Hi and welcome back to another edition of The Keyword newsletter. I’ve spent some time to tie together the key themes from Google’s announcements at its conference last week to make the highlights below as concise/impactful as possible.

— Kole
Editor, The Keyword
Founder, Wilow

Thank you to dofollow.com for sponsoring the newsletter today

AI Mode Recommendations [Organic]: On stage, Google went through an example of the logic behind how it selected certain products to recommend in AI Mode.

Takeaway: This quote summarizes it perfectly: “Think beyond text. People appreciate finding relevant images and videos. Generative AI search pulls all of this content right into the results.”

So incentivize customers to share!

Vidhya Srinivasan - VP/GM, Advertising & Commerce at Google

AI Mode Recommendaions [Paid]: Google announced several new ways that they will be integrating paid advertisements into AI Mode. It is clear that AI mode is the future of Google and Google advertising:

Takeaway: Users are not just seeing the ad copy written by the advertisers. Users are also seeing a Gemini-generated explanation for why Google believes the product is a good fit for the users…

So the same organic principles are also crucial for Paid Google Ads. Google wants ads to be presented as answers to people’s questions.

Agent Checkout (‘UCP’)

Google will give shoppers the ability to buy products directly from an ad. Google is providing the ‘buy’ button. So shoppers can bypass the advertisers’ website to purchase quicker. There are two ways shoppers can use Google’s agent-based checkout (which Google calls “UCP”):

Takeaway: Google will send less traffic to advertisers websites since shoppers will increasingly see an option to use Google’s buy button instead. Advertisers can try to fight it, but Google just could end up preferring advertisers who join ‘UCP’.

The transition from Google Search to AI mode

Google hasn’t killed the traditional search engine yet. But they are edging towards it. Google described how they’ve made the “biggest upgrade to our Search box in over 25 years”.

The new version looks similar to the old one-line text box, but it's dynamic, expanding with longer queries. Users can also include videos, pictures and files into it for what Google calls "multimodal" search.

Takeaway: Google mentioned several times how keywords don’t fit the new capabilities brought about by AI. Longer queries demand the new set of ad products which Google is now starting to release.

SaaS buyers are discovering vendors through Google and AI search before they ever visit your website. That’s why companies like Surfshark, Pitch, and LegalZoom work with dofollow.com. We help B2B SaaS brands increase off-site visibility through trusted publisher placements and strategic brand mentions that drive qualified organic pipeline.

Google says websites do not need separate rules or strategies for AI-driven search features like AI Overviews and AI Mode. The company says that content is still ranked using the same core SEO systems.

The company has launched an MCP server that lets external AI systems connect directly to TikTok Ads Manager and manage campaigns without manual input. The setup enables advertisers to use their own AI tools to handle tasks like planning, budget changes, bid adjustments, targeting, and optimization through TikTok’s ad infrastructure.

The platform is introducing a paid subscription that removes ads for eligible users aged 18 and over. The move is driven by UK GDPR rules pushing platforms toward a “consent-or-pay” model that gives users a clear choice over how their data is used for targeted ads.

Brands can now appear at the top of TikTok search results through dedicated ad placements that surface brand or category content when users search.

X has launched “Creator Connect,” an AI-powered tool that analyzes campaign briefs and returns ranked creator recommendations based on audience signals and real-time platform trends. Brands then select from the suggested creators, while X handles outreach to selected creators and manages content creation and distribution.

That is up from 190 million monthly viewers in late 2025, a 32% increase in about six months. Netflix also plans to expand its ad-supported tier to 15 additional countries starting in 2027.

The AI buying agent will manage, optimize, and automatically purchase ad placements on Netflix without requiring manual input from advertisers. Netflix is also testing personalized ad loads and opening more inventory, including pause ads and live events, to programmatic buyers.

The platform’s new Custom Sponsorships uses AI to group videos around themes or moments from an advertiser’s brief and package them as a sponsorship deal. YouTube is also expanding Affiliate Partnerships Boost so brands can pay to amplify creator videos that already tag their products.

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