Google Adds AI Mode Traffic To Search Console Reports via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Google has updated its Search Console documentation, confirming it includes AI Mode data in Performance reports.

This is a change to note when reviewing your metrics, as it may impact traffic reporting patterns.

Understanding AI Mode and What’s Changed

AI Mode is Google’s interactive AI-powered search experience, which builds on AI Overviews to provide more detailed responses.

The feature breaks questions into smaller topics and searches for each one at the same time. This “query fan out” technique, as Google calls it, lets people explore topics more deeply.

The key change in Google’s documents is that AI Mode data counts toward the totals in Search Console.

Per the updated changelog:

“Data from AI Mode is now counting towards the totals in the Search Console Performance report.”

How AI Mode Metrics Work

The documentation explains how AI Mode measures different actions:

• Click: When someone clicks a link to an external page in AI Mode, it counts as a click in Search Console.
• Impression: Standard impression rules apply. This means users must see or potentially see a link to your site.
• Position: Position calculations in AI Mode work the same way as regular Google Search results pages. Carousel and image blocks within AI Mode use standard position rules for those elements.

When users ask follow-up questions within AI Mode, they start new queries. The documentation notes:

“All impression, position, and click data in the new response are counted as coming from this new user query.”

Google Says Best Practices Remain Unchanged

Google’s documentation says:

“The best practices for SEO remain relevant for AI features in Google Search.”

There are no extra technical requirements beyond standard Google Search rules.

Google’s documentation clarifies:

“You don’t need to create new machine-readable files, AI text files, or markup to appear in these features. There’s also no special schema.org structured data that you need to add.”

Website owners can control the appearance of their content’s AI features using existing tools, such as nosnippet, data-nosnippet, max-snippet, or noindex controls.

Looking Ahead

With AI Mode data now included in Search Console reports, you may notice changes in traffic patterns and metrics. The data appears within the “Web” search type in the Performance report, mixed with other search traffic.

The documentation notes that clicks from search results pages with AI features tend to be “higher quality.” Users are “more likely to spend more time on the site.”

However, without dedicated tabs for traffic from Google’s AI features, it’s impossible to verify those claims.

Featured Image: Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock

Google Lighthouse To Undergo Major Audit Overhaul: What To Know via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Google announced plans to revamp Lighthouse’s performance audits.

The new version will match the recently launched insights in Chrome DevTools’ Performance panel.

This shift will alter how performance data is organized and presented, impacting SEO professionals who utilize Lighthouse for website optimization.

Background: Combining Google’s Performance Tools

This update is part of Google’s effort to consolidate its various performance tools.

Barry Pollard from Google’s Chrome team explains:

“We’re updating the audits in Lighthouse to be based on the same Insights we recently launched in the Performance panel of Chrome DevTools. This will help align the two tools but will be a breaking change.”

What’s Changing: Renamed, Combined, and Removed Audits

The upcoming changes fall into three main categories:

1. Audit Merging and Renaming

Many existing Lighthouse audits will get new names and be merged. For example:

• Three separate audits (“layout shifts,” “non-composited animations,” and “unsized images”) will be combined into a single “cls culprits insight” audit.
• Several image optimization audits will combine into a single “image-delivery-insight” audit.

This merging means you can no longer turn off individual parts of these combined audits. You’ll need to turn the entire insight audit on or off.

Note, this is not a comprehensive list. For the complete list of renamed and consolidated audits, please refer to Google’s announcement.

2. Audit Removals

Several audits will be removed entirely, including:

• First Meaningful Paint (replaced by Largest Contentful Paint)
• No Document Write (rarely an issue in modern scripts)
• Offscreen Images (browsers already handle these well)
• Uses Passive Event Listeners (rarely an issue today)
• Uses Rel Preload (too often recommended when not needed)
• Third-Party Facades (limited usefulness and potential concerns)

3. New Organization

The new insight audits will appear under an “Insights” heading in reports. Unchanged audits will stay under the “Diagnostics” heading.

Timeline for Changes

Google will roll out these changes in stages:

• Now: The new insights are already available in the Lighthouse JSON output for early adopters
• May/June 2025 (Chrome 137): Lighthouse 12.6 will include a toggle to switch between old and new views
• June: Lighthouse 12.7 will use newer insights audits by default
• October: Lighthouse 13 will remove the old audit data completely

Pollard confirms:

“This has now been released to PageSpeed Insights too and will be included in Chrome 137 in about a month.”

How To Prepare

Here’s what to do to get ready:

1. Use Lighthouse 12.6.0’s toggle feature to see how future reports will look
2. If you use specific audit names in reports or analysis, start updating them
3. Update any systems that use Lighthouse data
4. Explain why performance reports will look different later this year

Pollard advises:

“Other Lighthouse tooling (for example if you’re using this in your CI) can also start migrating to these insights-based audits — the audits are available in the JSON outputs now.”

What This Means

Google continues to emphasize page experience and Core Web Vitals in its ranking algorithm. The underlying metrics remain unchanged, but the reorganization will impact how you identify and address performance issues.

The merged audits may provide a more comprehensive overview of related performance issues. This could make it easier to spot patterns and prioritize fixes. However, teams that have built custom tools around specific Lighthouse audits will need to adapt.

Looking Ahead

Google will publish documentation about the new insights on developer.chrome.com before the October change. They’ll keep the older documentation available for users of previous Lighthouse versions.

If you have concerns about these changes, Google has opened a GitHub discussion to gather feedback and answer questions.

Featured Image: brucephotography103/Shutterstock

Google Analytics Adds New Features For Privacy-Era Tracking via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Google Analytics adds new data quality features to help track campaigns and overcome privacy limitations.

• Google Analytics adds features to improve data accuracy as privacy rules limit tracking.
• New attribution tools track campaigns even when users decline cookies.
• Clearer data labels and problem-spotting tools help you understand reporting limitations.

Google Search Console Gets New Merchant Opportunities Report via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Google Search Console’s new Merchant Opportunities Report lets retailers manage payment methods, ratings, and shipping policies.

• Google is renaming and enhancing the Search Console Shopping tab report.
• It’s now called the “Merchant Opportunities Report”
• It has new features for payment methods, store ratings, and shipping/return policies.

Google Chrome Adds New Tools For Better Mobile Testing via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Chrome has added new DevTools features that help developers test website performance based on real-world data.

Available in Chrome 134, these tools include CPU throttling calibration and other improvements that help bridge the gap between development environments and actual experiences.

How This Helps

Developers build websites on powerful desktop computers. However, many users visit these sites on much slower mobile devices.

This creates a problem: performance issues may not show up during testing.

Chrome DevTools has offered CPU throttling for years, letting developers simulate slower devices. But choosing the right throttling level has been mostly guesswork.

This update is designed to eliminate the guesswork.

CPU Throttling Calibration

The main new feature in Chrome 134 is CPU throttling calibration. It creates testing presets specifically for your development machine.

After a quick test, DevTools creates two options:

• “Low-tier mobile” – Mimics very basic devices
• “Mid-tier mobile” – Matches average mobile device speed

Screenshot from: developer.chrome.com/blog/devtools-grounded-real-world, April 2025.

Brendan Kenny states in the Chrome Developers Blog:

“We generally recommend the ‘mid-tier’ preset for most testing. If many of your users have even slower devices, the ‘low-tier’ option can help catch issues affecting those users.”

Setting up calibration is easy:

• Open the Performance panel’s Environment settings
• Select “Calibrate…” from the CPU throttling dropdown
• Let DevTools run a quick test
• Start using your new calibrated presets

Screenshot from: developer.chrome.com/blog/devtools-grounded-real-world, April 2025.

What Throttling Can & Can’t Do

The new calibration makes testing more accurate, but it has limits.

Throttling works by pausing the browser tab to make tasks take longer. This method is useful for simulating JavaScript and layout calculations.

Tests show that calibrated throttling closely matches how these processes run on real mobile devices.

However, CPU throttling doesn’t accurately simulate:

• Graphics-heavy operations
• Slower storage speeds
• Limited memory
• Device heating issues

Chrome’s testing showed that visually complex pages could take twice as long on real mobile devices compared to simulated tests.

This means you should still test on real devices, especially for visually rich websites.

Real-World Data Integration

Besides CPU calibration, Chrome 134 adds several features that use real-world performance data:

• Throttling suggestions based on your actual site visitors
• Alerts when your test results don’t match real-user experiences
• Performance insights that flag mismatches between tests and reality
• Smarter organization of performance tips based on your users’ actual needs
• Better tracking of what settings were used for each test

These features help ensure your testing matches what users experience rather than artificial lab conditions.

Why It Matters For SEO & Marketing

These new tools solve a disconnect between websites that work well in development but struggle on real devices.

Chrome 134 helps ensure your performance improvements benefit users by providing more realistic testing conditions.

As mobile continues to dominate web traffic, these tools provide a better foundation for improving user experience, conversion rates, and search rankings.

Bing Webmaster Tools Adds Data Comparison & UX Improvements via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Bing Webmaster Tools launches new comparison features and improved interface for enhanced search performance analysis.

• Bing Webmaster Tools now offers data comparison across time periods.
• Microsoft improved the time filter interface for easier navigation.
• The updates enable better campaign analysis and trend identification.

Google Adds New Guidance For Merging GA4 & Search Console Data via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Google has rolled out updated documentation on how to combine data from Google Analytics and Search Console.

Unified SEO Insights

The new guidelines recommend using Google Analytics and Google Search Console together. Google Analytics tracks user behavior on your website, while Search Console monitors your site’s performance in Google Search.

This combination gives you a clearer view of website activity, allowing you to compare key metrics like sessions and clicks. Understanding how users find and interact with your site helps improve SEO decisions.

Leveraging Looker Studio

This document explains how to use Looker Studio to view organic search traffic data from Google Analytics and Search Console on one dashboard. It provides steps for setting up data sources and creating charts, using different colors to distinguish between the two platforms.

SEO professionals can track key metrics like sessions, engagement rates, returning users, clicks, and click-through rates (CTR). This visual format helps identify changes in performance and resolve differences between the two data sources.

Addressing Data Discrepancies

The documentation explains the differences in metrics from each tool. Both measure website engagement, but results may vary due to session tracking methods, time zone settings, attribution models, and reporting of non-HTML pages.

Google’s guidelines offer insights into these differences and tips to reduce data gaps.

How This Helps

SEO professionals can follow the steps in the new documentation to better assess their website’s performance.

By connecting data on what happens before and after a visitor clicks on a search result, marketers can better evaluate their SEO efforts.

To be clear, connecting Google Analytics and Search Console is a recommendation, not a requirement. If you’re satisfied with your analytics tracking and reporting solutions, you don’t have to do anything different.

For more details, view the official documentation on the Google Developers website.

Google To Migrate All reCAPTCHA Services To Cloud Platform via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Google is informing users that its reCAPTCHA service will migrate to Google Cloud by the end of the year.

An email states that all existing reCAPTCHA keys must be moved to Google Cloud projects.

WordPress developer Jeff Starr shared a screenshot of the email that was sent out.

#Google #reCaptcha service no longer will be free after 2025 (received via email), changes required this year. pic.twitter.com/iS4L0nZFtW

— Jeff Starr (@perishable) January 29, 2025

Why Is Google Doing This?

Google says this move aims to bring all reCAPTCHA customers under one set of terms and pricing.

Additionally, Google wants to give developers access to new security features.

After the migration, you can immediately use dashboards in Google Cloud for analytics, monitoring, logging, and auditing.

Phased Rollout

The transition will occur in stages throughout the year.

You can expect to receive periodic email updates notifying you when existing keys are eligible for migration.

At that time, Google will automatically create a corresponding Google Cloud project and link the keys.

To avoid interruptions, Google recommends taking action early. You can proactively migrate keys from reCAPTCHA Classic to the Google Cloud environment by following the company’s guidelines.

For a visual guide on migrating your reCAPTCHA keys, you can refer to the following video:

What It Means For Businesses & Developers

• Deadline: Complete all migrations by the end of 2025.
• Pricing Model: reCAPTCHA will be free up to 10,000 assessments per month.
• Enhanced Security: You will get better security and management tools with the new Google Cloud setup.
• Action Required: If you use reCAPTCHA, start the migration process now to ensure a smooth transition and keep your protection against spam and abuse.

Tessa Hudson, Software Engineer at Google, confirms any usage below 10,000 assessments per month will remain free.

A post on the Google Cloud Community forums reads:

“There is no fee for migrating the key, however, your monthly usage may qualify for reCAPTCHA Standard or Enterprise. You will only be charged once you have reached 10,000 assessments each month. Any usage below this amount will remain free. If you have not set up billing on the Google Cloud project, you will receive an email at 10,000 assessments notifying you that your free assessments for the month have been used up and you will not receive reCAPTCHA scores for that key until the next month unless you enable billing.

The email you received should include your average usage for the past 3 months. You can input that number into this pricing calculator to get an idea of how much you will pay monthly if your usage stays the same. For more details on the different pricing tiers, please see our pricing table.

You can read more about how reCAPTCHA billing works here.”

Looking Ahead

If you want to keep using reCAPTCHA after this year, it’s important to plan ahead and move to the new system.

This will help avoid disruptions and allow you to take advantage of new security features.

Google Workspace Support: Unclear If Opting Out AI Features Avoids Price Hike via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Google has made its AI-powered features in Gmail, Docs, Sheets, and Meet free for all Workspace users, but questions remain around pricing adjustments and feature visibility for specific accounts.

AI Now Included Without Extra Cost

Google announced that its full suite of AI tools, previously available only through the $20-per-user-per-month Gemini for Workspace plan, is now included in its standard offerings at no additional charge.

AI capabilities like automated email summaries, meeting note-taking, spreadsheet design suggestions, and the Gemini chatbot are now accessible to all customers.

However, this announcement comes with a catch: Workspace plans will see a $2 price hike per user per month.

The new pricing structure raises the base cost of the Workspace Business Standard plan from $12 to $14 per user, effective immediately for new customers.

Starting March 17, existing customers will see the change reflected. Small business accounts are currently exempt from this adjustment.

Confusion Over Pricing & Settings

While the price increase has been widely reported, Google Workspace support has offered additional clarification, indicating that it may not apply to all users.

According to support representatives, it’s unclear whether organizations that opt out of AI features will still face the increased costs. Official guidance on this matter has yet to be issued, leaving many customers uncertain.

Screenshot from Google support chat, January 2025.

Chats between Google Workspace reps and the Search Engine Journal development team reveal that opting out of AI features isn’t straightforward.

The settings to turn off AI features like Gemini aren’t visible by default for business accounts.

Administrators must contact Google support to enable access to these settings. For enterprise customers, the settings are accessible directly within the Workspace admin console.

Competitive Push Against Microsoft

Google’s move to bundle AI features into its standard Workspace offerings mirrors Microsoft’s recent decision to integrate its Copilot Pro AI tools into the standard Microsoft 365 subscription.

Both companies aim to attract more users to their AI-powered productivity platforms while simplifying pricing structures.

Key Takeaways

For organizations using Google Workspace, here are the critical points to note:

1. AI Features Are Enabled by Default: Gemini and other AI tools will be active for most accounts unless explicitly disabled.
2. Opt-Out Process Is Complicated: Business account holders must contact Google support to access and change the AI feature settings. Enterprise accounts can manage these settings directly.
3. Pricing Uncertainty: It’s unclear whether the $2 price increase will still apply if you opt out of AI tools. Google has stated that further updates on this issue are forthcoming.

Businesses are advised to monitor their Workspace settings closely and contact Google support for clarification.