The Edward Show

E1054: Breaking down Google's May 2026 Broad Core Update and what I'm seeing across the SEO community as the rollout begins.
Google announced a two-week rollout starting May 21, after several days of volatility that had people reporting major ranking swings and traffic changes. I cover what's likely driving the turbulence, what looks like noise, and what appears to be a real directional shift.
What I'm seeing so far:
- A stronger crackdown on scaled AI content and hyperscaled "AI blog" subfolders
- Local SEO turbulence, with directory/aggregator sites losing ground on "near me" terms
- A Google Search Console issue causing link reports to show major drops or even zero links
- Wide community chatter ranging from panic to relief depending on site type and intent
Scaled AI content: possible enforcement getting sharper - a notable example circulating in the community involves a large AI-generated blog subfolder that appears to have been hit hard right as the update landed. The site's English blog presence effectively disappeared from search results while the broader domain still shows, which lines up with either enforcement actions or an algorithmic demotion aimed at low-value scaled content.
I explain what made this type of content vulnerable:
- Dense, repetitive AI text with low usefulness and poor readability
- Little to no original media or supporting assets
- Broad topic sprawl with no clear expertise or focus
- Pages that look designed for search volume capture rather than users
Local SEO: directories losing "near me" visibility - early reports suggest directory sites that previously dominated local-intent queries are dropping from top positions for a wide set of "near me" searches. I walk through why this may be happening and what it signals about how Google is evaluating local results during this update.
Key idea discussed:
- Google may be favoring the provider over the middleman when the intent is explicitly local and service-based
Why that would make sense in practice:
- Google already has Maps and Business Profiles to satisfy local intent quickly
- Business Profiles include reviews, photos, hours, and direct contact details
- Directory pages often add little beyond a list of providers and generic text
What this could mean depending on what you run…
- If you operate a local service business: you may see improved visibility as directories slide
- If you run a directory/aggregator: you may need clearer differentiation, better information, and a reason to exist beyond collecting listings
- If you do both: your strategy may need to split between brand-level authority and high-intent, provider-specific pages
Google Search Console: links report glitch - at the same time as the rollout, many SEOs are reporting Google Search Console's links report behaving erratically, including:
- Links dropping sharply in reported totals
- Link counts showing as zero in some cases
- Sudden, extreme fluctuations that don't match reality
Important note from the episode:
- This appears to be a reporting problem in Search Console, not proof that your backlinks disappeared
How I'm thinking about this update - I share how I approach core update volatility and what I've consistently seen hold up through major changes:
- Bottom-of-funnel pages built around clear intent tend to be more stable
- Informational/top-of-funnel content tends to swing more during core updates
- Targeting under-contested, high-intent queries can reduce volatility because fewer competitors are actively pushing into the same terms
⭐️ Google's Announcement - https://status.search.google.com/incidents/wdAXJk6LRRihEjpzEeWE
⭐️ ALM's blog collapse - https://x.com/gaganghotra_/status/2057451034969248223a
⭐️ May Update Digital Marketing Subreddit Discussion - https://www.reddit.com/r/digital_marketing/comments/1tkcttv/google_core_update_may_2026/
⭐️ May Update Local SEO Subreddit Discussion - https://www.reddit.com/r/localseo/comments/1tjvgbf/google_core_update_for_may_started_rolling_out/
⭐️ Google Search Console Links Report Is Broken - https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-console-links-report-broke-41371.html
⭐️ Google May 2026 Core Update Is Rolling Out - https://www.seroundtable.com/google-may-2026-core-update-41367.html
💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/
00:00 May Core Update Chaos
00:39 Rollout Timeline Explained
01:13 Scaled AI Spam Crackdown
03:42 Local SEO Shakeup
07:19 Search Console Link Glitch
08:31 Community Reactions
10:00 What Stayed Stable
10:32 Bottom of Funnel SEO Strategy
13:03 Wrap Up and Thanks
The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/
#searchengineoptimization #seo #googlecoreupdate #digitalmarketingnews

E1053: Breaking down Google's latest Search changes announced at Google I/O and what they mean in practice for SEO, businesses, agencies, publishers, and affiliates. I also cover the May 2026 core update announcement from Google Search Central, what people were noticing leading up to it, and early signals worth paying attention to.
Google is reframing the search box into something closer to a prompt interface: longer queries, prompt prediction, image input, interactive experiences you can return to, and agent-like behavior that can track details and alert you over time. A lot of people are asking whether this is finally the moment "SEO is dead."
My take: for businesses that sell their own products and services, the fundamentals still hold. The pain is concentrated elsewhere, especially for publishers and affiliates.
What we cover:
- What Google announced at Google I/O and why it's a major shift in how Google wants people to search
- The "prompt-like" search box: longer queries, expansion, and predicted follow-up text
- Interactive experiences inside Search, including tools and visualizations you can revisit
- Agent-style features: tracking prices, stock status, local deals, and ongoing monitoring based on your preferences
- Why most people still prefer short searches, and why that limits how fast behavior changes
- Why "build it for me" still requires clarity most users won't provide
- Why SEO isn't "dead" for businesses selling their own products and services
- What continues to work for SEO in an AI-first search environment
- Bottom-of-funnel pages targeting scenarios, use cases, and services you actually offer
- Documentation that clearly explains what your product or service does
- Online reputation management and buyer due diligence
- Comparison and "alternative" pages (competitor + alternative)
- Who gets hit hardest by these changes
- Publishers losing clicks to AI answers, even when they still rank
- Affiliates losing commissions when the path to the product gets shortened
- Why owning the product is the most durable play if you can rank
- The May 2026 core update announcement and the stated rollout window
- What people noticed before the update
- Volatility chatter across SEO communities
- Reports of sites getting deranked, especially those relying heavily on AI content
- Reports of backlink counts dropping in Google Search Console
⭐️ Google Search as you know it is over - https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/19/google-search-as-you-know-it-is-over/
⭐️ Google May Core Update announcement - https://x.com/googlesearchc/status/2057487931250499886
⭐️ Google May 2026 Core Update Is Rolling Out - You Felt It - https://www.seroundtable.com/google-may-2026-core-update-41367.html
⭐️ ethanjlim - https://www.youtube.com/shorts/JcOKmfUX-ko
💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/
00:00 AI Search Overhaul
00:50 New Search Box Features
02:16 Will SEO Die
02:44 Why Prompts Stay Short
04:43 SEO Tactics Still Win
06:40 Publishers And Affiliates Hit
08:39 May Core Update Buzz
09:59 Closing
The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/
#searchengineoptimization #seo #searchmarketing #digitalmarketing

E1052: We break down how to migrate a website without losing SEO traffic.
Whether you are switching from WordPress to Squarespace or Webflow, changing to another CMS, restructuring your URLs, or moving to a new domain entirely, this conversation covers what actually happens inside Google during a migration - and how to minimize risk.
We discuss real-world scenarios, including accidental migrations, domain changes, slug updates, and situations where rankings unexpectedly dropped. The goal is simple: protect your traffic and avoid unnecessary volatility.
What we cover:
- What happens when you change CMS but keep URLs and content the same
- Why HTML structure changes can still trigger re-indexing
- How low-authority pages can suddenly impact rankings during a migration
- The difference between crawl, refresh, and discovery modes
- How cannibalization can appear after a migration
- Why you should freeze structural changes before migrating
- When to noindex pages before changing slugs
- How to properly handle 301 redirects for slug updates
- What to expect when changing root domains
- How to use Google Search Console's domain migration tool
- Why XML sitemaps do not "force" indexing
- Why HTML sitemaps can be more effective
- The risks of changing site architecture during a migration
- How to warm up a new domain before moving
- How to smooth traffic volatility with strategic content republishing
We also answer a listener question about whether submitting a new sitemap after changing site architecture can cause traffic drops - and what to do instead.
If you are planning a website migration, CMS switch, URL restructure, or domain move, this episode walks through the technical considerations that can make the difference between a smooth transition and a traffic decline.
If you have questions about SEO, migrations, indexing, or site structure, send them in and we may cover them in a future episode.
⭐️ David Quaid on 𝕏 - https://x.com/DavidGQuaid
⭐️ David Quaid on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidquaid/
⭐️ David Quaid's agency - https://primaryposition.com/
💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/
00:00 Migration SEO Basics
00:30 Chad's CMS Switch Scenario
02:02 Pre-Migration Freeze Checklist
03:11 Protect Top Traffic Pages
04:19 Prune And Republish Old Posts
05:46 Press And Email Crawl Boost
07:17 Same Domain Vs New Domain
08:59 HTML Changes Trigger Reindexing
11:15 Discovery Vs Refresh Crawls
12:23 Health Checks And Cannibalization
12:55 Staged Migration Case Study
14:32 Will Traffic Really Stay Flat
18:05 Domain Move Pitfalls And GSC Tool
18:57 Subdomain Cannibalization
20:00 Slug Changes and Noindex
22:43 Timing the 301 Redirect
26:56 Smooth Domain Migration Prep
29:39 Architecture Changes Risk
31:30 Sitemaps Dont Force Indexing
34:07 HTML Sitemaps and Authority
35:27 Wrap Up and Next Steps
The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/
#searchengineoptimization #sitemigration #technicalseo #seo

E1051: Most SEO copywriting is written for algorithms instead of searchers.
That creates two problems:
1. Pages convert poorly
2. Rankings slowly decline over time
In this episode, I break down one of the biggest SEO mistakes businesses make: misunderstanding search intent.
A lot of websites technically "do SEO" correctly. They target keywords, publish articles, and rank on Google.
But when searchers land on the page, the copy does not immediately give them what they want.
People leave.

Conversions suffer.

Google notices.
We cover:
- Why answering search intent immediately is critical
- How pogo sticking hurts rankings
- Why most SEO introductions are written incorrectly
- The difference between top of funnel and bottom of funnel intent
- How to write introductions that increase conversions
- Why "explaining the keyword" often backfires
- Examples of good vs bad SEO copywriting
- How to naturally work keywords into content
- Why strong SEO copy feels more like sales copy than encyclopedia writing
- How better copy improves both rankings and revenue
Examples discussed in the episode include:
- "Why is my sink draining slowly?"
- "24 hour plumber Hoboken"
- "Room planner app"
This episode is focused on practical SEO writing that keeps searchers on the page, builds trust quickly, and moves people toward action.
⭐️ How Adding TL;DR Boosted My Conversions by 33% - https://www.reddit.com/r/SEO/comments/1h3qstq/how_adding_tldr_boosted_my_conversions_by_33/
💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/
00:00 SEO Copywriting Stakes
00:44 Answer Intent Immediately
01:42 TLDR Boosts Conversions
02:30 Top of Funnel Example
05:29 Bottom of Funnel Mistakes
06:48 Local Services Copy Fix
09:04 SaaS Copy Fix
10:48 Wrap Up
The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/
#copywriting #searchengineoptimization #seo #localseo

E1050: Rand Fishkin returns to the show to talk about what is actually changing in marketing right now.
Search traffic is shrinking. AI answers are replacing clicks. Platforms are keeping users inside their ecosystems. And many marketers are still operating like it's 2015.
We break down what "zero-click marketing" really means, why brand matters more than ever, and what founders should be doing instead of chasing vanity rankings.
We also go deep into AI, PR, profitability, and how to build something that lasts.
Topics we cover:
- Why links may matter less than mentions
- The shift from traffic-driven marketing to influence-driven marketing
- What zero-click marketing actually looks like in practice
- Why ranking for informational keywords is no longer a complete strategy
- How AI is changing research, buying behavior, and brand perception
- The risks and ethics of AI-generated content
- Why many affiliate and pure publisher sites are in trouble
- The difference between building a brand and chasing search volume
- How to measure off-site marketing without relying on clicks
- Time-based and location-based experiments for attribution
- Why PR is still one of the most undervalued marketing channels
- How to think about short-term marketing "hacks" versus long-term positioning
- Why profitability gives bootstrapped founders leverage
- What Rand learned from leaving Moz and starting SparkToro
- How teaching and communication became his most valuable skills
Rand also shares:
- How Alertmouse reached 5,000 users in about 100 days
- Why product improvement drove more growth than new channels
- How to decide which marketing channels to ignore
- Why some companies survive Google updates while others disappear
- What makes a marketing strategy durable
This episode is not about panic. It's about adapting to how people actually research, evaluate, and buy today.
If you are a founder, marketer, or SEO trying to understand where the industry is heading, this conversation will give you a grounded perspective.
⭐️ Rand's first time on the podcast - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JQvdLYvGZI
⭐️ Rand on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/randfishkin/
⭐️ Rand on Threads - https://www.threads.com/@randderuiter
⭐️ Zero Click Marketing - https://zeroclickmarketing.co/book
⭐️ SparkToro - https://sparktoro.com/
⭐️ Snackbar Studio - https://snackbarstudio.com/
⭐️ Alertmouse - https://alertmouse.com/
💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/
00:00 Rand Returns to the Pod
00:27 Mentions Beat Links
02:05 Marketing Beyond Google
03:20 Your First 90 Days Plan
03:51 Three Channel Rule
09:18 Choosing Uncrowded Markets
15:51 Alertmouse Growth Story
22:11 GEO vs SEO Debate
25:26 Zero Click Marketing Book
29:58 Measuring Offsite Impact
34:14 Podcasts and AI Citations
37:12 YouTube Spam in AI Search
38:51 Ethics of AI Spam
42:07 Who Wins Google Updates
45:38 Brand Over Keywords
49:43 Underpriced Channels Now
53:32 SparkToro for Audience
54:50 Sustainable vs Temporary Marketing
57:33 Building an Escalator
01:04:43 When AI Content Works
01:08:15 K Shaped AI Adoption
01:10:01 Lightning Round Wrap
The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/
#searchengineoptimization #seo #digitalmarketing #generativeengineoptimization