SEM in 2026: paid search when the SERP is half AI
AI Overviews pushed paid results down the page and changed which queries are worth bidding on. Where paid search still wins, and where it bleeds money.
MAY 29, 2026
Pay-per-click in a machine-learning-first world: Performance Max, smart bidding, and keeping control of where the spend goes.
2 essays tagged ppc
Performance Max is Google’s black-box campaign. It can crush, or quietly cannibalize branded traffic. When to use it, how to fence it in, how to read it.
AI Overviews pushed paid results down the page and changed which queries are worth bidding on. Where paid search still wins, and where it bleeds money.