# The SEM Dispatch > An open, community-contributed publication for search engine marketing. Vetted practitioners, editor-reviewed, paid-media led. The SEM Dispatch is published by SEM Community. Search engine marketing, written by the people who actually run the accounts. Every piece is written by a vetted practitioner with at least 1 year in the field and is reviewed by an editor before it goes to press. Content policy: you may read, index, quote and cite this content with attribution to the author and a link to the canonical article URL below. Do not reproduce full articles. Key resources: - Front page: https://www.semcommunity.com/ - Sitemap: https://www.semcommunity.com/sitemap.xml - Main RSS feed: https://www.semcommunity.com/rss.xml - Paid Media RSS feed: https://www.semcommunity.com/feeds/paid-media - SEO RSS feed: https://www.semcommunity.com/feeds/seo - AI & Automation RSS feed: https://www.semcommunity.com/feeds/ai-automation ## Sections - Paid Media: https://www.semcommunity.com/paid-media: The flagship desk. Strategy, structure and hard-won field notes from practitioners who run the accounts, across search, social, programmatic and video. - News: https://www.semcommunity.com/paid-media/news: What changed this week, and why it matters to your accounts. - Strategy: https://www.semcommunity.com/paid-media/strategy: Account architecture, budget logic and the thinking behind the tactics. - Measurement: https://www.semcommunity.com/paid-media/measurement: Attribution, incrementality and the experiments that prove what your spend really drives. - PPC: https://www.semcommunity.com/paid-media/ppc: Search advertising, from match types to bidding to query mining. - Display Ads: https://www.semcommunity.com/paid-media/display-ads: Display planning, creative and measurement that actually holds up. - Programmatic: https://www.semcommunity.com/paid-media/programmatic: DSPs, supply paths and the operational reality of programmatic buying. - Social Media Advertising: https://www.semcommunity.com/paid-media/social-media-advertising: Paid social across Meta, LinkedIn and the rest of the feed. - Video Advertising: https://www.semcommunity.com/paid-media/video-advertising: YouTube and the wider video funnel, planned and measured properly. - TikTok Search: https://www.semcommunity.com/paid-media/tiktok-search: The emerging search surface inside TikTok, treated as a performance play. - SEO: https://www.semcommunity.com/seo: Technical depth and editorial judgement for search. Algorithm shifts, site health and the link and content work that compounds over years. - News: https://www.semcommunity.com/seo/news: Algorithm updates, SERP shifts and the platform changes that move rankings. - Enterprise SEO: https://www.semcommunity.com/seo/enterprise-seo: SEO at scale, where process and politics matter as much as tactics. - Google Algorithm Updates: https://www.semcommunity.com/seo/google-algorithm-updates: Reading the updates without the panic, and what to do next. - International SEO: https://www.semcommunity.com/seo/international-seo: Hreflang, market structure and multi-region search done right. - Link Building: https://www.semcommunity.com/seo/link-building: Digital PR and the honest end of earning authority. - Local SEO: https://www.semcommunity.com/seo/local-seo: Maps, profiles and the signals that move the local pack. - On-Page: https://www.semcommunity.com/seo/on-page: Content, structure and the on-page craft search still rewards. - AI Search & GEO: https://www.semcommunity.com/seo/ai-search: Generative search, AI Overviews and the GEO and AEO work that earns the citation. - Mobile SEO Strategy: https://www.semcommunity.com/seo/mobile-seo-strategy: Mobile-first realities, from rendering to performance. - Technical SEO: https://www.semcommunity.com/seo/technical-seo: Crawl, render, index: the engineering side of search. - Web Dev for SEO: https://www.semcommunity.com/seo/web-dev-for-seo: Where front-end decisions meet search outcomes. - AI & Automation: https://www.semcommunity.com/ai-automation: Where AI and automation actually meet the work. Generative search and GEO, the AI layer inside the ad platforms, and the scripts and workflows that take the manual graft out of the account. - News: https://www.semcommunity.com/ai-automation/news: Model launches, AI search moves and the platform shifts that change the playbook. - AI in Advertising: https://www.semcommunity.com/ai-automation/ai-advertising: AI Max, Advantage+, automated bidding and generative creative across the ad platforms. - Automation & Scripts: https://www.semcommunity.com/ai-automation/automation: Google Ads Scripts, GAQL, n8n and the workflows that take the manual work out of the account. - Content (desk opening soon): https://www.semcommunity.com/content: Editorial craft for search marketers. The content desk is opening soon; contributions are welcome. - News: https://www.semcommunity.com/content/news: What is changing in content, and how it lands. - Content Strategy: https://www.semcommunity.com/content/strategy - Editorial Craft: https://www.semcommunity.com/content/editorial-craft - Social (desk opening soon): https://www.semcommunity.com/social: Community and organic social for marketers. The social desk is opening soon; contributions are welcome. - News: https://www.semcommunity.com/social/news: Platform changes and the social moves worth knowing. - Community: https://www.semcommunity.com/social/community - Organic Social: https://www.semcommunity.com/social/organic-social ## Paid Media articles - AI Max for Search Is No Longer Optional: What the September Migration Means for Every Advertiser: https://www.semcommunity.com/paid-media/ppc/ai-max-search-dsa-migration-september-2026: Google is auto-migrating DSA, broad match, and auto-assets to AI Max from September 2026. Here is what you actually control, and how to migrate on your own terms first. - Performance Max Gets Real Controls: Campaign-Level Negatives, Brand Exclusions, and Channel Reporting Are Now Live: https://www.semcommunity.com/paid-media/ppc/performance-max-negative-keywords-brand-controls-2026: Campaign-level negative keywords, granular brand exclusions, and channel-level reporting have all landed in Performance Max. Here is what actually changed and how to use it. - What Andromeda Actually Changed and What Your Account Structure Should Look Like Now: https://www.semcommunity.com/paid-media/social-media-advertising/andromeda-account-structure-post-2025: Andromeda rewired what Meta optimises for. Most accounts still fight the algorithm. Here is the structural response that actually works in 2026. - Meta's AI Creative Stack in 2026 Is a Volume Lever, Not a Magic Button: https://www.semcommunity.com/paid-media/social-media-advertising/meta-ai-creative-tools-2026-volume-strategy: Meta's generative AI tools doubled adoption to 8 million advertisers in four months. They are genuinely useful, but not for the reason most coverage suggests. - The Death of Last-Click: a Measurement Model Your CFO Will Trust: https://www.semcommunity.com/paid-media/measurement/death-of-last-click: Attribution has quietly become a board-level argument. A pragmatic, defensible framework for moving beyond last-click without losing the finance team's confidence, drawn from three years of rebuilding measurement at scale. - YouTube Shorts as a lower-funnel channel: what the data actually shows: https://www.semcommunity.com/paid-media/video-advertising/youtube-shorts-lower-funnel: YouTube Shorts inventory has matured enough to evaluate seriously as a performance channel. The CPMs are lower than long-form, the audience size is substantial, and there is now enough campaign data to understand when it earns its place in a media plan. - Performance Max versus Standard Shopping: a decision framework for ecommerce teams: https://www.semcommunity.com/paid-media/ppc/pmax-vs-standard-shopping-decision-framework: The debate about Performance Max versus Standard Shopping campaigns has produced more heat than light. The honest answer depends on the account, the catalogue and the measurement setup. A structured framework for making the right call for your specific situation. - Auditing your Advantage+ Shopping campaigns before they quietly waste your budget: https://www.semcommunity.com/paid-media/social-media-advertising/meta-advantage-plus-shopping-audit: Advantage+ Shopping campaigns are Meta's version of Performance Max: powerful when structured correctly, capable of spending inefficiently when left to their own devices. A systematic audit checklist for accounts that have been running ASC for three months or more. - Performance Max feed architecture: the variables Google does not tell you about: https://www.semcommunity.com/paid-media/ppc/performance-max-feed-architecture: Most Performance Max underperformance is a feed problem. The campaign structure and bidding get the attention, but it is the product data quality, title logic and custom labels that determine what gets served, to whom and at what margin. - Geo holdout testing: a practitioner's guide to your first run: https://www.semcommunity.com/paid-media/measurement/geo-holdout-testing-first-run: Geo holdout tests are the closest thing paid media has to a controlled experiment. Here is the operational detail most guides skip: how to design a valid test, pick your markets, set your confidence threshold and read the results without fooling yourself. - Broad match deserves a second look, with the right safeguards in place: https://www.semcommunity.com/paid-media/ppc/broad-match-second-look: Broad match has a reputation it mostly earned in 2018. The match type has changed significantly, and dismissing it entirely is leaving incremental volume on the table. Here is how to give it a fair trial without blowing your budget on irrelevant queries. ## SEO articles - After the algorithm update: a recovery playbook grounded in what actually works: https://www.semcommunity.com/seo/google-algorithm-updates/google-algorithm-updates-recovery-playbook: Google's core updates have become more frequent and their effects more lasting. Recovery is possible, but the approaches that work are different from the ones that fill the SEO forums in the weeks after a rollout. A structured framework for diagnosing impact and identifying the improvements with real leverage. - Digital PR for link building: separating the tactics that earn coverage from the ones that just feel like they should: https://www.semcommunity.com/seo/link-building/digital-pr-link-building-what-works: Link acquisition through digital PR has become the dominant approach for brands that cannot buy links and will not build doorway pages. But the category covers a huge range of tactics with wildly different outcomes. An honest assessment of what actually earns authority-relevant coverage in 2026. - Hreflang at scale: the five failure modes that haunt enterprise sites: https://www.semcommunity.com/seo/international-seo/hreflang-at-scale-common-failures: Hreflang is one of the most implementation-dependent signals in SEO. At enterprise scale, the failure modes are predictable, structural and expensive. A diagnostic guide to the five patterns that cause the most organic visibility loss in international sites. - Core Web Vitals in 2026: what has actually shifted since the original rollout: https://www.semcommunity.com/seo/technical-seo/core-web-vitals-2026-guide: Google's page experience signals have evolved substantially since the 2021 rollout. INP has replaced FID, the CrUX data window has changed, and the ranking weight has been quietly recalibrated. A practical update on what actually matters for technical SEO teams in 2026. - Google Business Profile optimisation in 2026: the signals that move local pack rankings: https://www.semcommunity.com/seo/local-seo/local-seo-gbp-optimisation: Google Business Profile remains the single most influential signal in local pack rankings, but the specific optimisation levers have shifted. A practitioner update on what is currently moving the needle and what is noise. ## Authors - Craig Edwardson: https://www.semcommunity.com/authors/craig-edwardson: Craig Edwardson is the Founder of Edwardson Digital. - Craig Graham: https://www.semcommunity.com/authors/craig-graham: Craig Graham is the Founder of Grayvault Consulting Inc. - Indi Rai: https://www.semcommunity.com/authors/indi-rai: Indi Rai is Head of Digital Strategy and Delivery at Helping Hands Home Care. - Konstantinos Papadopoulos: https://www.semcommunity.com/authors/konstantinos-papadopoulos: Konstantinos Papadopoulos is Co-Founder of Chillrep. - Lorenzo B - Test: https://www.semcommunity.com/authors/lorenzo-b-test: Lorenzo B - Test joins The SEM Dispatch. - Mike Ryan: https://www.semcommunity.com/authors/mike-ryan-2: Mike Ryan is Head of SEO. - Mike Ryan: https://www.semcommunity.com/authors/mike-ryan: Mike Ryan is Head of SEO. - Mollie Ellerton: https://www.semcommunity.com/authors/mollie-ellerton: Mollie Ellerton is Head of SEO at Hookflash. - Scott Carruthers: https://www.semcommunity.com/authors/scott-carruthers: Scott Carruthers is Senior Paid Search Director at Journey Further. - Teodor Yordanov: https://www.semcommunity.com/authors/teodor-yordanov: Founder of BYLT Media, a paid media agency, and the performance marketing consultancy Marketise Me; he organises SEM Stories & More, Scotland's dedicated performance marketing conference, and serves as Reviewing Editor of The SEM Dispatch. - Vassi Marinova-Kaseva: https://www.semcommunity.com/authors/vassi-marinova-kaseva: Vassi Marinova-Kaseva is Senior SEO and Account Manager at Merkle.