Google Adds AI-Powered Configuration To Search Console via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Google is rolling out an experimental feature that lets Search Console users configure the Search results Performance report using natural language instead of manual filter selection.

The feature, called AI-powered configuration, translates plain-language requests into the appropriate filters and settings. You can describe the analysis you want to see, and the system handles the technical setup.

What’s New

The AI-powered configuration feature handles three types of report setup:

1. Filters

You can narrow data by query, page, country, device, search appearance, or date range through natural language.

A request like “Show me queries on phone searches that contain the word ‘sports’ in the last 6 months” applies the relevant filters automatically.

2. Comparisons

Complex date range comparisons that previously required manual configuration can now be set up through prompts like “Compare traffic for my pages that contain ‘/blog’ in this quarter to the same quarter last year.”

3. Metric Selection

The feature can display specific combinations of the four available metrics (Clicks, Impressions, Average CTR, and Average Position) based on your requests.

For example, you can ask, “Show me the Average CTR and Average Position of my queries in Spain in the last 28 days.”

Limitations

Google noted several limitations.

The feature works only with Performance reports for Search results, it doesn’t support Discover or News reports.

AI-powered configuration is designed only for configuring filters, comparisons, and metrics. It can’t sort tables or export data.

Google also cautioned that the AI can misinterpret requests. You should review suggested filters before analyzing data to make sure they match the query you intended.

Why This Matters

This feature could reduce the manual effort required to set up complex filter combinations in Search Console.

The ability to request custom date comparisons or multi-filter configurations through natural language removes several steps from the reporting process.

The accuracy caveat matters, especially for higher-stakes reporting. You’ll want to verify that the AI understood your request correctly before you rely on the data for decisions or client reporting.

Looking Ahead

Google is rolling out AI-powered configuration to a limited set of websites and will expand availability over time. No timeline for broader access was provided.

You can share feedback through the buttons in Search Console or by posting in the Google Search Central Community.

Featured Image: IB Photography/Shutterstock

Google Reports Search Console Page Indexing Report Delays via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Google announces delays in Search Console’s Page indexing report. The company confirms crawling, indexing, and ranking remain unaffected by the reporting issue.

• Google is experiencing longer than usual delays in the Page indexing report within Search Console.
• The issue affects reporting only, not actual crawling, indexing, or ranking of websites.
• Google will provide an update when the issue is resolved.

Adobe To Acquire Semrush In $1.9 Billion Cash Deal via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Adobe and Semrush announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement for Adobe to acquire Semrush in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $1.9 billion. Adobe will pay $12.00 per share, describing Semrush as a “leading brand visibility platform.”

The acquisition brings a widely used SEO platform under Adobe’s Digital Experience umbrella.

The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals and the approval of Semrush stockholders.

What Adobe Is Buying

Semrush is a Boston-based SaaS platform best known in search marketing for keyword research, site audits, competitive intelligence, and online visibility tracking.

Over the past two years, Semrush has added enterprise products focused on AI-driven visibility, including tools that monitor how brands are referenced in responses from large language models such as ChatGPT and Gemini, alongside traditional search results.

Semrush has also been an active acquirer. Recent deals have included SEO education and community assets like Backlinko and Traffic Think Tank, as well as technology and media acquisitions such as Third Door Media, the publisher of Search Engine Land.

For Adobe, this gives the Experience Cloud portfolio a direct line into the SEO workflow that many in-house teams and agencies already use daily.

How Semrush Fits Adobe’s AI Marketing Stack

Adobe positions the deal as part of a broader strategy to support “brand visibility” in what it describes as an agentic AI era.

In the announcement, Anil Chakravarthy, president of Adobe’s Digital Experience business, says:

“Brand visibility is being reshaped by generative AI, and brands that don’t embrace this new opportunity risk losing relevance and revenue.”

Semrush’s “generative engine optimization” positioning aligns with that narrative. The company has been pitching GEO as a counterpart to traditional SEO, focused on keeping brands discoverable inside AI-generated answers, not just organic listings.

Adobe plans to integrate Semrush with products like Adobe Experience Manager, Adobe Analytics, and its newer Brand Concierge offering.

Deal Terms And Timeline

Under the terms of the agreement, Adobe will acquire Semrush for $12.00 per share in cash, representing a total equity value of roughly $1.9 billion.

Coverage from financial outlets notes that the price reflects a premium of around 77 percent over Semrush’s prior closing share price and that Semrush stock jumped more than 70 percent in early trading following the announcement.

According to the companies, the transaction has already been approved by both boards. An associated SEC filing shows the merger agreement was signed on November 18.

Closing is targeted for the first half of 2026, pending customary regulatory reviews and the approval of Semrush shareholders. Until then, Adobe and Semrush say they will continue to operate as separate companies.

Why This Matters

This deal continues a broader trend: core search and visibility tools are moving deeper into large enterprise suites.

If you already rely on Semrush, you can expect tighter integration with Adobe’s analytics and customer experience products over time.

It also raises practical questions:

• How will Semrush be packaged and priced once it sits inside Adobe’s enterprise stack?
• Can agencies and smaller teams keep using Semrush as a relatively independent tool?
• How will Adobe choose to handle Semrush’s media holdings, including Search Engine Land and related properties?

For now, both companies are presenting the acquisition as a way to give marketers a more complete view of brand visibility across search results and AI-generated answers, rather than as a change to Semrush’s current product line.

Looking Ahead

In the near term, there are two things to watch.

First, regulators will review the transaction, particularly given Adobe’s history with large acquisitions in the digital experience space. That process will shape the closing timeline.

Second, Adobe will need to decide how quickly to integrate Semrush into Experience Cloud and how much to preserve the existing product and brand. Those choices will influence how disruptive this feels for your current workflows.

Watch for changes to Semrush’s API access, plan structure, and reporting integrations once the deal moves closer to completion.

Featured Image: IB Photography/Shutterstock

Google Search Console Adds Custom Annotations To Reports via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Google launched custom annotations in Search Console performance reports, giving you a way to add contextual notes directly to traffic data charts.

The feature lets you mark specific dates with notes explaining site changes or external events that affected search performance.

What The Feature Does

Custom annotations appear as markers on Search Console charts. Google’s announcement highlights several common use cases, including infrastructure changes, SEO work, content strategy shifts, and external events that affect business performance such as holidays.

All annotations are visible to everyone with access to a Search Console property. Google recommends avoiding sensitive personal information in notes due to the shared visibility.

Why This Matters

Connecting traffic changes with specific actions taken weeks or months earlier usually means maintaining separate documentation outside Search Console.

Annotations create a change log inside the performance reports you already use.

If you manage multiple properties or work with a larger team, annotations can give everyone a shared record of releases, migrations, and campaigns without relying on external spreadsheets or project tools.

How To Use It

You can add an annotation by right-clicking on a performance chart, selecting “Add annotation,” choosing a date, and entering up to 120 characters of text. The note then appears directly on the chart as a visual reference point alongside clicks, impressions, or other metrics.

Custom annotations are now part of Search Console performance reports and available through the chart context menu.

Google Launches Ads Advisor & Analytics Advisor Globally via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Google is introducing two AI-powered tools built on Gemini: Ads Advisor in Google Ads and Analytics Advisor in Google Analytics.

Availability starts in early December for English-language accounts globally.

What’s New

Ads Advisor

Ads Advisor works inside your Google Ads account to surface optimization recommendations and, with your review and approval, apply the selected changes.

In Performance Max, you can ask how to prepare for a seasonal moment, such as a holiday. It may recommend adding sitelink extensions, then implement that update after you approve it.

Here is an example provided by Google:

Image Credit: Google

It can generate keywords, headlines, and ad copy from your site and campaign assets. It can also help diagnose performance shifts by answering diagnostic questions, identifying likely causes, and proposing fixes.

For policy issues, it can flag the violation and, in some cases, take an action such as editing an ad URL for you to approve.

Analytics Advisor

Analytics Advisor is a conversational experience in Google Analytics Standard and Analytics 360.

You can ask broad questions or request specific metrics, and it will generate visualizations and insights.

Here’s an example response provided by Google, after asking what’s the best opportunity to convert or re-engage users from a traffic spike:

Image Credit: Google

When metrics spike or drop, it performs key-driver analysis to explain what likely caused the change and prioritizes the factors that matter to business outcomes. It then connects those insights to growth opportunities with step-by-step guidance.

Why This Matters

Ads Advisor can help you move from suggestions to permissioned, in-product execution for Ads. Meanwhile, Analytics now offers quicker investigations and clearer next steps through key-driver analysis.

During busy times like holidays, this can help you save time by reducing the need to switch between diagnostics and implementation, all while keeping you in control of what gets changed.

Looking Ahead

Google says both advisors will appear in English-language Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts globally in early December. You will access them by logging into your accounts and using the in-product advisor interfaces.

Google Uses AI To Group Queries In Search Console Data via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Google announced Query groups in Search Console Insights. The AI feature clusters similar search queries, surfaces trends, and shows which topics drive clicks.

• Query groups uses AI to cluster similar search queries.
• The new card shows total clicks per group and highlights groups trending up or down.
• Query groups will roll out over the coming weeks to high volume accounts.

Google Tests “Analytics Advisor” Inside GA4, According To Reports via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Some GA4 users are reporting that a new conversational interface called Analytics Advisor is appearing inside Google Analytics.

The sighting comes from analytics consultant Himanshu Sharma, who posted screenshots on X:

📢 🥳 Google has begun rolling out ‘Analytics Advisor’ to standard GA4 properties, marking the most significant update in GA4’s history since its launch. This is the GA4 built-in Conversational AI Agent.

It displays intermediate reasoning to make its logic more transparent,… pic.twitter.com/4rv7BYF2Oj

— Himanshu Sharma (@analyticsnerd) October 10, 2025

What We Know So Far

A welcome card in the screenshot lists three functions:

1. Answering data questions with single-number answers and visualizations.
2. Pointing you to the most appropriate report.
3. Providing educational guidance based on relevant documentation.

The interface appears as a chat entry point inside a GA4 property.

Google hasn’t issued a help-center article or “What’s New” note for Analytics Advisor, and there is no formal announcement detailing availability, eligibility, or timelines.

Background

At Google Marketing Live, Google described agentic AI tools coming to Ads and Analytics, including a “data expert” for Analytics that surfaces insights and helps troubleshoot issues.

Google said:

“In Google Analytics, the data expert will proactively show insights and trends, plus enable easy data exploration with simple visuals for improved decision-making and performance. These new capabilities will also help marketers troubleshoot campaign issues.”

The company also previewed a separate Marketing Advisor agent for marketers. Analytics Advisor in GA4 would be consistent with that direction, though Google hasn’t connected these names publicly.

Why It Matters

If this interface rolls out broadly, it could lower the effort required to get quick answers from GA4, especially for teams still learning the product’s structure.

The transparent, step-by-step answers shown in the screenshot may also help you check how an answer was derived before acting on it.

What We Don’t Know Yet

Key details remain unclear, including:

• Rollout scope, property eligibility, and regional availability
• Whether this is an experiment, staged rollout, or permanent feature
• Data handling, controls, and any opt-out settings

We will update this story if Google publishes documentation or confirms details.

Looking Ahead

Check your GA4 properties for a new chat icon or welcome card labeled Analytics Advisor.

If it appears, test on non-sensitive questions first and compare responses to your existing reports before relying on it for decisions.

Featured Image: Mamun_Sheikh/Shutterstock

Google Lighthouse 13 Launches With Insight-Based Audits via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Google has released Lighthouse 13 with a broad audit consolidation that aligns Lighthouse reports with Chrome DevTools’ newer insight model.

The update is available now via npm and Chrome Canary. It will roll into PageSpeed Insights within about a week and is slated for Chrome’s stable channel with version 143.

Google says the update doesn’t change how Lighthouse calculates performance scores. This update targets non-scored audits only.

Lighthouse 13 Details

Audit Consolidation

Lighthouse 13 replaces many legacy audits with “insights” that mirror DevTools.

Notable examples include:

• CLS And Layout: layout-shifts becomes cls-culprits-insight for clearer identification of layout shift causes.
• Server And Network: document-latency-insight consolidates redirects, server response time, and text compression checks.
• Images: image-delivery-insight replaces modern formats, optimized images, responsive images, and efficient animated content audits.
• LCP: Two insights break down Largest Contentful Paint issues: lcp-discovery-insight and lcp-phases-insight. For interaction work, see interaction-to-next-paint-insight (INP).
• Third-Party: third-parties-insight replaces the older third-party summary to show external script impact.

Additional replacements address DOM size, duplicated JavaScript, font display, legacy JavaScript, HTTP/2 and modern HTTPS, network dependency trees, render-blocking, caching, and viewport configuration.

Audits Removed Without Replacements

Several audits were removed because they are outdated, inactionable, or low value in modern environments. Additionally, some audits were removed because they were costly to run.

Removed audits include:

• first-meaningful-paint
• font-size
• offscreen-images
• preload-fonts
• uses-rel-preload
• no-document-write
• uses-passive-event-listeners
• third-party-facades

Minor Differences From Earlier Previews

Google kept non-composited-animations and unsized-images as separate diagnostics to help locate issues that don’t directly cause CLS.

Google also removed font-size and preload-fonts even though those were not in the initial removal list.

Why This Matters

If you rely on Lighthouse for client reporting, you will see fewer line items and more consolidated insights that map to DevTools.

Your scores shouldn’t change just by upgrading, but any automation that keys off audit IDs will need to track the new insight identifiers.

For SEO context, the removal of the font-size audit reflects Google’s position that this is not a current SEO signal, even though legibility remains a UX consideration.

Looking Ahead

Expect Lighthouse and DevTools to stay aligned on the same insight model.

For reporting, consider mapping old audit IDs to the new insights now to avoid broken dashboards when PSI updates.

Featured Image: FotoField/Shutterstock

Google Launches New Small-Business Resource Hub via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Google has launched a small-business resource hub, positioning it as a single starting point for setup, advertising, measurement, and support.

The page pulls together direct entry points for Business Profile, Merchant Center, Google Ads and YouTube Ads, plus a clear “get started” path into Google Analytics.

It also spotlights Workspace’s AI features and links beginner training and help resources in one place.

What’s In It?

The hub serves as a gateway to Google’s small-business tools.

You can claim a Business Profile, list products in Merchant Center, launch Google Ads or YouTube Ads, and activate Analytics.

The layout makes it easier to move a client from “claim your profile” to “list products” to “launch ads” without hopping sites.

Screenshot from: business.google.com/us/essentials/, September 2025.

How It Helps

For agencies and consultants, the practical use is straightforward: you can send new clients to a single URL for onboarding instead of assembling links across multiple Google properties.

It’s a navigational layer over tools you already use. What’s actually new is the packaging and emphasis.

Google has offered “Google for Small Business” destinations before, but this refresh lives on business.google.com, reflects today’s ads lineup, and puts AI-assisted workflows and starter website options in view.

That makes it more useful as a canonical link you can include in proposals, kickoff emails, and checklists.

Looking Ahead

The test for marketers is whether Google continues to keep this page fresh with the latest product updates, new partner offers, and up-to-date guides.

If it does, it can make onboarding smoother for small teams and give you more time to focus on strategy instead of worrying about URL management.

Featured Image: IB Photography/Shutterstock