
Search News You Can Use - SEO Podcast with Marie Haynes
Search News You Can Use is Marie Haynes' Weekly Podcast where she provides useful advice on Google Algorithm updates, tips and information to help you improve your website. During the podcast she breaks down the most interesting and important changes that have happened in SEO and the world of search!
Latest episodes

Apr 4, 2025 • 57min
How AI Will Change Our Lives Over the Next Decade
Dr. Marie Haynes discusses the future of AI, highlighting the massive investments being made by companies like Google, Meta, and Amazon. She acknowledges concerns about job loss and fear for the future but presents an optimistic vision, quoting Sam Altman and Elon Musk who believe AI will lead to greater prosperity and even a universal high income.
Marie details how AI is currently used for tasks like organizing thoughts and image generation, but its true potential lies in AI agents. These agents will research and complete tasks, changing how we interact with the web and businesses. She gives examples of using agents for hotel and flight research and deep research projects.
She also talks about using AI for coding and creating tools, sharing her personal experience of developing a tool to analyze website traffic drops. Marie believes AI agents will become like employees, increasing productivity and allowing her to focus on more complex tasks. She envisions AI optimizing businesses in various ways, such as chatbots, competitor research, and IP creation.
Marie acknowledges the disruption AI will cause, leading to job losses in digital marketing and other industries. She compares this to historical technological shifts like electricity and the printing press, noting that while there were initial negative consequences and job losses, these technologies ultimately led to progress and new opportunities.
She encourages listeners to embrace AI, suggesting they learn to code with AI, stay updated on AI developments, and become experts in AI in specific areas. She also advises sharing their knowledge and learning to communicate effectively with language models (prompting). Haynes believes AI will improve our lives, offering advancements in healthcare, mental well-being, and innovation. She concludes by emphasizing the importance of being part of shaping the future of AI, rather than just watching it happen.
Learn to prompt with a weekly email from Marie Haynes:
https://www.mariehaynes.com/prompts
Marie's AI Newsletter:
https://www.mariehaynes.com/newsletter

Feb 26, 2025 • 59min
Is Grok 3 a threat to Google? + LIVE AI Deep Research Demos!
Is Grok 3 a serious threat to Google? In this LIVE episode of AI News You Can Use Dr. Marie Haynes demonstrates Grok 3 as well as the Deep Research tools from Grok, Gemini and OpenAI.
We'll discuss the future of Search and how we can be the leaders of the future as AI changes our world.
Join the Search Bar to participate in future epsiodes:
https://community.mariehaynes.com/
Marie's Newsletter:
https://mariehaynes.com/newsletter/

Feb 12, 2025 • 1h 47min
The QRG Updated - Filler content, Paraphrased, AI content and more.
The January 2025 update of Google's Quality Rater Guidelines had many important changes including sections on:
-filler content
-paraphrased content
-Using AI in content creation
-Expired domains
-Scaled content abuse
This was a live episode of Search News You Can Use filmed in The Search Bar.
Buy My 2025 edition of my QRG checklist you can use to assess your site like a quality rater:
https://www.mariehaynes.com/products/qrg-workbook-2025/
Join the Search Bar:
https://community.mariehaynes.com/

Dec 13, 2024 • 36min
Gemini 2.0 - a new era! O1, Google's quantum computing breakthrough, Sora & more.
Dive into the future of AI as advancements like Google's Gemini 2.0 redefine the landscape. Learn how quantum computing, with its fascinating concepts like qubits, could transform technology. Discover OpenAI's latest innovations, including the powerful ChatGPT Pro and innovative Sora for text-to-video. Explore how these developments impact society, SEO dynamics, and even a Swiss church's use of AI. This thrilling journey into AI's potential will leave you eagerly anticipating what comes next!

Oct 7, 2024 • 45min
Are Chrome user engagement signals used in Google's ranking systems? Cindy Krum & Marie Haynes
Are Chrome engagement signals used in Google's ranking systems?
I'd recommend watching Cindy's video from last week:
https://youtu.be/txNT1S28U3M?si=uPi9nz61-1HfJefG
Cindy theorized that Google collects all sorts of information from our visits using the Chrome browser. In our talk we discuss whether and how this information could be used in ranking algorithms.
Reach Cindy:
https://mobilemoxie.com/
https://x.com/Suzzicks
Reach Marie:
https://mariehaynes.com/contact/
https://community.mariehaynes.com/ - The Search Bar
Links mentioned in this episode:
The Pandu Nayak testimony:
https://thecapitolforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/101823-USA-v-Google-PM.pdf
Distributed Representation of Words and Phrases and their Compositionality - Jeff Dean, Ilya Sutskever et al. - Helps explain how vectors in a space are adjusted. Gemini gave me this paper when we were discussing RankBrain.

Sep 18, 2024 • 36min
Understanding Gemini's Vector Space: How AI Learns (And can we influence it?)
Here’s a conversation I had with Gemini about how its vector space works and how it adjusts as it learns. It may be possible for us to influence how Gemini represents our business by having more conversations about the things that are good about your business.
Hope you find this interesting! (Also omg how many times did I say the word “interesting” in this episode? 😂
The end of this video includes a podcast made by NotebookLM AI podcasters talking about my conversation with Gemini.
Here’s a great video I found that taught me a lot about vectors:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvobVu1l7GI
Here’s NotebookLM
https://notebooklm.google.com/
See past podcast episodes
https://community.mariehaynes.com/spaces/12946477/feed
If you want to learn more about the AI systems used in Search here’s my book, SEO in the Gemini Era: The story of how AI changed Google search
https://www.mariehaynes.com/gemini-era-seo/book/
And to go even deeper, here’s my course:
https://www.mariehaynes.com/gemini-era-seo/course/
Want to join other people who are excited as me about AI? We’d love to have you in the Search Bar
https://community.mariehaynes.com/

Aug 5, 2024 • 1h 41min
Site Improvement brainstorming session with Marie Haynes
Thank you to Adam Szmerling from Bayside Psychotherapy who allowed me to publish our brainstorming session. The first 45 minutes or so of this episode are me sharing how Google’s algorithms have changed. Then, Adam and I look in detail at his competition and his website and discuss how to change it so that it is more likely to meet the needs of his potential clients.
Watch on Youtube: https://youtu.be/K0FVlM7Xmc0
Links
Marie’s book, SEO in the Gemini Era, The Story of How AI Changed Google Search
https://amzn.to/3WPBg0Z
SEO in the Gemini Era course:
https://www.mariehaynes.com/gemini-era-seo/course/
Brainstorm with Marie:
https://www.mariehaynes.com/work-with-marie/
DOJ vs. Google Pandu Nayak testimony:
https://thecapitolforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/101823-USA-v-Google-PM.pdf
My blog post on the API files with attributes including Navboost :
https://www.mariehaynes.com/what-is-this-leaked-google-code-digging-into-the-api-docs/
Cyrus Shepard’s Moz article on click patents:
https://moz.com/blog/click-based-seo-engagement-signals
Internal Google email talking about Navboost:
https://www.justice.gov/d9/2023-11/417828.pdf
Google brought new signals into the core algorithm with March core update:
https://searchengineland.com/seo-takeaways-google-elizabeth-tucker-smx-advanced-443070
Gemini 1.5 improved Google’s machine learning architecture:
https://blog.google/technology/ai/google-gemini-next-generation-model-february-2024/#architecture
My course if you’d like to learn more about the AI systems behind search:
https://www.mariehaynes.com/gemini-era-seo/course/
Frederic Dubut of Bing talking about how we must switch from keyword research to intent research.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTriTRmEf34
Google’s information gain patent
https://patents.google.com/patent/US20200349181A1/en

Jun 25, 2024 • 12min
Navboost - Understanding this system changes how we do SEO.
Navboost is a system we learned about in the DOJ vs Google trial. Did you know that Google stores every query that you search, along with information on what you clicked on and engaged with? I share in this video how this system is described, and also how I believe Google's ability to predict what searchers are likely to find helpful is changing.
Mentioned in this video:
Blog post on Navboost by Marie:
https://www.mariehaynes.com/navboost/
Marie's workbook:
https://www.mariehaynes.com/gemini-era-seo/workbook/
Marie's book:
https://www.mariehaynes.com/gemini-era-seo/book/
Pandu Nayak testimony:
https://thecapitolforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/101823-USA-v-Google-PM.pdf
Douglas Oard testimony:
https://thecapitolforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/U.S.A.-et-al-v.-Google-LLC-Nov-15-2023-Bench-Trial-Day-41-Morn-Sess-Transcript.pdf
Rand Fishkin's post on the API files:
https://sparktoro.com/blog/an-anonymous-source-shared-thousands-of-leaked-google-search-api-documents-with-me-everyone-in-seo-should-see-them/
Cyrus Shepard's Moz article about Google patents involving clicks:
https://moz.com/blog/click-based-seo-engagement-signals
Google's announcement of the March core update:
https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2024/03/core-update-spam-policies
Google describing how the core update involved architecture changes and bringing in new signals:
https://searchengineland.com/seo-takeaways-google-elizabeth-tucker-smx-advanced-443070

May 28, 2024 • 1h 3min
Leaked Google documents tell us about Attributes and their use in Rankings
Documents describing Google's ranking systems in great detail have been leaked by someone who sent an email to Rand Fishkin. In this video, I share my thoughts on Rand's post and then at around 35 mins or so I play around with analyzing this document with Gemini 1.5 Pro in AI Studio.
Hope you enjoy this type of video. I share a lot of my thoughts on how machine learning systems work to use all of the many attributes described in this documentation. This includes links, clicks, return to search results and much more.
Take home point: Google uses MANY signals/attributes/features in their calculations that predict what is likely to be helpful to the searcher. Our goal should be to create content that people choose to engage with and ultimately find to be the satisfying answer to their query - or in other words, HELPFUL.
This episode may be best seen as a video podast:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVYUvh4Vt30
Links mentioned
Marie’s newsletter: mariehaynes.com/newsletter
Marie’s notes (paid newsletter - follow along as I take notes on things like this each week.)
https://community.mariehaynes.com/spaces/12261861/feed
Marie’s Course and book: SEO in the Gemini Era is out soon.
The Docs referred to in this video: https://hexdocs.pm/google_api_content_warehouse/0.4.0/api-reference.html
Rand Fishkin’s post. He received an email with the contents of the leak. https://sparktoro.com/blog/an-anonymous-source-shared-thousands-of-leaked-google-search-api-documents-with-me-everyone-in-seo-should-see-them/
Mike King’s article on these documents:
https://ipullrank.com/google-algo-leak

May 27, 2024 • 5min
Marie's Thoughts On AI Overviews
Some quick thoughts on Google's AI overviews (formerly SGE). I don't think they're going away. I do believe they will get more accurate. We should be paying attention to which websites Google is showing in the link cards in these.
More on changes to my newsletter: mariehaynes.com/newsletter
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