Microsoft Ads Liaison Navah Hopkins confirmed that the company’s Ads for Social Impact program, which grants nonprofits ad credits across Microsoft’s ad inventory, is currently on a waitlist.
Why we care. The program gives nonprofits free ad credits to reach audiences across Bing, Outlook, MSN, Microsoft Edge, and even Yahoo and AOL via syndicated partners. With no strict feature requirements, charities can apply the credit to strategies that best fit their goals, while also accessing training and optional AI tools for creative support.
Eligibility: To qualify, nonprofits must be registered 501(c)(3) or equivalent, have a functioning mission-aligned website, and not fall into excluded categories like hospitals, schools, or government entities. Applying is not a guarantee of acceptance and all applications will be reviewed on the merits.
Bottom line. While details around nonprofit support have been murky, Microsoft is reaffirming its commitment to helping charities stretch their marketing budgets and amplify their missions through free ad spend.
https://i0.wp.com/dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Microsoft-Ads-800x450-6TlAMB.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1450800http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-09-23 15:21:272025-09-23 15:21:27Microsoft clarifies nonprofit ad grant program status
B2B marketers under pressure to prove ROI now have a new tool from LinkedIn – the Company Intelligence API. It is designed to connect campaign performance directly to sales pipeline and revenue outcomes.
Why we care. Traditional attribution models struggle with complex B2B buying journeys, often missing early signals and undervaluing campaigns. LinkedIn’s new API aims to bridge the gap between ad performance and real business outcomes, letting them see which companies are actually moving through the funnel, prove ROI with hard numbers, and make smarter budget shifts toward what drives pipeline and revenue.
By the numbers: Early beta users reported (LinkedIn data):
288% increase in companies engaged
93% increase in pipeline value
30% boost in ROI
37% reduction in cost per acquisition
How it works: Advertisers can access aggregated company-level data (e.g., impressions, clicks) through LinkedIn’s certified analytics partners (Channel99, Octane11, Dreamdata, Factors.ai, Fibbler). The data is ingested into CRM-connected dashboards, giving marketers clearer visibility into ROI, pipeline acceleration, and company engagement across the funnel.
What they’re saying:
DataSnipper: “We can now clearly see the impact on pipeline and revenue, uncovering nearly twice as much influenced pipeline as before.”
Eftsure: “Reductions in cost per SQL give me strong evidence to justify investment to leadership.”
Inovalon: “We plan to shift budget from other channels to LinkedIn.”
What’s next. The Company Intelligence API is now available globally through LinkedIn’s B2B attribution and analytics partners. Adoption could grow as marketers seek stronger proof of performance in a tight-budget environment.
https://i0.wp.com/dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/5-tests-to-run-to-drive-growth-with-LinkedIn-Ads-4IxBUw.webp?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=110801920http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-09-23 13:00:002025-09-23 13:00:00LinkedIn Company Intelligence API links ads to pipeline, revenue
A controlled test compared three nearly identical pages: one with strong schema, one with poor schema, and one with none.
Only the page with well-implemented schema appeared in an AI Overview and achieved the best organic ranking.
The results suggest that schema quality – not just its presence – may play a role in AI Overview visibility.
Schema, AI Overviews, and the need for proof
AI Overview visibility is becoming increasingly important to businesses.
One debate within the SEO community has stood out: Does adding schema improve the chances of being cited in an AI Overview?
Schema was created to make webpages more machine-readable, and it has even been shown to help large language models – like Microsoft’s – better interpret content freshness.
That makes it tempting to assume schema is a best practice for AI visibility.
Still, AI Overviews are the result of complex and layered processes.
It’s difficult to draw firm conclusions from logic alone or from limited glimpses into one part of a model’s behavior.
That uncertainty is what motivated us to run a controlled experiment.
In earlier work, Molly analyzed 100 healthcare sites and found a slight correlation between schema use and AI Overview visibility. But the correlation was not statistically significant, and the analysis had two limitations: it didn’t assess the quality of the schema, and because it wasn’t an experiment, site differences in content, structure, and audience couldn’t be controlled.
At the same time, Benjamin’s experiments showed that ChatGPT retrieved information more thoroughly and accurately from pages with structured data. Those findings pointed to schema’s role in AI visibility, but they didn’t address Google’s AI Overviews.
With those perspectives in mind, we decided to collaborate on a test that would build on Molly’s earlier analysis and extend Benjamin’s experiments into Google Search – focusing directly on whether schema quality plays a role in AI Overview visibility.
We built three single-page sites to compare schema directly:
One with well-implemented schema.
One with poorly implemented schema.
One with none.
Aside from schema, the pages were kept as similar as possible, with keywords chosen to match in difficulty and search volume.
After publishing, we submitted all three for indexing to see whether they would rank – and, more importantly, whether any would appear in an AI Overview.
The result: Only the page with well-implemented schema appeared in an AI Overview
The page with well-implemented schema was the only one to appear in an AI Overview.
It also ranked for six keywords in traditional search, reaching as high as Position 3.
Rank 3 was the highest conventional search rank achieved by any page in our experiment, and it was also the query that triggered the AI Overview appearance.
The page with poorly implemented schema ranked for 10 keywords and peaked at Position 8, but none of its queries surfaced in an AI Overview.
The page with no schema was crawled by Google within minutes of the others, but was not indexed.
Without indexing, it didn’t rank for any keywords and could not appear in AI Overviews.
Methodology: How we controlled for variables and defined ‘good schema’
To isolate schema as the variable, we kept everything else about the test pages as consistent as possible – from keyword choice to site setup.
Keyword selection
We used Ahrefs to choose three keywords with identical metrics. Each returned an AI Overview at the time of selection:
“How much does a marketing team cost.”
“What are common elements in the promotional mix.”
“Data pool vs. data lake.”
Metrics (Ahrefs)
Keyword difficulty: 3
Monthly search volume: 60
Traffic potential: 20
We also chose keywords that were qualitatively similar and within the same general industry (marketing/martech).
Site build controls
All three were single-page sites deployed on Vercel, with the following constraints applied consistently:
No JavaScript.
No custom domain name or homepage.
No sitemap.
No robots.txt file.
No canonical tags.
Schema treatments
To create a page that exemplified a solid implementation of schema best practices, we included:
Complete Article schema with all required fields.
FAQ schema for common questions.
Breadcrumb navigation schema.
Proper date formatting.
Author and publisher information.
Educational level and audience targeting.
Related topics and mentions.
Word count and reading time.
We deliberately introduced errors into the poor schema page, including:
The third site was built without any schema at all.
All three sites were submitted to Google on Aug. 29 and crawled the same night.
Interpreting the results: Promising, but inconclusive
We don’t consider these results to be absolute proof that well-implemented schema plays a role in AI Overview presence.
However, the story is clear: the page with well-implemented schema was the winner in our small, carefully controlled test. It achieved the best organic rank and was the only page to appear in an AI Overview.
We don’t see any obvious alternative explanation for why this happened, either.
Unseen variables could have muddied the waters, and there’s always the possibility that our results were simply a coin-flip-style fluke of the Google algorithm.
As a follow-up, we plan to de-index the pages, create new pages with identical content, and then swap the schema.
We want to see if putting schema on the “no schema” page gets it indexed and ranked. That would be a very compelling result indeed.
Appendix
For those who want to review the test materials directly, here are the URLs of the sites and supporting documentation:
https://i0.wp.com/dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Google-AI-Overviews-data-pool-vs-data-lake-MyzdfU.webp?fit=1600%2C862&ssl=18621600http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-09-23 12:00:002025-09-23 12:00:00Schema and AI Overviews: Does structured data improve visibility?
With increased competition, stricter Google guidelines, and the rise of AI-powered search, standing out online is more challenging than ever.
For multi-location brands, this task is even harder as they must maintain a unified brand presence across all locations, yet fulfill consumers’ desire for personalized, local engagement.
Rallio isn’t just another scheduling platform, it’s the next generation of AI-powered tools revolutionizing how multi-location businesses stand out online.
AI-powered insights: Rallio’s AI Assistant operates 24/7, analyzing your data to uncover your strengths and growth opportunities. It also compares your performance against competitors, providing actionable strategies to outperform them.
AI-generated posts: Rallio’s AI instantly generates social media posts tailored to your brand’s style and messaging. Fresh, approved content is just a click away. It can also generate captions and hashtags from any image in your media library, saving time while boosting engagement.
AI-generated captions: Rallio makes creating compelling captions easy. With a simple prompt, it crafts engaging captions complete with relevant emojis and hashtags, driving interactions with your audience.
AI playbook: With the Rallio AI Playbook, you are able to customize your own AI engine that powers your brand from top to bottom throughout the platform. Your Playbook captures your brand voice, tone, and content preferences – everything the AI needs to create effective on-brand, tailored posts just for you.
Reputation management: Rallio simplifies managing reviews across multiple locations by consolidating all reviews into a single dashboard. Its AI generates personalized responses based on review context, saving time and ensuring consistency.
Employee advocacy: Rallio’s mobile app empowers your team to contribute authentic, hyper-local content by submitting photos and videos. This employee-driven content boosts engagement and local relevance, which are key for improving local SEO.
REVV – review acceleration: Positive reviews are crucial for visibility in search results, especially in Google’s Map Pack. Rallio’s REVV platform helps businesses collect and manage reviews through smart surveys, driving up review volume and improving online reputation.
By automating content creation, enhancing employee engagement, and streamlining review management, Rallio helps multi-location businesses build authentic relationships with local audiences while strengthening their national presence. Watch our free demo to see it in action.
How Rallio helps brands gain visibility in AI-powered search
Savvy marketers are focusing on generative engine optimization (GEO) to gain visibility in AI-powered search engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and more. A principle of GEO is to prioritize relevance, engagement, and authority, and that’s precisely how Rallio helps boost visibility.
Social signals: Rallio generates content that drives likes, shares, and comments, increasing engagement with your brand.
Local SEO: By focusing on localized posts and employee-driven content, Rallio boosts visibility in local search results and Google’s Map Pack.
Authority: Rallio ensures consistent, high-quality content across platforms, which signals trust and authority to search engines.
Reputation: Managing and responding to reviews effectively enhances local SEO and reinforces brand credibility.
If your brand is leveraging GEO strategies, Rallio can be your secret weapon to boost engagement, relevance, and authority, helping you stand out in search results.
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Take the first step toward transforming your brand’s online presence with Rallio. Get instant access to our free demo video here.
https://i0.wp.com/dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Ignite-Visibility-20250923-header-nsWDQ8.webp?fit=1500%2C800&ssl=18001500http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-09-23 11:00:002025-09-23 11:00:00The must-have social media tool for multi-location brands in 2026 by Rallio
Google Ads rolled out a beta feature that lets app marketers apply Seasonality Adjustments to Smart Bidding, giving advertisers more control during short, high-impact events like flash sales or product launches.
Why we care. App campaigns often see sharp conversion swings during promotions, but Smart Bidding typically learns reactively. This beta gives them the ability to proactively boost bids during predictable conversion spikes, ensuring they capture maximum value from short-term promotions and avoid leaving revenue on the table.
How it works:
Works across all App campaign bid strategies.
Best for short, intense periods (1–7 days).
Not meant for minor fluctuations (Smart Bidding already accounts for those).
Bottom line. Advertisers now have a lever to prevent missed opportunities during critical promotional windows, making Smart Bidding more predictable when the stakes are highest.
First seen. This was announced by Qais Haddad, senior app growth manager at Google, on LinkedIn.
Google’s documentation says advertisers can only add 5,000 keywords to a campaign-level negative keyword list. But one advertiser has reported successfully adding more – raising questions about whether this is a glitch or an unannounced update.
Why we care. Negative keyword lists are critical for advertisers, helping them cut wasted spend and prevent ads from showing on irrelevant searches. A higher limit could be a welcome change for large accounts managing thousands of exclusions – but only if Google confirms it’s intentional.
Driving the news. Stan Oppenheimer, paid search specialist at Dallas SEO Dogs, spotted a search campaign with more than 5,000 negatives (i.e. the published limit).
Oppenheimer flagged the issue to Google, asking for clarification and for the official help docs to be updated.
Between the lines. If this is more than a glitch, it could be part of Google’s broader push to standardize campaign limits across formats. But the lack of clarity leaves advertisers unsure whether they can rely on the higher cap.
What’s next. Until Google confirms, advertisers should proceed cautiously – and assume the official 5,000-word cap still applies to search campaigns.
What are Google saying. “The threshold remains 5,000 keywords per negative keyword list, but there may be some cases in which lists a bit over the limit are accepted.” Ginny Marvin, Google Ads Liaison, confirmed on X:
A trial many expected to fizzle has delivered a bombshell: Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled Google illegally monopolized digital advertising, setting up a remedies phase that could force major changes to its ad tech stack. But with Google already losing ground in ad tech and the web fragmenting into retail media, walled gardens, and AI-native platforms, the remedies may feel like too little, too late.
Why we care. The DOJ wants to unwind Google’s dominance by weakening its ad exchange (AdX) and prying open its auction logic. Publishers and advertisers argue this could level the playing field. If auction logic is opened up and interoperability enforced, advertisers may see more competition, better pricing, and greater transparency. But if the remedies stall or prove symbolic, the status quo remains – while spend continues shifting toward walled gardens and retail media networks.
Zoom in:
The DOJ’s asks. Strip AdX from DFP, open-source auction logic, and revisit divestiture if competition doesn’t improve.
Google’s counter. Interoperability with rival ad servers, no “first look” or “last look” privileges, and scrapping unified pricing rules—without divestiture.
Witnesses. Executives from DailyMail.com, AWS, PubMatic, and Index Exchange will testify against Google, while Google leans on its own engineers and Columbia University experts.
Between the lines. Even if the court forces remedies, Google’s grip on display ads has already slipped as advertisers shift spend into walled gardens and AI-driven platforms. The ruling could end up more symbolic than transformative.
What’s next.Testimony runs Sept. 22–30, with a ruling expected in 2026. Until then, the ad industry is bracing for a decision that could either shake up—or barely dent—the future of the open web.
http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png00http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-09-16 19:09:522025-09-16 19:09:52ChatGPT search update focuses on quality, shopping, format
Google is piloting a new “Sales & Promotions Feature Bundle with Flighted Budgets” in Google Ads, designed to help advertisers push harder during short-term promos without wasting spend.
What’s new
Campaign Total Budgets: Fix a set spend across 3-90 days.
Promotion Mode: Accelerates spend for 3-14 days, prioritizing volume over strict efficiency.
Cross-campaign support: Works with Performance Max, Search, and Shopping – including tROAS and tCPA bidding strategies.
Why we care. This update gives more control over spend pacing and volume during promotions, something current Google Ads tools can’t fully deliver. Instead of just telling Smart Bidding that conversion rates will spike, the feature bundle actively reallocates budget to hit promo goals – whether for flash sales, holiday weekends, or ticket launches. In short, it helps advertisers spend faster, scale smarter, and maximize returns when timing matters most.
How it’s different. Instead of just adjusting for expected conversion rate shifts, the bundle uses sale dates, promo assets, and explicit ROAS tradeoffs to give Google Ads stronger signals for promotion periods.
Best fits
Flash sales
Holiday weekends and seasonal promotions
Ticket launches, travel deals, and other time-sensitive offers
What’s next. Advertisers running Q4 promos could see major upside if they test this tool early. The big shift will be deciding when to prioritize scale over efficiency – a tradeoff this feature makes more explicit than ever.
First seen. This alpha release was noted by Yash Mandlesha, co-founder of Mediagram, on LinkedIn.
The search and marketing world never slows down. Last week’s inaugural edition of Semrush’s Marketing Countdown, featuring Search Engine Land, explored how the landscape is rapidly shifting under our feet.
We unpacked five of the biggest stories making waves:
Bottom line: SEO remains critical in the AI-driven search era. A strategic, brand-focused, and user-first approach is essential. Companies must align messaging, produce authoritative content, and track emerging AI visibility metrics to thrive in a diversified, AI-influenced ecosystem.
Here’s the video of everything you need to know to stay ahead of the curve – plus takeaways and insights you won’t want to ignore.
Marketing Countdown was hosted by Rita Cidre, head of Academy at Semrush, and featured:
Mordy Oberstein, Founder of Unify and communications advisor for Semrush
Danny Goodwin (that’s me), Editorial Director at Search Engine Land
Erich Casagrande, content product specialist at Semrush
It focused on the evolving landscape of SEO, the impact of AI on search, and actionable marketing strategies. Some of the key themes discussed:
Generative AI in search
AI is changing how people research, but Google remains the dominant starting point due to habit and trust.
AI summaries offer convenience but often reduce clicks to websites, posing challenges for publishers.
Google’s AI upgrade
Google’s announcement of its biggest search upgrade lacked transparent data.
Publishers report rising impressions but falling clicks, showing a “great decoupling” between search visibility and user traffic.
Answer engines and content
Platforms like Perplexity highlight the need for authoritative content, topical authority, and trusted citations.
Video content and user engagement are increasingly important for visibility.
Google AI Mode
Rolled out in 180+ countries.
Presents comprehensive AI-generated answers in a separate tab, suggesting a future where AI synthesizes multiple subtopics into a single response.
ChatGPT & Google
Despite OpenAI’s claims of Bing reliance, ChatGPT Plus reportedly pulls from Google results, reinforcing Google’s central role in SEO.
Shift in marketing strategy
Marketers need to blend tactical SEO with brand-building.
Fragmented channels and AI-driven search require holistic, integrated strategies.
Unsiloing teams
Consistency across marketing and AI platforms is essential to avoid contradictory brand messaging.
SEO best practices
Focus on high-quality, user-centric, contextual content rather than outdated keyword tactics.
New metrics include brand mentions, sentiment analysis, and AI visibility tracking.
Content sources for AI
YouTube and Reddit are frequently cited in AI answers.
TikTok and Instagram are less influential in this context.
https://i0.wp.com/dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/marketing-countdown-5-industry-shakeups-sept-2025-GbUl0D.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=110801920http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-09-09 14:00:002025-09-09 14:00:00Video: 5 AI search stories you need to know (September 2025)
