some of these are worth noting however! Three examples were added to the guidelines that I believe are significant as they all instruct the raters to assess content that is an AI Overview. An example was added of an answer […]
Daily Search Forum Recap: September 11, 2025
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
Google Ads announced AI Max is rolling out to all as a beta…
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Search Engine Roundtable
FastSearch, MAGIT and everything else we learned about Google’s AI from the DOJ trial – Marie Haynes
If you missed it, earlier this week I published a piece on everything we learned about Google’s search algorithms from the DOJ vs Google trial. Boy, there is a lot! In this article, we’ll focus on AI. Key Takeaways: -Google’s AI trains on the Google Common Corpus (GCC). -A Gemini version called MAGIT fine-tunes AI […]
ChatGPT traffic rivals organic search engagement: Data
New data shows ChatGPT users are more engaged than Google searchers. But AI traffic comes in much smaller volumes.
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Search Engine Land
Technical SEO
Google Tag Manager adds event parameters to Ads and Floodlight tags
GTM now supports custom event parameters in Ads and Floodlight tags, closing the gap with manual gtag() implementations.
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Search Engine Land
Google Drops Hotel Review Stars For Website & Phone Number
Google is testing replacing the review stars at the top of the hotel knowledge panel with listing the hotel’s website URL and the hotel’s phone number.
Source:
Search Engine Roundtable
AI and Machine Learning in SEO
FTC Launches Investigation into Potential Harms of AI Chatbots
The FTC is exploring the use of AI chatbots as companions, particularly among young users.
Source:
Social Media Today – Latest News
AI search optimization? GEO? SEOs don’t agree on a name: Survey
SEOs are prioritizing AI search tactics like schema and citations, even as revenue impact remains small and measurement is messy.
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Search Engine Land
Optimizing for AI: How search engines power ChatGPT, Gemini and more
AI models pull from search results to build answers. Here’s how to ensure your content is among what Gemini, ChatGPT, and others surface.
Source:
Search Engine Land
Career Development and Industry Trends
Marketers aren’t ready for GEO: Survey
Few companies dedicate resources to GEO, despite recognizing its growing importance. Marketers lack resources, confidence, or know-how.
Source:
Search Engine Land
$46B of hard truths from Ben Horowitz: Why founders fail and why you need to run toward fear (a16z co-founder)
Listen now | 🎙️ a16z’s co-founder on why he takes CEO advice from an ex-prison gang leader, the $2M IPO everyone called insane, why he backed Adam Neumann, and how hip-hop teaches business better than an MBA
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Lenny’s Newsletter
User Experience and SEO Optimization
Reddit Highlights Opportunity for Healthcare Brands
Reddit says that a growing number if people are coming to the app for health-related advice.
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Unknown Source
Paid Search & Platform Innovations
Paid Search and Advertising
Meta expands Reels, Threads, and AI tools to boost brand-building
Brands now have new ways to align with cultural moments on Meta’s apps while improving efficiency through AI-driven targeting and optimization.
Source:
Search Engine Land
Meta Announces New Reels and Threads Ad Options
Meta’s also added more control options within its AI ad targeting process.
Source:
Social Media Today – Latest News
TikTok touts 2x purchase lift with Search Ads
TikTok’s Search Ads Campaign lets brands capture high-intent queries on a platform where Gen Z is rapidly shifting its search behavior.
Source:
Search Engine Land
Google Testing Local Ad Cards In Search
Google seems to be testing a new format for local ads in the search results. These look more like that older card format test we saw a year or so ago. There are these two local cards at the top and when you click on them, the local panel for that Google Business Profile opens up.
Source:
Search Engine Roundtable
Google Testing Sponsored Ads With Search Refinement Options
Google is testing adding search refinement options in the sponsored ads in a carousel format. The test shows refinements named "fine-tune your search," "search specific products" and "specify your search." But I bet there are more.
Source:
Search Engine Roundtable
Bing Testing Link Icons In Sitelinks
Microsoft is testing putting link icons in the sitelinks carousel buttons within the Bing search ads from Microsoft Advertising. Normally, you’d just see the carousel of sitelinks below the search snippet but here Microsoft is testing adding a link icon to them.
Source:
Search Engine Roundtable
Google Ads AI Max For Search Campaigns Globally Available & More
Google announced a number of updates to Google Ads at Think Retail yesterday, including the global rollout of AI Max for Search campaigns, new Google Merchant Center features, AI updates to Asset Studio, and more.
Source:
Search Engine Roundtable
How to produce a better PPC QBR for your stakeholders
Don’t settle for another dull recap. Deliver PPC QBRs that highlight impact, engage stakeholders, and drive next-quarter strategy.
Source:
Search Engine Land
Uncategorized
TikTok Launches Latest Data Center Project in Europe
TikTok’s hoping to appease EU regulators with its data separation initiative.
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Social Media Today – Latest News
Job Postings
Job Postings
9/11/2025
Digital Marketing/SEO for travel website ~ Ownership Equity ~ Remote (WW)
Travel agency specializing in tours to exotic places such as the Caucasus, Ladakh and Indonesia is offering a partnership in the business in exchange for digital marketing services. Lots of upside potential. lodestarluxurytravel.com Intrigued? Fill out the form below so we can chat more.
Job Postings
9/11/2025
Director of Global SEO ~ Xsolla ~ $120,000-$195,000 ~ Remote (USA)
About You Xsolla is seeking an experienced SEO leader with a proven track record of building and executing full-stack SEO strategies at a global scale. The person most successful in this role will bring a unique blend of technical expertise, content strategy acumen, and leadership skills — able to balance data-driven decision-making with creative storytelling […]
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In-house SEO jobs – SEOjobs.com
Job Postings
9/11/2025
Associate SEO Specialist ~ EVERSANA INTOUCH ~ $50,000 – $65,000 ~ Remote (USA)
Company Description EVERSANA INTOUCH® is a global, full-service marketing agency network serving the life sciences industry, and is the first – and only – agency network to be part of a fully integrated commercialization platform through EVERSANA®. We provide next-generation creative and media services, enterprise solutions and data analytics services for clients. We get fired up […]
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SEO Agency Jobs – SEOjobs.com