Merkle RKG has spotted Google tests -- filter buttons for product listing ads in the search results. The filter buttons appear to show up when superlatives like “best” or “top” or other qualifying adjectives are not used in the query. Once an individual clicks through to one of the buttons they are directed to a Shopping page featuring only products that meet the specifications of the button selected, per Lauren Crain.

Yahoo is reportedly in the early stages of auctioning off around 3,000 patents, which eventually expected to generate more than $1 billion. “In recent weeks, the internet company sent letters to a range of potential buyers for the patents, which date back to Yahoo’s initial public offering in 1996 and include its original search technology,” The Wall Street Journal reports.

9to5Google spotted a new feature lists verified business information from Google Maps directly in a contact. it works as long as the individual saves the business' official phone number that matches its info on Google Maps. Then the Contacts card will automatically show its Maps-verified name, official address, Web site URL and operational hours.

SEMPO has announced the results of elections for its Board of Directors. Mike Grehan, CMO at Acronym, was re-elected as Chairman, and Mike Gullaskin, iProspect’s COO, was named President. Executives from Google, Microsoft, iProspect, Thomson Reuters, and others make up the rest of the board.

Google will not be allowed to throw out a class action lawsuit involving claims that it deceived California advertisers about the placement of Internet ads through its AdWords service, the U.S. Supreme Court decided on Monday. “The court's decision not to hear the case leaves in place a September 2015 ruling … that the litigation could move forward as a class action.”

Larry Kim recaps a list of stunning Google mobile stats that the company released at its I/O conference. Here are a few: Google shared. Google's search and advertising tools drove $165 billion of economic activity for more than 1 million businesses, Web site publishers, and nonprofits across the United States in 2015. There are now trillions of searches on Google.com, and more than half of those searches occur on smartphones. Nearly one third of all mobile searches on Google are related to location. It pays to pay attention.

Tech.Mic reports that Google has pulled  a Chrome plugin from its store that highlights Jewish names with multiple parentheses. The plug-in, called Coincidence Detector, was available free. Bernie Sanders, among the names identified. Mic wrote that Google confirmed pulling the app for violating Google's hate speech policy. 

TechCrunch reports on three new Amazon lawsuits aimed at sellers buying fake reviews. The sellers use a technique called "sock puppet accounts" to post fake reviews about their products. Amazon aggressively pursues reviewers that it does not consider genuine, using lawsuits to discourage the buyers and the sellers.

Laura Lippay digs into accessibility and SEO to look at formatting text, colors, links, and content that humans cannot see but machines can. She writes about optimizing for people who use screen readers and technologies that assist them to access the site. It's about optimizing those elements to provide a better search experience. She also cautions using hidden text techniques solely for spam, as Google may index hidden text, but doesn’t give hidden text the same weight or ranking effect as non-hidden text. She warns that marketers could find themselves in trouble.

Data shows that small improvements from small changes in SEO often regress over time. Sometimes marketers just need to take the plunge. Brad Smith describes what he considers the three top areas to focus on –- and none involve changing button color or other small-time A/B tests.