Welcome to this week’s roundup of search engine and AI news specifically geared towards small service businesses! In this article, we’ll discuss the latest updates from Google, Bing, and the world of AI, sharing insights on how these developments impact local businesses and offering tips and recommendations to help you stay ahead of the curve. From algorithm changes and new tools to AI advancements and industry trends, we’ve got you covered.
Search News
April Reviews Update Rolls Out
Google recently completed the rollout of its April Reviews update. Google frequently releases major updates like this one, and the focus of this update has been on improving the quality of product reviews. This update has expanded the guidelines for product reviews to cover all kinds of reviews, which now includes a lot of the content on our clients’ websites. While we haven’t seen much movement on our clients’ sites due to this particular update, it’s essential to be aware of when these updates start and end.
Google Business Profile Categories Become More Important
Recent data suggests that the primary category in Google Business Profiles (GBP) is now carrying more weight, or other factors matter less, following the March algorithm update. This is significant because the update had a considerable impact on local businesses, something that usually doesn’t happen with core algorithm updates. Although we’ve seen some dips in organic rankings, most clients didn’t lose leads.
It seems that the primary category is now one of the most important factors in determining where a business ranks for a given search term. However, another interpretation could be that other tweaks and additions to optimize business profiles matter less, so the primary category carries more weight. In any case, choosing the best primary category for our clients is now more crucial than ever.
Google Testing Grid Format for Local Results in Mobile Web Search
Google has been experimenting with a grid format for local results in mobile web searches. This format has been common for shopping products, and it is now being tested for services, especially local services on mobile devices. As Google continues to play with different ways to display search results, it’s essential to pay attention to clicks versus impressions and how these new formats might affect Google Search Console data.
Google Texting Businesses to Update GBP
There is some evidence that Google might be texting business owners to confirm or update the information on their GBP. While this has not been officially confirmed by Google, it’s essential for our clients to respond to such messages if they receive them. In the past, Google has used phone calls to confirm information with businesses, and text messages could be the new method for this process.
Changes in Google’s Video Thumbnail Policy
Google has become stricter with video thumbnails, now only showing them in search results if the video is the main element of the page. To ensure that video thumbnails continue to appear in search results, it’s vital to have videos featured prominently on their own pages or blog posts. This change in policy is something to be aware of as we continue to optimize our clients’ websites for search engines.
Bing Webmaster Tools to gain Bing Chat impressions and clicks next month
In the realm of search engines, Bing may not be as popular as Google, but it still has its own useful features. Bing Webmaster Tools is one of them, similar to Google Search Console. Although it currently has less data due to Bing only getting about 3% of the search data, it is still worth considering.
Bing is now integrating visibility in Bing Chat, which is powered by ChatGPT. This means you’ll be able to see if your links are being shown in the conversation and if people are clicking on them. With this new feature, you can gain insights on what kind of blog posts are likely to show up in AI chatbots, something that could become increasingly important in the coming years.
Cool Tools/Techniques
Site hacked? Remove the URL from GBP
Website hacking is a rare but real concern. No matter how much security you have, some websites will get hacked from time to time. If your website gets hacked, consider changing your Google Business Profile (GBP) URL. This can help prevent your GBP from getting suspended for linking to a hacked website.
Try using ChatGPT to analyze GSC data
ChatGPT has numerous applications, and one of the best uses is data analysis. Marie Haynes, for example, used ChatGPT to analyze Google Search Console data. Exporting data into a CSV file and asking ChatGPT to summarize or provide trends can save you time and yield valuable insights. Experiment with this tool to become more familiar with AI capabilities and stay ahead in the industry.
Recommended Reading
Glenn Gabe’s article, 9 tips for troubleshooting why your site name isn’t showing up properly in the Google search results, is a great resource for addressing issues with your site name or favicon not displaying correctly in search results.
AI News
Google pushing hard into AI
Google is pushing hard into AI, possibly even too hard. The company has recently removed some safety rails previously in place, raising concerns about the potential dangers of AI. In an interview with Google’s CEO, it was revealed that the company will be making some big announcements regarding Lambda and Palm, two of their AI models. While ChatGPT currently seems to have the edge, don’t discount Google, as they have the resources and head start in many areas to potentially come out ahead of OpenAI.
Bing Chat: Rapid Improvements
Bing Chat has made fast improvements in its capabilities, showing that AI-driven tools can offer better user experiences in a short amount of time. As AI continues to evolve, we can expect even more powerful and user-friendly tools to emerge in the near future.
OpenAI Business Plan for ChatGPT
OpenAI is planning to launch a new business plan for ChatGPT. Although the exact pricing hasn’t been announced yet, the paid version is expected to offer more features and benefits than the free version. The introduction of a business plan could greatly benefit organizations that rely on ChatGPT for various tasks, improving efficiency and collaboration.
Stability AI’s DeepFloyd IF: Text-to-Image Revolution
Stability AI has released DeepFloyd IF, a powerful text-to-image model that can understand natural language and smartly integrate text into images. Although it may not be as advanced as some other AI image generation models, it demonstrates how image creation tasks like logo design, YouTube thumbnails, and banner images could soon become much easier and more efficient.
Microsoft Designer: AI Features for Design
Microsoft, Canva, and Adobe are all racing to become the best AI design tool providers. Microsoft Designer now offers new AI features, enabling users to design with prompts. As these tools continue to improve, they will likely become the standard way of working in the design industry.
Meta’s Ambitious AI Plans
Meta (formerly Facebook) is going all-in on AI, investing heavily in rebuilding their server centers and focusing on AI. They’re planning to release generative AI within Facebook and have already made some of their AI tools open source. The company is also focusing on AI agents for tasks like customer support and internal operations, indicating that AI could soon play a significant role in business processes.
Yelp’s AI-Powered Search Updates
Yelp is attempting to stay relevant by adding AI-powered search updates and video reviews to their platform. However, their efforts seem to be falling short compared to the impressive advancements made by other AI tools.
Google’s Bard Helps with Coding
Bard, Google’s large language model, is now able to help users with coding tasks. Some people believe that it may even be better than ChatGPT in this area, showing that Google could still potentially win the AI war.
ChatGPT Prompt Engineering Course
OpenAI has partnered with DeepLearning.AI to create a free course on using ChatGPT for developers. The course covers prompt engineering and API integration, offering valuable insights to help users get the most out of the AI tool.
Web Browsing Plugin for ChatGPT
OpenAI is rolling out plugins for ChatGPT, with the first being a web browsing plugin. This feature allows users to ask ChatGPT questions and have it search the web for answers, providing more up-to-date information. The introduction of plugins has the potential to greatly enhance the capabilities of ChatGPT, making it an even more valuable tool for businesses.
As AI continues to advance at a rapid pace, businesses must stay informed about these developments and adapt their strategies to leverage the power of AI tools. By staying on top of the latest AI news and incorporating AI-driven technologies into their workflows, organizations can stay ahead of the curve and better serve their clients.
People are using A.I. chatbots to write Amazon reviews
As AI technology continues to improve, one of the negative consequences is the increasing difficulty in identifying spam and fake reviews. People are now using AI chatbots to write Amazon reviews, which can easily overwhelm sites with a large volume of spam. Amazon needs to step up its game in combating AI-generated spam, but so do other websites that accept reviews.
Cool Tools/Techniques
Pdfgpt
Pdfgpt is an interesting tool that runs on GPT to read and explain PDFs. Users can upload a PDF document, and the tool will summarize it and even suggest questions that can be asked about the document. This can be especially helpful for summarizing large PDFs or turning them into blog posts.
Introducing: Runway for Mobile
Runway is currently leading the field in AI-generated video. Although AI-generated video is not yet as advanced as text and photo, Runway is making significant progress. They have released a mobile app that allows users to change the style of videos, demonstrating their commitment to the technology. Keeping up with developments in AI-generated video will be essential in the future as the technology improves.
Recommended Reading
For those interested in ChatGPT and AI, Greg Brockman, one of the co-founders of OpenAI, has an informative TED Talk titled “The inside story of ChatGPT’s astonishing potential.” This talk offers insights into the development of ChatGPT and showcases some of the incredible things the technology can do.
Unrelated, but cool
Grimes will split royalties on AI songs using her voice
As AI-generated music gains popularity, artists like Grimes are embracing the technology. Grimes has publicly announced her support for AI-generated songs using her voice, stating she will split the profits with the creators. This innovative approach could revolutionize the music industry, with more artists potentially endorsing AI-generated music.
Musicfy
If you’re interested in experimenting with AI-generated music, Musicfy is an app that lets you create songs and use any artist’s voice. The legality of using AI-generated voices in songs is still unclear, but Musicfy is a fascinating tool to experiment with and see the capabilities of AI in music production.
As the worlds of search engines and AI continue to evolve rapidly, it’s crucial for small service businesses to stay informed and adapt their strategies accordingly. By keeping up with the latest news and incorporating cutting-edge tools and technologies, organizations can better serve their clients and maintain a competitive edge in the ever-changing digital landscape. Stay tuned for more weekly updates, and be sure to check out the recommended resources to further enhance your understanding of the search engine and AI industries.
Search News
- The April Reviews update has finished rolling out
- GBP primary category seems to be carrying more weight (or other factors matter less)
- Google Testing Grid Format For Local Results In Mobile Web Search
- Google is texting businesses to update their GBP
- Google’s Video Thumbnail Apocalypse Is Causing A Huge Drop In Video Snippets In The Search Results (But Traffic Could Remain Stable)
- Bing Webmaster Tools to gain Bing Chat impressions and clicks next month
- Cool Tools/Techniques:
- Site hacked? Remove the URL from GBP
- Try using ChatGPT to analyze GSC data
- Recommended Reading:
AI News
- Google pushing hard into AI
- Bing continuing to make fast improvements to Bing Chat
- OpenAI previews business plan for ChatGPT, launches new privacy controls | TechCrunch
- Stability AI releases DeepFloyd IF, a powerful text-to-image model that can smartly integrate text into images
- Microsoft Designer: Get inspired with new AI features | Microsoft 365 Blog
- Mark Zuckerberg says Meta wants to ‘introduce AI agents to billions of people’
- Yelp rolls out AI-powered search updates and the ability to add videos to reviews | TechCrunch
- Bard now helps you code
- ChatGPT Prompt Engineering for Developers – DeepLearning.AI
- Web browsing plugin appearing in people’s ChatGPT
- People are using A.I. chatbots to write Amazon reviews
- Cool Tools/Techniques:
- Recommended Reading:
