Google tightens Maps review policy: staff names and quotas now banned
Google updated its Maps review policy on April 17, 2026, banning staff quotas and reviews that mention employee names under its rating manipulation rules.
Search
The latest news about search ads. Search ads, also known as paid search advertising or pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, are a type of online advertising that appears in search engine results pages (SERPs). When a user searches for a keyword or phrase, search ads are displayed at the top and bottom of the SERP.
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Google's 2025 Ads Safety Report: Gemini blocked 8.3 billion bad ads
Google's 2025 Ads Safety Report shows Gemini blocked 8.3 billion ads, suspended 24.9 million advertiser accounts, and cut false suspensions by 80% in 2025.
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Google's AI Mode in Chrome opens publisher links side by side - what changes
Google updated AI Mode in Chrome on April 16, 2026, to open publisher links side-by-side instead of replacing the AI interface, changing how users navigate.
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Only 15% of users trust AI search results, Yelp study finds
Yelp and Morning Consult surveyed 2,202 U.S. adults and found only 15% trust AI search platforms "a lot," with 51% describing results as a "walled garden."
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Google Maps uses Gemini to stop fake edits and blocks review extortion scams
Google Maps today uses Gemini to block fake place edits and stops review extortion scams pre-publication. Google removed 292M policy-violating reviews in 2025.
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March 2026 Google core update hit aggregators harder than December
SE Ranking data shows the March 2026 Google core update drove 79.5% URL shifts in top 3 results, surpassing December 2025 volatility across every ranking tier.
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Google ends Dynamic Search Ads: DSA upgrades to AI Max in September
Google today announced Dynamic Search Ads will automatically upgrade to AI Max for Search campaigns in September 2026, retiring a format that has defined search automation for years.
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Google sets June 15 deadline to stop hijacking users' back button
Google today named back button hijacking an explicit spam violation, with enforcement beginning June 15, 2026 - two months after today's policy announcement.
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IAB Polska's SEMbook 2026 maps new rules for search marketing in the age of AI
IAB Polska released SEMbook 2026 on April 9, addressing AI agents, CPC cost spikes, Performance Max, ROAS limits, and OneSearch for Polish search marketers.
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Judge dismisses newspaper publishers' antitrust case against Google
A D.C. court dismissed the Helena World Chronicle antitrust suit against Google, ruling publishers lacked standing and failed to prove an online news monopoly.
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Google updates Merchant Center: same product IDs work across multiple accounts
Google updated Merchant Center product ID documentation on April 8, 2026, clarifying that duplicate IDs across multiple accounts will not trigger disapprovals.
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What Google actually looks for when it catches spam sites
Former Google Search Quality engineer Pedro Dias reveals how manual reviews, intent analysis, and fingerprinting actually work inside Google's spam detection systems.
