Google analyzes the most popular health searches globally, and this year’s top health questions in the U.S. -- showing that Americans were worried about bronchitis, pneumonia and lupus, as well as how many glasses of water they should drink and how many calories they should eat daily. There was also a growing awareness of gluten.

Ben Davis connects with experts in search engine optimization to pulse their thoughts on trends in 2016. Some of them include moving toward a "no-search future," artificial intelligence, and what it means for Google Penguin to become real-time.

Facebook recently released a meta-analysis of 23 studies with help from Kenshoo that investigated the integration of search and social. The paper -- called "Cross-channel Planning: Making search work harder" -- includes data from three previously released studies conducted by Kenshoo and Facebook, other unpublished work with Kenshoo, and studies that Facebook developed with other partners.

Yahoo SVP of advertising products Prashant Fuloria is exiting his job for parts unknown, according to re/code, citing an internal memo. Fuloria is a former Facebook and Google exec, as well as an experienced entrepreneur. He was responsible for Yahoo's global advertising product efforts, joining Yahoo in 2014 after the company bought Flurry.

Google is considering an interesting plan to further its cloud services, according to Barb Darrow, citing two sources. The company has about 70 data caching stations around the world that store copies of video, audio and popular web pages close to their likely audiences to speed their delivery. Those endpoints are key pieces of what Google calls its 'peering and content delivery network,' and the idea calls for these Google outposts to be outfitted with additional computing capacity so they would become sort of mini data centers, she writes.

Google will update Google Drive with better search features on Android, iOS, and the Web in the coming weeks. The four improvements include the ability to narrow search to a file type from the search box on Android, iOS, and the Web.  Open advanced search instantly from the search box. Access recent files or search Drive from the home screen using 3D Touch on iOS, and search the drive using the iOS search bar without opening the app. 

In a webmaster hangout, John Mueller describes how Google uses machine learning in its Penguin algorithm, and why the company's engineers need to be careful about using or relying too much on machine learning. Jennifer Slegg recaps the hangout and poses her own theories. 

The emulator feature in Google Chrome enables marketers to make it look like queries come from a specific latitude and longitude. Dan Hinckley tells us that Google has improved its algorithm to include search results that take into account the geographic location of the user performing a search query. This means that when someone uses a search engine to search for a store in Huntington Beach, they get the store in Huntington Beach and not a random location. Hinckley details how to change the location in local search results.

Google has introduced a second line of structured information in snippets that can show with text ads -- structured snippets, which allows advertisers to add another layer of detail into its ads. It enables brands to maintain the core message within the text ads and pull through additional product features, styles, and types as secondary information. The additional structured information serves below the ad, giving people a better sense of the content on your Web site before they click.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) accused Google of collecting and storing data from children using products at school through its Google Apps for Education program, and asked the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to investigate. Google says it only uses the data to improve products and services, and not to target ads. The company denied accusations that it deceptively tracks and stores student data through its education services in a blog post defending its actions.