Phase Two Of The Google September 2026 Spam Update Hits On 9/30
Google announced the Google September 2026 spam update a week ago today on September 24th. We most likely saw the first wave of sites getting hit on September 25th, 26th and into the 27th. Then things cooled a bit but it all heated back up yesterday, September 30th. September 30th may have been the second wave, the second phase of this Google spam update.
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Daily Search Forum Recap: October 2, 2026
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today...
Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Spam Update Impact, Google Not Paying Much For Your Content, Google Feels Sad & Terrible and more
This week, we covered the first impact felt by the Google September 2026 spam update. And then on Wednesday and Thursday we had the second impact of this spam update. Remember the AI contribution report...
Search Video Recaps
Google Loyalty Customer Match Expands To AI Mode & More Regions
Google made several changes to the about merchant loyalty program within the Google Merchant Center help documentation. The key changes are that Loyalty Customer Match expanded to AI Mode and Gemini and to more regions, but there are even more changes noted in the help documentation.
Google Tests URL Tracking Parameters To AI Overviews & AI Mode
Google seems to be testing adding tracking parameters to the link URLs within AI Overviews. If this rolls out fully, this will help you decipher when you get a click from an AI Overview in Google Search or just a click from the main Google Search web results.
Google Local Service Ads Hiding Phone Number By Default
Google Local Service Ads seems to hide the phone number until you hover your mouse over the ad. I am not sure if this is new or not, but there is a big button that says "Get phone number" which is not needed because the phone number does show up as soon as you move your mouse near the ad.
Bing Product Results With Recommended By Section
Microsoft Bing is testing a new'ish section labeled "Recommended by" followed by the company making the recommendations. The weird thing is, the specific product thumbnails link to various retailers and not the place that recommended it.
Google Ads Sponsored Products Results Missing Images
Google Ads may have a bug or maybe it is testing, not showing images on sponsored product results. You can see from the screenshot below, the images that are generally shown above the ad titles and descriptions are missing from the Sponsored products carousel in Google Search.
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Google Ads Sitelinks Format In AI Mode
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Oct 2, 2026Google Helpful Content Doc With New Main Content & EOT/SA Sections
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Oct 1, 2026ChatGPT Adds Virtually Try On Clothing & Accessories
Oct 1, 2026Google AI Overview Lawsuit Dismissed Over No Agreement With Publishers
Oct 1, 2026Daily Search Forum Recap: October 1, 2026
Oct 1, 2026Picture of the Day
