Plus, 9 RPM mistakes, the U.S. Copyright Office’s report on AI, and more  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ Raptive News MAY 21, 2025 By Emily Rose VP, Creator Marketing & Education Hi Raptive, Just when we were gearing up for Memorial Day weekend—the unofficial kickoff to summer, Google decided to drop a whole new era of Search on us. Before you shift into long weekend mode, catch up on the latest news from yesterday’s Google I/O announcements (here’s a 10-minute recap video to watch) and other updates from our team. Then, get back to thinking about (and enjoying!) the holiday weekend ahead of us. What’s new ‘A new frontier of Google Search’ is here Yesterday, at the annual Google I/O developer conference, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and other leaders announced a “new frontier of Google Search” that dares users to “ask anything” and could redefine how creators work. Here are some key highlights: AI Mode for Search: AI Mode is now available to all U.S. users (with more features like Deep Search rolling out in the coming months). Powered by the latest Gemini 2.5 Pro model, AI Mode is a “total reimagining of Search,” allowing users to have conversations and interactive follow-ups as they propose their queries. Imagen 4 and Veo 3: Google unveiled stunning photorealistic images and videos, all created with its advanced AI models. Smart Replies: Gmail is rolling out Gemini-powered contextual Smart Replies, offering significantly more personalized and detailed email responses. AI shopping features: Google is also bringing Gemini into Search to transform the digital shopping experience. It will help users refine, personalize, and even virtually “try on” products they search for, not to mention set a price cap to auto-buy items when they go on sale. While it’s exciting to see these new technologies (and more) emerge, we’re always thinking about how these updates will impact you. In its two-hour keynote, Google shared that the mission of Search is to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful” and to help others “discover even more of the web, with hyper-relevant content.” However, it did not once mention the original sources of that information or the creators responsible for the exceptional content powering many of its results. We’ll continue to advocate for creators, demand more, and make sure your role in the future of the internet is celebrated, not diminished. This is just the beginning. In the weeks ahead, our team will unpack the new features and set the vision for how we can chart our paths through this new era together. Watch the Google I/O ’25 keynote in under 10 minutes → Raptive’s statement on U.S. Copyright Office’s report on generative AI training The U.S. Copyright Office recently commented on whether generative AI uses copyrighted content and what that means for creators. As advocates for thousands of independent publishers and creators—the backbone of the internet!—we support this thoughtful, balanced report. Read our full response and learn how we can all keep fighting for creators and the value of human creativity in the age of AI. Read our statement → The latest update for a better ‘click-to-play’ video experience Your readers want to watch the video they clicked on, not skip ahead. So we’ve simplified the experience: we’ve removed the “Advance Playlist” feature from your first “click-to-play” video. Your stationary related video player will now play your first video in full, letting your readers enjoy your content with fewer interruptions and no “Next/Stay” buttons to click. This only applies to the first video; any subsequent videos in your stationary-related player will still have “Advance Playlist” enabled. However, this one small change can help boost engagement and give your audience a smoother, more focused video experience. You don’t need to do anything, we’ve updated the stationary related player on your site! Learn more about the Related Player here → Top resource 9 RPM mistakes and how to avoid them It can be hard to keep up with the many factors that can impact your RPM, but that’s no reason to miss out on potential earnings. This recently updated guide breaks down a simple list of often-overlooked issues that can cause your RPM to drop, with advice from our ad performance experts on how to fix them. From ad layout changes to bot blocking, we want to help you avoid these common errors. Let us know if you want to make any changes to your site so we can ensure your RPM doesn’t take an unintended hit. Don’t make these common RPM mistakes → Quick tip Spot what’s working—then do it better “When you’re doing competitive research, don’t just read top-ranking posts—reverse engineer them. Look closely at why they’re ranking. Are they matching user intent? Do they show real expertise or use strong visuals? What personal insights are they adding that build trust? Tools like Topic can help you quickly spot what’s working—so you can create something even better.” Vanessa Barokas Director, SEO Services What we’re reading The latest articles our team is sharing over Slack Everything Google Announced at I/O 2025 (WIRED) WTF are GEO and AEO? (and how they differ from SEO) (Digiday) Pinterest says mass account bans were caused by an ‘internal error’ (The Verge) Why It Might Be Time To Rebrand The Open Web (AdExchanger) Newsletter platforms for publishers compared: Substack versus the rest (Press Gazette) Was this email helpful? This email was sent to email.clausen@gmail.com. You've received this email because you work with Raptive, and we're excited to help you continue to grow. To ensure our emails arrive in your inbox, please add hello@email.raptive.com to your contacts or safe sender list. 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