In this week’s digital news, A study on local SEO finds that of 8.7M Google results, review engagement correlates strongest with Local Pack visibility, with tactics varying by industry. Google is rolling out Preferred Sources for Top Stories in search, letting you choose outlets to see more often.
AI and automation are transforming advertising by tackling scalability challenges and enabling agencies to manage complex, data-driven campaigns more efficiently. Meta is moving ahead with its plan to reduce manual ad targeting on its platforms, as it pushes advertisers towards broader, AI-driven campaign management.
Hallucinated URLs are web addresses generated by AI that look real but don’t exist on a site. Google Ads accounts don’t collapse overnight; they erode. Here’s how to spot the tipping point and rebuild before performance tanks.
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Local SEO best practices aren’t universal
A new Yext analysis of 8.7 million Google search results reveals that local SEO effectiveness varies by industry and region. The standout finding is that review engagement, including volume, recency, and owner responses, is the top driver of Local Pack visibility across all sectors. Tactics like profile completeness or photo uploads impact performance differently by vertical; for instance, curated images matter more than quantity in hospitality. Regional patterns also matter, for example, slow review responses, especially over weekends, hurt visibility in areas like the Midwest. The key takeaway for marketers: move away from one-size-fits-all strategies and tailor local SEO efforts by industry and location.
Read more here.
Google rolls out ‘Preferred Sources’ for Top Stories in search
Google is rolling out Preferred Sources, a new feature that lets users prioritise which news outlets appear more often in the Top Stories section of Search, in the US and India. The feature adds a “From your sources” section to the search results page to highlight the users’ selected publishers with relevant, fresh content. Users can choose outlets by tapping the icon near Top Stories and can update preferences anytime. For marketers and publishers, this offers a chance to deepen reader loyalty, by encouraging audiences to follow their outlet to improve visibility in personalised search results.
Read more here.
How to quickly reclaim AI search traffic from hallucinated URLs
Hallucinated URLs are web addresses generated by AI that look real but don’t exist on a site. To reclaim AI search traffic from them, filter analytics to show only AI assistant visits, export the data to Google Sheets, and use an Apps Script to check each URL’s HTTP status. Identify URLs with a 404 status and significant traffic, then set up 301 redirects to relevant existing pages. This approach turns non-existent, AI-invented URLs into traffic drivers while revealing the kinds of content LLMs expect your site to have.
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When to restructure your Google Ads account
Restructuring a Google Ads account can be a powerful tactic to restore growth and improve efficiency, but it also comes with risks such as wiping out historical data and disrupting Google’s learning algorithms. Common warning signs that a full rebuild might be needed include bloated or mismatched keyword groups, persistent irrelevant search queries, budgets being spent in the wrong places, and performance flattening despite regular optimisation efforts. The most effective restructures start with a detailed audit to identify what’s truly working, preserve those high-performing elements, and then roll out changes in planned stages.
Read more here.
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