Daily Search Forum Recap: January 7, 2026

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.

Google may have had a small unconfirmed update around January 6th. Google Merchant Center has a multi-channel products update. Google is testing a large Ask Copilot button on the Bing home page. Google is personalizing some of the AI Overviews and AI Mode responses. And Google is hiring a Chief of Staff, Search Intelligence.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google Search Ranking Volatility January 6th With AdSense Earnings Drops
  There are a number of SEOs and site owners complaining that they saw a large drop in Google Search rankings yesterday, January 6, 2026. This unconfirmed Google update does not feel as widespread as some of the previous ones we reported on but I wanted to document this one as such, just in case some of you are impacted.
• Google Personalizing Some AI Overviews & AI Mode Answers
  Google's Robby Stein confirmed (again) that Google is personalizing some of the AI experiences, including AI Overviews and AI Mode. He said this on the CNN, Terms of Service podcast with Clare Duffy.
• Google Merchant Center Updates Multi-Channel Products Rules
  Google will update how it handles multi-channel products, products sold both online and locally in the store, to help with managing inventory. Google emailed merchants that this applies to and the changes go into effect this March.
• Google Hiring Search Intelligence Chief of Staff
  Google is hiring a Chief of Staff on Search Intelligence, Strategy and Operations. This job is to "help architect the next era of Search with AI," Rajan Patel, the Vice President of Search Engineering of Google, posted on LinkedIn.
• Microsoft Tests Larger Ask Copilot Button On Bing Home Page
  Microsoft is testing a much larger "Ask Copilot" button on the Bing home page. Normally, Bing only has a small Copilot logo on the right of the search box but in this test, Bing writes it all out - "Ask Copilot" with the logo.
• Google Chocolate Making
  Google had some sort of workshop where they brought in a chocolate company to have Googlers make their own chocolates. There was chocolate painting and shaping and more.

Other Great Search Threads:

• I've been tracking AI powered local packs. This horrible feature displaces/replaces the traditional 3-pack. In my write-up about this, I talked about how it's lowering traffic to Google business profiles while increasing clicks to, Joy Hawkins on X
• Amazon turned off their Shopping ads in the US this past summer and never turned them back on again, right? Right?! Well I'm not so sure about that. I've lately detected trace amounts of auction data for amazon[.]com from some US advertisers, such as the , Mike Ryan on LinkIned
• In 2024, I was delighted to be a co-author on an Arxiv paper on"Shaping AI's Impact on Billions of Lives", covering areas we thought AI would have significant impact on the world. We cover AI's potential impact on employment, educati, Jeff Dean on X
• New Year, New Job! After an incredible 15+ years leading innovation on the Bing Core Search team, I’m moving into a new chapter as a VP in M365 Copilot!, Rangan Majumder on X

Search Engine Land Stories:

• AI displacing traffic? Time to leverage your most undervalued channel.
• Google to require separate product IDs for multi-channel items
• Google to allow Prediction Markets ads under strict rules
• Help us shape SMX Advanced 2026. You could win an All Access pass!
• A 5-step framework for year-end PPC reports that resonate with leadership
• How to use LinkedIn targeting in Microsoft Advertising

Other Great Search Stories:

AI & LLMs

• Brands say Amazon's 'Buy for Me' is listing products without permission, Modern Retail
• Google’s Koray Kavukcuoglu: Turning abstract AI thinking into user-friendly products, Financial Times (Sub)

Industry & Business

• Google Lands $85 Million Permit For Interior Renovations At The Thompson Center, Chicago YIMBY
• Google Wants One Complaint From Ad Tech Rivals, Not Six, Law360
• How Google Got Its Groove Back and Edged Ahead of OpenAI, Wall Street Journal
• Meta has delayed the international rollout of its display glasses, Engadget
• Billionaire Larry Page Moves Businesses Amid California Tax Proposal, Business Insider

Links & Content Marketing

• Link Earning Is Broken (Here’s What Works Instead), The Upper Ranks
• The Evolving Kingdom of B2B Content: Top 10 Content Marketing Posts of 2025, TopRank Marketing

Local & Maps

• GBP Updates For Car Dealers, SearchLab Digital
• This app brings Pixel 10’s Google Maps power-saving mode to older Pixels, Android Police
• Whitespark’s Guide to the Perfect Service Area Landing Page, Whitespark

SEO

• Best In class SEO is the "AI Robe" Strategy, SEO for Lunch
• Common website migration mistakes that drag down SEO performance, Oncrawl
• Create scannable product descriptions, Ilana Davis
• The New SEO Math: Fewer Pages = Stronger Pages, SearchEngineWorld
• Top Google Searches (November 2025), Ahrefs
• Yes, 404 Status Codes Hurt SEO, Practical Ecommerce
• How to Make SEO Anchor Text Work Harder for You, JumpFly
• The 5 Big Trends that Will Dominate Marketing in 2026, SparkToro
• Yoast SEO 26.7 Brings Google Integration Benefits, Yoast

PPC

• From Discovery to Influence: A Guide to AEO and GEO, Microsoft Advertising
• Global Google Ads Campaign: Overcome Common Pitfalls, Hopskip Media
• Post-Christmas PPC Audit: Set Up Q1 Wins, PPC Live
• Update to Gambling and Games Policy: Belarus (January 2026), Google Advertising Policies Help
• ALF: Advertiser Large Foundation Model for Multi-Modal Advertiser Understanding, Google Research Blog

Other Search

• Google App Gets a Big "G" Upgrade, Droid Life
• Meta's EMG wristband is moving beyond its AR glasses, Engadget
• Naver doubles Google's search market share in South Korea in 2025, Digi Times
• US FDA to limit regulation of health and fitness wearables, commissioner says, Reuters

Feedback:

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