Searchbeam: SEO, AI search and digital marketing news – Page 4
Stories
-
AI Search & GEO
Cloudflare signals helped OpenAI index hundreds of millions of new pages
A Cloudflare–OpenAI research pilot using about 1% of Cloudflare's network helped OpenAI discover and index hundreds of millions of new pages. Being indexed doesn't guarantee citations, and your crawler settings still control access.
-
SEO
Google: keywords in URLs stop mattering once a page has content
In a new Google Search Central video, Gary Illyes called keywords in URLs an incredibly small signal that becomes basically irrelevant once a page has content. Readability, hyphens and correct encoding are what count.
-
Digital Marketing
Apple confirms Safari 27 blocks email-based identity trackers
Apple's WebKit team confirmed on October 19, 2026 that Safari 27 blocks third parties that turn email addresses typed into login or newsletter forms into cross-site tracking IDs. The block applies across iOS, iPadOS, macOS and visionOS 27, and Apple grants no exceptions to specific parties.
-
SEO
Chartbeat: search now drives 12% of North American publisher pageviews
Chartbeat's Q3 2026 report shows search engines delivered 12% of North American publisher pageviews, down from 21% a year earlier, with search share falling in nine of ten regions while overall network traffic stayed steady.
-
AI Search & GEO
Google moves links higher in AI Mode and AI Overviews answers
On October 15, 2026, Google announced five changes to how AI Mode and AI Overviews show links, from higher inline links to a test of a top section for official sites. It also said Preferred Sources users grew more than 7x this year, but shared no baseline and no click data.
-
Digital Marketing
Google Tests Ads in AI Mode for Personal Intelligence Users
Google has started testing ads in AI Mode for users who connect their apps through Personal Intelligence, reversing the ad-free approach it described in March. Its updated help page says app-derived summaries and inferences may inform ads, but not your Gmail inbox or Photos library directly.
-
AI Search & GEO
Meta’s new terms let it crawl business sites for AI training
From October 30, any business using Meta's commercial products, including a Facebook Page, grants Meta contractual permission to crawl its associated websites and use the content to train Meta products. Meta says the change targets product data, not news, but the wording isn't limited that way.
-
AI Search & GEO
Google Universal Cart Launches in US Search and Gemini
Google has started rolling out Universal Cart, a cross-retailer shopping cart, in US Search (including AI Mode) and the Gemini app. YouTube and Gmail are missing, and Google has said nothing about merchant fees, ranking or data sharing.
