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.
An updated Google click-through rate study shows clicks are going up even with AI Overviews on the page - maybe. Google Ads Demand Gen image ads has approval delays. Bing is testing less clickable links in Copilot Search. Google is testing AI labels on sponsored results. Google Business Profiles is testing video editing within the app.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
-
Google Click Through Rates Improving For Organic Results With AI Overviews
Google may be doing something right with improving the click-through rates from the organic search results page that contain AI Overviews. An update report shows the CTR is improving, after numerous times showing the CTR has been declining. -
Google Tests AI Label On Search Ads
Google is testing adding an AI label to some of the search ads, the sponsored results, within the search results. Clicking on the AI label does nothing, according to Brodie Clark who spotted this. -
Google Ads Confirms Demand Gen Image Ads Approval Delays
Google's Ginny Marvin, the Ads Liaison, has confirmed there are delays for some Demand Gen Image ads to be approved. Some of these delays are several days pending, not hours, but several days. -
Google Maps Video Editing Within Google App
Google now lets you edit videos within your Google Business Profiles, directly in the Google app. There are basic editing tools, probably more than most businesses require, to update and edit the videos that they want to show in Google Maps and Google Search. -
Bing Tests Less Clickable Links In Copilot Search Results
Microsoft Bing is testing making the links within the AI results, the Copilot Search results, less clickable. Typically, the whole line of text is clickable to the citation but here, Bing is testing only linking the citation mark at the end. -
Sundar Pichai Holding Google's New TPU 8s
Here is a photo of Sundar Pichai, Google's CEO, holding two of the new TPU 8s that Google released last week at the Google cloud event, Google Cloud Next 2026.
Other Great Search Threads:
- This is what's happening to YouTube. This is one of my most popular videos. It's how to fix a UEFI bootloader. As you can see the traffic has been cut in half over the last 6 months. But if you Google how to fix a UEFI bootloader, Gem, CyberCPU Tech on X
- Over the years, I’ve used various tools, Chrome extensions, and (obviously) the browser itself to diagnose JavaScript-related SEO issues. But now with AI search, I’ve found myself needing a quick and easy way to check if a pa, Lily Ray on X
- Quick update on the GSC impressions drop Google mentioned a few weeks ago. @suzukik asked Google about the impact to *other* metrics at the Search Central Live event in Toronto and they did explain that CTR was affected as well. Tha, Glenn Gabe on X
- The Universal Commerce Protocol is taking a major step in building the future of agentic commerce with the expansion of its Tech Council. Welcome to @Amazon, @Meta, @Microsoft, @Salesforce and @Stripe. The success of UCP is a, Vidhya Srinivasan on X
- UI changes to the Google app with smaller "AI Mode," "Talk," and "Gallery" buttons in the header. And the Nano Banana button is now located in the small "+" button in the search field., Damien (andell) on X
- We had a bunch of old - paused or ended campaigns get tagged this evening., Greg on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
- The latest jobs in search marketing
- Google AI Overviews CTR shows early signs of recovery: Study
- Google Ads Demand Gen campaigns hit by review delays
- How to structure AI-driven SEO: 3 frameworks that drive execution
- Automate the busywork: 8 SEO tasks you shouldn’t do manually
- Why GEO is a reputation problem
- Google spam reports with personally identifying information won’t be used and processed
Other Great Search Stories:
AI & LLMs
- AI journalism mistakes: Live tracker of major mishaps, Press Gazette
- OpenAI Posts Five Principles for AGI, Updates 2018 Charter, Implicator
Analytics
- How a Google Analytics Audit Turned One $1,500 Conversation Into a Six-Figure Agency Model, MeasureU
- How to Build Data Studio Dashboards That Drive Data-Driven Decisions, MeasureU
Industry & Business
- Google Plans to Invest Up to $40 Billion in Anthropic, Bloomberg
- Google Seeks Relief From ‘Incognito Mode’ Suits in Federal Court, Bloomberg
- Google to build AI campus in South Korea, presidential office says, Reuters
Links & Content Marketing
- Good Editing Makes AI Content Memorable, Content Marketing Institute
Local & Maps
- Why I stopped relying on Google Maps in Android Auto — and the app I use instead, Android Police
- Google Local Services Ads Expands Into Food and Beverage, Steady Demand
SEO
- AI-Forward Campaigns for B2B: A Growth Gold Mine (If You're Patient), Group Twenty Seven
- OpenAI Has Tripled Their Crawl of the Web: An Analysis of 7B+ Log Files, Botify
- Why Most Brands Are Still at Step One with Structured Data, Schema App
- Are AI-built Websites Any Good For SEO? I Audited 5 To Find Out, Nikki Pilkington
- Technical SEO Checklist: The Complete Guide For 2026, DebugBear
- Claude Code & SE Ranking MCP: 3 Ways to Use Them for SEO, SE Ranking
- The Google Algorithm Update Correction Hypothesis, Hobo
PPC
- Google Moves Lift Studies to Experiments Section, PPC News Feed
- How to Optimize Your Product Feed? Feed Composition Insights, Smarter Ecommerce
Search Features
Other Search
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