Friday, June 27

🌟 Today’s Highlights:

• Google Search is testing “Preferred Sources” for Top Stories

• X is banning hashtags in ads

• Replace Shopify Analytics with Heatmap’s new web analytics tool

• 📊 Stat of the Day: Instagram Reels get 36% more reach than carousels and 125% more than photos. (Source: Buffer)

• 💡 Today’s Insight: The 5 realities of search in FY26

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⚡️ Today’s Headlines ⚡️

🌟 Google is testing a new “Preferred Sources” feature for Search. The feature lets users star sources within the Top Stories section of Google Search, then Google will use that information to show more stories from the starred source.

#️⃣ X is banning hashtags in promoted ads. The move was announced, and seemingly driven, by X owner Elon Musk in order to improve the look and responsiveness of X’s promoted posts.

🤑 Google’s new Offerwall feature helps publishers monetize. The new service offers flexible content access via ads, surveys, or payments to help publishers struggling to maintain relevance with AI Overviews.

💡 Today’s Insight 💡

The 5 realities of search in FY26

🗞 TL;DR - Search strategy in FY26 doesn’t look like how it used to. Search is no longer a single engine or entry point. Discovery now happens in the swipe of a TikTok, the scroll of a Reddit thread, or the view of an Instagram Reel. Even on traditional search engines, AI Overviews have changed the game, demanding more out of instant answers. SEO expert Ashley Lidell shared the 5 new realities marketers are facing with search, and how to rethink content strategy for FY26.

💡 Insight - Here are the 5 realities of search in FY26:

1. Search is social, so authority must be earned in public. Trust is earned through TikTok stitches and Reddit upvotes. Prioritize creator collaborations, brand mentions, and community engagement – anything that creates social proof.

2. Content strategy isn’t platform-first, it’s format-first. Users expect content to answer their query in the format they intuitively expect. Lead with intent and format, not keywords. Research how users expect to consume information before deciding what (or where) to publish.

3. SERPs will become fragmented (in a good way). Search results in FY26 are splintered across the emerging search universe of AI/LLM results, featured snippets, social content, ads, and more. Track which platforms are served by Google for your queries, and engineer a solution for each accordingly.

4. Live search intelligence beats static strategy. The best strategies run on live data and shape culture proactively, not reactively. Use real-time insights from social platforms, SERPs, and creators to guide what you publish.

5. Your website’s first audience is now AI. Visibility is often determined before a person every sees your site, through AI Overviews, voice assistants, shopping guides, and LLM-powered search. To show up to these AI mediators, design structured, semantically clear, summary-first content.

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