SEARCHENGINES
Google Ads Remove Redundant Keywords Recommendation Now Works Across Match Types

Google has sent out email notifications to some Google Ads advertisers about changes happening to the remove redundant keywords recommendations. In short, Google is expanding this recommendation to work across match types.
The notification says that Google is making “improvements” to this recommendation type, but I am not sure that advertisers would call this an improvement.
Google said that currently, the “remove redundant keywords” recommendation suggests redundant keywords within the same ad groups, destination, bidding strategy, and match type. But that is changing; Google will now have this recommendation work across different match types. Google said, “starting January 19, the recommendation can include keyword across different match types.”
Google said you can view the match type reports to see this by clicking on “Segment” on the “search keywords” report and then by choosing “search terms match type.”
Google said they are making this change to help you manage your accounts more easily. Google said “it doesn’t negatively impact your performance, and still allows your ads to appear on the same searches.”
The example google provided was if your ad group has the phrase match keyword “women’s hats” and broad match keyword ladies hats, Google will recommend that you remove the phase match keyword since the broad match keyword ladies hats covers all searches from “women’s hats.”
Clearly, Google wants you to go all in on broad match with these recommendations.
Robert Brady I believe first posted about this on Twitter and said, “Google Ads just changed the “Remove redundant keywords” recommendation to prefer broad match. It will remove a phrase match or exact match keyword if a broad match keyword covers it.”
Here is how some of the PPC community feels about this change:
I’ll tell you what @GoogleAds show me the quantifiable positive impact of making the changes, and I’ll consider it. Same goes for all the damn recommendations
— Jon Kagan (@JonKagan) January 4, 2023
The shoving Broad Match down our throat agenda continues! 😒#PPCChat
— Anu Adegbola aka PPC Live UK founder 🎙️🗣️ (@TheMarketingAnu) January 4, 2023
On what planet does this make sense?
Google Ads is changing the definition & execution of a recommendation AFTER IT HAS ALREADY BEEN APPLIED.
This should be a different recommendation.
How could anyone EVER apply a @GoogleAds recommendation to an account again?#ppcchat pic.twitter.com/9j9GUZDReY
— Greg Finn (@gregfinn) January 4, 2023
Don’t worry though, the machines totally understand nuance. And would never jettison terms that convert well for those that bring in more clicks for the same conversions… #PPCChat
— Julie F Bacchini (@NeptuneMoon) January 4, 2023
Nicole Farley wrote, “This is another attempt by Google to shift accounts to broad-match keywords only. Advertisers and brands should only make the change if they have tested and determined if broad-match keywords work best for their accounts. If you’re unsure bout broad-match, turn off auto-apply and test.”
Here is the email (click to enlarge):
Forum discussion at Twitter.
Update: More from Ginny Marvin of Google:
Q. What’s happening?
A. If you have a phrase or exact match kw (e.g. women’s hats) & a broad match kw that’s understood to be equivalent (e.g. ladies hats), & opted into AAR for removing redundant keywords, Google will remove the exact/phrase match kws & keep the broad match.— AdsLiaison (@adsliaison) January 5, 2023
Q. Will I be eligible to show for more searches with this change?
A. No, since you already have the broad match keywords in your account, this won’t impact your performance or the searches your ads are eligible for. It helps consolidate your keywords.— AdsLiaison (@adsliaison) January 5, 2023
Q. If you applied a “remove redundant keywords” rec manually, will this update impact you?
A. This doesn’t affect past recommendations, whether applied automatically or manually. Starting Jan 19, you may see recs to remove redundant keywords covered by your broad match keywords— AdsLiaison (@adsliaison) January 5, 2023
Hope that helps clarify. If you have any more questions on this, please let me know.
— AdsLiaison (@adsliaison) January 5, 2023
Source: www.seroundtable.com
SEARCHENGINES
The New AI Powered Microsoft Bing Is Really Impressive & Thought Out

Yesterday I was at the Microsoft office with dozens of other media folks (lots of famous YouTubers also) for Microsoft to showcase its next evolution of Bing, the co-pilot for the web powered by the upgraded ChatGPT.
I should start by saying the leaks were accurate representation of this but the demos were far more impressive. Microsoft posted its own blog post over here and my Search Engine Land coverage is here.
I will say, this is far more impressive and thought out than what Google rushed out with Bard on Monday. But Satya Nadella did say Microsoft has been working on this for a while, not just the AI and language models but also how to build it into search as an assistant, as an “intelligent agent” as he put it.
Microsoft showed how you can not only get wicked smart answers, that you’d expect from ChatGPT but also how the user experience in search works smoothly with it. The right side panel that shows you not just the answers, but also the attribution and other ways to expand on those answers. You can also toggle from search to your chat assistant, and the chat feature will just pick up from search and visa versa. It just works together, at least in the demo.
I will have full access to it soon but you can also request access at bing.com/new.
Here is the home page as I see it:
Here is a screenshot Bing provided of the chat:
I live tweeted the event, where I tried to capture as much of the demo as possible, here are those tweets:
I see a bus load of famous YouTubers and reporters – like real famous.
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
I am in the back of the bus – was sitting across from iJustine:
Heading to Microsoft’s campus to learn what they’re planning, possibly, with ChatGPT. #Microsoft pic.twitter.com/7cUdA35869
— Lance Ulanoff (@LanceUlanoff) February 7, 2023
They funneled us into a breakfast area:
Timelapse (5 minute) of the Microsoft Media event – where Bing search goes AI… pic.twitter.com/z0DkMfaCd4
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
Then we went to the keynote room and Sam from OpenAI was sitting right in front of me:
Look who I see at this Microsoft event – it’s @sama pic.twitter.com/a6hRVjdnqT
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
Then Satya took the stage:
He is talking about AI and how its incredibly exciting times and how this can solve so many problems.
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
Satya saw what OpenAI developed and he was mind blown #Microsoft – now they need to scale this technology pic.twitter.com/UZAdDbCTIq
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
This AI technology will reshape every software category @satyanadella said #microsoft pic.twitter.com/Z3DkuQ1hnF
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
Then Yusuf Mehdi took the stage:
40% of queries result in someone clicking back and most searches are three keywords or less…
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
he explains navigational, informational and other searches people do today. 50,000 people’s searches go unanswered, which is why it is time for a new approach with search.
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
Bing is using a new ChatGPT designed for search
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
also, new core search index improvements and they applied AI to its core and it resulted in a huge improvement in relevancy
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
New Bing homepage to search with more words. pic.twitter.com/4vc6wXxjYz
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
And it shows more real time using the Bing index pic.twitter.com/fo1gIykQs6
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
It won’t be perfect so there are feedback links
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
New chat button in search to go from search to chat pic.twitter.com/1Y90o461nw
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
Microsoft is also bringing this AI copilot to Edge browser by integrating Bing in a new cool way with chat and to summarize and compare based on what is in the Bing index pic.twitter.com/rPhw6X27Qt
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
And it shows more real time using the Bing index pic.twitter.com/fo1gIykQs6
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
It won’t be perfect so there are feedback links
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
New chat button in search to go from search to chat pic.twitter.com/1Y90o461nw
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
Microsoft is also bringing this AI copilot to Edge browser by integrating Bing in a new cool way with chat and to summarize and compare based on what is in the Bing index pic.twitter.com/rPhw6X27Qt
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
That’s it I think pic.twitter.com/HXL4hLnrOf
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
More on technicals on these Bing upgrades – it’s pretty technical pic.twitter.com/C1pyswdeCB
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
I’ll add, this all seems light-years ahead of what Google showed us yesterday… At least from an integration and UX standpoint
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
it will expand to more people over time…
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
New Bing waitlist page at https://t.co/KWfVn2gd7S pic.twitter.com/abNP30skHJ
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
Microsoft won’t talk about the cost difference to run ChatGPT versus normal search…
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
@nfarley10 asked about Ads and @yusuf_i_mehdi said ads will be there, its in the screenshots from the presentation
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
More from Nicole on that over here.
and now I have early full access to the new Bing – what a big search box you have! pic.twitter.com/eTU4w1VWMU
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 7, 2023
There is a lot there but check out Techmeme – there is so much coverage of this and it is deserved. Also, Nicole did a test drive of the new Bing – her write up is here.
Finally, created this short vlog style video of my experience with this in person media event:
Forum discussion at Twitter & WebmasterWorld.
SEARCHENGINES
Google Search Testing New Video Layout In Search

Google may be testing a new layout for videos it displays in the Google Search results. Google is testing a new format for how the videos show in the Google Search results.
This new format shows a larger video in the listings, as opposed to a smaller thumbnail image with more details. This was spotted by Khushal Bherwani on Twitter who shared the new and old screenshots.
New video format:
Old video format:
Google has been testing and displaying larger video thumbnails for some time, as an FYI.
I am not sure which one I like more, I would have to pick I guess the smaller thumbnail?
Forum discussion at Twitter.
SEARCHENGINES
Microsoft Bing Event Today – Expecting ChatGPT Search Integration

I am currently in Seattle and headed to the Microsoft Campus in Redmond for an in-person press event. I decided to go, assuming it would be related to ChatGPT and Bing but Microsoft would not tell me what it was about, nor would Microsoft let us say we are going to the event. Then yesterday at 2pm, when the news broke about Google Bard (story will be here), Microsoft said we can talk about the event.
So the news is out there that there is a event, see Techmeme. The email Microsoft sent says, “Microsoft has some exciting news coming in February and we’d like to invite you to an in-person experience at the Microsoft Campus in Redmond.”
“We can’t share a lot more at this stage, but you won’t want to miss it. This invitation is for you only, but if you’re unable to attend please let us know and we’ll see if we can consider another of your teammates,” Microsoft added.
Then after the Google news came out, Microsoft sent an email saying, “In light of recent announcements, you may now acknowledge your participation in tomorrow’s briefing in Redmond, leveraging the language in the briefing invitation.”
So yea, this press event seems to be about the Bing ChatGPT solution. I am very much looking forward to seeing what Microsoft Bing has to show here and I’ll be sharing the news here, on Search Engine Land and likely will be tweeting a ton @rustybrick. So make sure to follow me on Twitter to see the latest from Bing on this news.
And we have this photo of Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft with Sam Altman of OpenAI together last night:
hello from redmond! excited for the event tomorrow pic.twitter.com/b7TUr0ti42
— Sam Altman (@sama) February 6, 2023
I am expecting this to look a lot like the Bing ChatGPT interface leaks we covered earlier. Here are those screenshots:
Here is the home page screenshot that widens and enlarges the search box and says “Ask me anything”:
Here is his screenshot of the results, the answers being returned:
And here is the GIF he made of this:
Brain buzzing with all the search news and announcements this week! SEOs cannot sleep. What a time to be alive! The future is bright 🚀
— Fabrice Canel (@facan) February 7, 2023
More to come soon.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
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