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 Ads launched new AI Mode retailer ads, integrated Veo 3 into Asset Studio and spoke about the future of ads. Google's UCP powered e-commerce checkout is now live in AI Mode. OpenAI wants advertisers to prompt to create ads in its ad platform, cutting out the agencies. Google AdSense added additional triggers for vingentte ads. And Google released an early preview of WebMCP, for agentic interactions.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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Google Ads New AI Mode Shopping Ad & Veo 3 Is In Asset Studio
Google announced a new ad unit for AI Mode for shopping ads which promotes retailers. Google also launched Veo 3 support in Google Ads Asset Studio. Plus Vidhya Srinivasan, VP/GM of Ads & Commerce at Google, published her annual letter to the industry on the Google blog. -
Google AI Mode Launches UCP-Powered Checkout
Google is rolling out UCP, Universal Commerce Protocol, powered checkout in AI Mode. This launched as part of the Google Ads news from yesterday, and you can now see it in AI Mode for products from Etsy and Wayfair. -
OpenAI Wants Advertisers To Prompt To Create Ads & Skip Agencies
Asad Awan, who is in charge of monetization at OpenAI was interviewed by his own company on "The Thinking Behind Ads in ChatGPT." It is a 25 minute interview and one part he discusses how he would like to see advertisers simply prompt to create ads and ad campaigns and not have to hire an agency or "performance marketers" to run ads on ChatGPT. -
Google AdSense Adds New Triggers For Vignette Ads
Google AdSense has added additional triggers for vignette ads. There are now a total of six triggers, three old ones and three new ones. These new triggers took effect on February 9, 2026. -
Google Releases Early Preview Of WebMCP
The Google Chrome team announced its early preview of WebMCP, "a standard way for exposing structured tools, ensuring AI agents can perform actions on your side with increased speed, reliability, and precision," André Cipriani Bandarra from Google wrote. -
Working In Google Logo
Here are some people, probably Googlers, working inside the Google logo. This is in the lobby of the Google Dublin office. There are pads down in the logo to allow people to sit, lay or work in the logo.
Other Great Search Threads:
- A hidden homepage causing site-name & favicon problems in Search. This was a weird one. The site used HTTPS, however there was a server-default HTTP homepage remaining., John Mueller on Bluesky
- Did you know you can secure map pack placements on Microsoft ads just by setting up a location extension? Here's how:, Navah Hopkins on LinkedIn
- Ecommerce SEO: this online store was experiencing "out of stock" products at scale, but the products were actually in stock. This issue had a far-reaching impact on SEO, considering the product pages were no longer ranking highly a, Brodie Clark on X
- Looks like ChatGPT Shopping is now showing a new product display that is starting to resemble Google's AI Mode. Previously, the product items (based on feed data) would just show in a carousel; now they're also showing direct, SERP Alert on X
- We have been sharing and recording our frustration about AI Frankenstein recipes being default AI outputs for a while. @glenngabe and @gregfinn inspired us the other day. We decided to make a video to show just how damaging these, Inspired Taste on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Why video is the canonical source of truth for AI and your brand’s best defense
- Generative Engine Optimization: The Patterns Behind AI Visibility
- Google previews WebMCP, a new protocol for AI agent interactions
- Google outlines AI-powered, agent-driven future for shopping and ads in 2026
- How AI-driven shopping discovery changes product page optimization
- OpenAI details how ads will work in ChatGPT
- Google Ads shows recommended experiments
- Google Ads simplifies product campaign tracking
- What 4 AI search experiments reveal about attribution and buying decisions
- How to reduce low-quality leads from Performance Max campaigns
- PPC mistakes that humble even experienced marketers
Other Great Search Stories:
AI & LLMs
- Something Big Is Happening, Matt Shumer
- Understanding AI search: A guide for modern marketers, Microsoft Advertising
- Why Everyone Prompts AI Differently (Even When They Want the Same Thing), SparkToro
- Google says hackers are abusing Gemini AI for all attacks stages, Bleeping Computer
- Grounding queries vs fan-out queries: The two hidden layers of AI visibility, SALT.agency
- Mustafa Suleyman plots AI ‘self-sufficiency’ as Microsoft loosens OpenAI ties, Financial Times (Sub)
Analytics
Industry & Business
- Anthropic executive on spending, ads, Claude Cowork market sell-off, CNBC
- How OpenAI got comfortable with the Pentagon using ChatGPT for war, Semafor
- OpenAI disbanded its mission alignment team, Platformer
- Opinion | I Left My Job at OpenAI. Putting Ads on ChatGPT Was the Last Straw., The New York Times
- Pentagon pushing AI companies to expand on classified networks, sources say, Reuters
- OpenAI’s Biggest Challenge Is Turning Its A.I. Into a Cash Machine, New York Times
Links & Content Marketing
- 4 Essential White Hat Link Building Skills for SEO Success, The Upper Ranks
- 8 Simple Steps for User-Friendly Content Design, Content Marketing Institute
Local & Maps
- How Much Does a Google Business Profile Cost?, Igniting Business
- 5 Ways for SMBs to Strengthen Reviews in 2026, BrightLocal
- This Google Maps alternative doesn’t get talked about much but it has some very useful features that might make you switch, Super Car Blondie
SEO
- 2 MB is a lot of HTML, Tame The Bots
- Anonymized Queries Make Up Nearly Half of Google Search Console Traffic, Ahrefs
- Black Hat SEO 2.0: How Manipulation Is Evolving for LLMs, Dagmar Marketing
- How to get data for our free SEO forecaster tool, Search Pilot
- On AI, SEO, and Why Shortcuts Don’t Age Well, Cshel
- Updated the location of Google's IP ranges for common crawlers, special crawlers, and user-triggered fetchers, Google for Developers
- WebMCP, DEJAN
- Why Major Companies, like Meta, OpenAI, and Anthropic/Claude are Hiring SEOs, Ann Smarty
PPC
- AI as the Ultimate Amplifier: Insights from APAC Leaders, Microsoft Advertising
- Is your campaign structure holding you back in the era of AI?, Google Blog
- Is your Search campaign structure holding back performance?, Google Ads On YouTube
- What are Dynamic Segments?, Smarter Ecommerce
- When to pause exact match and rely on broad match instead, Adalysis
- Updates to Financial products and services policy Indonesia (February 2026), Google Advertising Policies Help
Search Features
- Gemini 3 Effect: Fewer AI Overviews, More Answers Without Sources, SE Ranking
- How OpenAI Uses ChatGPT to Catch ‘Leakers’, The Information
- Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica triples sales of Meta AI glasses, CNBC
Other Search
- Apple’s iOS 26.4 Siri Update Runs Into Snags in Internal Testing; iOS 26.5, 27, Bloomberg
- ChatGPT Has 12% of Google's Search Volume but Google Sends 190x More Traffic to Websites, Ahrefs
Feedback:
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