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.
The Google Discover core update from February 2026 has finished rolling out after 3 weeks. Google Ads text guidelines for AI Max is now rolled out. Microsoft Advertising launched self-service negative keyword lists. Google is testing web mentions in the retailer store pages. Bing is testing a two by two video grid layout. There are two new videos from Google, one on HTML parsing and the other on ad experiences in search. Plus, I posted my video recap today.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
-
February 2026 Google Discover Core Update Is Done Rolling Out After 3 Weeks
Google's February 2026 Google Discover Core Update has officially completed rolling out after just over 3 weeks. This update started on February 5, 2026, and was completed on February 27, 2026. -
Google Ads Text Guidelines Rolling Out To All In AI Max
Google Ads is rolling out text guidelines for all advertisers globally in AI Max. We thought the rollout started more broadly last October, after it was announced last September, but now it is really fully rolling out. -
Microsoft Advertising Rolls Out Self-Service Negative Keyword Lists
Microsoft Advertising has now rolled out the self-serve negative keyword lists. This launched a couple of days ago and was announced by Navah Hopkins, the Microsoft Ads Liaison. -
Google Tests Web Mentions In Retailer Store Pages
Google is testing adding "web mentions" to the retailer store page under the reviews section. I cannot replicate this yet, but web mentions shows what people are saying about the retailer on sites like Reddit and other social platforms, whereas reviews are reviews left on Google. -
Videos: Google Search On HTML & Google Ads On Search Experiences
The Google Search team and the Google Ads team released two different videos this week that I thought you should all listen to, at least in the background. In short, Martin Splitt and Gary Illyes from the Google Search team spoke about how browsers parse HTML. Ginny Marvin and Ads UI Product Manager Abby Butler and Search Ads UX Lead Adam Bullock spoke about search experiences with search ads. -
Bing Tests 2x2 Video Grid Layout
Microsoft Bing Search is testing a new layout for videos within the search results. Instead of a list view, Bing is testing a two-by-two grid layout. -
Google's CEO, Sundar Pichai Playing Cricket
Here is a photo of the CEO of Google, Sundar Pichai, playing cricket AI Impact Summit in India. He shared the photo on Instagram and wrote, "Even managed to get a bit of cricket in too." -
Video: Google Discover Core Update Done, Search Volatility, Search Serving Bug, AI Prompt Injection, Google Ads, Local & Bing
This week, we covered the competition of the Google Discover core update. Also gave a status update on the Google Search volatility. Google had a brief serving issue with Google Search. Google is testing showing vertical...
Other Great Search Threads:
- AFAIK this is what they place in all links in their output, so if someone just copies a link and puts it online in a publicly accessable way, that would be normal. For canonicalization, we have this pretty comprehensive doc, John Mueller on Bluesky
- Are AI content tools tanking their customer's rankings? I recently discovered the term "Mount AI" - and I love it! It perfectly describes what happens when a website starts to publish large amounts of AI-written content. First a, Malte Landwehr on X
- Sorry to hear - feel free to DM me the site, but fundamentally, this can happen, and sometimes it just takes a lot of time to settle down. There many different setups, rebranding / migrating isn't always trivial or fast., John Mueller on Bluesky
Search Engine Land Stories:
- How to see AI search prompts inside Google Search Console
- Google February 2026 Discover core update is now complete
- Google Nano Banana 2 promises smarter, faster image generation
- ChatGPT ads expand as more brands and trigger patterns emerge
- How to use Google Ads Performance Planner and Reach Planner
- How to use AI response patterns to build better content
- 4 strategic paid search pivots to survive Google’s AI Overviews
- ChatGPT ecommerce traffic converts 31% higher than non-branded organic search
- Google expands AI Max text guidelines globally
- Google’s spam update vs. AI affiliate sites: An SEO experiment
- What industry data reveals about the impact of Google’s AI Overviews on paid search
Other Great Search Stories:
AI & LLMs
- Google AI Training for Massachusetts Residents, Google Blog
- How to Monitor Brand Mentions in ChatGPT, Ahrefs
- OpenClaw Users Are Allegedly Bypassing Anti-Bot Systems, Wired
- Perplexity may have built a better OpenClaw, The Deep View
- What Not To Buy: Performing Negative AI Searches, iPullRank
Analytics
Industry & Business
- Amazon’s OpenAI Investment Could Link Funding to IPO or AGI, The Information
- Baidu Profit Drops as Revenue Decline Continues, Wall Street Journal
- Google Prevails As Judge Tosses Weisner Patent Suit, Law360
- Google said hiring will begin soon for West Memphis data center, Local Memphis
- OpenAI to make London its biggest research hub outside US, Reuters
- Google Workers Seek ‘Red Lines’ on Military A.I., Echoing Anthropic, New York Times
Links & Content Marketing
- Enterprise Marketers’ Biggest Content Problems, Content Marketing Institute
Local & Maps
- When Should You Keep That Google Business Profile Page Unverified?, Local Visibility System
- Consumers Want Real World Accountability for Fake Reviews: 2026 Survey Insights, BrightLocal
- Google Wins Conditional Nod From Seoul Over Map Data Request, Bloomberg
SEO
- 5 SEO Priorities That Matter More Than Ever, Bruce Clay
- How Browsers Really Parse HTML (and What That Means for SEO), Search Off the Record
- How to Find AI Visibility Gaps with Semrush, Semrush
- Publishers can’t tell if Google's Preferred Sources benefits them, Digiday
- The Most Underrated Retail SEO Levers for 2026: What Experts Really Think, Search Pilot
- AI SEO Statistics: How AI And LLMs Are Changing SEO, Search Logistics
- The Bing AI Index Gap: How AI is Citing Not Index Pages [Study], Indexing Insight
PPC
- Additional changes for supporting European Union Political Ads Regulation in Google Ads API and Google Ads scripts, Google Ads Developer Blog
- Creator Partnerships Section Now Populated, PPC News Feed
- Google Ads Adds Landing Page Image Examples for PMax, PPC News Feed
- Google Ads Strengthens Account Security With Passkeys, PPC News Feed
- Introducing Google Ads API Developer Assistant v2.0, Google Ads Developer Blog
- The Gemini advantage on Google Marketing Platform, Google Blog
- Google Ads Adds Direct Support Contact on Help Hub, PPC News Feed
Search Features
- Gemini 3 Wipes Out 42% of Previously Cited Domains from AI Overviews, SE Ranking
- Google Translate uses AI to provide context for translations, Google Blog
Other Search
- Nano Banana 2: Google’s latest AI image generation model, Google Blog
- Smartphone market set for biggest-ever decline in 2026 on memory price surge, IDC says, Reuters
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.
