Key takeout: For years, debate has raged over the blurred line between organic and paid results. When I started in SEO back in 2006, it was clear what was sponsored - PPC results appeared in a yellow box.

Fast-forward nearly two decades, and you’d be forgiven for merging the entire SERP (Search Engine Results Page) experience into one. This week, Google rolled out a collapsible sponsored result directly within the SERP. It’s not a new phase - Google has tested similar formats many times before, each designed to drive greater ad revenue through search.

What’s interesting now is whether this is a preview of how ads might appear in Google’s upcoming AI Mode. Could this be a way for users to collapse ads that appear by default on every search? It feels like a logical step in how Google might look to protect its ads business in the AI era.

Key takeout: This is a debate that has raged on for years, but has accelerated over the past 3 years, especially when ChatGPT exploded in Q4 of 2022 - how much should you invest in human-written content vs. AI-generated content?

I've always felt, and nothing has changed, that you need to have subject matter experts involved in content creation which should expand on far more than the text written approach and not just be centred around your website. This includes videos and podcasts that can be amplified across YouTube, Spotify and your newsletter platform of choice.

But should you include AI within your content production workflow? Yes. I am bullish on this and would 100% you start investigating how to do this with your teams. Whether it be using an Enterprise piece of tech, such as AirOps (highly recommended) or if you're using AI for ideation, proof reading (Claude recommended) or for research - I would recommended you start to integrate this into your business workflows if you aren't already.

Key takeout: Another week, another e-commerce move from OpenAI. Users will soon be able to buy Walmart products directly through ChatGPT, as shoppers increasingly turn to AI chatbots for product discovery and recommendations.

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon spoke about how shopping behaviour is changing - referencing the old Google experience of a “search bar” and “a long list of results.” That’s quickly being replaced by conversational, context-aware journeys that feel more like personal assistants than search engines.

Looking at referral traffic (see below) over the past 12 months to Walmart.com, it’s easy to see why the Arkansas giant has partnered with Sam Altman’s firm. ChatGPT has climbed to become the second-largest source of referral traffic behind Google - a remarkable shift in less than three years. And it’s not unique to Walmart; we’re seeing similar patterns across other major retailers.

The question now is whether Amazon will follow suit, as it did with TikTok. There’s plenty to suggest it won’t - not least given how far behind Rufus still feels - but with ChatGPT already one of the top referrers to Amazon.com, Andy Jassy will be watching closely. Falling behind rivals who do embrace AI integrations would be a costly mistake.