Daily Search Forum Recap: February 9, 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 AI Overviews is testing new contextual overlay link cards. Google's John Mueller gave advice on if a new website can beat and old website in SEO. Google's preferred sources deeplink feature is broken. Google Ads API developer token applications are delayed. And Reddit spoke about AI citations from Google and ChatGPT in its earnings call.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google On If A Younger Web Site Can Beat An Older Website In Search
  A thread at Reddit asked if a one-year-old website can beat a four-year-old website in SEO and perform better in Google Search. John Mueller from Google answered with his classic "it depends."
• Google AI Overviews Tests Contextual Overlay Link Cards
  Over the past week or so, Google has been testing a new format for link cards in the AI Overviews within Google Search. When you place your mouse cursor over a link clip icon, a new overlay will show you the page/site cards that line of text is being sourced from.
• Google Preferred Sources Deeplink Button Is Broken
  The Google preferred sources deeplink button feature is broken and has been since at least last Wednesday. When you click on a button to make a site a preferred source, such as for this site, it does not pre-fill in the site's URL in the box, as it should. You can retype it in the box but it does not pre-fill it for you.
• Google Ads API Developer Token Access Applications Delayed
  Google announced on Friday that there is a delay with the Google Ads team reviewing and thus approving developer token access applications. This is because Google is "seeing significant interest in the developer community for Google Ads API access, and are receiving an increase in developer token access applications," the company said.
• Reddit On Google & ChatGPT AI Responses Citations & Lack Of Links
  On the Reddit Q4 2025 Earnings Call (see transcript here), Steve Huffman, the CEO of Reddit, was asked about how he feels about how Google and OpenAI link or use citations to link to Reddit's content. Overall, Steve made it sound like the interfaces are adapting quickly and he is hopeful they will drive traffic to the conversation (within Reddit) in the future.
• 1955 Ford F-100 At GooglePlex
  This 1955 Ford F-100, a classic pickup truck, was parked at the GooglePlex, the main Google headquarters in Mountain View, California. I am not sure what that sticker is on the windshield; it might be some sort of parking violation.

Other Great Search Threads:

• AI Search as the Personal OS: The Next Interface For Information with Robby Stein Of Google, Jordan Talks Everyday AI on X
• I'm sure Google is watching closely -> Reddit looks to AI search as its next big opportunity "Weekly active users for search over the past year grew 30% from 60 million users to 80 million users. Meanwhile, the weekly active users f, Glenn Gabe on X
• Yesterday afternoon we received several "your profile has been updated" emails from GBP, from different clients. All of the changes were for the name of the business., Lluc B. Penycate on X
• Gemini in January 2026: → Surpassed the 2 billion visit benchmark for the first time. → 19.21% month-over-month growth, +672.26% year-over-year growth., Similarweb on X
• Google Is Now Matching Just Random Number Sequences To Keywords!!!! LOL They Just Matched "347 222" To "Workers Comp Lawyers" Its Not A Workers Comp Code. Just A Random Sequence Of Numbers. Google Your Ai Is Broken, Or Is, Anthony Higman on X

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Amanda Farley talks broken pixels and calm leadership
• The latest jobs in search marketing
• Performance Max built-in A/B testing for creative assets spotted
• Google Ads adds a diagnostics hub for data connections
• Performance Max reporting for ecommerce: What Google is and isn’t showing you
• Why content that ranks can still fail AI retrieval
• How PR teams can measure real impact with SEO, PPC, and GEO
• Why most B2B buying decisions happen on Day 1 – and what video has to do with it

Other Great Search Stories:

AI & LLMs

• Goldman Sachs to tap Anthropic AI model to automate accounting, compliance, CNBC
• The Waymo World Model: A New Frontier For Autonomous Driving Simulation, Waymo
• The Classifier Layer: Spam, Safety, Intent, Trust Stand Between You and the Answer, Duane Forrester Decodes

Analytics

• Stop the Attribution Leak: How to List Unwanted Referrals in GA4, KRM Digital Marketing
• GA4 User Stickiness: Measuring Retention, KRM Digital Marketing
• Understanding the tech details report, KRM Digital Marketing
• Improved Website Event Data Collection via Tag Manager, PPC News Feed

Industry & Business

• Google, Microsoft pay creators $500,000 and more to promote AI, CNBC
• Publishers Strike Back Against Google in Infringement Suit, Publishers Weekly
• How Capex Ramp Up Will Squeeze Google, Amazon, Meta, The Information

Links & Content Marketing

• Global keyword research, backlink page types, and more (January 2026), Ahrefs
• How to Build AI Citations — Whiteboard Friday, Moz

Local & Maps

• Apple Plans to Allow Outside Voice-Controlled AI Chatbots in CarPlay, Bloomberg
• Google Quietly Working on an Old Android Auto Feature It Never Launched, AutoEvolution
• How to Automate Google Business Profile Management with Semrush, Semrush
• We tested a transport app that cost the public £4m against Google Maps, BBC

SEO

• Google Wobbles, Zero-traffic Pages, And Why I'm Disappointed In SEOs, Nikki Pilkington
• January Volatility, Search Intent Mistakes, And The Heading Hierarchy Hardly Anyone Checks, Nikki Pilkington
• Should SEO budgets pay for LLM visibility?, Product Led SEO
• The Complete Guide To Ecommerce SEO in 2026, DebugBear

PPC

• Google Ads Unveils Data Source Diagnostics in Data Manager, PPC News Feed
• 8 PPC Reporting Tools (and What Each Is Actually Good For), Optmyzr
• Announcing iOS Google Mobile Ads SDK Version 13.0.0, Google Ads Developer Blog
• Google Ads Limits Ads for Rummy and Fantasy Sports in India, PPC News Feed

Search Features

• Microsoft Copilot Review: An Epic Assortment of AI Features, PCMag
• 'Gemini in Chrome' now available to Chromebook Plus laptops, 9to5Google

Other Search

• Bing blocked 1.5 million Neocities sites from search, Windows Central
• How to use Live Translation on FaceTime on iOS 26, AppleInsider
• Apple Readies iPhone 17e, New Siri, Entry-Level iPad, iPad Air and MacBook Pro, Bloomberg

Feedback:

Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News, add as a preferred source on Google and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or just contact us the old fashion way.