A weekly roundup of what actually changed in search, published every week whether or not anything dramatic happened. Quiet weeks get a short post saying so, which is more useful than a long post pretending otherwise.
What each issue covers
Google. Ranking updates, features, documentation changes and anything confirmed on the Search Status Dashboard. What Google has said, separated from what people think it means.
AI Overviews and AI Mode. Where they are appearing, what has changed about how they behave, and whether anything has moved on citations.
AI assistants in search. ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot, when there is something real to report rather than a feature announcement.
Tools and data. Changes to Search Console, Analytics and the third-party tools most small businesses actually use.
What it means for a small business, which is the section that matters, and three things I’d do this week, which is the only part that asks anything of you.
How it’s written
Confirmed, observed and opinion stay separate. “Google has confirmed”, “in my own data I’ve seen” and “my view is” are three different claims and you deserve to know which you’re reading.
Every factual claim carries its source and the date it was accessed. Search commentary ages badly, and a lot of what gets repeated is someone’s summary of someone else’s summary.
No panic. Most weeks, most changes do not require you to do anything. A roundup that manufactures urgency every seven days is selling something.
Short when the week is short. The length follows the news.
Who it’s for
People running a business who want to know whether this week’s noise affects them, without reading six newsletters written for other SEOs. If you already track the Search Status Dashboard yourself, you are not the audience.
The archive
[PAUL TO ADD: the issue list, once the first few are published.]
The other regulars
Content Marketing runs fortnightly, State of AI and Direction run monthly, and the tests run whenever one finishes. Everything sits on the writing page.