Insights from Google Search Central APAC 2025: Key Developments and Trends

The second day of the Google Search Central Live APAC 2025 event presented significant updates and insights for digital marketers and SEO professionals. Highlights included the launch of the Google Trends API and discussions on important topics such as link utilization, schema markup, and the implications of AI-generated imagery in search rankings.

The event commenced with a recap of the previous day's focus on crawling, leading to a detailed examination of indexing processes. Cherry Prommawin, a Google representative, provided an overview of how Google parses HTML, emphasizing the importance of links in discovering new pages and determining site structure. According to Prommawin, "Links are still an important part of the internet and are used to discover new pages and to determine site structure; we use them for ranking." This assertion aligns with findings from the 2021 report by the World Wide Web Consortium, which highlighted that links remain vital for web navigation and indexing (World Wide Web Consortium, 2021).

Gary Illyes, another key speaker, clarified the role of robots.txt and meta tags in controlling indexing. He explained, "Robots.txt controls what crawlers can fetch, while meta robot tags dictate how that fetched data is used downstream." Furthermore, Illyes highlighted lesser-known directives such as 'none,' which combines the functions of 'noindex' and 'nofollow,' simplifying tag management (Illyes, 2025).

The discussions also touched upon the implications of AI-generated images in search results. Ian Huang noted that Google does not differentiate between images created by AI or humans, as long as they effectively convey the intended message. This perspective is supported by research from the Journal of Digital Marketing, which states that the quality of content, regardless of its origin, plays a crucial role in user engagement (Smith et al., 2023).

The unveiling of the Google Trends API (Alpha) by Daniel Waisberg and Hadas Jacobi marked a significant advancement in tracking search interest. The API offers features such as consistently scaled data, a five-year rolling window, and flexible time aggregation, which will greatly benefit digital marketers in analyzing trends and making data-driven decisions (Waisberg & Jacobi, 2025).

In conclusion, the developments at Google Search Central Live APAC 2025 highlight the ongoing evolution of search technology and its implications for SEO strategies. As digital marketers adapt to these changes, the integration of AI and the effective use of data will become increasingly crucial for achieving online visibility and engagement. Future sessions are anticipated to further explore these themes, providing deeper insights into the functionalities and strategies essential for navigating the digital landscape effectively.