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's preferred sources now works across all languages. Google may be deinexing pages at a faster rate than before. Google Ads AI Max gains AI brief, text disclaimers and expansions to shopping and travel. Google Discover tests "you asked to see" label. I posted the monthly Google webmaster report, but for the past two months. And I posted the weekly SEO video recap.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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Google Search May Be Deindexing URLs At Higher Rates
SEOs and site owners are always complaining about indexing issues with Google Search. Why is this page not indexed, why is that page not indexed. But some seasoned SEOs are asking if Google is more picky about what it indexes in the past month or so, than it was maybe a year ago. -
Google Preferred Sources Now Available For All Languages Globally
Back in December, Google expanded Preferred sources globally, but only for English-language content. Now, according to The Verge, Google's preferred sources support all languages globally. -
Google Ads AI Max: AI Brief, Text Disclaimers & Shopping & Travel Expansion
Google annnounced a number of new updates for AI Max within Google Ads. These include (1) AI Brief, (2) text disclaimers and (3) Expansion with AI Max for shopping and Search Campaigns for travel. -
Google Discover With New You Asked To See Label
Google is showing a new label on the Discover feed that says "You asked to see." This label is added to items in your feed that are customized based on the Tailor Your Feed feature. -
April & May 2026 Google Webmaster Report
I missed last month's Google Webmaster Report, so I am combining both April and May into one big report. Google completed rolling out the March 2026 spam update in March, and started the March core update, which completed in April. We also had a lot of other ranking volatility throughout. -
Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Ranking Volatility, Back Button Hijacking Notices & AdSense Triggers, Bing Webmaster Tools Teases AI Reporting & More
This week in search, we are seeing yet again more Google search ranking volatility. Google sent out notifications about back button hijacking penalties to those sites that have the problem. Google AdSense vignette ads may trigger the penalty... -
Henna Art At Google
Google hired some folks to do Henna art at the Google Zurich office. Henna is a dye made from dried, powdered leaves of Lawsonia inermis, producing reddish stains used in body art.
Other Great Search Threads:
- AI Max has been our fastest-growing AI-powered Search ads product. To help more businesses capture opportunities in a shifting Search universe, we’re expanding AI Max to Shopping and Travel. Powering AI Max is, Vidhya Srinivasan on X
- Some sites go up, some sites go down - I don't see anything exceptional there., John Mueller on Bluesky
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Google Analytics introduces Task Assistant
- Google Ads adds “Association” metric to Brand Lift Studies
- Reddit marketing for SaaS: Insights from 117 brands
- Google Preferred Sources now works for all languages
- From paid clicks to answer equity: Your new 2026 search strategy
- What blog posts should you write to be mentioned in ChatGPT?
- How AI models ‘understand’ your brand
- Google AI Max gets new controls, Shopping rollout and travel consolidation
- AI sees your brand as math, not messaging
- From links to brand signals: The new SEO authority model
- AI agents can’t help if they can’t see your marketing data
Other Great Search Stories:
AI & LLMs
- How to Analyze Customer Sentiment with Google Gemini, The Information
- We analyzed 57 million AI citations. Brands owned 10% of them., Foundation Inc
- Where the goblins came from, OpenAI
Analytics
- Google confirms 'email not found' bug breaking new Search Console and GA4 service accounts, Piunika Web
Industry & Business
- Google best month since 2004 Alphabet with stock up 34% in April, CNBC
- Google is protecting energy affordability in Oklahoma., Google Blog
- Google Says Ad Tech Rivals Can't 'Circumvent' Time Limits, Law360 UK
- Switzerland probes alleged pacts to avoid keyword bidding on Google and Bing, Reuters
Links & Content Marketing
- 4 Ways To Refresh Your Annual Original Research Strategy, Content Marketing Institute
Local & Maps
- Explore Route 66 on Google Maps, Google Blog
- Gemini is rolling out to cars with Google built-in, The Verge
SEO
- AI Keyword Research: How It Works and 9 Prompts to Start, Ahrefs
- Ecommerce SEO vs. "Regular" SEO (and How AI Is Changing Them Both), Intergrowth
- Google March 2026 Core Update: Winners, Losers & Analysis, Amsive
- How to turn Claude Code into your SEO analyst (with Semrush data), Semrush
- SEO mistakes: Common SEO issues & how to fix them, Semrush
- How AI Is Changing Google Search and SEO, Search Off the Record
- How AI Is Changing Google Search and SEO, Search Off the Record
- LLMs do not rank anything. So what are you optimizing for?, Search Pilot
PPC
- Google Ads API v20 Sunset Reminder, PPC News Feed
- What are Google Ads Auction Insights & How Should They Be Used?, ZATO
- Buying ads on ChatGPT? Why you should check organic reputation first!, Seer Interactive
- Google Ads Introduces New Association Metric for Brand Lift, PPC News Feed
- Google Shopping, New Minimum Order Value Attribute Required from September 2026, FeedArmy
Search Features
- Advanced Account Security in ChatGPT, ChatGPT Release Notes
Feedback:
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