ICYMI 👉 Your Guide to SEO and Web Search


Every Wednesday / 5th June 2024 / goodsignals.com​
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Trivia: AI apocalypse? True or false: This week, ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity all went down at the same time. Get answer.


Hello, and welcome to this week's edition of The Signal. I hope you're having a fabulous week so far and are ready for your weekly dose of the latest in all things SEO and web search. There's so much happening this week, you might just need an AI twin to keep up! Yes, you read that right—Zoom's Eric Yuan is dreaming up your very own AI digital twin to attend video meetings on your behalf. How brilliant is that? I'm just imagining those bosses who already dislike WFH doing the weekly review with your digital stunt-double while you’re hanging out the washing.
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Today, Google announced the launch of their Gemini app in the UK. Instead of reading this email, you could paste it into Gemini and get it back in just a few memorable sentences, perhaps in the style of Sarah Jessica Parker or Matthew McConaughey—whatever tickles your fancy. And Google Search Central is now on LinkedIn. Seems odd they weren't already, doesn’t it? Maybe it's because Googlers are already so prominent on the platform, we just assumed Search Central was there too! Follow them for SEO best practices.
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You may have already noticed this—Meta is testing unskippable ads on Instagram. Yes, like YouTube, brands can now force potential customers to watch at least a few seconds of their ads. We’ll see how that goes down!
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And lastly, before we dive into today's newsletter, IKEA is recruiting for their virtual store in Roblox. Get paid to work and play. Thankfully, no worries about making excessive use of the staff discount on those delicious Swedish meatballs or unnecessary amounts of tupperware with it being all virtual.
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Right, we've got a fascinating list of Top Picks for you from some true SEO legends, so grab a cuppa, sit back, and enjoy The Signal!


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​Google confirms the leaked Search documents are real - It's official - Google has confirmed the leaked API documentation is real, but it cautions against “making inaccurate assumptions about Search based on out-of-context, outdated, or incomplete information". By Mia Sato on The Verge.

​I have one thing to say. - Dan Petrovic, found the leaked Google API documents before anyone else and even got a Google Bug Bounty for turning the leak in. By Dan Petrovic on Dejan Marketing.

​12 big takeaways for link builders and digital PRs - Read James and Liv Day's analysis of what Google's leaked documentation tells us about links. By James Brockbank on Search Engine Land.

​Mobile-indexing-vLast-final-final.doc - Following Google’s latest update, if your site does not load on a mobile device, then it likely won't be indexed after July 5, 2024. It’s time to debug! By John Mueller on the Google Search Central Blog.

​Google AI Overviews: New research offers insights and Google AI Overviews visibility drops, only shows for 15% of queries - Google has been reducing AI in search results, but the presence of AI Overviews varies greatly by industry. By Roger Montti on Search Engine Journal and by Danny Goodwin on Search Engine Land.

​Marketing analytics data is wrong. Can it be fixed? - No analytics tool is perfect - but this doesn't mean you can't work with inaccurate marketing data. If you're worried, read this and find out what you can do. By Dana DiTomaso on 3rd June 2024 at Kick Point Playbook.

​International SEO for 2024: 9-point checklist for success - Are you looking to expand your business overseas? From URL structure to investment in in-market content, everything you need to know is in this article. By Lidia Infante on Search Engine Journal.

​SERP Features beyond Google – What are the trends? - Natalia reviews how Search Engine Results Pages work on search engines such as Bing, DuckDuckGo, and Brave Search. By Natalia Witczyk on the Advanced Web Ranking blog.

​Is social media the new Google? Gen Z turn to Google 25% less than Gen X when searching - If you struggle to understand young people’s web browsing behaviours, read this article to get a better sense (Guess what topics Gen Z are most likely to search on TikTok?). By Katherine Haan on Forbes

​Will AI revolutionise education for the better? - Evidence shows that AI-powered tutors can help students score higher on exams. But does this mean teacher-bots are really better than humans? What are the risks? By Hannah Murphy on the Financial Times.


Joyce Yang,

editor at The Signal


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