Google has now officially rolled out product listings ads in image search to make it easier for users to find the products and services they want to buy in SERPs. The launch was announced alongside several other additions that aim to make search more useful for shoppers on smartphones.

American football fans will now be able to watch NFL video content and news in Google Search results following a new deal, which will also include the addition of more “memorable” games and action from each of the 32 teams in the league on YouTube.

Publishers and brands will soon be able to see Google Analytics and Search Console metrics side-by-side in the same report as part of a new major update, which will be rolling out in the coming weeks. This means that users will get a complete overview of how a website is performing in organic search results for the first time.

Google has revealed that there was a notable increase in the number of websites using “thin, low-quality content” during the last year, while its own spam-fighting efforts and algorithm updates have had a positive impact on curbing hacks and other attacks, and have eliminated the “vast majority” of issues.

Google has launched a new “snackable” six-second video ad format called Bumper ads, which aims to drive incremental reach and frequency on smartphones. Google says that the new arrival is a reaction to changing viewing habits, with recent research showing that 50 per cent of 18- to 49-year-olds are now watching videos for the first time on their mobiles.

Google continues to dominate mobile paid search and accounted for 95 per cent of clicks on mobiles during the first quarter of the year, according to the latest Digital Marketing Report published by global data-driven performance agency Merkle.

Google has stepped up its efforts to address an emerging type of online advertising fraud called “clickjacking” by rolling out various new defences.

Google has started sending a new warning alert to site owners who have not made their web pages mobile-friendly. The alert is shown directly in search results and also provides a hyperlink to a Google Help page about the importance of mobile literacy and its expanding use as a ranking signal.

Google has updated its search quality guidelines and included a new section that details the “most important factors” for Page Quality. The new changes focus on the rise of mobile, local search and the E-A-T acronym, which stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness.