Search News You Can Use Podcast: Search Engine Optimization | Search Engine Marketing | Link Building

Did you know Google "re-ranks" search results using AI that is trained on user data and quality rater scores? In this video, I break down revelations from the DOJ trial, including the "Glue" system, RankEmbed BERT, and why user satisfaction is now the most critical factor for SEO. 00:00 - Intro: Why user satisfaction is the most important ranking factor. 00:49 - Google’s Quality Raters Guidelines & Helpful Content documentation. 01:36 - Marie’s Theory: Traditional algorithms vs. AI re-ranking systems. 02:35 - Why Google says "Don’t chunk your content" (Danny Sullivan). 03:00 - Vector Search & Embeddings: How AI retrieval actually works. 05:40 - The DOJ vs. Google Trial: Leaks on user-side data. 07:44 - The "Glue" System (NavBoost): How Google tracks clicks & hovers. 09:03 - "Instant Glue": How search adapts to new intent (Nice vs. nice). 10:20 - RankEmbed BERT: The deep learning model Google hid. 12:21 - How AI re-ranks the top search results. 13:03 - BERT Training: Wikipedia, Books Corpus... and romance nov

In this episode, Marie Haynes discusses Google's Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) and its transformative potential for online shopping. UCP allows consumers to purchase products directly from search results and AI interactions, streamlining the shopping experience. Haynes explains how this protocol works alongside Google's Business Agent, which enables businesses to interact with customers through AI agents trained on their specific information. She emphasizes the importance of having accurate data in the Google Merchant Center to ensure effective communication and sales through these new AI interfaces. 00:00 Introduction to Google's Universal Commerce Protocol 01:30 Understanding Business Agents and Their Role 05:50 How UCP Works for E-Commerce 12:01 The Future of AI in Shopping 15:50 Addressing Viewer Questions on UCP 22:04 Current Implementations of UCP 27:04 Potential Downsides and Considerations for Businesses 30:09 Looking Ahead: AI and the Future of Shopping

The future of search isn't search; it's agents. Dr. Marie Haynes tackles the biggest shift facing the web: agentic AI. This episode explores the new wave of agentic browsers like OpenAI's Atlas and Perplexity, the massive implications of Walmart partnering with OpenAI, and the legal battles already beginning. Dr. Haynes maps out a near future where home robots order products without ever seeing a website. What does an SEO or business owner do when the user interface is gone? This is a must-listen for anyone building a career on the web. And OH YEAH, this episode was edited by an app that I created in AI Studio's build feature. It actually worked! Comment here in Marie's community: https://community.mariehaynes.com/posts/drafts/the-future-of-seo-agentic-ai-new-podcast-episode

It was an honour to attend Google I/O in person. Search is changing radically! Google called it a new era of Search with Gemini 2.5 at its core. This podcast episode was recorded live. Stay up to date on AI with my newsletter: https://mariehaynes.com/newsletter Immediate updates on important AI and SEO news in my community, the Search Bar: https://community.mariehaynes.com/spaces/11879397/feed 0:00 – 0:51 Welcome & recap of Google I/O invitation, outline of the live episode’s agenda 0:51 – 1:55 Screen-share setup; meeting Sundar Pichai and Sergey Brin anecdotes 2:40 – 4:15 What AI Mode is, why Google may replace “classic” search, and the query fan-out patent 4:15 – 6:02 How clicks train AI Mode; demo showing 59 source sites and the result carousel 7:03 – 9:14 Ethics of Google using web content; E-E-A-T impact on carousel inclusion 9:55 – 12:22 Accuracy, hallucinations, feedback buttons, and why original content matters 14:00 – 17:21 Freshness signals, library analogy for originality, Gemini Live phone demo

Google's Agent2Agent (A2A) protocol is here, and it's set to change everything. Announced at Cloud Next 2025, this new standard allows AI agents to talk directly to each other. What does this mean? An internet powered by communicating AI, radical changes for businesses using tools like Agentspace and the Customer Engagement Suite, and a potential upheaval for traditional SEO. I share thoughts about A2A, the Agent Development Kit (ADK), Agent Cards, and why the future of the web might look very different, very soon. More, including links to all of the resources mentioned in my blog post: https://www.mariehaynes.com/googles-agent2agent-protocol-will-radically-change-the-web/ Subscribe to my newsletter for all of the interesting news as AI changes our world: https://mariehaynes.com/newsletter/

Dr. Marie Haynes discusses the future of AI, highlighting the massive investments being made by companies like Google, Meta, and Amazon. She acknowledges concerns about job loss and fear for the future but presents an optimistic vision, quoting Sam Altman and Elon Musk who believe AI will lead to greater prosperity and even a universal high income. Marie details how AI is currently used for tasks like organizing thoughts and image generation, but its true potential lies in AI agents. These agents will research and complete tasks, changing how we interact with the web and businesses. She gives examples of using agents for hotel and flight research and deep research projects. She also talks about using AI for coding and creating tools, sharing her personal experience of developing a tool to analyze website traffic drops. Marie believes AI agents will become like employees, increasing productivity and allowing her to focus on more complex tasks. She envisions AI optimizing businesses in various ways, such as c

Is Grok 3 a serious threat to Google? In this LIVE episode of AI News You Can Use Dr. Marie Haynes demonstrates Grok 3 as well as the Deep Research tools from Grok, Gemini and OpenAI. We'll discuss the future of Search and how we can be the leaders of the future as AI changes our world. Join the Search Bar to participate in future epsiodes: https://community.mariehaynes.com/ Marie's Newsletter: https://mariehaynes.com/newsletter/

The January 2025 update of Google's Quality Rater Guidelines had many important changes including sections on: -filler content -paraphrased content -Using AI in content creation -Expired domains -Scaled content abuse This was a live episode of Search News You Can Use filmed in The Search Bar. Buy My 2025 edition of my QRG checklist you can use to assess your site like a quality rater: https://www.mariehaynes.com/products/qrg-workbook-2025/ Join the Search Bar: https://community.mariehaynes.com/

Buckle up for a thrilling dive into the future of AI! This episode of Search News You Can Use uncovers the mind-blowing advancements in AI, from Google's Gemini 2.0 and its vision of AI agents to OpenAI's groundbreaking projects like Sora and ChatGPT Pro. Marie breaks down what quantum computing is and how Google's Willow chip is potentially a big deal. There's so much going on in the AI world right now!

Are Chrome engagement signals used in Google's ranking systems? I'd recommend watching Cindy's video from last week: https://youtu.be/txNT1S28U3M?si=uPi9nz61-1HfJefG Cindy theorized that Google collects all sorts of information from our visits using the Chrome browser. In our talk we discuss whether and how this information could be used in ranking algorithms. Reach Cindy: https://mobilemoxie.com/ https://x.com/Suzzicks Reach Marie: https://mariehaynes.com/contact/ https://community.mariehaynes.com/ - The Search Bar Links mentioned in this episode: The Pandu Nayak testimony: https://thecapitolforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/101823-USA-v-Google-PM.pdf Distributed Representation of Words and Phrases and their Compositionality - Jeff Dean, Ilya Sutskever et al. - Helps explain how vectors in a space are adjusted. Gemini gave me this paper when we were discussing RankBrain.

Here’s a conversation I had with Gemini about how its vector space works and how it adjusts as it learns. It may be possible for us to influence how Gemini represents our business by having more conversations about the things that are good about your business. Hope you find this interesting! (Also omg how many times did I say the word “interesting” in this episode?

Thank you to Adam Szmerling from Bayside Psychotherapy who allowed me to publish our brainstorming session. The first 45 minutes or so of this episode are me sharing how Google’s algorithms have changed. Then, Adam and I look in detail at his competition and his website and discuss how to change it so that it is more likely to meet the needs of his potential clients. Watch on Youtube: https://youtu.be/K0FVlM7Xmc0 Links Marie’s book, SEO in the Gemini Era, The Story of How AI Changed Google Search https://amzn.to/3WPBg0Z SEO in the Gemini Era course: https://www.mariehaynes.com/gemini-era-seo/course/ Brainstorm with Marie: https://www.mariehaynes.com/work-with-marie/ DOJ vs. Google Pandu Nayak testimony: https://thecapitolforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/101823-USA-v-Google-PM.pdf My blog post on the API files with attributes including Navboost : https://www.mariehaynes.com/what-is-this-leaked-google-code-digging-into-the-api-docs/ Cyrus Shepard’s Moz article on click patents: https://moz.com/blog/c

Navboost is a system we learned about in the DOJ vs Google trial. Did you know that Google stores every query that you search, along with information on what you clicked on and engaged with? I share in this video how this system is described, and also how I believe Google's ability to predict what searchers are likely to find helpful is changing. Mentioned in this video: Blog post on Navboost by Marie: https://www.mariehaynes.com/navboost/ Marie's workbook: https://www.mariehaynes.com/gemini-era-seo/workbook/ Marie's book: https://www.mariehaynes.com/gemini-era-seo/book/ Pandu Nayak testimony: https://thecapitolforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/101823-USA-v-Google-PM.pdf Douglas Oard testimony: https://thecapitolforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/U.S.A.-et-al-v.-Google-LLC-Nov-15-2023-Bench-Trial-Day-41-Morn-Sess-Transcript.pdf Rand Fishkin's post on the API files: https://sparktoro.com/blog/an-anonymous-source-shared-thousands-of-leaked-google-search-api-documents-with-me-everyone-in-seo-should

Documents describing Google's ranking systems in great detail have been leaked by someone who sent an email to Rand Fishkin. In this video, I share my thoughts on Rand's post and then at around 35 mins or so I play around with analyzing this document with Gemini 1.5 Pro in AI Studio. Hope you enjoy this type of video. I share a lot of my thoughts on how machine learning systems work to use all of the many attributes described in this documentation. This includes links, clicks, return to search results and much more. Take home point: Google uses MANY signals/attributes/features in their calculations that predict what is likely to be helpful to the searcher. Our goal should be to create content that people choose to engage with and ultimately find to be the satisfying answer to their query - or in other words, HELPFUL. This episode may be best seen as a video podast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVYUvh4Vt30 Links mentioned Marie’s newsletter: mariehaynes.com/newsletter Marie’s notes (paid newsletter - f

Some quick thoughts on Google's AI overviews (formerly SGE). I don't think they're going away. I do believe they will get more accurate. We should be paying attention to which websites Google is showing in the link cards in these. More on changes to my newsletter: mariehaynes.com/newsletter

Finally another podcast episode! I was babbling on to my husband about how similar Gemini 1.5's new architecture was to our brain structures and he said, "You need to do a podcast episode on this!" So, here it is. This is a rambly one. We'll talk about the machine learning models behind search and how Gemini 1.5's new MoE architecture works just like our brains do. Google + Harvard research on 3D modeling of the brain: https://blog.google/technology/research/google-ai-research-new-images-human-brain/ Gemini 1.5 info: https://blog.google/technology/ai/google-gemini-next-generation-model-february-2024/#gemini-15 Sign up to get Marie's Notes with live access to my weekly Google doc as I record the things I want to refer back to in regards to Search and AI: https://community.mariehaynes.com/spaces/12261861/feed Brainstorm with Marie: https://www.mariehaynes.com/work-with-marie/

Google is changing their SEO starter guide. They're removing a bunch of content. This episode has visuals. Watch on Youtube: https://youtu.be/we3n9NTeSAU In this episode we talk about Google's Search off the Record Podcast and I'll share my thoughts on what is most important when it comes to ranking on Google today. We'll go through the latest Google Search off the Record podcast episode that talks about the changes they are making to the guide. Then, near the end we'll take my notes on this story and I'll show you how I use Gemini in Google's AI studio to summarize stories like this for newsletter. Newsletter: https://mariehaynes.com/newsletter/ Marie's Thoughts (paid newsletter): https://community.mariehaynes.com/spaces/12261861/feed SOTR podcast: https://content.libsyn.com/p/6/6/0/66095646568452e4/_SOTR068__Search_Off_the_Record_-_68th_episode_-_Video_en_us.pdf?c_id=166779698&cs_id=166779698&response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&Expires=1706206368&Signature=dczPIGWZ9UbDLwAwbeu9pmhl-OL~PspXTQqtTOU1

This is an impromptu, unscripted episode with Dr. Marie Haynes, recorded because of a recent news headline from Search Engine Roundtable that said, "Google: Author Bylines Don't Help You Rank Better; Google Doesn't Check Credentials. Barry's article was prompted based on comments from Google's Search Liaison Danny Sullivan regarding yet another Verge article that does not look favourably on SEO. Are author bios a ranking factor? If you've followed my theories and teachings on Google's ranking systems, you know that I am indeed a proponent of using author bios in many situations. In the episode I share anecdotes of sites that did indeed see improvements after getting qualified authors and then doing more to share about their qualifications. Are author bios a ranking factor? No. Will having an author bio increase the chances that searchers will trust your site and find it useful. Sometimes, yes. We have recently learned from the DOJ antitrust trial against Google that user engagement signals are incredibly

In this episode, we dive deep into Google's revolutionary new language model, Gemini, destined to be the most impactful technological shift of our time. Host Dr. Marie Haynes unravels its capabilities, which extend beyond text to encompass images, video, and beyond. Discover how Gemini's potential to transform information access, problem-solving, and decision-making could reshape our lives. While we wait for its full potential to unfold in 2024, learn how Bard, soon integrated into Google Assistant, offers a taste of the future. This episode delves into the criticisms of AI, encouraging listeners to actively engage with Bard and explore its possibilities. We also explore the exciting world of GPTs (apps built on chat GPT), which may possibly be seen in a similar form in Google AI Studio.

Oh boy, finally another podcast episode! This is an unscripted chatting episode where I share the story of what happened to my agency. It formed because of an understanding of AI - except I didn't know that at the time. Imagine my surprise when I realized that wait a second - Panda and Penguin - the Google algorithm shifts that made me obsess over SEO and leave my career as a veterinarian - were machine learning systems. It was understanding AI that created my SEO agency. But, understanding and optimizing for Google search was also our downfall. I expect many of you are going down the same road I did. It is time for a huge mindset shift when it comes to SEO. We found out in the Department of Justice's Trial against Google that user engagement plays a much bigger role in determining rankings than we thought. I hope you enjoy this episode! Links mentioned: ============ My Helpful Content Workbook https://mariehaynes.com/product/creating-helpful-content-workbook/ The Search Bar: https://community.marieha