Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO, and its executive team held a strategy meeting with employees last week on its 2025 outlook and what Google needs to focus on to get there. As you can imagine, much of it was around AI and shipping AI products that are better, faster and more consumer focused.
Consumer focused Gemini. “Scaling Gemini on the consumer side will be our biggest focus next year,” Pichai was quoted as saying. The issue is, ChatGPT from OpenAI is quickly becoming the brand for AI, like Google is for Search. The CNBC article reads:
One comment read aloud by Pichai suggested that ChatGPT “is becoming synonymous to AI the same way Google is to search,” with the questioner asking, “What’s our plan to combat this in the upcoming year? Or are we not focusing as much on consumer facing LLM?”
Comparing OpenAI to Google. Pichai also showed a chart of large language models, with Gemini 1.5 leading OpenAI’s GPT and other competitors. But that lead might not stay and that Google may have to play catchup, he suggested. “I expect some back and forth” in 2025, Pichai said. “I think we’ll be state of the art.”
“In history, you don’t always need to be first but you have to execute well and really be the best in class as a product,” he said. “I think that’s what 2025 is all about.”
Build and ship faster. Pichai also stressed that the company needs to go back to its early roots and build and ship faster, while also being more scrappy. Throughout the meeting, Pichai kept reminding employees of the need to “stay scrappy.”
“In early Google days, you look at how the founders built our data centers, they were really really scrappy in every decision they made,” Pichai said. “Often, constraints lead to creativity. Not all problems are always solved by headcount.”
This will help Google compete in this area.
“I think 2025 will be critical,” Pichai said. “I think it’s really important we internalize the urgency of this moment, and need to move faster as a company. The stakes are high. These are disruptive moments. In 2025, we need to be relentlessly focused on unlocking the benefits of this technology and solve real user problems.”
Why we care. 2025 will be a big year for AI, OpenAI, Microsoft, Google and other AI startups. This is an important year for these companies to gain market share and brand recognition in this space.
It will also be an exciting year, as these AI technologies should lead to fundamental changes in consumer behavior.
https://i0.wp.com/dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/sundar-pichai-1920-800x450-POubos.jpeg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1450800Dubado Solutionshttp://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.pngDubado Solutions2024-12-29 14:05:262024-12-31 17:42:04Google’s CEO warns ChatGPT may become synonymous to AI the way Google is to Search
Google reviews play a huge role in a brand’s success.
Especially positive reviews.
That means it’s a good idea to think about how to get more Google reviews for your business.
To illustrate why, let’s go over some of the advantages.
Benefits of Getting Google Reviews
By collecting Google reviews, you can:
Learn what customers think about you: This includes what they like and dislike about your business, so that you know what’s working and what to improve on
Increase visibility: Having more good Google reviews can improve your business’s Google local pack rankings
Persuade people to buy: A product’s number of reviews is the second most influential factor affecting prospects’ perception of its quality and decision to buy it, according to research
Once you have control of your GBP, choose a verification method (email, text message, etc.).
Google may take up to five business days to verify your profile. You can use it to collect Google reviews after that.
Pro tip: Use a tool like Semrush’s Listing Management to automatically distribute your information to GBP and dozens of other directories all at once. You can also manage these listings within the tool.
2. Provide an Excellent Experience
If you wow customers with amazing products, services, and customer support, they’ll be more likely to leave you a Google review.
This is the best way to get good Google reviews.
Why?
Because people are more motivated to take action when they feel strongly about something.
Like writing a glowing review to tell others about their phenomenal experience with your business.
3. Share Your Google Review Link
Share your Google review link everywhere users may see it so they can easily leave you a review.
There are a few ways to get your Google review link through your GBP.
After creating your Google review link with the tool, enter your email address into the “Wait! There’s more…” section and click “Send me QR & prints.”
Then, check your inbox for QR code assets you can use.
5. Respond to Current Reviews
Responding to your Google reviews signals that you take feedback seriously.
This can motivate prospects to leave reviews in the future after they become customers.
Plus, research from Shout About Us reveals that up to 76% of customers may update their negative reviews if you reply and take steps to address their concerns.
So, respond by:
Thanking customers for their feedback—whether positive or negative
Sharing the follow-up actions you’ve taken in response to negative feedback
A tool like Semrush’s Review Management makes it easy to monitor and respond to your Google reviews.
Here’s how it works:
Open the tool and enter your business’s name, site, or phone number into the search bar.
Then, select your business from the drop-down menu.
Click the “Try it now” button on the page that loads.
Follow the steps to sign up for Semrush Local.
Once you’ve set up the tool, click the “Review Management” tab.
Scroll down the page to see your reviews.
Click the “Not Replied” filter to view only those you haven’t responded to yet.
The tool will suggest AI-generated replies to your Google reviews.
Modify any reply as you see fit and click “Reply” to submit it.
Take a page out of Giordano’s book if you can.
The pizza chain replies to every Google review it gets—both good and bad.
6. Send a Feedback Email
Emailing customers to ask for a Google review right after they buy from you is a good way to get reviews while their experiences are still fresh in their minds.
Here’s an example of an email requesting a Google review from Love and Logic:
Note: Trying to influence reviews through tactics like offering incentives, discouraging negative feedback, and buying or faking reviews violates Google’s policies and can result in penalties.
You can also use an email marketing platform to automate your customer feedback emails instead of sending them manually.
7. Design Physical Review Cards
Creating physical cards asking for Google reviews works well if you interact with customers in offline situations like:
Running a brick-and-mortar shop—where you can place review cards at the checkout counter
Delivering physical goods to customers—where you can include a feedback card in the package
Some cards have QR codes for customers to scan, but you can also use cards embedded with near-field communication (NFC) technology.
If you do, customers just need to activate their phone’s NFC feature and tap it against the card to visit your Google review page.
http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png00Dubado Solutionshttp://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.pngDubado Solutions2024-12-28 14:06:532024-12-31 17:32:29How to Get More Google Reviews: 9 Proven Tips
Publicly launched in February 2024, Bluesky is a microblogging social network, widely considered an alternative to X/Twitter.
During the invite-only stage, Bluesky attracted an audience of 3 million registered users and has since grown to become a popular social media platform with over 25 million users and counting.
Read on to find all the latest Bluesky usage statistics for 2024.
Key Bluesky Stats
Bluesky has 25.47 million users.
In November 2024, monthly installs of Bluesky app reached 7.85 million.
In the US and UK, Bluesky app has around 3.5 million daily active users.
20 full-time employees work at Bluesky
Bluesky Registered Users
According to the latest update, Bluesky currently has 25.47 million registered users.
Bluesky crossed the milestone of 20 million users in November 2024.
Here’s a table with number of Bluesky users over time:
In November 2024, the United States accounted for over half (52.37%) of website traffic to Bluesky website, followed by the UK (8.37%), Japan (6.59%), Brazil (5.38%) and Canada (3.06%).
Bluesky is currently one of the fastest-growing social networks but as a private company they don’t disclose many details. So I did my best to find recent data from multiple sources to bring you the latest stats on one page.
http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png00Dubado Solutionshttp://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.pngDubado Solutions2024-12-28 14:05:142024-12-31 17:32:30Bluesky Statistics: How Many People Use Bluesky?
Generative AI refers to technology that uses machine learning models to create content. Machine learning models are computer programs that seek to replicate aspects of human intelligence.
These models can produce various content formats, including code, text, visuals, audio, and video.
Various programs have the ability to learn almost any kind of information.
For example, different generative AI models can understand coding, visual, scientific, and human languages.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT is a popular example of a model that understands and produces textual content.
In this article, we’ll explore how this and other gen AI tools work.
How Generative AI Works
Gen AI uses libraries of existing material to produce original content. Here’s how the process works.
Step 1: Users Provide Prompts
The technology generates content based on user prompts.
Depending on the tool you use, you may be able to enter freeform, text-based prompts.
Suppose you want to generate a description for a new ecommerce item.
“Write a 100-word product description for [insert product details]. Use a friendly, upbeat tone of voice.”
Some AI tools use parameters rather than freeform input.
For example, Semrush’s Ecommerce Booster app generates ad descriptions based on keywords, text length, readability, tone of voice, and format settings.
Step 2: Generative AI Models Produce Content
Once the system receives the user’s prompt, it uses machine learning models to generate content.
These models train using libraries that may contain billions of pieces of existing content.
As they train, the models learn the components and structures of this existing content. Then, they use what they’ve learned to generate “new” material. (It’s not truly new as it’s based entirely on existing content.)
The mechanics of the content generation process vary, depending on the type of output.
Some of the most common models include:
Large language models (LLMs): Algorithms that use large data sets to predict the next output (word) in a piece of content—typically used to generate textual content
Generative adversarial networks (GANs): Deep learning systems that use two competing neural networks to produce new output, mostly for visual or audio content generation
Variational autoencoders (VAEs): Neural network systems that encode and decode input to create new output, often to generate visual or code content
Gen AI vs. Other Types of AI
The standard generative AI meaning doesn’t include all types of artificial intelligence.
Unlike gen AI, so-called “normal” AI analyzes and synthesizes data rather than generating new outputs.
Here are two other types of AI:
Conversational AI: Uses natural language processing (NLP) techniques to analyze human language, understand what users are saying or typing, and provide relevant responses. This type of AI is most common in chatbots and AI assistants.
Predictive AI: Analyzes historical data to anticipate outcomes from specific events and suggest actionable steps. This kind of AI is common with data analysts who need to manage risk and make data-driven decisions.
Popular Gen AI Tools
Now that we’ve covered a comprehensive generative AI definition, let’s take a closer look at some of the most widely used gen AI tools.
ChatGPT
ChatGPT is an AI chatbot developed by OpenAI that produces text responses to prompts.
Like this:
ChatGPT can do a range of tasks, like creating lists, producing code, and answering questions.
It also generates outlines and creative content.
How does ChatGPT work?
It uses generative pre-trained transformer (GPT) technology to produce human-like responses to text prompts.
OpenAI also offers custom GPTs—versions of ChatGPT that perform specific tasks using personalized prompts.
For example, you could create a custom GPT to edit written content to reflect your brand voice.
Like ChatGPT, Claude is an AI chatbot that generates text responses to prompts.
Claude can also analyze the content you upload (like a spreadsheet or a PDF).
It then provides summaries or answers questions based on your prompts.
Claude can assist with tasks like AI copywriting and content generation, too.
In your prompt, you can include guidelines for the format and style of content you want to create.
Gemini
Similar to ChatGPT and Claude, Gemini (formerly Google Bard) is another AI chatbot that provides text responses to prompts.
Like this:
As a Google app, Gemini is integrated with many Google products. This lets you verify its responses via Google Search with one click.
You can also prompt Gemini to summarize files in Google Drive, like a virtual assistant.
Microsoft Copilot
Another AI chatbot, Microsoft Copilot generates multimedia responses to prompts.
Along with producing a text answer, it shows you relevant images and links from Bing’s search results.
DALL-E
DALL-E is a text-to-image generative AI tool developed by OpenAI (creators of ChatGPT) that generates images based on prompts. Like this one:
In addition to describing the contents of the image, prompts can also request a style.
The more specific and detailed your prompt, the more likely the image will meet your needs.
DALL-E uses a diffusion model to analyze images and look for patterns in the components.
Then, the image generation app uses what it’s learned to piece together its own AI image.
Note: A diffusion model adds random noise (variations) to available training data. Then, it reverses the process to recover the data and create new combinations of information.
Midjourney
Midjourney is a text-to-image generator that uses diffusion models and LLMs to create realistic content.
Like this:
Compared to DALL-E, Midjourney’s prompts are often much more complex.
For example, prompts typically need to include things like style and composition guidelines to get the best results.
Unlike many other generative AI tools, Midjourney isn’t a standalone app but a Discord bot. To use it, you’ll need to join the Midjourney Discord server and prompt the bot.
What Can You Use Generative AI for?
Here are the most common applications of generative artificial intelligence today.
Marketing
Generative AI tools let you quickly brainstorm marketing campaign ideas as well as draft blog posts and articles.
AI marketing software also helps with rewriting content and applying a consistent tone of voice.
For example, a tool like Semrush’s ContentShake AI generates written and visual content in seconds.
Even better?
It guides you through the whole process—from ideation to publication.
Here’s how to use it:
Head to the app and click “My own idea” from the main dashboard.
Then, enter your topic and hit “Start writing.”
Review the suggested title, target keywords, word count, tone of voice, and readability level.
Then click “Create article.”
Read through the AI-generated article.
Hit “Publish” to proceed as is or “Go to regenerate” to start again.
To edit and optimize the content manually (which we recommend you do), click “Go to editor.”
Use ContentShake AI’s preset prompts to speed up the optimization process.
You can even enter your custom prompts in the chat window.
Another Semrush tool, the SEO Writing Assistant, includes AI features to help you write online marketing content faster.
It also checks the SEO potential of your work.
Head to the tool and click the “+ Analyze new text” button on the tool dashboard.
If you’ve used the tool before, click the “Set a new goal” drop-down.
If you’re using this tool for the first time, input the keyword you intend to target and click “Get recommendations.”
Draft or outline your content.
Then, use SEO Writing Assistant’s AI features to improve your writing.
Select any phrase, sentence, or paragraph and click “Expand” to elaborate on those sections.
Review the content for accuracy and style.
Then, click “Accept,” “Reject,” or “Try again.”
Alternatively, open the “Smart Writer” drop-down and select “Rephraser.”
Input your text and choose one of the four optimization options.
Then, click “Rephrase.”
Review the AI-generated ideas and click “Rephrase” again to generate more.
Use the copy button to choose where to paste the text, or click “Replace and close” to insert it where the cursor is positioned.
Use the AI-powered Smart Writer to elaborate on existing content.
Write at least a few sentences.
Then, click “Compose” to generate more copy.
Select the “Ask AI” feature to submit custom questions or prompts.
Then, click “Ask.”
As you create your content, keep an eye on the score in the upper right corner.
This score factors in readability, tone of voice, originality, and SEO. The higher the score, the better optimized your content is and the easier it is to read.
Advertising
You can take advantage of AI advertising tools to generate both copy and creatives for your paid promotions.
For example, Semrush’s AI Writing Assistant allows you to compose ad headlines quickly.
Open the app from the Semrush App Center and select “All Tools” > “Social Media & Ads.”
Then, choose either “Facebook Headlines” or “Google Ads Headlines” to generate ad headlines.
Or “Facebook Primary Text” or “Google Ads Description” for ad description text.
Then, select a language, creativity level, and tone of voice.
Next, input your audience and product name details and write a short product description.
Click “Generate” when you’re ready.
Review the results and save any headlines you like—or copy and paste them directly into your ad platform.
Enter your domain or landing page and click “Import Brand” to add brand elements.
The app automatically identifies your brand name, logo, and colors.
Review them and click the “Create Brand” button.
Note: If you’ve already set up a brand, click “Create a Brand” from the “Brand Setup” section to add a new one to your dashboard.
From the list of asset types, select “Ad Creatives.”
Choose the creative format that best fits the advertising platform and hit “Next Step.”
Click the “Generate Texts” button to create text with AI.
Then click “Next Step.”
Input some information about the content you want to generate.
Then click “Save & Generate.”
Upload a background image, crop it if necessary, and enter a project name (optional).
You can also use the app’s image search engine to source background images.
Finally, click “Generate.”
Check the box below each of the AI-generated assets you want to use, and hit the “Download” button.
You can now upload the digital assets to your ad platform and set up your ad campaign.
Media
Film, animation, and gaming studios use generative AI to produce creative content more efficiently.
With advanced AI tools, they can generate realistic 3D models, avatars, and video content.
For example, large gaming studios can use gen AI to create more photorealistic characters or speed up game design workflows.
Coding
Software developers are able to code programs and applications with generative AI tools like GitHub Copilot.
The benefits include writing more consistent code in various programming languages, debugging code faster, and improving developer efficiency.
Healthcare
Generative AI models serve the medical industry across a wide range of applications.
For example, medical researchers use gen AI for genome sequencing and drug research. While health practitioners use them for medical imaging and assigning accurate medical codes.
Automotive
Auto manufacturers use AI models to improve vehicle design and implement in-vehicle AI-powered virtual assistants.
Generative design inspired BMW’s “Alive Geometry” in the Vision Next 100 concept car, which enables shape-shifting parts that interact with the driver.
Many manufacturers also provide basic customer service using AI before involving human agents.
A 2023 Deloitte report anticipates that generative AI will lead to a 20% equipment availability increase and a 10% annual maintenance cost decrease for the automotive industry.
Data Synthesis
It’s impossible for generative AI models to learn or improve their processes and computations without training data.
However, training data doesn’t necessarily exist for every possible industry or use case.
To resolve this issue, generative models can themselves produce synthetic data for training purposes.
They also effectively address challenges and ethical concerns that may otherwise prevent industries from using generative AI.
For example, gen AI tools may create larger datasets for underrepresented groups. Or generate datasets that offer a more fair version of the original data.
Benefits and Limitations of Generative AI
To set appropriate expectations for any AI-generated content you produce, you should familiarize yourself with the pros and cons of using these models.
Benefits of Generative AI
Produces almost any type of digital media based on a brief prompt
Creates different types of content in a consistent style or format defined by the user
Gives individuals and teams of any size the capacity to create large volumes of content
Allows users to save time and money on the content creation process
Simplifies lengthy content or expands on short content in seconds
Here’s an example prompt using ChatGPT to tighten up a very wordy explanation of the law of inertia.
As compelling as these benefits are, they don’t necessarily mean anyone should create exclusively AI-generated content.
Human feedback, fact-checking, and manual editing can help ensure higher quality and improved accuracy.
The main limitations of generative AI tools are that they:
May reflect biases or inaccuracies present in their training content
May not cite original sources or attribute concepts accurately
Offer insufficient transparency into their technology and methods
Can’t think independently or generate new ideas
Lack firsthand experience and personal opinions
Here’s what happened when we asked Notion AI to generate an opinion about the TV show “Family Guy”:
Although these limitations may seem daunting, they shouldn’t prevent you from using generative AI applications to improve your business’s efficiency.
Then, use your human intelligence to detect AI-written content bias, ethical considerations, and attribution issues. And tweak the content as necessary.
Concerns Surrounding Generative AI
Although gen AI can certainly be used for good, it has the potential to create serious concerns.
As an example, deepfakes are digitally altered photos or videos that make the subject appear to be another person.
They can be used to maliciously propagate false information.
Although deepfake detectors can increasingly identify images and videos that simulate another person, foolproof methods to alleviate these concerns don’t yet exist.
Instead, it’s essential to analyze content closely for anomalies. And to adhere to security protocols to protect sensitive information.
Because generative models create content that emulates existing visual, audio, and textual patterns, they have the power to mislead.
Particularly, their ability to mimic human language can be used for social engineering.
“All techniques aimed at talking a target into revealing specific information or performing a specific action for illegitimate reasons.”
For example, gen AI models can encourage people to disclose sensitive information. Or compromise either personal privacy or their company’s security.
And as generative AI becomes more advanced, the infrastructure these models require may reach an unsustainable scale.
Keeping up with computational demands and coming up with the capital necessary to fund it is an ongoing concern for AI model developers.
A History of the Development of Generative AI
Generative AI has consistently made headlines since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022 (and other foundation models shortly after).
However, the technology existed long before this date.
We list some major generative AI advancements in the table below.
A Brief History of Generative AI
1947
Intelligent machinery
In one of the first recorded references to artificial intelligence, Alan Turing used the term “intelligent machinery” in a research paper. The study explored whether machines could spot rational behavior.
1950
Turing Test
Turing developed the Turing Test, which evaluated conversations between machines and human brains to identify machine responses.
1956
Dartmouth AI conference
The Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence, considered the birth of AI, brought together AI experts.
1961
ELIZA chatbot
Joseph Weizenbaum developed the ELIZA chatbot, a psychotherapy program that could converse with humans. And one of the first examples of generative AI.
1980s
RNN architecture
Several researchers advanced recurrent neural network (RNN) architecture. Furthering the development of this bidirectional artificial neural network.
1997
LSTM networks
Josef Hochreiter and Jürgen Schmidhuber invented long short-term memory (LSTM) networks, significantly improving the accuracy of AI models.
2014
GANs and VAEs
The development of GANs and VAEs dramatically advanced generative AI technology.
2017
Transformer models
Newly developed transformer models allowed gen AI systems to create natural language text for the first time.
2018
OpenAI GPT
OpenAI released GPT, a neural network that could generate human-like text and converse with users.
2021
OpenAI DALL-E
OpenAI introduced DALL-E to generate digital images from prompts through deep learning.
2022
OpenAI ChatGPT, Midjourney beta
OpenAI launched ChatGPT (also known as GPT-3.5), a transformer-based model that one million users adopted in only five days.
Text-to-image generator Midjourney launched in beta the same year.
What Does Generative AI Mean for the Future?
While generative AI’s timeline is relatively long, many significant developments have happened in a few short years.
Given this rapid evolution, it’s reasonable to expect that gen AI will continue to develop quickly.
So, what will AI look like in the future? And how could it affect your industry?
Here are a few developments to monitor:
Increased adoption of generative AI tools: In many industries, companies are already pressuring leaders to implement AI tools. A Qualtrics survey of customer experience professionals revealed that 75% feel the pressure to use generative AI for business.
More advanced AI prompts: The more companies adopt generative AI strategies, the more advanced their prompting skills are likely to become. With extensive testing, users will probably develop more specific, nuanced prompts for producing higher-quality content.
Higher volume of AI-generated content: As more individuals and business processes use gen AI tools, the amount of AI-generated content will increase. Harvard Professor Latanya Sweeney predicts 90% of online content creation will no longer be by humans.
Improved AI detection: As AI evolves, AI detection tools may become more sophisticated. Increasingly advanced tools will better address issues with cybersecurity, deepfakes, and other growing concerns—potentially making AI content more credible.
Whether you’re just getting started with generative AI or looking for ways to level up your AI skills, you need the right tools at your disposal.
Tools like Claude, ChatGPT, and Semrush’s AI-powered suite are game-changers for content creation.
Not sure which one to pick?
Check out our in-depth guide to the top 5 AI writing generators, where we break down the features, pros and cons, and pricing of the best tools on the market.
http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png00Dubado Solutionshttp://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.pngDubado Solutions2024-12-27 14:40:072024-12-31 17:32:30What Is Generative AI and How Does It Work?
Here are 21 Google search tips that will help you:
Refine your searches to get the right answers faster
Search the web without typing a query
Discover cool things you never knew Google could do
At the end, we’ll also show you how you can get your site to appear in more Google’s search results.
(Spoiler alert—it involves something called search engine optimization, or SEO.)
But first, the tips.
1. Familiarize Yourself with the Basics
To do a Google search, launch your browser, navigate to the search engine, and type what you’re looking for into the search bar.
Alternatively, if Google is your browser’s default search engine, type your query into your browser’s address bar.
You can type:
Words (like “electrolysis”)
Phrases (like “electrolysis process”)
Questions (like “what is electrolysis”)
You don’t need to type in full sentences.
Then, hit “Enter” or “return” on your keyboard to run the search.
Don’t worry about your spelling or grammar. Google is good at autocorrecting misspelled queries.
After you run your search, Google will display relevant results. Use the tabs at the top to see only certain types of results.
For example, click “Images” to view only image results, or “News” to view results from news sites:
Google may also display topics at the top of the search results. Click them to add to your query and narrow your search:
For example, clicking the “women’s” topic that Google displays on the search engine results page for “cute shoes” will update the search query to “women’s cute shoes”:
2. Filter Your Results
Filter the results to see only those published within a certain period or that match your query word for word.
To do this, click the “Tools” option at the top of the Google search results. “Any time” and “All results” drop-down menus will appear.
Click “Any time” to filter for results published within the last hour, 24 hours, week, month, or year. Or within a date range of your choice.
Click “All results” to choose whether to see all results or only verbatim ones that closely (or exactly) match your search query.
For example, if you’re searching for a person named “Rob Downey,” turning on the “Verbatim” filter ensures you get results for people named Rob Downey.
And not Robert Downey Jr., the actor.
3. Search Within Websites
Add “site:[domain]” to your search query to view results from a specific site.
This Google search tip also works for viewing results from specific site subdirectories, like “[domain]/blog”:
Pro tip: Use other Google search operators to further refine your search and find exactly what you’re looking for.
4. Perform a Reverse Image Search
A reverse image search uses an image to look for information. It’s helpful for learning about something you have a picture of but don’t know the name of.
Run a reverse image search in Google by clicking the camera icon at the right of the search bar.
Upload your image to Google, or paste an image link into the provided field. Then click “Search.”
Google will analyze your image and suggest relevant results.
5. Search with Your Voice
If you can’t type your query, do a voice search—where you speak your query.
Select the microphone icon at the right of the search bar:
Let Google access your microphone if prompted. Then, say your query out loud.
Google will transcribe your speech and search for what you said. If the transcription is inaccurate, correct it and rerun the search.
6. Get a Direct Answer
Google has partnered with other sites to provide answers to certain types of queries directly on the results page. As a result, you don’t have to click a search result to get an answer.
This is useful when you just want a straightforward answer. Like a stock price:
Try these Google search hacks for triggering direct answers:
To Get a Direct Answer for:
Use This Query:
Weather in a certain place
“Weather in [country or city]”
Time in a certain place
“Time in [country or city]”
Stock prices
“[Stock ticker symbol] price”
Definitions
“Define [word]” or “[word] meaning”
Note: Direct answers are different from featured snippets and AI Overviews. Like direct answers, featured snippets and AI Overviews offer answers directly on the search results page. But featured snippets contain information extracted from sites, while AI Overviews contain AI-generated information.
7. Find Exact Match Results
Enclose your search query in double quotation marks to view results that contain your query exactly as it appears.
This Google search tip is helpful for looking up the sources of quotes.
Let’s say you want to check which blog post provided this advice: “You should never pay for dofollow backlinks.”
Doing a Google search for that line without quotation marks may get you results with some words missing or in a different order:
But rerun the search with quotation marks, and you’ll get the sentence’s source right away:
8. Exclude Certain Results
Add a minus sign before certain words to exclude results with these words from the search results.
Here’s an example:
Searching for “caterpillar” usually gets you information on the Caterpillar construction equipment manufacturer.
To get information on the insect, instead, search for “caterpillar -construction”:
Another Google search tip is adding the minus sign before the “site:” operator to exclude a certain website from the results.
For example, to find mentions of your brand on any site except yours, search for “[your brand name] -site:[your domain].”
9. Find Files
Get only results with a certain file format by adding “filetype:[file format]” to your search query. Supported formats include:
pdf: For PDF files
doc: For Microsoft Word documents
xls: For Microsoft Excel spreadsheets
ppt: For Microsoft PowerPoint slides
If you’re looking for a PDF document for example, search “[document name] filetype:pdf.”
10. Run an Advanced Search
An advanced search gets you results that meet requirements like:
Containing all of a certain selection of words
Containing none of certain selection of words
Being in a certain language
Originating from a certain country
Having certain usage rights
To run an advanced search, do a regular Google search first. Then, select “Tools” > “Advanced Search” on the search results page.
Fill out the advanced search fields as required, then hit the “Advanced Search” button to run the search.
11. Turn On Dark Mode
Google offers a dark mode feature for doing searches in a dark-colored interface.
Turning on dark mode may reduce eye strain. It may also decrease blue light exposure, which can make it easier to sleep after spending a lot of time in front of a screen.
Google automatically enables dark mode if this is your device’s default setting. Learn how to change your device’s color settings here:
Alternatively, if your device’s color setting is light mode, here’s how to enable dark mode for a one-off Google search:
From your desktop device, go to the Google homepage. Select “Settings” at the bottom right and then “Dark theme: Off.”
If you’re using a mobile device, the “Dark theme: Off” option will appear directly at the bottom of the Google homepage.
12. Manage Explicit Results
Adjust Google’s SafeSearch settings to control whether you see search results containing adult content and graphic violence.
Click the gear icon at the top right of the search results. Then click on “SafeSearch.”
You’ll see three settings:
Filter: Exclude explicit results entirely
Blur: Blur explicit images but not explicit text or links
Off: Don’t censor any results
Click your preferred option. Google will save your choice and apply it to all future searches.
Note: You may not be able to change your SafeSearch settings if your network administrator has locked them.
13. Do Math
Google can help with math calculations.
If your calculation involves simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division, type it into Google’s search bar and run the search.
The search results page will show the answer.
To perform more complex calculations involving trigonometric functions, logarithms, and more, search for “calculator.”
Google will give you a scientific calculator you can use.
14. Convert Units of Measurement
Convert units of measurement by searching “[number] [source unit of measurement] in [desired unit of measurement].”
For example:
6’2 in cm
100 kg in pounds
25 deg c in kelvin
15. Convert Currencies
Google “[number] [source currency] to [desired currency]” to convert currencies using the real-time exchange rate.
You’ll also see a chart of the exchange rate’s movements over time. Hover your cursor over the chart to learn the exchange rate on different days.
16. Start a Timer or a Stopwatch
Search for “timer [duration]” to have Google start counting down from that duration automatically.
Click “Stop” if you need to pause the timer and “Reset” to reset it.
Alternatively, search for “stopwatch” to get a stopwatch. Activate it by clicking “Start.”
Tip: Check your device’s sound levels if you don’t hear the timer go off.
17. Activate a Bubble Level
Google offers a built-in level tool—also known as a bubble or spirit level—on mobile devices. It provides a rough guide of how horizontal or vertical a surface is.
This Google search tip is helpful when you need to see whether that new shelf you’ve installed is straight, but you don’t have a level handy.
Use it by searching for “bubble level” or “spirit level” on your mobile device. Then, tap “Touch to activate.”
If prompted, grant Google access to your device’s motion and orientation sensors.
18. Set Up Search Alerts
Get notifications whenever there are new results for a Google search query.
For example, you can set up an alert for every time someone publishes a post that includes your name or your brand. Or topics relevant to you, like “vegan recipes.”
To do so, go to Google Alerts and type the query you want to monitor into the “Create an alert about…” field.
You’ll see sample results for your alert.
Click “Show options” to configure settings like how often you want to receive notifications and the results’ language and quality.
Then, click “Create Alert” to finish the setup. Google will start alerting you of new results at your preferred frequency.
19. Track Packages
Google can provide shipping updates for packages delivered by UPS, FedEx, and other supported shipping providers.
Just search for “[shipping provider] package tracking.” Provide your package’s tracking number and click “Track via [shipping provider].”
Google will display your package’s shipping status right there in the search results.
20. Play Games
You can play certain games directly from Google’s search results page.
This is less of a Google search tip and more of a fun way to use Google.
To play games, search “minesweeper,” “snake,” “pac man,” “solitaire,” or “tic tac toe” to load the relevant game:
Alternatively, you can play a text adventure where you’ll get a scenario in text format. And your response—also in text format—affects what happens next.
Try it by searching for “text adventure.” Then right-click the search results page and select “Inspect.”
Your browser’s developer tools will appear. Navigate to the “Console” tab.
Under the large “Warning!” heading in the console’s messages, you’ll see a question: “Would you like to play a game?”
And two response options: “Yes” or “No.”
Scroll to the bottom of the console log, type your response, and then hit “Enter” or “return” on your keyboard to start playing.
21. Discover Easter Eggs
You’ll sometimes find special messages or features on the Google search results for certain queries.
Here are some examples:
Search for fonts like “Calibri,” “Comic Sans MS,” and “Courier font,” and Google will display results in the respective font.
Ask Google “the answer to life, the universe, and everything” and it will reply “42”—which is a supercomputer’s reply to the same question in “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” a science fiction book by Douglas Adams.
Meanwhile, Google the “BTS” Korean boy band and you’ll see a purple heart near the top left of the search results page.
Select the heart, and purple balloons will appear on the screen. Click them to pop them. The balloons containing microphones reveal messages from BTS’s band members when popped.
Make Google Search Work for You
Applying this list of Google search tricks will get you more relevant answers to your questions—and quicker, to boot. Some of these tips also make Googling more fun.
But apart from learning how to search on Google effectively for others’ pages, how would you like your pages to appear in Google’s search results?
You can appear higher for relevant search queries by using SEO.
SEO is the process of helping search engines discover and understand your site so they can display your site’s pages for relevant queries.
Optimize your site well to increase its chances of ranking higher in search results and receive more organic traffic.
Read these guides to get a foundational knowledge of SEO:
http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png00Dubado Solutionshttp://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.pngDubado Solutions2024-12-27 14:33:562024-12-31 17:32:3021 Google Search Tips to Find Exactly What You Want
The world of digital marketing in 2024 has been nothing short of transformative, with Google once again taking center stage in many of the year’s biggest developments. From the ongoing debates about third-party cookies to advancements in Google Analytics and the rising distrust among advertisers, the year was marked by shifts that tested the adaptability and resilience of marketers everywhere.
As we enter the last few weeks of the year, let’s take a look at the top newsworthy headlines according to pageviews.
Advertisers expressed frustration, citing financial strain, loss of cashflow flexibility and lack of benefits.
Google Ads Liaison Ginny Marvin confirmed that only a small subset of advertisers would be impacted.
9. Google Ads ad copy: what works and what doesn’t in 2024
Optmyzr analyzed over 1 million Google Ads to uncover key insights into ad copy strategies, focusing on metrics like CPA, CTR, and ROAS. The findings challenge conventional wisdom and highlight opportunities for marketers to improve performance.
The report covered:
Ad strength – its misleading
Pinning Assets – against Google’s recommendations, it could be worth pinning all headlines
Sentence case vs Title Case – sentence case is a clear winner especially for RSAs
Creative length – shorter headlines performed better
8. Google is shutting down websites made with business profiles
This caused the need of a new site for brands who had GBP websites, using platforms like Wix, Squarespace, Shopify, WordPress, Google Sites, or GoDaddy
It took little coaxing to have several advertisers let us know why their trust is at an all time low. Advertisers complained of manipulative practices, lack of transparency, erosion of trust and much more.
The rise in ad spend and growing confidence in paid media suggest advertisers adapted to challenges in 2023, leveraging mobile and emerging platforms like PMax to drive performance.
Advertisers are used to the odd Google Ads reporting glitch here and there, however in August, a unique one happened where competitor data was exposed.
Advertisers were unable to manage campaigns or access critical performance data. Additionally, a serious data breach has exposed unrelated item IDs, product titles, and Merchant Center information, potentially revealing competitors’ sensitive information.
It took a week for the issue to be fully resolved.
In July, advertiser Brais Calvo Vázquez’s discovered that Google Analytics 4 (GA4) includes a hidden report that allows users to compare conversion data exported to Google Ads, helping to identify and explain discrepancies between the two platforms.
This tool, accessible by appending “/advertising/key-event-differences” to a GA4 property URL, provides advertisers with insights to improve campaign accuracy and performance.
Some users have had access to this report for over a year, indicating it may have been in extended testing. Google made no comment to this discovery.
The changes aim to provide advertisers with enhanced transparency and control, allowing them to safeguard their brand reputation. The SPN includes websites and apps that display search ads, extending beyond Google’s main properties like YouTube and Google Discover.
1. Third Party Cookies
There had been back and forth about third party cookies for years now and whether to deprecate it and in 2024, Google had high hopes of going ahead with doing getting rid of it. However, their hopes were dashed almost as soon as they started their tests.
In January the report was Google started phasing out third party cookies. They were axing cookies from 1% of browser traffic, and the speculation at that stage was that they would phase out third-party cookies by the second half of 2024 as a crucial move in its Privacy Sandbox initiative.
“The Privacy Sandbox initiative aims to create technologies that both protect people’s privacy online and give companies and developers tools to build thriving digital businesses.”
However CMA had lots (39 and counting) of concerns, the three key ones being:
Google would still benefit from user data whilst competitors would be limited form this data,
That they will show favoritism towards their ad tech,
Publishers and advertisers won’t able to detect fraudulent activity.
In April the deadline for third party cookie deprecation moved from end of 2024 to 2025, conceding to the concerns the CMA raised in February. The had put evidence together that they were still doing the right by the industry and wanted to give the CMA enough time go over all the documentation they had provided.
Later that same month the concerns increased to 111 with the primary concern now being that Google will become too dominant in the market if their Privacy Sandbox solution went ahead.
After a couple of months of silence, the final decision came – Google scraps plans to kill third-party cookies in Chrome. The new promise is to introduce a new experience in Chrome whilst the Privacy Sandbox AMI will continue to be developed for alternative solutions.
That is a wrap on 2024. Several major talking points there, unsurprisingly mostly focused around Google there. What do we think 2025 will bring us? I reckon a lot more AI updates and experts truly needing to different themselves from those who just use AI as their selling point. It would also be interesting to see whether the Google we know now will have all its brands still intact by this time next year.
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Google Ads introduced Brand Report, a new dashboard tool that gives advertisers consolidated insights into reach and frequency across campaigns.
The tool simplifies how brand advertisers track campaign performance by providing deduplicated metrics in one place, rather than scattered across multiple reports.
The details. Brand Report consolidates data from multiple tools, streamlining analysis of KPIs and demographic performance.
Advertisers can filter results by age, gender, and other on-target demographics.
Accessible directly in the Google Ads dashboard under “Insights and reports.”
Why we care. This update is significant because it finally solves the headache of piecing together reach and frequency data from multiple places.
By providing deduplicated metrics in one dashboard, you can now easily see who they’re actually reaching across campaigns, spot where they’re overspending on the same audiences, and make faster, smarter decisions about their brand advertising investments.
Key requirements:
Available at the single account level (no multi-account or MCC support).
Metrics cover a max of 92 days and up to 10,000 campaigns.
Requires 10,000+ impressions per campaign for data to populate.
Search, Shopping, and Performance Max campaigns are excluded.
What’s next. You should now look out for when other campaign types, like Search, Performance Max and Shopping, will be included in the reports.
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OpenAI has confirmed it is working to restore access to a number of its services including its popular ChatGPT service, its APIs and Sora. OpenAI said it has found the cause for the issue and have started recovery. Some of the services are now being restored.
What happened. OpenAI said at 11 am PT on its status report, “We are currently experiencing an issue with high error rates on ChatGPT, the API, and Sora. We are currently investigating and will post an update as soon as we are able.”
Later the AI company confirmed, “This issue is caused by an upstream provider and we are currently monitoring.”
Fix coming. On X, ChatGPT added that it has restarted recovery of its systems:
Most of ChatGPT, the API, and Sora have been down for a couple of hours and we’re sorry for the trouble this is causing.
We’ve identified the issue and have started recovery. We hope to be back asap. https://t.co/YiG0F9YxNN
Service returning. It seems some are now able to use ChatGPT, although some are still having issues. This is what I see:
OpenAI should be able to restore access to these services shortly, so try back later.
Why we care. Outages like this can cause frustration to your day, especially if you rely on these services for your job. Many in the search industry use OpenAI’s tools for content, for workflow enhancements and productivity boosts.
It is a good thing it is a slow time right now with the holidays but still, for those working today, this may have caused some delays to your schedule.
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Google’s June 2024 spam update rollout is now complete. The spam update started on December 19, 2024, about seven days ago, finishing on December 26, 2024. This was the third spam update of the 2024 year and started a day after Google completed the December 2024 core update.
This update was a general and broad spam update, it was not a link spam update and did not automate the site reputation abuse policy, which is still only done via manual actions.
Google wrote, “The rollout was complete as of December 26, 2024.”
What we saw. While the update was announced the day after the December core update, it does seems that it hit very hard within a few days and was much more widespread than some previous spam updates. Although, it is still a bit too early to dig too much into the update. If you were hit by this update, you may notice the rankings drops in Search Console. Keep in mind, holiday traffic can be very volatile and low for many sites, so look at rankings and not traffic for this specific update.
Previous spam updates. The last spam update was on June 20, 2024 and was named June 2024 spam update, it completed on June 27.
Here’s our past coverage of confirmed Google spam updates:
Why we care. This Google update took a lot of us by surprise, since it happened only a day after the core update and just days before the holiday season. We were taken back by Google releasing an update that will end close to, or into the holiday season.
This is the 7th Google search algorithm update we had in 2024, including four core updates and now three spam updates. It is unclear exactly what type of spam this targets but if you noticed any ranking changes during this update, it might have been related to this spam update.
“While Google’s automated systems to detect search spam are constantly operating, we occasionally make notable improvements to how they work. When we do, we refer to this as a spam update and share when they happen on our list of Google Search ranking updates.
For example, SpamBrain is our AI-based spam-prevention system. From time-to-time, we improve that system to make it better at spotting spam and to help ensure it catches new types of spam.
Sites that see a change after a spam update should review our spam policies to ensure they are complying with those. Sites that violate our policies may rank lower in results or not appear in results at all. Making changes may help a site improve if our automated systems learn over a period of months that the site complies with our spam policies.
In the case of a link spam update (an update that specifically deals with link spam), making changes might not generate an improvement. This is because when our systems remove the effects spammy links may have, any ranking benefit the links may have previously generated for your site is lost. Any potential ranking benefits generated by those links cannot be regained.”
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Google launched seven official and confirmed algorithmic updates in 2024, four core updates and three spam updates. The March 2024 core update was massive, updating several systems within the core algorithm, plus bringing in a few new large spam policies.
In 2023, Google had 9 confirmed algorithmic updates. In 2022 and 2021, Google had 10 confirmed algorithmic updates.
Google confirmed algorithm update summary
We whipped up this timeline documenting all the confirmed Google search algorithm updates in 2024, so you can visualize the updates over the year.
Four Google core updates in 2024
Google had four core updates in 2024, the same number as it had in 2023, but in 2022 Google only had two core updates. We had core updates in March, August, November and December.
March 2024 core update. The Google March 2024 core update started rolling out March 5, took 45 days to complete, and finished on April 19. Google told us this core update was its largest core update in history, updating multiple core systems.
The March 2024 core update is “more complex update than our usual core updates,” Chris Nelson from the Search Quality team at Google said. Google made “changes to multiple core systems,” he added. A Google spokesperson said, “The updates led to larger quality improvements than we originally thought – you’ll now see 45% less low quality, unoriginal content in search results, versus the 40% improvement we expected across this work.”
This update was a rather large core update, based on what the data providers showed us. Google updated its help page, including more in-depth guidance for those who may see changes after an update.
November 2024 core update. The Google November 2024 core update started on November 11 and completed 24 days later on December 5. This was a normal core update that “This update is designed to continue our work to improve the quality of our search results by showing more content that people find genuinely useful and less content that feels like it was made just to perform well on Search,” Google said.
As a whole, the November 2024 core update felt less volatile overall compared to the other two core updates that seemed to impact a larger number of sites.
December 2024 core update. The Google December 2024 core update started on December 12 and completed 6 days later on December 18. This update was a bit of a surprise, since it started a week after the November core update completed.
Why did Google release this core update so soon? “If you’re wondering why there’s a core update this month after one last month, we have different core systems we’re always improving,” Google told us.
Here is a chart from Similarweb comparing the volatility of these past core updates:
Three Google spam updates in 2024
March 2024 spam update. The Google March 2024 spam update started the same day as the March 2024 core update but completed in less time, only taking about 14 days to complete – it ended on March 20. Google did not say anything specifically new when it came to announcing the spam update. Chris Nelson from Google wrote on March 5, “Along with our new spam policies, we are also launching the March 2024 spam update today.”
June 2024 spam update. The Google June 2024 spam update started on June 30 and completed 7 days later on June 27. This update was a general and broad spam update, it was not a link spam update and did not automate the site reputation abuse policy, which is still only done via manual actions.
December 2024 spam update. The Google December 2024 spam update started the day after the December 2024 spam update took seven days to roll out and completed on December 26th. This update was a general and broad spam update, that applied globally and to all languages, Google said. It seems this update hit very hard within a few days and was much more widespread than some previous spam updates.
Other Google algorithm changes, updates, tweaks or topics
Other Google updates. While we had four core updates and two spam updates, Google also pushed out other search specific updates in 2024. Here is a list of those:
In May, Google began enforcing its site reputation abuse policy. While this is not algorithmic yet, it impacted many large and some small sites through manual action penalties.
In October, Google confirmed it has an algorithm that checks to see if portions of your site are starkly different from other sections and will adjust its site-wide signals accordingly.
Google Search bugs. Google also had several search bugs throughout 2024:
In January, Google confirmed a bug where sites would teeter in and out of the index on weekends. Google confirmed this on February 1 and fixed it on February 8.
In August, Google confirmed a ranking bug on August 15 and resolved it on August 20.
In June, Google confirmed an indexing bug that was confirmed and then fixed both on June 20.
In July, Google confirmed an issue with indexing fresh content on July 9.
