In this week’s digital news, an Apple document reveals how AI digital assistant responses are rated for harmfulness, truthfulness, satisfaction, and more. More queries in the entertainment, restaurants, and travel industries are triggering Google’s AI Overviews since the core update.
Google’s new feature helps you decode data anomalies, enabling faster ad campaign adjustments and smarter budget decisions. The PMax evolution has dominated ecommerce ad spend (peaking at 82% last May) but faces some decline in its piece of the ecommerce pie.
ByteDance has more time to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations, allowing U.S. brands and businesses to continue marketing on the platform. A new law aims to eliminate added costs that can be up to 25% of retail price due to fake reviews in the UK.
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Apple document leak reveals scoring system for AI-generated responses
A 170-page internal playbook from Apple has been leaked, assessing digital assistant responses to user queries exclusively to Search Engine Land, allowing us to gain insight into how the company decides that is “good” or “harmful” to show. Responses are judged by human assessors on six categories, including:
- Following instructions
- Language
- Concision
- Truthfulness
- Harmfulness
- Satisfaction
Parallels can be drawn between the Preference Ranking from Apple and Google’s Quality Rater guidelines which hints at the type of content that might get surfaced, quoted or summarised by AI-driven searches being very much the same as content that is most likely to rank in standard Organic Search.
Read more here.
Search Engine Land received the Apple Preference Ranking Guidelines v3.3 via a vetted source who wishes anonymity.
Google AI Overviews spiked during March 2025 Core Update
Google’s AI Overviews were found to expand significantly in three main sectors during the March 2025 Core Update – entertainment, restaurants and travel. According to BrightEdge’s research, the presence of AI Overviews grew by:
- 528% for entertainment queries (e.g., [Julia Roberts movies], [Movies filmed in Chicago]).
- 387% for restaurant queries (e.g., [date night restaurants], [Thai restaurant near me], [downtown restaurants]).
- 381% for travel queries (e.g., [things to do in Santa Fe], [things to do in Hawaii], [things to do in Las Vegas]).
If you’re working on a site in any of these three industries, you should check your rankings and the SERPs for these terms to assess the impact this is having. If AI Overviews are suddenly appearing across a number of the SERPs where you hold rankings, even if your rankings remain unchanged, you could see a decrease in click-through rates or traffic from search.
Read more here.
Google Analytics rolls out Generated Insights feature to decode data fluctuations
Google Analytics introduced a new AI-powered feature called Generated insights that automatically detects and explains significant data fluctuations. The feature uses natural language to surface trends and anomalies — potentially saving you hours of manual work and so you can react faster to what’s really going on. The Generated insights feature identifies unusual patterns (e.g., unexpected conversion spikes), then analyses several combinations of dimensions and metrics to determine probable causes. It then delivers explanations in plain language directly within the Analytics interface.
Read more here.
Google Ads for ecommerce is a game of PMax, PMax, Pmax!
Google’s Performance Max (PMax) campaign type has reached its third anniversary. It has evolved from what critics called “an experiment funded by advertisers” into a mature advertising solution that’s reshaping digital marketing across platforms, according to Mike Ryan, head of ecommerce insights at Smarter Ecommerce.
Read more here.
Trump extends TikTok sale/shutdown deadline by another 75 days
President Trump extended the deadline for ByteDance to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations by 75 days, pushing the cutoff date to mid-June and preventing an immediate shutdown. This is the second extension Trump has given to China-based ByteDance to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations. Temporarily averting a potential ban of the popular app. The TikTok deal “requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed,” Trump announced on Truth Social. This extends ByteDance’s timeline just before the April 5 deadline established under legislation signed by former President Biden.
Read more here.
UK bans £2.2bn ‘sneaky’ fees and fake reviews for online products
Sneaky fees that are estimated to cost consumers £2.2bn a year are to be banned from today under new consumer protection laws. Businesses, including travel websites, ticket agencies and food delivery apps, will be required to include any mandatory fees in the headline price. Research has found these fees can be more than 25% of the product price. The ban comes into force under reforms in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Act 2024, passed under the previous government. The new laws also impose bans on the use or commissioning of fake reviews.
Read more here.
For more information on any of these stories, or for support with your digital marketing. Get in touch with our team of digital specialists. If you’re looking for an improved results with your PMax campaigns using PPC or for long term SEO strategies. Send us an email to team@modo25.com
