SEOIntel Weekly News Round-up (Last Week of January 2025)

As the last week of January approaches, Google has launched an experimental feature called “Ask for Me” within its Search Labs initiative, allowing AI to make calls on behalf of users to local businesses for service inquiries. While this innovation aims to enhance user experience, it has sparked debate over the decision to limit negative keywords in advertising campaigns to just 100, with many questioning why a higher cap wasn’t considered. Additionally, Google Search Console has improved its reporting system, now providing precise update timestamps for greater accuracy in data management.

Google Unveils ‘Ask for Me’ Feature in Search Results

Google has introduced a new experimental feature called “Ask for me” as part of its Search Labs initiative. This innovative tool utilizes Google’s AI technology to make phone calls to local businesses on your behalf, allowing you to inquire about their pricing and availability for various services, such as scheduling an oil change with a nearby mechanic or booking other types of appointments.

This is a fresh laboratory experiment in which Google’s AI contacts companies to inquire about their pricing for a particular service and its availability.

What it looks like. Here are some screenshots of this feature:

Rose Yao, VP of Search Product, Verticals & International at Google, wrote on X:

Google may be using this as an additional method to generate more leads and business prospects for online companies. This is an experimental project in its early stages, and it is uncertain whether it will be implemented on a larger scale, but it’s interesting to observe Google exploring this avenue.

Google is Recommending using 100 Negative Keywords for Google Ads PMax Campaigns

Ginny Marvin, who serves as the Google Ads Liaison, provided insight into Google’s decision to limit the number of negative keywords you can add to up to 100 within your campaign-level negative keywords for Performance Max campaigns on Google Ads.

Google recently introduced that functionality last week. However, there are questions about the decision to restrict the number of negative keywords to 100. Some are wondering why the limit couldn’t be set higher, such as 500 or even unlimited.

On X, Ginny Marvin responded, stating that the goal is to offer more control while also allowing PMax the necessary flexibility to reach the desired outcome of your campaign. She mentioned the availability of extra features for managing the placement of your ads, such as brand exclusions, negative keywords at the account level, and prioritizing keywords.

Here is the post:

Forum discussion at X.

Google Search Console Provides Updates Every 30 minutes

Google Search Console’s reporting system has recently undergone enhancements, allowing for more precise update timestamps. The platform can now display the exact time of the last report update, accurate to within a 30-minute window. This means that instead of vague timestamps like “updated 3 hours ago”, the console can now show more specific information, such as “updated 3 hours and 30 minutes ago”.

Brodie Clark first noticed this and posted about it on his SERPAlert account on X, and I was able to verify it – here’s a screenshot for reference.

Brodie Console data was last updated 3.5 hours ago, which is unusual as updates typically display in whole hours (e.g., 4 hours ago). Brodie speculated whether this enhanced precision could be linked to the newly introduced 24-hour filter. It is possible that these improvements will lead to faster report generation and provide more comprehensive insights. The introduction of the 24-hour view has been well received.

Forum discussion at X.

Update: John Mueller from Google verified this information on Bluesky by stating that feedback found on social media was instrumental in motivating the team to offer a more detailed figure in that area.