How to calculate your share of search | SEW Weekly Digest

PLUS: Pinterest leads visual search adoption among Gen-Z

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Highlights from today's newsletter:
šŸ” Google launches 'AI Max for Search' beta
šŸ‘„ An audience-first approach to showing up in AI results
šŸ”’ Internal silos are an overlooked problem that can hurt search performance

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TOP OF THE SERPS šŸ†

Tariffs are rewriting the rules of marketing in the U.S.—and speed, not scale, is now the advantage.

As costs rise and margins tighten, brands like Chipotle, Foot Locker, and eBay are showing how marketing must shift: holding prices steady to protect trust, aligning campaigns with real-time inventory, and replacing seasonal calendars with modular, data-driven execution.

With 94% of advertisers anticipating budget cuts, the pressure isn’t just to do more with less—but to prove every dollar moves the needle. Marketing has moved from storytelling to strategic survival.

AI & SEO šŸ–±ļø

INNOVATIVE MARKETING TECHNOLOGIES
In Graphic Detail: How AI Is Changing Search and Advertising
AI agents are transforming search and advertising by becoming essential intermediaries in digital consumer journeys, prompting marketers to shift from traditional paid ads to optimizing AI-driven content, product feeds, and direct agent integrations.

Marketers must understand evolving search behaviors and prepare foundational strategies to adapt effectively. AI agents present both challenges and opportunities for targeting, personalization, and consumer trust.

INNOVATIVE MARKETING TECHNOLOGIES
Google Launches ā€˜AI Max for Search’ Beta
Google’s AI Max for Search enhances ad performance by using advanced AI to identify high-performing queries beyond current keywords, resulting in conversion gains—up to 27 percent uplift for campaigns using exact and phrase match.

Early adopters reported reduced costs and improved lead quality. Marketers gain expanded reach, transparency, and actionable campaign optimization.

SEO STRATEGY
An Audience-First Approach to Showing Up in AI Results
AI-driven SEO now relies on an audience-first approach, prioritizing relevant, clear, and personalized content over traditional keyword strategies.

Codeword’s ā€œAI visibility triangleā€ framework integrates content, communications, and community to enhance visibility in AI search results. This model helps brands align messaging with audience needs, ensuring SEO practices remain effective as search technology evolves.

EXTRA CLICKS FOR THOUGHT šŸ’”

SEARCH OPTIMIZATION BARRIERS
Internal Silos Are An Overlooked Problem That Can Hurt Search Performance
Internal silos—such as fragmented strategy, lack of channel integration, isolated data, disconnected content planning, and slow web development—undermine SEO efforts by causing inefficiency, wasted budget, and poor ROI. 

Addressing these barriers is critical for organizations seeking measurable digital marketing gains.

SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS
Pinterest Leads Visual Search Adoption Among Gen-Z, Surpassing Google and Social Platforms
Pinterest now surpasses Google and Facebook as a visual search engine, favored by 39% of Gen-Z and 36% of overall consumers.

Businesses report higher consumer engagement and effective traffic-driving capabilities, with 80% preferring Pinterest over competitors for engagement and 61% citing effectiveness of image Pins. Despite challenges in content creation and SEO, Pinterest’s personalized and high-quality visual results address current trends in user search behavior.

BRAND ANALYTICS
Share of Search: How to Calculate, Use, And Improve It
Share of search (SoS) measures the proportion of branded searches for a business relative to its competitors, offering real-time insight into brand awareness. Marketers can use SoS to monitor brand momentum, assess campaign impact, and identify market shifts faster than with traditional metrics.

Integrating SoS with other indicators, like category penetration and intent-based traffic, yields a nuanced understanding of brand demand and competitive landscape.

SOUNDS OF SEARCH šŸŽ§

Meredith's Husband | SEO for People Who Don't Like SEO
The Content Multiplier: AI's Hidden Power for SEO

AI’s value in SEO lies in organizing and repurposing a creator’s documented expertise, not in replacing that expertise with auto-generated content.

Integrated tools streamline processes like summarizing, timestamping, and converting workshop or podcast material into blogs or social content, saving time while maintaining original insights. Personalization of prompts ensures output remains relevant and effective for professional use.

MORE THAN A NEWSLETTER

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