Google Maps Share Button Drops X For Reddit & Facebook

Google Maps is updating its share buttons by removing the options to share on X and adding the options to share on Reddit and Facebook.

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Google News AI-Powered Article Overviews Go Live For Some Publishers

On Wednesday, Google announced a number of new AI features, which we covered (links below) but one other feature Google spoke about was "AI-powered article overviews." This is an experiment Google News is trying with a handful of publishers.

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Google Notification For Reviews & Rating Restrictions Removals

Google is now sending email notifications for when Google Business Profiles has removed the restrictions on your reviews and ratings. The email says, "Restrictions on your reviews and ratings have been removed" and it comes from the Google Business Profiles team.

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Google December 2025 Core Update Is Rolling Out - You Surprised?

Google officially announced the rollout of the December 2025 core update on Thursday at around 12:25 pm ET. This core update is expected to take up to 3 weeks to roll out. Google said this "is a regular update designed to better surface relevant, satisfying content for searchers from all types of sites."

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Google Web Guide Expands To All Tab Officially (Opt In Still Needed)

Google has officially expanded the Web Guide to the "All" tab. Originally when it launched as a Search Labs beta, it was under the "Web" tab but as we saw, Google began expanding it to the "All" tab.

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Google Ads Contact Us Support Tests Integrating Ads Advisor

Google is testing incorporating Ads Advisor into the contact us page for Google Ads support. Google was doing this for policy disapproval support requests as well.

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Google Shopping Crawlers Are Too Fast For JavaScript Generated Structured Data

14 months ago, Google updated its documentation around its shopping related structured data warning not to generate your structured data dynamically through JavaScript. Yesterday, at the Search Central Live event in Zurich, a Google engineer explained why - it's because the shopping bot crawls a lot and fast.

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Google Updates Docs: We Do Smaller Core Updates Without Announcements

Google updated its core update documentation to say it does smaller core updates and does not announce those updates. This is not new; Google told us this back in 2019. What is new is that Google added it to its search developer documentation.

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Bing Search Ads Tests Ad Labels On Right

Microsoft is testing moving the ad labels in the Bing Search results from the left side of the ad to the right side of the ad. I am not sure which makes it harder to see the label or not but I assume Microsoft is testing this to see which will get more clicks.

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Study: Google Ads AI Max "Broad-Matchifies" Exact Match & Phrase Match

With Google Ads releasing AI Max globally back in September, more and more advertisers are trying it out. While some of the early data can show it underperforms, some are seeing success by using it for specific applications. That being said, one recent study showed that using AI Max helps broaden your work with exact match and phrase match keywords.

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Google Search Console Adds Weekly & Monthly Views Granular Data

Google announced today at the Search Central Live event in Zurich that Search Console is rolling out more granular data. Google launched weekly and monthly views in Search Console for performance reports.

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Bing Tests Expandable Favicon On Hover Over

Microsoft is testing expanding the favicons in the Bing Search results interface when you hover your mouse cursor over the search result listing and/or ad.

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Google Ads Learn More Button At Top Right

Google Ads may be testing placing an ad extension button at the top right of the sponsored result on the desktop interface. This button, in this example, shows the text "Learn more."

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Bing Tests New Search Bar With Advanced Tools Menu

Microsoft is testing a new search bar with a more powerful tools menu button. This tools menu is larger, has a plus sign and gives you options to click search with your voice, search with an image and even make an image.

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Google Ads Launches Products At This Location Link Unit

Google has launched a new link on some search / sponsored ads named "Products at this location." Google confirmed this "relatively new feature" and can show up on listings for service businesses and other types of businesses.

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Microsoft Ad Disapprovals On Asset Level & Conversion Reporting Update

Microsoft Advertising reportedly made two updates to its ad platform recently. One on how ad disapprovals work and the other on the time it takes to see a conversion be recorded in the ad reporting interfaces.

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Google Officially Tests Blending AI Mode Into AI Overviews

Back in October, we saw Google testing having the "Show more" button in the AI Overviews within Google Search jump you to AI Mode with follow-up questions. Well, Google's Robby Stein announced on X yesterday that this is being tested (after it was tested already) in the mobile search results.

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Google Ads No Longer Allows Online Horse Racing Betting

Google Ads updated its gambling policy to disallow all promotion of online gambling-promoting content for horse racing targeting the United States. Google said this goes into effect as of December 1, 2025.

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Google Ads To Resurrect Website Optimizer?

Google Ads published new documentation on a tool called "Website Optimizer." Now, some of you OGs may remember Website Optimizer from 2008 or so. Well, it was renamed to Google Optimize and then sunset on September 30, 2023. Google Ads may be bringing it back or making something new within Google Ads named Website Optimizer.

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Google Search Console Annotations Now Allows Current/Future Dates

As you know, Google finally launched custom annotations within the Google Search Console performance reports. Well, one issue we noticed is that it does not allow for adding annotations for data it does not have yet, like for today. Today, Google rolled out support for current/future dates.

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Google Search Console Page Indexing Delayed Two Weeks

Google Search Console's page indexing report is delayed again, stuck at two weeks ago, November 17, 2025. This is a much longer than normal delay for this page indexing report, but it is just a reporting issue and it does not mean your site has any issues with indexing.

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Google: Rewriting AI Content With Human Content Won't Lead To Recovery

Google's John Mueller said that rewriting AI content by a human won't change the site's ranking in Google by default. Instead, he said, you need to rethink your whole content strategy and the purpose of the site.

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Thanksgiving Google Search Ranking Update Volatility

Google may have pushed out a Google search ranking update over the past couple of days. Although the chatter was somewhat quiet, it picked up today and some of the tools are also picking up on an update. I suspect the update and volatility started a couple of days ago, maybe on Monday, November 24th.

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Google Ads Overview Tab Gains Trends & Performance By Stage

Google Ads is testing two new sections in the Overview tab. There is a new trends section and a new performance by stage section.

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Google Ads Account Hijacks On The Rise?

Can you imagine you manage hundreds of clients in your Google Ads Manager Accounts (MCC) gets hijacked. Or your Google Account and your ad campaigns gets hijacked due to an MCC hijack? Well, this stuff happens and it can be incredibly scary and painful.

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Google Local Service Ads Tests Removing More Results Button

Google is testing removing the "more" results button for Local Service Ads within the web search results. Instead, you are given the option to expand the results to 8 in total but not click through to see more LSA listings.

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Google Post Launched Scheduling & Multi-Location Publishing

Google has officially launched scheduling and multi-location publishing for Google Posts in Google Business Profiles. This was a feature Google tested last month and is now fully live.

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Google Ads Prohibits Offline Gambling Ads In More Countries

Google has updated the list of countries where using Google Ads for offline gambling advertising is prohibited. Google updated the list on November 19, 2025 to match countries where offline gambling is not allowed.

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Google AI Overviews Notice: Double-Check Important Information

In April, we saw a small disclaimer on the Google AI Overviews within Google Search to "Check important info." Well, Google is testing a much larger disclaimer, at the bottom of the AI Overview that says, "Double-check important information" and "It's a good idea to check info in multiple places" with a "Learn more" button.

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Google LSAs Get Competitive Quotes & Request Multiple Opinions

As you know, Google has been testing a way to click a button to message multiple businesses through the Local Service Ads. Google now calls that message fan out. That being said, Google seems to be testing variations of that button.

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Google Ads In AI Mode Results In The Wild

More and more people are starting to see Google Ads within the Google AI Mode results. Google told us these ads were being tested on desktop AI Mode results back in May and over the past several weeks, more and more are starting to see them in the wild.

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Google Maps Reviewer Nicknames, Insider Tips & Trending

Google announced some new features for Google Maps including a big one for reviews, where reviewers can now use nicknames instead of their real names when leaving reviews. Plus, Google added trending places to the explore tab and insider tips/know before you go to the results.

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Google Discover Drops Follow Feature From Chrome (Not Discover Feed)

Only two months ago, Google officially rolled out the follow feature on Google Discover. Now, that feature is no longer active and Google has removed the documentation associated with it.

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Google Search Console To Add Brand Query Filters

Google's Daniel Waisberg announced today at the Google Search Central event in Tel Aviv that Search Console will be gaining brand query filters. Plus, these filters will be AI-assisted, I am told.

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Google Tests Gray Shaded Search Ads & Local Pack

Google is testing shading the background color behind the search ads, sponsored results, and the local pack in the Google Search results. I do like that Google is testing differentiating the organic/free listings with the search ads/sponsored listings.

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Quotes From Google, Microsoft & Perplexity On GEO Rush

Business Insider interviewed both SEOs and representatives from Google, Microsoft, and Perplexity on what it calls the "GEO rush." The rush for SEO companies or other companies to sell GEO (AI SEO) related services. There are quotes from Danny Sullivan from Google, Krishna Madhavan from Microsoft and more.

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Google Ads Campaign Total Budget For PMax Is Live

Google Ads has rolled out the "Campaign total budget" feature for Performance Max (PMax) campaigns. This was available for other match types and is now available for PMax.

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Google Adds Top Combinations To Combinations Report For PMax

Google Ads top combinations report now has a Top Combinations option for PMax campaigns. This report should be able to quickly show you your top performing assets including logos, headlines, descriptions, images, sitelinks, and other assets.

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Google Search Console Performance Report Annotations Rolling Out

Google seems to be rolling out the annotations feature within Google Search Console's performance reports. This was a feature Google began testing in May and now it seems to be rolling out. I see it, so do many others in our community - do you see it?

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Google Ads Brings Brand Inclusions To Standard Shopping Campaigns

Google Ads is bringing brand controls, like brand inclusion support, to Standard Shopping campaigns. This was supported for PMax and AI Max camapigns but now are showing up for Standard Shopping campaigns.

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Google Proposes Changes In EU Ad Tech Case For Ad Manager & More

Google proposed a number of changes in the ''¬2.95B EU antitrust fine over its ad technology. The changes include changes to Google Ad Manager and increasing the interoperability between its tools. Google still plans to appeal the ruling.

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Google Ads Unacceptable Phone Number Policy Update Worries Advertisers

Google will be updating its Unacceptable phone number policy on December 10, 2025 and that update is causing some anxiety for some advertisers. The policy update says that "phone numbers found to be associated with fraudulent activity or with a history of policy violations are unacceptable."

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Bing Tests Site Favicons Anchors At Top Of Search Results

Microsoft is testing placing site favicons at the top of the Bing search results page that when clicked on, anchor you down to the specific search result on the page. This is a test, it does not always show up, but I was able to replicate this in one of my browsers.

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Google Ads Summaries In Budget Optimization Settings

Google Ads is now showing summaries of your budget settings in the budget and bidding optimization setting. This will summarize what your settings are configured for, at a glance.

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Google: SEO Advice On Using Two Different TLDs For Your Company

Google's John Mueller responded with SEO advice on how a company can use two different TLDs for its company. The company wants to use the .co.uk for normal search and web traffic but .digital as a TLD for some of its marketing campaigns.

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Week Long Google Ads Invitation Access Bug Fixed

Google seems to have fixed a bug with inviting others to access your Google Ads account. This bug appeared about a week ago and it Google seemed to start to roll out a fix for this bug on Friday.

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Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up - Movember Update

Starting maybe late Thursday, into Friday, November 7th, I started to feel a Google Search ranking update and volatility brewing. Like I've been saying since the num=100 parameter change, it has been harder to validate those feelings, but based on the chatter I have been seeing in the SEO community and some of the third-party Google Search tracking tools, I think there was a Google update around November 7, 2025.

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Google Discover Numerous Experiments Documented

As VP of Engineering for Search at Google, Rajan Patel said months ago - "We're experimenting with various approaches to X in Discover." Google has been super busy with testing various approaches to Google Discover. Here are some of the more recent tests I found via Damien (andell) and Gagan Ghotra over the last few weeks.

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Gemini Coming To Google Maps For Directions, Traffic & Places

Google Maps is getting an update from Gemini where you can ask Google Maps questions about locations, where Google Maps can give you more human directions and Google Maps with Lens can tell you more about a store or location.

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Google Merchant Center Adds Promotions For Top Performing Products

Google added a new promotion method in Google Merchant Center for Top-performing products. This lets you just promote your best performing products in Google Shopping and Google Search.

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Google AI Mode Gains 3 New Agentic Capabilities

Google's Robby Stein announced three new agentic capabilities within AI Mode - (1) booking event tickets (2) booking beauty appointments and (3) wellness appointments.

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Google Merchant Center Smart Cropping - You Can Opt Out

Did you know that Google Merchant Center will automatically crop your product images in Google Shopping if it thinks it will look better in Google Search? Did you know that you can also opt out of what they call "Smart Cropping"?

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November 2025 Google Webmaster Report

We had a few unconfirmed but big Google search ranking updates but we are still waiting on an official core update...

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Ongoing Google Search Console API Bug Impacts Search Appearance Filter

Google Search Console has a bug with its API when filtering on the searchAppearance dimension. This bug occurs when using the notEquals or notContains operators, it will only return rows with the excluded value, instead of excluding those rows.

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Google Adds Chrome Web Store Google-CWS User Agent To Docs

Google added a new user agent to the Googlebot's user-triggered fetchers documentation. The new user agent is for the Chrome Web Store named Google-CWS.

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Reddit: Search Traffic Flat, AI Not Traffic Driver & 50% Of Traffic Is From Google

Reddit announced earnings late last week and it boggles me how people love this stock. I am not a financial expert of analysis but Reddit has been saying for some time that 50% of its traffic comes from Google Search. Reddit also said on this Q3 earnings call that its search traffic is flat and that AI is not a traffic driver, at least not yet.

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Cross Campaign Metrics In Google Ads Overview Tab

Google may have a new chart in the Google Ads overview tab named cross campaign metrics. It seems similar to the Cross-Media Reach Measurement but this is shown in the overview tab and not in that specific report.

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Bing Tests Snippet Image Carousel With See More Link

Microsoft is testing a "see more" link within the Bing Search image carousel on search result snippets. Sometimes Microsoft will show an image carousel below a search result snippet, sometimes it will show product results and sometimes it won't show at all.

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Bing Search Adds Country/Region Selector

Microsoft is testing a way to change the country and region you are in when doing searches on Bing. There is a new country/region selector for this, similar to how Google handles it.

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Google Ad Revenue Up 13% & Bing Ads Revenue Up 16%

Both Google and Microsoft reported its earnings today; Alphabet's Q3 2025 earnings and Microsoft's Q1 2026 earnings. Google reported ad revenues up by XX% with $ and Microsoft reported ad revenues up by XX%.

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Undocumented Google User Agent For GeminiiOS

There may be an undocumented Google user agent named GeminiiOS. GeminiiOS is apparently used when a user clicks on a source link from the Gemini app on their iPhone.

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Google's John Mueller On Best CMSs For SEO

Google's John Mueller was asked what is the best CMS, content management system, is for SEO and ranking well on Google Search. John replied that all the modern CMS platforms are fine and there are no big differences, SEO-wise, between any of them.

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Google Launching Merchant Center For Agencies

It looks like Google is launching a special agency version of Google Merchant Center named Merchant Center for Agencies. Google explained this version is a "tailored experience designed specifically for agency users. The product allows for the management of multiple Merchant Center accounts at scale."

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Google Business Profile With Get Google QR Code Button

Google is testing showing a "Get Google QR" code button when you search for your business in Google Search. This button is with the Edit Profile, reviews, photos, posts, performance, and other buttons you see to manage your Google Business Profile.

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Google Local Hotel Listings With Track Price Changes By Email

Google is testing showing the option ot track price changes for hotel results by email. We saw Google announce a similar feature back in March but now it is showing in the local hotel pack results in core search.

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Google Business Profile Performance Report Missing Oct 14 - 16 Call Data

Google Business Profile performance reports seem to be missing a chunk of call data from last week. The call data is missing from October 14 through October 16, 2025.

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Google Ads (Formerly AdWords) Launched 25 Years Ago

Google Ads is celebrating its 25th birthday/anniversary today. Yes, Google launched AdWords 25 years ago today in 2000. In 2018, Google renamed AdWords to Google Ads and the ad labels and technology have drastically changed over the years.

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Google AI Mode Tests Different Colored Map Pins

Google is testing using different colored map pins in the map embed within Google AI Mode. The map pins can be in red, blue, yellow and maybe orange?

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Google Local Profile AI Mode History Button

Google is testing showing an AI Mode history button within the local panel in Google Search. When you are viewing a specific business or organization, there may be an AI Mode button in a history enclosure under the call, directions, buttons.

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Google Tests Different Recipe Card Sizes Or Is It A Bug

Google may be testing displaying different-sized cards for recipe results in the Google Search results. The cards show large and small graphics that make the results look misaligned.

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Google AdSense Adds Confirmed Click Status Breakdown To Reports

Google AdSense added a new breakdown option named Confirmed Click status breakdown. This breakdown is available on all your reports under the "Breakdowns" dropdown selector at the top left.

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Google Ads To Delete Accounts Without Campaigns After 6 Months

Google posted a new help document that says it will delete accounts without any campaigns after 6 months. "If an account does not have any campaigns, it'll be permanently deleted by Google Ads 6 months after cancellation," Google wrote.

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Google Ads AI Max Adds Sources Column in Search Term Report

Google added a new "sources" column to the AI Max search term report. This helps you understand where your traffic was matched from in AI Max searches.

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Google AI Mode What To Know Section: AI Product Summary

Google is testing another variation of the AI-generated product summaries in Google AI Mode, this one is named "What to know." It is made up of user reviews and web sources, according to the disclaimer.

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Google Ads Experiments With Settings New Customer Value

Google Ads seems to be experimenting with setting the New Customer Value within New Customer Acquisition campaigns without the consent of the advertiser. Technically, New Customer Value can be turned off, but this is confusing some advertisers and impacting reporting and ad performance for some.

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Google Local Search Ads In Google Maps Now Supports Sitelinks

Google now supports Sitelinks for local search ads in the Google Maps interface. They show in the form of a carousel, under a sponsored ad listing in the Google Maps interface.

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Google Search Console Crawl Stats Missing Day Of Data

The crawl stats report in Google Search Console is missing a day of data again. The data gap is for October 14, 2025. If you look at the chart, you will see a hole in the data, where it is missing a full day of data.

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Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up From October 15th To 17th

There may have been another unconfirmed Google search ranking update that occurred between October 15th and October 18th. The bulk of the volatility seemed to be around Thursday, the 16th.

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Google Sending Push Notifications That Go To AI Mode Searches

Google is now sending push notifications to some users that direct that user to a search within AI Mode. Yes, Google is pushing users to do queries in AI Mode using push notification services from the Google app.

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Google Ads Updates Medicines Policy Regarding Prescription Drug Terms

Google Ads will be updating the Google Ads Healthcare and Medicines policy to reflect the changes it will require to the approach to advertiser use of prescription drug terms.

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Google Merchant Center Now Supports Physical Goods Subscriptions

Google has updated its Google Merchant Center policies to now allow for the sale of physical goods subscriptions. Google said this "will be available to all eligible Shopping ad merchants in the United States."

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AI-Generated Google People Also Ask Almost Doubles In 3 Months

New data from AlsoAsked put AI-generated people also ask in Google Search at 38%. These are people also ask responses labeled as AI generated and that number jumped from 17.8% just a few months ago.

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Google Read Aloud User Agent Updates Which Services Use It

Google has updated the list of Google products and services that use the Google Read Aloud user agent. The updated page also says that the "service provides an audio version of web pages by understanding their content through help of AI" but adds, "no data from the page is retained for AI model training."

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Campaign Type Selection In Google Ads Channel Performance Report

Google was spotted showing a "Campaign Type" selection option in the Google Ads Channel Performance report attributes section. This showed up for some advertisers, without Google announcing it.

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Bing Tests Search Refinements Above Shopping Ads Directing To Bing Shopping

Microsoft is testing placing search refinement tabs or buttons above the shopping ads within the Bing Search results. And when you click on those refinements, you are taken into Bing Shopping Search.

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Google Search Console API Update Speed Unchanged

Google's John Mueller said that there was no change to how fast and frequently the Google Search Console API sends data. This comes after some are questioning the speed of the API and why there may be recent data slowdowns.

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Google AI Mode Based On Your Google Activity When Signed In

When you go to the Google AI Mode home screen, the quick way to do that is to go to google.com/ai. You may see a small disclaimer under the search box that says "Based on your Google activity."

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New Google Ads Optimization Insights Recommendations

Google is testing a new optimization insights layer or recommendation interface for Google Ads. This has three columns named (1) build a foundation, (2) drive performance and (3) expand and grow.

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Google Hiring Google Discover User Generated Content Engineer

Google is looking to hire a software engineer with the responsibility of improving the quality of User Generated Content (UGC) contents in Google Discover.

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Google Ads Auto-Apply Recommendations Setting Updated

Google has updated its Auto-Apply Recommendations setting within the Google Ads interface. The button moved to just above the regular recommendations section.

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Microsoft Ads Posts On How To Optimize For AI Search Answers

The Microsoft Advertising blog posted about how to optimize for AI Search Answers. I thought it was weird to see this on the Microsoft Advertising blog and not on the Bing Search blog, because (a) it is an ad blog and (b) it was written by Krishna Madhavan, who is part of the Bing team, not ad team.

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Google Adds Google NotebookLM To User-Triggered Fetchers

Google added Google NotebookLM to the list of Google crawlers, under the list of user-triggered fetchers. Google said they added this user-agent "based on feedback."

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Google Tests More Publisher Friendly Recipe AI Overviews

Google is testing a new, more publisher-friendly version of the AI Overviews for recipe results. The new design has the recipe cards at the top, citations at the bottom and a shorter AI response.

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Google AI Mode Links In Italics (Test)

Google is testing using the italic font type for the links in AI Mode. So the links have a bit of a slant to them, compared to the other text in the AI Mode response.

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Google Ask AI Mode Anything Explore Carousel

Google Search is testing a new carousel to promote AI Mode named "Ask AI Mode anything." It gives you ideas on how to "Explore" new or related topics in AI Mode.

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Google Merchant Center Lets You Use Your Own Brand In Short Title

Google updated the wording in the title documentation for Merchant Center, now suggesting you can use your own brand or company name in the short title of your products. That is, if you manufacture your own products.

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Google Reveals Dates For Call Ads Going Away

A year ago, we learned that Google would transition from Google call ads, call-only ads, to using call assets within responsive search ads (RSAs) but we didn't know the dates. Now, Google said this will happen in two phases: February 2026 and February 2027.

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Google Confirms Google Search Serving Issue

Google has confirmed a Google Search serving issue that is currently ongoing and impacting serving "some pages in some locales." This is a large enough issue that Google posted about it on its Google Search Status Dashboard.

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Google Merchant Center Next New Compact Menu Bar

Google has rolled out the new, more compact, menu bar for Google Merchant Center Next. This was part of a slew of user interface updates that Google has been slowly rolling out for Merchant Center Next over the past several months.

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Microsoft Tests Large Images In Bing Search Copilot Ads

Microsoft is testing using really large images in the Bing Search Copilot ads. I don't believe I've seen such large ads in this ad unit before, so it seems new to me.

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Google's Elizabeth Reid id Interviewed On AI, Search, Blue Links, SEO & More

Here is a new interview published yesterday by The Economic Times Podcasts with Elizabeth Reid, VP of Google Search. She spoke about Google's progression of AI in Search, content quality, SEO, blue links, traffic, the ecosystem, agentic features and more.

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Google Search Rolls Out Emoji Answer Box

In June, Google began testing showing a new answer box for emoji related queries. So when you search for a specific type of emoji, Google will give you the emoji options that you can copy directly from the search results page instead of going to a third-party publisher site. Well, that seems fully live as of today.

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New Google AdSense Traffic Source Breakdown Report

Google added a new report to the Google AdSense reporting named traffic source breakdown. This report helps you understand the origins of your page traffic. It also categorizes traffic based on whether it arrived directly to your page, or from popular and classified platforms.

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Google To Remove More Lodging Listings With Inaccurate Prices

Google said it will be strict in enforcing accurate pricing for lodging listings on Google, both for ads and free booking links. There is no policy change but they will have a "higher standards for price accuracy."

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Google AI Mode Agentic Features Go Live For Some

A month ago, Google announced new agentic (agent based) features for AI Mode. Well, some are now seeing this live in AI Mode, specifically making reservations at recommended restaurants.

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Google AdSense Dropping Session-Related Metrics

Google is sunsetting the session-related metrics for Google AdSense. Google said this includes all metrics that rely on ad sessions, such as "Ad sessions", "Ad session RPM", etc.

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Google To Label Some Search Ads With "Not A Government Website"

Google updated its Other restricted businesses: Government documents and services policy to say it may label some search ads to say, "Not a government website."

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Google Search Testing Shaded Stock Price Interface

Google is testing a shaded box design for the stock pricing and information in the Google Search results. Google has these shaded designs in other areas as well but for now, this may just be a test.

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Google AI Mode Tests Moving Query To Right Side

Google is testing moving your query from the left top position to the right top position of the AI response within AI Mode. This is a subtle change but it is interesting to see Google test these small changes to AI Mode.

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Programming Note: Rosh Hashanah 5786 - Happy & Healthy Jewish New Year

This is a programming note that Tuesday and Wednesday are Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year and I will be offline the next two days. I will be offline on Tuesday and Wednesday, September 23rd and September 24th...

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Google AI Mode Product Listings Tests AI-Generated Product Summaries

Google is testing AI-generated product summaries in the AI Mode results, after you click on a specific product. I was able to generate this in one out of every four browser attempts, and here is how it works.

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Google Search Translate A Conversation Button

Google is testing a button that takes you from Google Search short translations answers, to the ability to translate a full conversation in another interface.

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Google August 2025 Spam Update To Probably Finish Tomorrow - 9/22

The Google August 2025 spam update will probably be marked as completed tomorrow, September 22, 2025. That is what John Mueller from Google said deep inside a comment on a LinkedIn post. He wrote today, "Just between us, we'll probably mark it complete tomorrow."

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Google Search: Red Live Label On What People Are Saying Carousel

We've covered the What people are saying carousel and section within the Google Search results. We've covered the red live label for news stories. We are now seeing the two combined.

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Bing Testing Local Pack & Maps Interfaces

Microsoft is testing various interfaces for the Bing Search local pack results and map. I spotted four different interfaces, some with the map on the page, some without. Some in a list view, some in a card view.

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Official: Google Discover Rolling Out Follow Feature & Creator Content

Google has made it official and announced updates to Google Discover. That follow feature we covered a few weeks ago is now rolling out officially to all and Google confirmed it is showing more creator content from X, Instagram and YouTube Shorts within your Discover feed.

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Google Search Bug Leads To Search Results Overwhelmed With Ads

A Google Search bug from this morning led to the search results being overwhelmed with just ads. This is obviously a Google Search serving bug where Google had a glitch and was unable to serve the proper amount of organic/free results.

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Google Tests AI Generated Search Snippet Summaries

Google is testing placing AI-generated search result snippet summaries. Under each Google search result, there is a thing bar, followed by the Gemini logo and then a short AI-generated summary of the page.

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Rolling Stone Publisher (Penske) Sued Google Over AI Overviews

Penske Media, which operates and owns Rolling Stone, The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, Variety and others has sued Google over its AI Overviews. The lawsuit says Google used its content while resulting in less overall traffic for them and a drop in affiliate income.

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No, Google Search Console Did Not Add An AI Overviews Filter

No, Google Search Console did not add an AI Overviews filter to the Search Performance report. There was a ton of buzz this morning that Google added the ability to filter out AI Overview data in Search Console, but it was a fake and not a real screenshot.

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Google Search Tests Dropping 100 Search Results Parameter

Google Search seems to be testing dropping the ability to see 100 search results on a single page. When you add the results parameter to the end of your search results URL string, i.e. #=100, it works about half the time.

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Google Updated The Merchant Center Pricing Policies

Google has updated the Google Merchant Center pricing policies for September. The changes include updates in the merchant fees, government charges, import and export costs, regional and installment pricing, price mismatches and automated updates.

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Google Tests Replacing Hotel Review Stars For Website & Phone Number

Google is testing replacing the review stars at the top of the hotel knowledge panel with listing the hotel's website URL and the hotel's phone number.

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Google Search Testing New Local Ad Cards Format

Google seems to be testing a new format for local ads in the search results. These look more like that older card format test we saw a year or so ago. There are these two local cards at the top and when you click on them, the local panel for that Google Business Profile opens up.

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Bing Tests Ads Text That Expands On Hover

Microsoft is testing expanding the text of the Microsoft Advertising search ads on Bing Search. So when you hover your mouse over an ad in Bing Search, the text expands.

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Google AI Mode Now Supports Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese & English

Since Google launched AI Mode back in March, it has only supported the English language. Google has been releasing it in more countries and expanding it quickly, and now, finally, AI Mode supports more than just English. AI Mode now also supports Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, and Brazilian Portuguese.

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New Google Court Doc: Open Web Is In Rapid Decline

Google's CEO, Sundar Pichai, said in May that web publishing is not dying. Nick Fox, VP of Search at Google, said in May that the web is thriving. But in a court document filed by Google on late Friday, Google's lawyers wrote, "The fact is that today, the open web is already in rapid decline."

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Google AI Overviews Citing Individual Reviews

Google seems to be using the reviews on your Google Business Profile listings to give responses in its AI Overviews. If you search for your favorite doctor reviews, you may see Google cite reviews listed in the reviews section of your Google Business Profile.

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Google AI Mode To Become Default For Google Search Soon

Logan Kilpatrick, lead product manager for Google DeepMind, Gemini, and all AI products at Google, said Google AI Mode will be the default for Google Search "soon." He said this after Google made google.com/ai go directly to AI Mode's interface on Friday afternoon.

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Google Local Panel With Weird Third-Party Directory Card

We know Google can show AI-generated summary cards in the local panels on mobile and desktop. But I am not sure what this thing is, it was spotted by Stephen White and it shows a website card from a third-party site, like a directory.

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Google Hotel Center To Crack Down On Pricing Accuracy

Google sent out emails to hotels and lodging partners to inform them that they will begin enforcing pricing accuracy on their listings and feeds. The email says that starting on September 22, 2025, Google "will start removing more inaccurate prices from being shown on Google for both ads and free booking links."

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The Industry Mourns The Loss Of Alan Bleiweiss - Caring & Giving SEO

I am deeply sad to report that Alan Bleiweiss has passed away on August 22nd. Alan was a true friend to the search marketing industry; he always had a witty and funny response to make everyone smile, even during the most frustrating times. He cared deeply about the industry, the people within it and his friends and family.

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Google Tests New Directions Buttons In Local Pack

Google is testing new direction buttons in the local pack within the Google Search results. Normally, we see a "Directions" button, but now Google is testing "Map it," "Map," "Route," "Go," and "Get there," and maybe more.

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Google Won't Be Broken Up In Monopoly Case But Required To Share Search Data

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled on the remedies for Google being declared a monopoly. In short, Google won't be broken up (will keep Chrome, Android and Ads), it will have to share search data and it is barred from making exclusive search deals.

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Google Ads AI Max Not Designed To Go More Aggressively After SPN Inventory

Ginny Marvin, Google's Ads Liaison, responded to some data that suggests that AI Max is expansionary on SPN, the Search Partner Network. That using AI Max will more heavily target and show your ads on SPN more than other campaign types.

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Google Ads Search Google Maps For Location Assets

Google Ads now lets you search Google Maps for setting up your location assets for your ad campaigns. You can select up to 10 locations from Google Maps to link with your Ads account

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Google Search Mini Game Encourages Searchers To Search More

Google Search is testing a new game in its search results to encourage searchers to search more. It is likely called the Google Search mini-game and it rewards searchers with badges when they "dive deeper into topics."

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Microsoft Advertising: Here's Why Your Bid May Be Over The Max CPC

Navah Hopkins, the Microsoft Ads Liaison, posted on LinkedIn a bit of a refresher on how CPCs work with search ads and Microsoft Advertising. Specifically, why your bid may be over the configured max CPC you set within the platform.

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Google AI Mode Compare Checkboxes For Products & Local Business Listings

Google now has the ability within AI Mode to compare listed products or local businesses by selecting the listing and having AI Mode compare the ones you selected. Then AI Mode will just compare the ones you selected in the follow-up query.

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Google Tests Rounded Search Results Snippet Design Again

Google is testing a rounded corner search result snippet card design again. We've seen this numerous times over the past decade or so and it seems to be back. The snippet sections are bordered in with rectangular outlines, and the corners of those rectangles are curved and circular.

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Google NMX Business Profiles May Show New Profiles Button

Google may show a new "Profiles" button in the Google Business Profiles NMX dashboard. It may show if you manage multiple Google Business Profiles and you are in this test.

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Google Search On JavaScript-Based Paywalls

Google has added new guidance to the "Fix Search-related JavaScript problems" help document, specifically addressing JavaScript-based paywalls.

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Some Sites Have Huge Crawl Rate Declines In Google Search Console

There are numerous complaints from SEOs and site owners who are noticing significant declines in crawl rates within Google Search Console. Most who see this, many do not by the way, are noticing the decline starts around August 8th and continues through today.

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Google Tests AI Mode In European Union

While Google expanded AI Mode access to 180+ countries and regions last week, Google is testing AI Mode in currently unsupported regions. Such regions including countries in the European Union, including Romania.

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Survey: Only 4% Of Searchers Don't Click From Google AI Overviews

A new survey from NP Digital says that only 4% of the 1,000 people surveyed said they do not click from the Google AI Overviews. 13.3% of people surveyed said they do click every single time within an AI Overview, 30.5% said they often click, 41.5% said they sometimes click and 10.3% said they rarely click through.

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Loyalty Goal In Google Ads & More Merchant Center Loyalty Offerings

After seeing the loyalty pricing and discounts in the Google search results and shopping ads, Google has now announced that they have new loyalty offerings in Merchant Center and also loyalty goal in Google Ads.

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Google Ads Renamed Chat To Ads Advisor

Google Ads renamed the "Chat" section or button in the Google Ads interface to "Ads Advisor." The Chat feature was spotted earlier this year in January, and I guess Google would rather call it an "advisor" and not "chat."

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Dos and Don'ts Of Microsoft Advertising Suspensions & Appeals

To those of you who run advertising campaigns with Microsoft Advertising to show ads on Bing and other Microsoft properties, here are the dos and don'ts of handling suspensions and appeals.

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Google Tests AI Overview Ask Anything Box Leads To AI Mode

Google is now testing adding an "Ask Anything" box within the AI Overviews, and when you type in that box and click search, it takes you into the Google AI Mode results.

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Google On Good Web Crawler Attributes

Myriam Jessier asked Google about what would be good attributes of a web crawler. In which both Martin Splitt and Gary Illyes gave some responses to.

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Google To Begin Approving The First Google Trends API Applications

A month ago, Google announced the Google Trends API and allowed folks to apply to gain access to the API as an alpha release. Google then told us that SEOs should not expect to be part of the first group of applicants accepted. Well, now Google is saying they will begin going through those applications and onboard the "very small" number of those they approve "around mid-September."

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Tool Tracks Referral Traffic From ChatGPT vs Google: Can AI Catch Up?

A new tool from Tim Souo and Ahrefs at chatgpt-vs-google.com aims to show the growth rate of ChatGPT's referral traffic compared to Google Search. Tim said the chart shows that OpenAI's ChatGPT "doesn't seem enough to catch up with Google anytime soon, given their respective traffic shares."

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Bing Updates Copilot AI Answer UX To Improve CTR?

Microsoft has updated the Bing Search Copilot AI answer design to move the sources section under a "read more" tab, which I assume Microsoft is testing to see if it drives more or fewer clicks to publishers.

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Google Merchant API Is Replacing The Content API For Shopping

Over a decade ago, Google released the Content API for Shopping to let merchants manage their Google Merchant Center feed programmatically. Well, that has been officially replaced by the Google Merchant API.

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Google Ads New Preview Ad Link In View Asset Details

Google may have added a new convenient feature in the Google Ads console that lets you preview ads directly from the view assets detail screen. Clicking on the preview ad button shows the preview within the same window.

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Google Ads To Accept Sports Betting Ads In Missouri

Google has updated its Gambling and games policy to now allow sports betting ads in the state of Missouri. This change is in effect as of August 15, 2025.

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Google Search Age Verification: Asking To Confirm You're An Adult

Google Search started to roll out the age verification that it said it would begin doing a couple of weeks ago. Yes, it is not just YouTube, it goes across Google Search ads too, as we reported back a couple of weeks ago.

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Google Looking Into Adding Analytics For Preferred Sources

Google recently launched the preferred sources for top stories within Google Search. But there is no way for publishers to know how many of their readers selected their website as a preferred source. But Google said they are "looking into this" and may provide such data to publishers.

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Google Tests Loyalty Benefits Section In Merchant Knowledge Panels

Google is testing adding a "loyalty benefits" section to the merchant/retailer knowledge panels. This would show on the right side of the page, under the description of the retailer.

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Microsoft Copilot Links Local Reviews To Bing Competitor Google Maps

It looks like Microsoft Copilot, formerly Bing Chat, is using Google Maps reviews for its local AI results. It also links directly to the Google Maps business profile listing when you click on the review stars and ratings from Copilot.

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Google AI Overviews Testing Keyboard Shortcuts

Google is now experimenting with keyboard shortcuts to the overlay menu in the AI Overviews within Google Search. Rajan Patel, VP, Engineering for Google Search, said this is just an experiment.

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Google Allows Dating & Companionship Ads In More Countries

Google has removed some of the restricted countries from the list of countries not allowed to serve Dating and Companionship ads. Specifically, Google removed Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan and the UAE from the list.

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Google Ads Touts New AI To Reduce Invalid Traffic In Some Cases By 40%

Google announced it has new AI and large language models to fight invalid ad traffic or as Google calls it "IVT." Google explained they have used AI for a long time, but they had some breakthroughs that resulted in a "40% reduction in IVT stemming from deceptive or disruptive ad serving practices."

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Google Merchant Center Ads Promotions Preview & Chat Checkbox

Google Merchant Center now lets you preview your promotions, your sponsored ads, before adding them. Google also added two check boxes to your customer service section for live versus chatbot support.

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Google Trends Stalled With Four Hour Filter

Google Trends seems to be broken or stalled over the past few hours. If you filter Google Trends for a specific region and then say only show me trends over the past four hours, you may only see a few keywords show up and not pages of keywords, like you'd normally expect.

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Google's Gary Illyes Interviewed On AI Search, Content & SEO

Kenichi Suzuki and Rio Ichikawa from Farber Company in Japan sat down with Gary Illyes of Google to interview him on AI Search, AI content, SEO and other topics. It is a good interview, it is in English, so I wanted to share it here.

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Google Search Testing Deep Dive Button

Google seems to be testing a new "Deep Dive" button in the search results. This button is on some of the knowledge panels, specifically, this one is for a movie panel. When clicked, it gives you some bullet points on the highlights of the movie.

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Microsoft Copilot Now Using OpenAI's GPT-5 (Did Bing Get An Upgrade Too?)

Yesterday, OpenAI announced GPT-5 and it is free for all users within ChatGPT and other platforms. That includes Microsoft Copilot, which now is also using GPT-5's models.

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Bing Webmaster Tools Performance Report Adds List By Device & Country

Microsoft has added two new options to the Bing Webmaster Tools Search Performance report. There is a new list by for "device" and for "country," which was added to the existing "keywords" and "pages" options.

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Ask Anything In AI Mode Within Google Product Search Listings

Google is testing the Ask Anything In AI Mode feature, which we saw in the people also ask, now in the Google Search product listings. So when you click on a product, there is a new section named Ask Anything In AI Mode.

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Google Ads Sitelinks Impact Performance Max Ad Strength

Did you know that your sitelinks in your Performance Max (PMax) campaigns can impact the overall ad strength? Google actually has a help document that lists that and the ad strength widget in Google Ads now lists ad strength.

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Google Search Tests Rainbow Effect To AI Mode & Web Tabs

Google is testing adding a rainbow effect to the AI Mode and Web tabs within the search bar. We've seen this on the AI Mode button on the search box and it seems Google is testing it to highlight some of the tabs.

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Google: Easy To Draw Parallel Between Meta Keywords & LLMS.txt File

Google has been outspoken about not being a fan of the LLMS.txt file. Now, Gary Illyes from Google said it is a lot like the keywords meta tag in the early days and we all know how that went.

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Google Merchant Knowledge Panel Deals Section Update

Google has replaced the promotions section in the merchant local knowledge panel with a deals section. There are still clipable coupons but it is renamed "Deals" instead of it saying "Promotions." There is also a new green percentage icon next to each deal.

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Google Shopping Tests New Sort By Button Filter

Google is testing a sort by button filter at the top right of the Google Shopping interface. This is instead of Google putting the sort by on the left-hand bar, with all the other filters.

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Google To Use Machine Learning To Determine Age For Ads & More

Google emailed advertisers and publishers yesterday that they will begin using machine learning to estimate the age of signed-in users in the United States to "protect young people as they use Google products." This means Google will disable ad personalization and disallow sensitive creative categories from serving for users under 18.

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Google Search Posts On Reddit Section Replacing Discussion and Forums?

Google is testing a new section in the search results titled "Posts on Reddit." This section seems to maybe replacing or be in addition to the Discussions and Forums section, which also shows Reddit threads in a dedicated section.

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Google Ads Tests Grouping Favicons In Expandable Sponsored Results

Google is testing grouping the favicons from the sites from advertisers at the top of the sponsored results, on the right side of the sponsored label. This is part of when Google has the larger sponsored label and groups expandable sponsored ads below.

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Google Hotel Local Pack Tests Website Link On Mobile

A bit over a year ago, we saw Google testing a website link in the hotel local pack on desktop search. Now it seems Google is also testing it on mobile search, unless it was like that then and we didn't see the mobile version.

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Google Local Service Ads Message Leads Now More Expensive?

Google has changed how much it charges for message leads within Google Local Service Ads. Previously, it was 50% of the corresponding phone lead but now, Google said it is "typically priced lower than the corresponding phone lead price, although that's not always the case."

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Google Ads RSAs Adding Click & Conversion Data

Google Ads is adding more detailed data to RSAs, responsive search ads, reporting. Specifically, it now shows click and conversion data per RSA headline. This is instead of it just showing "good" or "bad" labels per headline.

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Google Web Guide Uses Gemini To Organize Your Web Results

Google launched a new Search Labs experiment it is calling Web Guide. It basically organizes the web search results for you by category. Google wrote, "Web Guide is an AI-organized search results page that experiments with how we find, surface and organize results from across the web."

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Is ChatGPT Using Google Search Results?

I am seeing numerous tests now that seem to prove that OpenAI's ChatGPT search feature is using Google Search's index or search results page to serve its own search results.

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Google On Show Webpage SEO

Google's John Mueller gave some advice on how to handle show web pages, for when the event or show or performance is complete. How do you handle those old show URLs. He said it is similar to dealing with products and he gave similar advice a couple times around event web pages.

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Is OpenAI Crawling LLMs.txt Files? Google Says It Won't.

Recently, Google said that no AI system is currently using the LLMS.txt file. But maybe some are starting to? OpenAI may be starting to discover and crawl LLMS.txt files on websites. While Google's Gary Illyes said they won't be doing that.

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Google AdSense Removing Significant Skin Exposure Block Control Category

Google announced it will be removing the block control category named "Significant Skin Exposure" from the block controls. That means if you have apps or websites where you want to ensure ads don't have a lot of skin in the ads showing, you won't be able to do that after July 30, 2025.

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Google Ad Revenue Up 10.4% & Overall Revenue Up 14%

Google reported Q2 2025 earnings today, which showed Google's ad revenue was up again year-over-year, with an increase of 10.4%, and overall revenue is also up 13.8%.

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Google Merchant Center Adds Product Studio Tab For Some

Google is adding the Product Studio tab to the left side bar of Google Merchant Center for some merchants. Beforehand, it was within the Products tab, as a feature in there but now Google is testing moving it in its own tab.

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Google Ads Brand Inclusions & Exclusions In AI Max

Google Ads seems to be moving brand inclusions and exclusions into AI Max for any new search campaign you create. Google has a note that says, "Turn on Al Max in your campaign to use brand inclusions and exclusions."

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Google: It Makes Sense To Noindex LLMs.txt

Google's John Mueller said it may make sense to noindex your LLMs.txt file. This way, the file doesn't get indexed by search engines, and then somehow a user lands on it and is confused.

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Google Drops Sponsored Label For Find Related Products & Services Ads

Google used to label the Find Related Products & Services search ads with a larger sponsored label. It seems Google has removed that label and is now adding a smaller font disclaimer below the section to say these are from advertisers.

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Google Ads Competitive-Aware Recommendations

Google Ads can now show recommendations or insights based on what your competitors are doing. So if a new competitor starts to enter your market, Google might notify you of this within the Google Ads console.

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Google Ads Now Disallows Daily Fantasy Sports In California

Google posted a new policy on Friday, July 18, 2025, that immediately prohibits advertising of Daily Fantasy Sports on Google Ads within California. This is based on a new law by the California attorney general that says daily fantasy is illegal in the state.

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Google Search Ranking Volatility Very Heated Days After Core Update Completed

Google told us the June 2025 core update completed early on Thursday, July 17th, but now, four days later, we are still seeing incredibly heated volatility, even through today. The tools and community are still experiencing significant ranking movement and instability, even today.

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Google: Login Service Pages Are Hard To Rank In Search

Google's John Mueller said it is hard for service oriented login web pages to rank in the search results. Like, if you have a landing page where people can login to their account and check on analytics, billing, etc, those types of login pages can be hard to rank well in Google and Bing Search.

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Google AI Overviews For Movie Queries

Google is supposedly showing AI Overviews for movie-related queries. Apparently, this is new, although I don't have firsthand knowledge since I don't typically search for movies. However, I've been told it's new by a number of sources.

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Google Ads Rolling Out Smart Bidding Exploration To Some Advertisers

Google Ads is rolling out its new Smart Bidding Exploration bidding update to some advertisers. At Google Marketing Live, Google called this its "biggest update to bidding in over a decade."

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Bing Tests Sitelinks With Light Gray Underlines

Microsoft is testing showing sitelinks with light gray underlines in the Bing search results. Normally, the Bing sitelinks don't have any underline at all - but here Bing is testing this.

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Google Ads Tracks Call Assets QR Codes Or Send Email

For the past couple of years, we've seen Google show QR codes you can scan and email or text this number to call features in the Google Ads. Google's Ads Liaison, Ginny Marvin, confirmed that these actions are indeed tracked by Google Ads, down to the conversion, if you set those up.

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Google June 2025 Core Update Finished Rolling Out

Google's June 2025 core update is now done rolling out, it took 16 days and 18 hours to complete. The core update started on June 30, 2025 at around 10:34 am ET and ended on July 17, 2025 at around 4:18 am ET. Google posted saying, "The rollout was complete as of July 17, 2025."

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Google Business Profile Appeal Tool Now Shows Rejection Reasons

Google Business Profiles appeal tool now shows the reason your appeal was rejected. It can show a list of reasons why the appeal was rejected, so that next time you submit the appeal, you can hopefully get it approved.

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Google Core Web Vitals Update In Search Console - Bug or Normal?

Google seems to have updated its core web vitals metrics within Google Search Console a few days ago. The weird thing is that good URLs and URLs need improvements metrics all went down around that date but the poor URLs stayed the same.

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Google AdSense PIN Verification Issues

Google AdSense may have a bug with its PIN verification processs. There are tons of AdSense publishers complaining in the Google AdSense Help Forums about issues where they are unable to use the PIN verification anymore. It seems like a widespread bug but I am not sure, as Google has not responded to those complaints.

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Google Business Profiles Now Requests Text/WhatsApp Number During Setup

We know you have been able to add your text or WhatsApp number to your Google Business Profile for some time now, but now Google is asking for it when you set up your Google Business Profile for the first time.

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Google Ads Apply Recommendations Within Gmail Can Be Dangerous

Google Ads with Gmail has this feature that you can now click one button to apply a recommendation for your Google Ads. The scary part, you don't even need to open the email to apply this recommendation, so you are kind of applying them blindly.

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Microsoft Bing Tests Delivery Truck Icon In Search Ads

Microsoft is testing using a blue delivery truck icon in some of the ads in the Bing Search results. I guess it is to symbolize that they offer delivery?

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Bing Local Pack With See More Button At Top

Microsoft is testing showing the "See more" button at the top of the Bing local pack, instead of the bottom of the local pack. I suspect this is a test and not a bug, but who knows.

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Google AI Mode Comes To Circle to Search and Lens

Google announced yesterday that AI Mode now works with Circle to Search and Google Lens. Google's Rajan Patel wrote on X, "Today, we're taking your visual searches to the next level with two new capabilities."

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Google Ads Generating Fewer Clicks? Why?

The folks at PPC Hero noted that Google Ads CPCs increasing and there is a decline in ad click volumes within Google Search. The question is why? More competition? Higher CPC prices? New bidding strategies? AI Overviews causing a drop in ad clicks?

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Google Ads To Update Its Political Content Policy

Google will be updating its political content policy this month, if not already. Specifically, the content on the Google Ads Political content policy page and Election Ads verification page will be revised.

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Google Ads Editor Version 2.10 Is Out With 20 New Features

Google has released the new version of Google Ads Editor, version 2.10. This version has over 20 new features, which is a lot of a version update for Google Ads.

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Google AI Mode Follow Up Questions With Suggestions

Google AI Mode also has search suggestions in the follow-up section. After you ask Google AI Mode a question and scroll down to ask a follow-up, Google may show you follow-up search suggestions.

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Google Search Rolls Out AI Mode In India Without Labs

A couple of weeks ago, Google rolled out AI Mode via Search Labs in India and now Google is fully rolling it out, without opting into it in Search Labs within India. AI Mode is now fully live in India and the US, without you opting into it in Search Labs.

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Google Keyword Planner Update Gives Breakdown By By City, Region & Device/Platform

Google has pushed out an update to its keyword planner tool that gives you new forecast views to get predictions on your keywords by regions and device/platform. The update also mentions that grouped ideas are now in your keyword ideas section.

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Google Tests Low, Typical, High Price Labels In Search Result Snippets

Google is testing labeling search result snippets with "low price," "typical price" and I assume "high price" directly in the search results. We've seen these for product grid results before, but I am not sure if we've seen them for normal search result snippets.

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Google Business Profiles Reverification After Suspensions Increasing?

A number of local SEOs are stating that Google is now requiring businesses that had their Google Business Profiles suspended to reverify at a higher rate than normal. Meaning, the business needs to go through the verification process again to be activated within Google Business Profiles.

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Google Ads With Nearby Hotel Placement Units

Google seems to be testing a new ad unit for hotel or nearby listings that have big blue buttons to book at the site being listed. I am honestly not sure if this is new but I am told it is.

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New Google AdSense Fill Empty In-Page Ads

Google AdSense announced a new feature to "Fill empty in-page ads" by showing "contextually-relevant suggestions related to your page and site inside unfilled ad spaces." In short, if an ad is not filled by Google on your page, then Google will look for other ways to monetize that ad spot.

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Microsoft Laying Off 9,000 Employees - 4% Of Workforce

Microsoft will be laying off about 4% of its workforce, which is about 9,000 employees. It is unclear if any of those jobs are across the Bing, Copilot or Microsoft Advertising businesses, or any search-related business.

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Confirmed: Google Ads Errors & High Latency Issues

Google has confirmed an issue with Google Ads, where there are unexpected errors, high latency and other unexpected issues with the Google Ads advertiser console. Google said access is fine but it is likely serving some errors and other issues.

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Google Ads Bans Tablet Presses Ads

Google will soon ban ads for tablet or pill presses; they will be added to the list of dangerous products or services. Ads for pill presses, tableting machines, dies, molds, stamps, punches used for creation or imprinting of pills and tablets will not be allowed after September 1, 2025.

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Cloudflare To Block AI Crawlers By Default & Pay Per Crawl Model

Cloudflare, a company that powers about 20% of all web pages on the web, has announced it is now blocking AI crawlers by default. Plus, it is offering a new model to allow AI services to pay content creators to crawl their content, named Pay Per Crawl.

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Who Ate The Bing Search Results

Here is a weird bug with Bing Search - if you search for the term [ate], there are no search results. All you get are AI Answers at the top and maybe an interesting reads box, then there are related searches.

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Google AdSense New Privacy Law & Opt-Out Mechanism

Google AdSense has added new universal opt-out mechanisms and privacy controls due to new laws they must adhere to. These go across several US states.

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Google Promotes AI Mode With Animated Google Doodle

Google is promoting AI Mode with an animated Google Doodle on its home page, in some countries. The Google home page logo, animated and clickable, takes you into a search for AI Mode. It also has a Google-colored gradient to the top of the search results bar today, and Google also has promotional text on its home page for AI Mode.

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New Google Ads Broad Match Experiments Testing

Google is reportedly rolling out a new way to conduct broad match keywords experiments and A/B testing. Google wrote this "new approach is aimed at delivering faster results and reducing some of the common experimentation errors, by diverting traffic and budget within the existing campaign (instead of creating a campaign copy for the experiment treatment arm)."

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Heated Google Search Ranking Volatility On Saturday June 28th

On Saturday, June 28th, it appears that another significant Google Search ranking update occurred, although Google has not confirmed it. There has been significant search ranking volatility and chatter within the SEO industry over the past 24 hours or so.

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Google & Bing Testing Bolding Snippets On Hover

Both Google and Microsoft Bing are testing hover effects that will bold elements of the search results. Google is testing bolding the description of the snippet and Bing is testing bolding the title of the snippet.

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Bing Tests Italicized URLs In Search Results

Microsoft is testing italicizing the URLs in the Bing Search results. It is a bit weird to look at and I am not sure why Bing is testing this but they are.

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Google Local Service Ads Reviews Often Mention Label

I am not sure if this is new, to be honest, we saw something super similar in the normal local review summaries about fives years ago with "X people mention [keyword]." Now in the Local Service Ads, they have it where it has this people icon with "Reviews often mention [keyword]."

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Google To End Self-Service Hotel Rates July 30

Google will be ending the ability for hotels to manage their hotel rates by themselves, instead they will need to partner with a central reservation system, Internet booking engine or other partner to manage those rates on Google Search.

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Bing Search Tests Floating Copilot Search Box

Microsoft is testing placing a floating Copilot search box within the Bing Search results page. The aim is to encourage searchers to ask follow-up questions, not in Bing Search, but in Microsoft Copilot.

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New Google Search Directions User Interface

Google updated the directions interface within Google Search. Now the drive (car icon), trains (train icon) and buses (bus icon) are in expandable menus, as opposed to tabs at the top of the "Get there" search results section.

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Google Undisclosed Blue Search Answer?

I am not sure what this is but Google is testing (or maybe it is a bug) an answer box of sorts, in a blue highlight background (grayish on dark mode) with an answer. But there is no label on the result, is it an AI Overview, featured snippet or some other box?

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Google Tests Slim Light Blue Vertical Bar By Search Result Snippets

Google is testing placing a light blue bar on the left side of the search results snippets title link. I am not sure why Google is doing this but it does add some flavor and color to the search results.

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Bing Search Tests Updated Image Carousel With More Images

Microsoft is testing a new image carousel within the Bing Search results. This image carousel shows two rows of images, instead of one, has related searches with an arrow at the top of the carousel and a new larger squared off arrow format.

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The Industry Mourns The Loss Of Jill Whalen - Content SEO Hero & Legend

It is with a heavy heart that I am reporting that one of the founding pillars of the SEO industry, one of the first female SEOs in our industry, and one of the individuals who made the industry what it is today, has passed away. Jill Whalen retired from SEO over a decade ago after her fight to ensure SEOs take content seriously, over other factors, was victorious.

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Google Video Search Tests Speaker Icon With Language Label

Google is testing placing a speaker icon next to the video snippets. The speaker icon includes a language label indicating what language the video is in.

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Google Local Service Ads Tests Background Checked Labels

Google is testing adding the text "background checked" to the local service ads listings in the Google local search results. This seems to be instead of the Google Screened or verified labels.

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Google URL Structure Help Doc Updated

Google has updated its URL structure best practices help documentation - it was pretty much a rewrite but the overall guidance is not new. Google said they added "clearer flow and is easier to navigate, with added examples based on real-world URLs we've encountered."

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Google Tests Swapping Site Name & URL In Search Snippet

Google is testing swapping the site name with the URL in the search result snippets. So instead of the site name being shown at the top of the search result snippet, Google is showing the URL above that, followed by the site name.

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Google Ads New Promotion Preview

Google seems to be testing a new way to preview ads within Google Search, specifically promotions. There is a new "Promotion Preview" tool that shows what your promotion will look like on Google Search before it goes live to customers.

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Google Merchant Center New Website-Reported Autofeeds

Google has rolled out a new feature to automate the process of updating your inventory with Google Merchant Center. It is called Website-reported Autofeeds and it uses Google Tag Manager tag implemented in your site to manage this.

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Bing Tests Bold & Colored Hover Styles On Snippets & Related Searches

Microsoft is testing new hover effects and styles in the Bing Search results. Specifically, when you hover over the URL of a snippet, it will bold and underline the result. And then on related searches, Bing is using a blue and orangish styled background color.

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Google AI Mode Within People Also Ask & Chrome

Just like Google had AI Overviews (also featured snippets) in the People also ask section of Google Search, Google is now testing AI Mode within People also ask. Plus, Google is testing it in the Chrome search auto-suggestions drop down. I guess this is because AI Mode is live in the US.

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OpenAI Improves ChatGPT Search Quality

OpenAI announced it has released several improvements to the ChatGPT search response quality. These improvements include "more comprehensive, up-to-date responses," according to the AI company.

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Google Search Autocomplete With Back To All

Google recently was testing showing vertical search shortcuts in the autocomplete search suggestions. Now Google is testing a "back to all" option in the autocomplete.

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Google AdSense Removing More Opt Out Options

Google announced that it will be dropping more of the opt-out options available to Google AdSense publishers. Specifically, Google said that by July 7th it will remove the additional ad technology vendors opt-out control from AdSense Blocking controls.

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Google Search Broken - Not Serving New Content

Google Search, the main search engine, is not serving new content. It might be an indexing issue or a serving issue, but if you try to find new content across news sites, like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and others, you won't see any.

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Google Ads Policy Update: Individual Accounts Can Be Paused Over Manager Account Violations

Google has added a new section to its policy on pausing Google Ads accounts. It says Google "may pause your individual account if it is linked to a Manager account that is currently in violation of the third-party policy."

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Google Ads Asset-Level PMax Reporting Rolling Out To Some

Some are starting to see the new asset-level reporting within Google Ads for Performance Max campaigns. I am not sure how widespread the rollout is but some are starting to see these reports in their Google Ads advertiser console.

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Google Gains Markup Support For Loyalty & Membership Programs

Google added new markup support for loyalty and membership programs with special pricing. This was supported in Google Merchant Center but now is supported in under Organization structured data combined with loyalty benefits under Product structured data, Google announced.

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Google Search Console API Data Stuck Since June 3rd

Google Search Console's API has not reported on data since June 3rd. The API is simply stuck since then, and I am not sure if it has anything to do with the Google Discover reporting issues or not - I suspect not fully since those were different dates.

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Google Ads Tests URL Inclusions & Exclusions For Search Campaigns

Google Ads seems to be testing URL inclusions and exclusions for Search campaigns. This will allow you to control which URLs your ads can show for, or not come up for your search campaigns.

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Apple Visual Intelligence iOS26: Screen Search With Google, ChatGPT & Apps

Apple had its WWDC 2025 event yesterday and actually led off right away with Apple Intelligence and then later spoke about its Apple Visual Intelligence. Basically, Apple said they need to perfect it, so there will be more to come in the coming year.

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Google Local Photos Testing Product Tags

Google is testing adding product tags to photos within Google Local carousel's photos. These tags are overlayed on the "explore through photos" unit.

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Microsoft Is Retiring Bing PubHub

Bing PubHub is being retired, exactly when, I am not sure, but it is going away. Microsoft posted the notice in Bing Webmaster Tools and it links to a document that says "PubHub will no longer be accepting new publisher applications effective immediately" but doesn't say when it will completely go away.

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Google Search Console Discover Report Flatlining - Might Be A Reporting Bug

It seems the Google Search Console performance report for Google Discover has reported zero impressions and clicks starting Thursday, June 5th, or has underreported impressions and clicks significantly since that date. I am seeing a lot of complaints about this, and I am able to replicate this for several publishers I have GSC access with.

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Google Updates Event & Recipe Structured Data; Drops Online Events & More

Google has updated the event structured data and recipe structured data help documentation. The changes include removing the online event properties, adding more examples and also saying that recipe markup has no impact on the image chosen for a text result image.

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Google Ads API Version 20 Now Available

Google has released version 20 of the Google Ads API, this is a major release, and we are expecting two more major releases in 2025. Google updated its API release schedule update, there is new Demand Gen ad_network_type reporting, Platform comparable conversions and Campaign-level negative keywords for PMax - plus more.

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Drop In Google Indexing Less Since Late May 2025?

Several individuals have inquired whether Google has been indexing fewer pages on websites since late May. I've seen a number of complaints, and while nothing is verified on Google's end, I wanted to share these reports with you.

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FTX Sued Neil Patel for $55 Million

Cyrus Shepard posted about how FTX, you know, the company Sam Bankman-Fried ran, is now suing Neil Patel and his company, for $55 million. There are a ton of whoppers in this lawsuit, and I have no idea who is right or wrong here, but as Cyrus noted, Neil Patel went through lots of efforts to hide this in the Google search results.

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Bloomberg Interviewed Google's CEO, Sundar Pichai: Search Will Grow, AI Content & Publishers Decline

Bloomberg's Emily Chang interviewed Google's CEO, Sundar Pichai, last night at the Bloomberg Tech summit in San Francisco. The interview covered a ton of topics and was pretty fast-paced. It goes across AI, search, the monopoly case and more.

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Google Discover Testing Generative AI Summaries

Google is now testing summarizing the stories listed on Google Discover with generative AI. Some are calling this adding AI Overviews to Google Discover, which I guess is about the same thing. Of course, publishers may be worried that these AI summaries will reduce clicks from Google Discover.

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Bing Tests New People Also Ask List View

Microsoft is testing a new layout in Bing for the people also ask section. Instead of the carousel card format, Bing is testing more of a list view with the ability to expand the details.

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Navah Hopkins Is Microsoft Advertising Ads Liaison

Navah Hopkins, someone I have quoted here countless times, and a super respected member of the PPC community, is now the Ads Liaison for Microsoft Advertising. Navah wrote on LinkedIn, "I could not be more excited to announce I am joining Microsoft Advertising as the Ads Liaison!"

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Google Publishes About Video Ads Help Doc

Google has published a new help document named About Video ads across Google surfaces. As you know, Google announced new video ad formats at Google Marketing Live and we've seen Google testing video ads recently again, but now this new help document is out with more details.

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Google Ads Testing New Conversion Goals Interface

Google is testing a new conversion goals interface within the Google Ads advertiser console. This now shows you a drop down option to dig into each goal and it groups the goals in a nicer way.

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Microsoft Bing Vehicle Ads With Car Condition Labels

Microsoft is now labeling some of the Bing vehicle ads with the condition of those automobiles. They include 'New,' 'Used,' and 'CPO' (Certified Pre-Owned). Also highlights features like 'Single Owner,' 'Nationwide Transfer,' and 'Low Miles Per Year.'

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Google Lens Comes To YouTube Shorts - Without Ads For Now...

Google Lens will soon work on YouTube shorts, all you need to do is pause the YouTube Short, then make a circle on the portion of the video you want Google Lens to search on and it will provide an overlay dialog menu to show you search results that match.

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Programming Note: Offline For Shavuot On Monday & Tuesday

This is a programming note that I will be completely offline for the holiday of Shavout/Shavous on Monday and Tuesday, June 2nd and 3rd. Any stories published here will be scheduled, written beforehand, and not written during the holiday hours...

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Google Ads Al Max Replaces Search Max In Google Ads

Google seems to be renaming Search Max to AI Max within the Google Ads interface. The new wording for this says, "Al Max for search campaigns." Then there is a toggle to turn on "Optimise your campaign with Al Max" with a beta label.

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Google On How Googlebot Crawling Has Changed Over The Years

Gary Illyes from Google described how search engine crawlers have changed over the years. This came up in the latest Search Off the Record podcast with Martin Splitt and Gary Illyes from Google.

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Some Seeing Google Ads Channel‬‭ Reporting For Performance Max

Some advertisers are seeing the newly announced and much anticipated channel reporting for Performance Max campaigns within the Google Ads advertiser console in the wild. This was announced about a month ago, after hearing leaks of it weeks prior and now some are able to see it in their accounts.

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Google: Page Needs To Be Indexed To Be Shown In AI Mode

Google has once again confirmed that in order for Google to show your content as a citation or link in AI Mode, it generally needs to be crawled and then indexed by Google. This is the same thing for a page to be shown in Google Search, Google AI Overviews and other Google properties.

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Bing Tests Related Searches Alternative Texts

Microsoft is testing using alternative names and titles for the related searches section within the Bing Search results. I was able to trigger four alternatives to the normal related searches header.

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Google Moving Notifications To Merchant Center Next June 25

Google announced it will be removing the notifications and email archive section from Google Merchant Center into Google Merchant Center Next on June 25, 2025. After June 25th, Google Merchant Center will no longer have your email notifications archived there.

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Google AI Overviews With Image Carousel

Google AI Overviews can now show an image carousel that you can swipe through to go to images. I am not able to replicate this myself but it seems like when you click on the images, it takes you into Google Image Search.

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SEO Complaints About Google's Live Broadcasting & Indexing API

I am seeing a number of complaints from the SEO industry in India and those regions around Google not indexing live broadcast types of content fast with the Google Indexing API. There are quite a number of complaints on X this morning about the issue - to be clear, I cannot replicate it myself.

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Google: Stop Using Indexing API For Unsupported Content

Google's John Mueller once again told SEOs to stop using the Google Indexing API for unsupported content types. The Google Indexing API is supported for job postings and live stream content and nothing else, but yet many still try to use it for other types of content.

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Google AI Mode Reporting Coming To Search Console

Google has confirmed that AI Mode reporting will be coming to Google Search Console. It is currently not yet in Search Console, but it will be coming as part of the AI Mode rollout.

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Bug: Google Search Console Discover Performance Report Hashtag Notice

Google Search Console's Discover performance report has a weird bug. It started early yesterday morning where a blue notice prompt would show up and have a mysterious hashtag, with the text "Learn more" and "Got it." This is obviously a bug.

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New Google Ads Smart Bidding Exploration: Bidding Update

Google announced a new bidding update to Google Ads named Smart Bidding Exploration. Google said this is the "biggest update to bidding in over a decade."

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Google Ads New AI Tools & Agentic Capabilities

Google announced a number of AI-related features to help advertisers create and manage their ads account across Google Ads and Merchant Center. These include new AI tools for creating ads and creatives and also agentic capabilities to help you with this on the backend.

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New Google Docs On Using AI Generative Content & AI Search Features

Google has published two new help documents on the topic of AI; one on guidance on using generative AI content on your website and the second on AI features and your website. Google also published a blog post on the topics over here.

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Bing Tests Double Border Search Box

Microsoft is testing a double border style around the Bing Search box. This goes around the main search box but not the auto-complete box, I believe.

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Google AI Overviews With Author Names & Citations

Google seems to be testing showing author names and website citations in the AI Overviews. I am honestly not sure if this is new but Christian Kunz said it was and posted about it on his blog and on X.

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Microsoft Partners With Creators To Promote Copilot Search in Bing

Microsoft's Jordi Ribas announced they are partnering with creators to showcase how they use Copilot Search in Bing. Copilot Search in Bing was launched in early April, as its new AI powered search feature.

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Google Ads Spending Bug With New Customer Acquisition Since May 15

Google has a bug with Google Ads where for campaigns running on New Customer Acquisition they are not able to spend the set budget. This bug was confirmed with Google and has been an issue for advertisers since May 15th.

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Google Speeds Up AI Mode

Google AI Mode seems like it got a lot faster over the past day or so. Instead of going through the steps of saying thinking about this, searching for results, organizing results, it just now saying kicking off searches and then looking at sites and then quickly shows the AI Mode response.

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Google Search Ranking Update Volatility May 16th

As I mentioned in my Friday video, there seems to be a lot of Google search ranking volatility that kicked off on Friday, May 16th and throughout this weekend. The most heated day seems to have been on Friday but the chatter is pretty busy over the weekend within the SEO community.

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Apple Maps Adds Insights, Ratings & Reviews From More Sources

Apple announced this week that it partnered with MICHELIN Guide; The Infatuation and Golf Digest to provide "insights, ratings, and reviews from expert sources" within Apple Maps.

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Google Working To Make It Easier To Share AI Overviews & AI Mode

Robby Stein, VP of Product at Google Search, confirmed Google is working on making it easier to share AI Overviews within Google Search and AI Mode responses.

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Bing Shopping Tests Shading Site Names

Microsoft is testing shading the site names, the brand names, of retailers in the Bing Shopping search results. So the name Amazon is in a blue shaded background color as opposed to just saying Amazon.com.

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Google Search AI Shuffle Button

Google is testing a "Shuffle" button in some of its AI generated answers within the Google Search results. When you click the shuffle button, it seems to redo or change up the response Google's AI gives you.

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Google Ads New Ads Funded By Details

Earlier this month, Google updated its Ads Transparency policy to specify that it will display the payment profile name as the payer name for verified advertisers. Well, now we are starting to see a new section that says "Ads funded by" on the "My Ad Center" section of the search ads.

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Google Ads Device Targeting Controls For Performance Max Campaigns

Google is rolling out device targeting controls and features within Google Ads Performance Max campaigns. We knew this was coming and now it seems to be rolling out to some (not all) advertisers. This allows you to target based on device type, such as computers, mobile phones, tablets and/or TV screens.

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Google Search Tests Vertical Search Labels In Autocomplete

Google is testing showing the vertical search category a query belongs to in its autocomplete search suggestions. When you click into the Google Search box, even before you begin typing your query, Google shows search suggestions and some of those search suggestions have a label that says "short videos," "images," etc.

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Google Search Testing New Sub/Second Menu

Google is testing a new sub or secondary menu under the search bar in Google Search. This secondary menu, or sub-menu, is below the main search vertical options and is missing the bubble format that we've seen Google use for this sub-menu.

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Google Business Profiles What's Happening Feature

Google is rolling out a new feature for Google Business Profiles named What's Happening. This feature is for bars or restaurants to better promote events, deals, and specials prominently at the top of their Google Business Profile.

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Bing Search APIs To Retire August 11, 2025

Microsoft is going to do away with the Bing Search and Bing Custom Search APIs as of August 11, 2025. Microsoft posted a notice on its API documentation pages with this news.

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Google Internal Emails On Google Marketing Live 2024 (Last Year)

Remember the Power Pair from Google Marketing Live 2024? Well, that and several other items of discussion were found in internal emails at Google about the GML 2024 event. It discussed how advertisers were not excited about PMax, there is frustration amongst advertisers, being pushed into fully automated ads and they are just willing to go along with it.

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Google Tests New Pagination Bar On Mobile

Google is also testing a new pagination bar with page numbers and previous and next icons, instead of the "more search results" button. Bing was recently just testing this too and now I see Google testing it.

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18 Year Google Search Engineer Rants On DOJ's Anti-Trust Case

Ryan Moulton, a Google Search engineer who worked on Google's search rankings algorithms for over 18 years now, went to X to call out some of what the courts are saying as not true. He went on to say, "This is now the second time I've seen my work cited prominently in a major lawsuit against Google, and I have to say, it has not given me a lot of faith in the court process around issues like this."

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Google: Hreflang Doesn't Guarantee Indexing

Google's John Mueller explained that just because you use hreflang tags on your pages, it doesn't mean those pages will be indexed and/or ranked in Google Search. He said on Bluesky, "hreflang doesn't guarantee indexing."

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Google Search Discussions Beta May One Day Replace Reddit Results

Google has a new beta feature to encourage searchers to add comments and have discussions around a specific topic. It is called "Discussions" and has a beta label on it. You can add your own thoughts/comments to the topic and those comments can appear across a number of Google properties and services.

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Google Search Country & Language Parameters

Did you know that you can quickly add parameters to the end of your Google Search URL to see search results in a specific language and/or country? Yes, you can do this from the advanced search settings screen in Google Search but you can also append &hl=(languagecode) + &gl=(countrycode) URL parameters, if you want to save some clicks.

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Bing Search Tests Next/Prev Pagination

Microsoft is testing a new pagination bar for its Bing Search results. Instead of the left arrow, page numbers and then right arrow, Bing is testing showing a "Next" button and then a "Prev" button.

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Google Business Profiles Show Business Address Toggle Broken

Google Business Profiles has another bug, this time with the toggle to hide or show the business address. The toggle for "Show business address to customers" just does not work - I even tried it myself and it is not working for my business.

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Google Analytics Real Time Reporting Lagging Again

Google Analytics real time reporting seems to be lagging again this morning. I woke up to a ton of complaints on social about the real time reporting reports in GA4 are simply not working as expected.

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Google Search Tests Moving About Results Count Within Tools Menu

Google is testing moving the about results text, where it shows the count of results, to within the search tools menu. So when you click on "Tools" under the search bar, you may find the "about results" section.

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Google Ads Tests Sitelinks Carousels With Images

Google is testing showing images within the sitelinks carousel in Google Ads and sponsored results. We've seen images in sitelinks before, numerous times, but here is a version of them in the ads extension.

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New Google Merchant Center Event Promotion

Google has a "new feature," as it labeled it, within Google Merchant Center, for event promotions. This allows you to promote an event, such as a sale, promotion or occasion, that may help you sell product.

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Google Ads Tests New Ad Group Interface For Search Campaigns

Google is testing a new ad groups interface for the Google Ads Search campaigns console. This seems to be a simpler interface with fewer options than the current version.

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Google before: & after: Operators Still In Beta Six Years Later

Six years ago, Google dropped some of its search tools date filters and then added new operators for before: and after: that let you filter content by specific dates. Well, six years later, that feature is still in beta.

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Google's AI Crawler For Gemini, Google-Extended, Does Render JavaScript

Google's AI crawler, Google-Extended, the crawler it uses for Gemini and other related AI services, does render itself and can render JavaScript, just like Googlebot, Google's main web search crawler.

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Google Ads PMax Search Themes Tests 50 Limit (Up From 25)

Google Ads search themes for Performance Max campaign has a limit of 25 search themes per asset group. Well, according to Thomas Eccel, Google is testing doubling that limit to 50 search themes per asset group.

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Google Tag Gateway For Advertisers & More

Google announced a number of new tag, analytics and data strategies on Friday including a new Google tag gateway for advertisers. Google tag gateway for advertisers allows you to run your Google tags, be it client-side or server-side through your own website infrastructure, such as a content delivery network (CDN), load balancer, or web server.

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Google AdSense To Not Allow You To Block Video Games Ads

Google AdSense will remove the ability to block the video games category of ads. So if you previously told AdSense not to show ads related to video games on your site or in your apps, that block will soon not be respected.

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Google Merchant Center New Search For Products Feature

Google added a new way to search for your products in the Google Merchant Center console. There is a new search button named "Search for Products" that you can click on and will let you pick from a pre-defined set of searches or you can type your own search.

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What's Changing With Google Ads: Interview Ginny Marvin

Navah Hopkins sat down with the Google Ads Liaison, Ginny Marvin, and spoke about the topic of what is changing with Google Ads. The interview is about an hour and is well worth watching or listening to.

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Google Ads To Display Payment Profile Name Of Advertiser In My Ad Center

Google Ads is updating its Ads Transparency policy to specify that it will display the payment profile name as the payer name for verified advertisers, if that name differs from their verified advertiser name, starting this month.

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Bing Tests Half Underline For Search Bar

Microsoft is not only testing removing the name "Microsoft Bing" from its search bar and logo, Microsoft is also testing shortening the underline under the search tab to about half the length.

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Google Tests AI Overviews On Right Hand Side (Local?)

Google is testing showing AI Overviews on the right hand side of the search results page. I am not sure if this is specific to local queries and a replacement of sorts for the local panel, I hope not.

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Microsoft Bing Advertising Revenue Up 21% Again

Microsoft reported its third quarter 2025 earnings and it showed that its search and advertising revenue was up 21%, again. The previous quarter it was up 21% as well, then the quarter before that was up 18%, then 19% but before than it was 12% and 8%.

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Google: Four Identical Links On A Page Is Fine & Common

Google's John Mueller said having "four identical links on a page to another page seems fine & common to me." He said, don't worry if you have that in your navigation, and implied it won't have an impact on your SEO.

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Google Tests Linking Reviews Button On Local Panel To AI Overviews

Google seems to be testing linking the "Reviews" button you see in the local panel, on a Google Business Profile, to AI Overviews. So when you search for a business, see the local panel on the right side, and then click on "reviews," you are taken to an AI Overview result.

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Google Track Deals From This Search Toggle Button

Google is testing a feature to let you get notified if there is a deal for the product(s) you are searching for directly in Google Search. It is named "Track deals from this search" and it has a slider to toggle on the notification.

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