- 70
- articles
- 2026
- on Search Engine Watch
- SEO News
- most covered
Martin Ashmere
Martin Ashmere has spent over a decade in the messy trenches of organic search from the days when an algorithm update meant frantically refreshing webmaster forums to the current scramble over AI-generated answers. At Search Engine Watch, he cuts through the noise to write about what actually happens when technical SEO meets the real world: crawling bottlenecks, quirky indexing bugs, and the shift toward Generative Engine Optimization.
Martin leans hard on server logs and real-world testing rather than industry speculation or “silver bullet” growth hacks. His goal is simple: translate complex search engineering into clear, sensible playbooks that digital teams, developers, and editors can actually execute without losing their minds.
When he isn’t diagnosing why an e-commerce site’s faceted navigation went rogue or testing how conversational engines cite sources, you’ll usually find him drinking too much espresso, debating site speed trade-offs, and championing the idea that great SEO starts with building things real humans want to read.
2026
Mythos 5’s safety answers failed to predict its actions in AISI tests
Separate test runs exposed a gap between recognizing harm and stopping an unauthorized task.
New PMax campaigns can use your website photos by default from December
Account-level opt-outs will no longer carry over to new campaigns from December 4.
Your AI ads may feel too personal, Snapchat’s survey suggests
The April survey separates enthusiasm for AI help from comfort with brand personalization.
DV360 API v5 lets you edit YouTube exclusions that were read-only
The public beta also changes inventory IDs and moves Customer Match management to another API.
Claude brings mathematical proof to 123 libraries your software may depend on
The public release lets developers inspect specific guarantees, with 25 libraries covered so far.
YouTube can pause your uploads if it suspects a channel takeover
The usual 24-hour review can lead to a longer recovery if YouTube confirms a hijack.
Google explains why hyphens help it read the words in your URLs
The documentation clarification favors word boundaries without calling for an archive-wide URL rewrite.
Google plans Agent Compute Engine preview with isolated computers for AI agents
The service pauses idle environments while preserving work and keeps service credentials outside them.
ChatGPT ads reach 89 countries after expansion into 26 new markets
New advertisers may face home-country targeting limits before they can run international campaigns.
Google adds existing AI and snippet controls to its Search sharing guide
The October 21 revision brings site-wide AI choices and page-level preview rules into one guide.