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Performance Pulse
June 10, 2025 • Your unfair advantage in paid media.
Saku F
June 10, 2025
SEARCH
Google isn’t dead. But your organic CTR might be.
Zero-click searches are rising. YouTube is taking more search traffic than ever.
Here’s what the latest data shows:
27.2% of U.S. searches end in no click
Organic CTR fell to 40.3%
Google-owned properties (YouTube, Maps) are taking a larger share
Takeaway: Start optimizing for visibility inside Google’s ecosystem—not just blue links.
STRATEGY
Dawn Anderson: The SEO model is changing. Fast.
What if traffic isn’t the goal anymore?
Highlights from Dawn's SMX interview:
Focus on passages, not just pages
Think in terms of information retrieval, not just ranking
Cite your sources clearly
SEO is evolving into Answer Engine Optimization.
GOOGLE ADS
Google Ads API v20 just dropped — here’s what matters.
What’s new:
Campaign-level negatives for PMax (finally)
Demand Gen now reports YouTube, Gmail, Maps, Discover separately
First-party audience-based reach forecasting
Sub-country and device-level reporting
Note: Most features are UI-only or require allowlist access. API support is coming in v21.
DATA STORY
Most teams using AI don’t have a real policy.
A new B2B report shows:
73% don’t define how AI should be used
52% don’t disclose when AI is used
66% have security concerns but no strong protections
What to do: Stop banning tools. Start writing policies based on outcomes and use-cases. Encourage responsible experimentation.
GEO & AI SEARCH
Will Scott: “#1 means nothing if you’re 2,700 pixels down.”
The new SEO scoreboard focuses on:
Semantic clarity
On-page structure with clear headings and jump links
Citing credible sources for AI Overviews
Treat your content like something worth quoting. That’s how you get surfaced.
INSIGHT OF THE WEEK
If you’re not being cited in AI, you’re not even in the conversation.
Modern visibility depends on being useful, quotable, and structured.