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 Search volatility may be starting to cool down a bit. Google Search Console's page indexing report is missing data. Google is sending out notifications for fake or incentivized reviews. Google Business Profiles can have AI generated service lists. Bing is testing new AI responses links and citations. Google says a spike in impressions doesn't cause problems with search. And Google won't use your sitemap file if it isn't convinced of new/important pages.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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Google Search Ranking Volatility Beginning To Cool?
Some are wondering when the Google Search ranking volatility will begin to cool down a bit. While many of the tools continue to show heated volatility over the past weeks, some are starting to show signs of cooling. -
Google Search Console Page Indexing Report Missing A Chunk Of Data
The Google Search Console page indexing report seems to be missing a chunk of data. The missing data is from December 15th and earlier, but we do have data from December 15th (14th) through today. -
Google: A Spike In Impressions Doesn't Cause Problems For Search
Google's John Mueller said a spike/increase in impressions within Google Search Console does not cause any specific problems within Google Search. There are a number of posts where some users are seeing a surge in impressions within Google Search Console but clicks and traffic have not changed. -
Google Won't Use Sitemap Files If Its Not Convinced Of New/Important Content
Google's John Mueller said that if Google is not convinced that there are new and important content to index on your site, then it won't use the sitemap file on your site. Just because you have a sitemap file, it does not mean Google will index all the pages in that file. -
Google Business Knowledge Panels With AI Generated Services
We've seen Google use AI for local panel descriptions, menus and more. But now Google is also using AI to generate a list of services a local business offers. -
Google Email: Fake Or Incentivised Reviews Found On Your Business Profile
Google is now (past few weeks?) sending out emails when it detects fake or incentivised reviews on your Google Business Profile. Google also says it has removed the fake or incentivised reviews that were identified. -
Bing Tests New UI For AI Responses With New Links & References
Microsoft is testing a new user interface for the Bing Copilot AI responses. The new interface shows these link and references cards both inline and on the right. -
More Photos Of The DeLorean & Hoverboard At Google
We have seen the DeLorean from the Back to the Future movie at the Google offices numerous times and covered it numerous times. But here is one with the hoverboard and many other photos.
Other Great Search Threads:
- In November 2025, image carousels for Twitter posts were introduced on Google Discover. Here's the same format for LinkedIn posts, with a "view more" link displaying the LinkedIn text and a carousel to view multiple images from, Damien (andell) on X
- Microsoft Advertising sales reps are incoming, hired by Teleperformance, Thomas Eccel on LinkedIn
- Wow, MSFT put out an article about those new “summarize with AI” buttons you’re seeing everywhere. They actually call them “prompt injection attacks.” Yikes! I’ve seen a lot of businesses adopting it. Now we now how M, Lily Ray on X
- In the extreme case where Google can't crawl at all, then of course at some point pages start to drop out of the index. For everything else, our systems tend to find a good balance. I don't think it's possible to define an absolute cut-off point, & sites, John Mueller on Bluesky
Search Engine Land Stories:
- The latest jobs in search marketing
- Merchant Center flags feeds disruption
- What’s next for PPC: AI, visual creative and new ad surfaces
- How to vibe-code an SEO tool without losing control of your LLM
- Emina Demiri talks surviving firing your biggest client
- AI agents in SEO: A practical workflow walkthrough
- Google now attributes app conversions to the install date
- How to use GA4 and Looker Studio for smarter PPC reporting
- Google Ads shows how landing page images power PMax ads
Other Great Search Stories:
AI & LLMs
- Inside the OpenAI Team Developing its AI Devices, The Information
- Expanded context window for Thinking, ChatGPT Release Notes
- ChatGPT searches in English, even when you don't, Peec AI
Industry & Business
- Google Using Financial Might to Take On Nvidia’s AI Chip Dominance, Wall Street Journal
- Google v. SerpApi: We’re filing a Motion to Dismiss. Here’s why we’re in the right., SerpApi
- OpenAI says 18 to 24-year-olds account for nearly 50% of ChatGPT usage in India, TechCrunch
- How will OpenAI compete?, Benedict Evans
- OpenAI resets spend expectations, targets around $600 billion by 2030, CNBC
- Your Shopify Store Could Get You Sued. And You Probably Don’t Even Know It, FeedArmy
Links & Content Marketing
- Content marketing jobs are splitting in two, MarTech
- How To Build Proof of Work Into Your B2B Brand Strategy for Trust, Content Marketing Institute
Local & Maps
- Google Maps now with less maps, Boing Boing
- How LLMs Rank Local Businesses: A Study of “Near Me” Query Citations, Search Atlas
SEO
- AI Mode: Features & Ranking, Moz
- Content Types & Formats That Earn Mentions in LLMs, Onely
- Food and Drink - Top Performers and Trends, SISTRIX
- The December 2025 core update: Observations on 4 sites that did well, Marie Haynes
- This Reverse-Proxy Negative SEO Attack That Can Wipe You Out Overnight, Bill Hartzer
- Why Going Viral Isn’t the Flex Your Boss Thinks It Is: How to Craft Content with Purpose, Women in Tech SEO
- Stop trying to rank for keywords, Jono Alderson
- Repeating the Search Meta Pattern, Chris Green
- We ran a controlled experiment on markdown vs. HTML for AI bots. Here's what happened, Profound
- Why Your SEO Strategy Still Matters for AI Search, Sitebulb
PPC
- Perplexity’s Retreat From Ads Signals a Bigger Strategic Shift, Wired
- Why Ignore Google Ads Optimization Score?, MarlinSEM
- How to Fix Limited or Missing Local Inventory Data in Google Merchant Center, FeedArmy
- Google Ads API v23.1 Release Highlights Event Announced, PPC News Feed
- Is Google Ads Right for Your Business?, Jyll Saskin Gales
Search Features
Other Search
- Apple’s AI Wearables Push; What to Expect From March 4 Low-End MacBook Launch, Bloomberg
- Wikipedia blacklists Archive.today after alleged DDoS attack, TechCrunch
Feedback:
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