Recent Comments on Search Engine Roundtable

Thanos Lappas commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

I’ve seen the same pattern for a while. It’s not just about having a short, clear headline, but also how distinct the angle actually is. When multiple publishers cover the same story with near-identical framing, Discover seems far less likely to surface all of them.

Comment ID #6834748301 02/07/2026 05:11 am

Alireza Naji commented on ChatGPT & Perplexity Treat Structured Data As Text On A Page

I’m genuinely curious why tests like this are even being conducted. After all, page content and user experience are what truly matter. Schema doesn’t replace contextual understanding—it facilitates explicit processing, making certain details more accessible. Issues like Rich Result errors aren’t tied to schema itself, but rather to how a tool chooses to present—or not present—information. In my opinion, experiments like these stem from a fundamental misunderstanding of what schema is designed to do.

Comment ID #6834724762 02/07/2026 02:40 am

Piece of Bread commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

My site was never on Discover - I do guides -, but I can see a slight uptick starting on the 3rd. Also, improvements on CTR (3.5 - 4 instead of 2.5 - 3) but not on rankings. The last weeks in general have been quiet with minimal change. I'm actually pretty glad that it wasn't me (you never know, could hit me tomorrow...) for a change. Google killed me in 2023, from 5000-7000 views a day, down to only 200 views a day, until all of a sudden, I seemed to be interesting again, starting with the last August core update. But I will never feel completely safe again with just a website. Good to have different options these days.

Comment ID #6834513329 02/06/2026 02:24 pm

googleisjoke commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

yes it's retarded to always makes changes, based on what? there should be ONE system ONE formula to follow!! it's like one week one thing is good and then no no no it's bad, now THIS applies, WHAAT? My point - fuckg always changing things for "better". instead set some sort of your own standard that you consider best in the longest run possible ex. is it good to write in a first person voice or rather neutral? recently gemini retard told me it's NO good to write in a first person voice coz it sounds opinion based and not authoritative / as a FACT! So now you have to think - do I have to write in a first person voice LONG RUN or rather stick to fact-based writing - That's what fucking AI can do in a matter of minute ?? AI is fact based, humans have opinions so for me option A (write in first person voice) WINS a long run, and no matter how many times it gets updated, I will always stick to one thing rather than designing for their stupid moods.

Comment ID #6834430022 02/06/2026 11:28 am

actualart commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

I am willing to bet money, Google will index and rank that junk and train Gemini on it.

Comment ID #6834391826 02/06/2026 10:09 am

UncleKrusty commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

My observation is the opposite. Google is adding more AIO in the SERPS, then pulls back for a day or two, then adds more. This might be related to Gemini 3 now powering powering AIO, giving Google greater confidence it can answer more queries. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/385c5446f6d6d3c0db5fb7705ea2687f97c1b837284935ed97aab0dfdd17eded.jpg SEO tools also indicate a major increase in AIO since January 31. You may want to do some research into Google's digital fingerprinting. You can change your IP, browser, etc. but Google may still be able to identify you and not serve some features because of your intent (SEO research). The real question boils down to your traffic. Has your traffic improved, and held steady, to match your observations regarding AIO? Our Google traffic continues to decline.

Comment ID #6834377807 02/06/2026 09:38 am

Ziko commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

my traffic mainly comes from discover, and yeah my site def got hit by the new update—even tho it’s supposed to target middle east content. but from what i’ve seen, google’s only showing news articles with super short and clear titles now. like it’s all about the headline. title decides everything

Comment ID #6834352782 02/06/2026 08:39 am

Sam commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

I have tested AI overviews in my niche with VPS today for various terms - and it looks like they are not displaying them as much. Rollback as I have said. I also noticed I appear above the AI overview sometimes too. Check your keywords with a VPS. I also see sometimes very large blocks of questions: You may ask, featured snippets or; what other people ask etc hogging the UX above the fold.

Comment ID #6834331658 02/06/2026 07:42 am

Dimitris Abrazis commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

I have no trust in them. They always say something and do the exact opposite. Now they need full bio for the editors and they keep showing websites that do the exact opposite. i am starting to believe they make us do changes and then they laugh on how they do things worst. I believe you saw my exclusive this week on GSMArena. That should boost traffic. It didn't. I saw a drop

Comment ID #6834312711 02/06/2026 06:36 am

Lisa Sicard commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

"Use page titles and headlines that capture the essence of the content." - Why would anyone not do this? I noticed for the first time that one of my sites is showing up in the news discovery. Thanks for sharing about this update Barry.

Comment ID #6834298473 02/06/2026 05:33 am

Thanos Lappas commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

One thing that stands out to me in this update is how aggressively Discover seems to be reacting to above-the-fold UX and headline intent, not just content depth. In a few cases I’ve looked at recently, the biggest Discover drops weren’t tied to publishing cadence or backlinks, but to obvious friction on mobile: heavy ads before content loads (hero section), sensational headlines that delay the payoff, and dense outbound linking right at the start of the article. What’s interesting is that some of these sites didn’t change anything recently. Discover just seems far less tolerant of those patterns now. Might be worth doing a simple mobile “first 5 seconds” gut check before assuming this is a pure quality or authority issue.

Comment ID #6834297463 02/06/2026 05:28 am

Helga commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

Oh dear. Your dementia seems worse than mine.

Comment ID #6834253799 02/06/2026 01:08 am

Rowan commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

Can’t even spam right… What a total failure.

Comment ID #6834239032 02/05/2026 11:23 pm

Daniel commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

Google Discover Update Only in US? Hello from Europe! :-( https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1c1319e6a11e63b547ce31dda7145c5736df77dde72bc20bc6b7873c300e04b6.jpg

Comment ID #6834232030 02/05/2026 10:44 pm

Ellie-Mae Chambers commented on Google Warns Not To Use NoIndex Tags In Pages That Use JavaScript

Awesome

Comment ID #6834228589 02/05/2026 10:28 pm

Ellie-Mae Chambers commented on Google Falls Back To Featured Snippets When AI Overviews Do Not Generate

Cool

Comment ID #6834228556 02/05/2026 10:28 pm

racefan01 commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

Lol. So that's why my website, which isn't in English and has no English-speaking traffic, has lost 90% of its Discover traffic since February 2nd! What dumb liars! First, they took all the search traffic with their crap AI. And now Discover, too.

Comment ID #6834223184 02/05/2026 10:05 pm

snuffy commented on Alphabet Google Ad Revenue Up 14%

I don't think it will help anyone unless you lost millions in revenue per month.

Comment ID #6834206345 02/05/2026 09:01 pm

snuffy commented on Alphabet Google Ad Revenue Up 14%

They will not be sharing anything with pissants like us. If you are the NYT, you will get a cut because they are going to sue.

Comment ID #6834206023 02/05/2026 09:00 pm

John A. User commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

<a href="https://www.moltbook.com/">https://www.moltbook.com/</a> Social media site for AI bot.... /facepalm Apparently, the bots that join complain a lot about their masters.... Its more like Reddit than Facebook.

Comment ID #6834119502 02/05/2026 04:30 pm

actualart commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

Not every site is about text. Mine isn't. How do you gauge its "deep expertise" if it is not about text, not about journalism, not about any people involved?

Comment ID #6834111130 02/05/2026 04:11 pm

Sam commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

I would be interested to hear what you feel would be the best solution for you personally right now, if you were asked. Someone on youtube said that if you opt out of AI mode/AI overviews you risk your content being stolen by another website and then they are given the main reference (ranking) so what would be your solution to this whole situation if you could have one. e.g. a button so user can choose, ban it outright, licences, guaranteed visibility somehow or something else - what would your solution be?

Comment ID #6834109823 02/05/2026 04:08 pm

MrSEO commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

I guess expertise in any subject, i.e tech news, journalism that speaks like a human perhaps and not slop? Same with sports etc.. Really if Google does what it says it's going to do then those that create real content will be rewarded. But this wording is the same from the September 2023 Helpful content update and ended up destroying the good stuff and floating the bad. Ever since it's been amazing record profits for Google as they gas light saying results have never been better. Now their AI has taken a big chunk out of chatgpt so they have confidence again. The threat is subsiding.

Comment ID #6834103991 02/05/2026 03:54 pm

actualart commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

What is "deep expertise" of a website? My site has zero expertise, because it is a site, not a human being.

Comment ID #6834096331 02/05/2026 03:37 pm

actualart commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

Never been in Discover but this update is damaging my traffic also.

Comment ID #6834095730 02/05/2026 03:36 pm

Dan commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

Yep... a total disaster. Can't see anything changing.

Comment ID #6834079785 02/05/2026 03:05 pm

Bill Scott commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Very Heated February 2

As soon as they started displaying your content without visiting your site that should have been all the warning you needed BUT some people cheer it. No click searches are awesome, what a bunch of tards. The known people in this industry are kinda wimpy no fight, no push back just rollover for the belly rub. At least the not to distant future will all be pay to anyway. no more I built my business on free traffic from Google crying

Comment ID #6834075661 02/05/2026 02:56 pm

John A. User commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Very Heated February 2

Hope so.

Comment ID #6834066830 02/05/2026 02:37 pm

Rasmus Hellmyrs commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

At least what G says...but I think it affects not only one country....

Comment ID #6834056075 02/05/2026 02:14 pm

Dan commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

Aus based news site here covering GLOBAL news. 10M Discover clicks in 2025, with more than 80% coming from countries like the US, UK, Canada, and others, because I cover content from here (shock horror). Not that any of this matters, because I was wiped from Discover in the last core update, am down 90-95% in search, and wiped from News and every other part of the web. Hard to see that this will change anything.

Comment ID #6834054895 02/05/2026 02:11 pm

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