Google I/O, Marketing Live, AI Mode, AI Overviews, AI Ads, Search Volatility & More [Video]

This week was a huge week for search; between Google I/O and Google Marketing Live – it was just a lot. We had two unconfirmed Google ranking updates, one on I/O day and one on May 16th. Google announced AI Mode was live in the US and then announced a number of new features for AI Mode. Meanwhile, AI Mode links had a bug with tracking, it should be fixed soon, if not already. Google AI Overviews expanded to more and Google says it leads to 10% growth in queries. Google Ads are now on AI Mode and AI Overviews for desktop; no there is no control or transparency for advertisers. Google launched Smart Bidding Exploration. Google also launched many AI tools for Google Ads including Agentic capabilities. Google tests rolling out Google Discover on desktop again. Google added new documentation on using AI for content and AI search features. …