Gemini Local Citations · Google Spam Update · Personalization Line

Here’s this week’s ReferralEarl roundup — 10 items across Affiliate & Referral, Search & Traffic.

Every story links to its original source.

The TLDR

  • Affiliate & Referral: Business websites dominate Gemini’s local AI citations
  • Search & Traffic: Google releases August 2026 spam update

Affiliate & Referral

Business websites dominate Gemini’s local AI citations

Nearly 60% of Gemini’s local citations point to business websites, but recommendations can change dramatically when using identical searches. MarTech

How to tell if your personalization is over the line

Before using customer data to personalize an experience, test whether customers expect it, find it relevant, and feel comfortable with it. MarTech

Search & Traffic

Google releases August 2026 spam update

The update will take a few days to roll out. Search Engine Land

Google Ads tests Enhanced Matching for Customer Match

Enhanced Matching could help advertisers expand the reach of their first-party audiences using consented publisher signals. Search Engine Land

Why Google Announces Some Search Updates But Not All

As you know, Google does smaller core updates and algorithm search updates all the time without announcing them. So why does Google announce some of those updates and not the others. Well, as Google told us before… Search Engine Roundtable

From the blog this week

How to Respond to Negative Reviews Without Losing Customers

New on the site — Read the post

What Is an Employee Referral Program? A Beginner’s Guide

New on the site — Read the post

Referral vs. Loyalty Program: Which Should You Launch First?

New on the site — Read the post

Podcast Guesting: How to Build Authority and Drive Leads

New on the site — Read the post

How to Win Back Churned Customers With Email

New on the site — Read the post

Turn Customers Into Your Growth Engine

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Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash.