Traditional search maintained 10% of desktop activity through 2025 while AI tools grew to 0.77%, with users writing longer queries rather than switching platforms.

Google Ads API v23 introduces channel-level reporting for Performance Max, enabling developers to break down ad performance across Search, YouTube, Display, Gmail, Maps, and Discover.

Cloudflare data shows Googlebot accesses 3.2x more unique URLs than OpenAI and 4.8x more than Microsoft, as UK regulator considers crawler separation mandate.

Microsoft search advertising revenue increased 10% to $3.8 billion in Q2 fiscal 2026 as cloud business surpassed $50 billion quarterly milestone for first time.

Google explores website controls to opt out of AI Overviews and AI Mode following UK Competition and Markets Authority requirements announced January 28, 2026.

Publishers would control AI training opt-outs while Google must prove fair ranking under first UK digital markets conduct requirements targeting search dominance.

Google extends structured data carousel support to food delivery, car hire, and bus booking in South Africa on January 21, requiring no new markup from businesses.

Google to revoke gambling certificates from Manager Accounts with poor policy health and introduce stricter domain requirements starting March 23, 2026.