Google announced new Business Agents, branded AI Agents, a “new way for shoppers to chat with brands, right on Search,” Google said. “It’s like a virtual sales associate that can answer product questions in a brand’s voice, enabling retailers to connect with consumers during critical shopping moments and help drive sales,” Google added.

Google Ads seems to be slowly rolling out a new Google Ads experimental feature in the Google Ads Lab section named Brand Linking. Brand linking lets you “Link customers to brands,” it reads.

PPC experts share hard-earned lessons on automation limits, Performance Max misuse, post-click differentiation, and why judgment now matters more than levers. The post 10 Hard Truths About PPC: Insights From Last Year’s Best Debates For 2026 appeared first on Search Engine Journal

Prepare for UCP & ACP adoption by tightening product feeds, schema, and governance before agent-led checkout becomes default behavior. The post Agentic Commerce: What SEOs Need To Consider (ACP & UCP) appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

WordPress community responds to the use of the official WordPress X account for “childish” trolling. The post WordPress X Account’s ‘Childish’ Trolling Causes Backlash appeared first on Search Engine Journal

Google announced checkout capabilities in AI Mode and a new Business Agent feature that puts branded AI chat on Search results. Available to U.S.

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…

Paid media in 2026 demands sharper focus. Learn which strategies matter now and where marketers should shift budgets for stronger, more reliable performance this year. The post Paid Media Marketing: 8 Changes Marketers Should Make In 2026 appeared first on Search Engine Journal

This week’s SEO Pulse highlights the tensions emerging as search engines tighten quality standards for sites while defending their own AI outputs. The post SEO Pulse: Core Update Favors Niche Expertise, AIO Health Inaccuracies & AI Slop appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

This week, yep, we had another story on Google Search ranking volatility. I posted the Google webmaster report for January 2026.