Industry News

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

Google may be testing a new format for AI Overviews in the search results. This one does not have the AI Overview label on the AI Overview, plus it seems to combine knowledge panel features.

Google's John Mueller was asked again if a change in crawling patterns is related to Google algorithm updates. In which he said again, No, it is not.

Danny Sullivan, the former Google Search Liaison, spoke at WordCamp on Friday on the topic of How and why Google Search keeps evolving. The video is up for anyone to watch, it is 45 minutes and doesn't have much new in it but it is a good refresher.

Google has supposedly updated the models that run AI Mode. Robby Stein from Google wrote on X, "We're seeing big improvements for complex STEM questions."

Google now has the ability within AI Mode to compare listed products or local businesses by selecting the listing and having AI Mode compare the ones you selected. Then AI Mode will just compare the ones you selected in the follow-up query.

(Mild spoilers ahead for The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler)

I recently finished the novel The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler (see Andrew Liptak’s excellent review here). On the surface it’s about discovering an octopus colony that evolved into a self-aware, intelligent community—and trying to communicate with them. But as with all good novels it’s actually about other things. It’s about loneliness, understanding each other, conservation—and yes, our relationship with AI.

First,...

Here’s Leah Tharin with a good reminder of what it means to ship, and how AI can (and cannot) help. In short, building is only one part of creating valuable products. Shipping involves: Ideation: There’s an idea Development: You build the idea Validation: You validate whether what you think the idea does is actually happening

Yes, vibe coding tools like Lovable et al. help you to ship things faster, but only as long as these ideas struggle with the “development” part and don’t need...

Here’s some research about professional success that I wasn’t aware of before, but this totally tracks with what I’ve observed in my career:

In fact, studies consistently find that traits such as conscientiousness (the quality of being dependable and disciplined), emotional stability or agreeableness have a stronger link with professional success, relationship durability and longevity than the links between those outcomes and someone’s intelligence or socio-economic background.

Now...

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