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 AI Mode is now out in the wild, drops waitlist, adds places and product cards and a new history bar. Google Merchant Center added search of products in the console. Google's Ginny Marvin, the Ads Liaison, was interviewed by Navah Hopkins. Google Ads to display payment profile names in the Google Ads transparency section. Bing is testing half underlines for its search tab menu bar. And I posted the weekly SEO video recap.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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Google Testing AI Mode In Wild; Adds Product/Place Cards, History Tab & More
Google is expanding AI Mode both in terms of features and access. Google is testing AI Mode in the wild with a limited number of searchers. Google also opened up its waitlist to all 18+ U.S. users. Google added product and place cards to the AI Mode results. Plus, Google added a history tab. -
Google Merchant Center New Search For Products Feature
Google added a new way to search for your products in the Google Merchant Center console. There is a new search button named "Search for Products" that you can click on and will let you pick from a pre-defined set of searches or you can type your own search. -
What's Changing With Google Ads: Interview Ginny Marvin
Navah Hopkins sat down with the Google Ads Liaison, Ginny Marvin, and spoke about the topic of what is changing with Google Ads. The interview is about an hour and is well worth watching or listening to. -
Google Ads To Display Payment Profile Name Of Advertiser In My Ad Center
Google Ads is updating its Ads Transparency policy to specify that it will display the payment profile name as the payer name for verified advertisers, if that name differs from their verified advertiser name, starting this month. -
Bing Tests Half Underline For Search Bar
Microsoft is not only testing removing the name "Microsoft Bing" from its search bar and logo, Microsoft is also testing shortening the underline under the search tab to about half the length. -
Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Search Ranking Volatility, Wild AI Mode, Google Ads Commercial Queries & Channel Reporting & ChatGPT Shopping Search
This week we covered the ongoing Google Search ranking volatility. I posted the big Google webmaster report for May. Google admitted in a deposition that it used its search data for Gemini AI. Google Search Console leaked that it was showing desktop data... -
Google Playa Vista Mural
Looks like the Google office in Playa Vista has a new mural. This one seemed to have been recently installed at the offices there. This piece is near the entrances and the other it's actually a Lobby Google Sign and a mural along with an entire floor at the food court.
Other Great Search Threads:
- Focus on YouTube? -> Here are three interesting features in YouTube that I came across recently. "Answer found in video", "Products in this video - Earns commission", and "AI-generated video summary" which I have tested and seen bef, Glenn Gabe on X
- My process for writing blog posts using LLMs: * Outline the points I want to make * Ask an LLM to fill in the blanks * Start reading what the LLM wrote and throw it away because it's mediocre garbage * Write my own thing", Yoav Weiss on Bluesky
- Unsolicited hashtag#SEO tip: "Not all bytes are created equal". 100Kb of Javascript may have more of a performance impact on your website than a "heavier" 1Mb image file., Mark Williams-Cook on LinkedIn
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Survey: 36% of consumers start searching on Pinterest, not Google
- Google adds to its transparency rules for who is paying for ads
- AI Overviews data: Google visits are up but engagement is falling
- Google is testing ads in third-party AI chatbot conversations
- Google Al Mode being tested outside of labs, drops waitlist, adds product and place cards & history panel
- Google changed 76% of title tags in Q1 2025 – Here’s what that means
- Your top B2B YouTube ads questions – answered
- Localization in Google Ads: How to structure multi-market campaigns
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- Introducing the GTMgrader.ai Tool | Best GTM Containers, Measure Minds Group
- ‘It’s dead’: Publisher confessions on the future of Google’s Privacy Sandbox, Digiday
- Google explores possibilities for Privacy Sandbox, Digiday
Industry & Business
- Google is worried about AI power failures – so it wants to train electricians, IT Pro
- How Google’s Antitrust Case Could Upend the A.I. Race, New York Times
- Launching Search Central Live Deep Dive, Search Off the Record
- Reddit Q1 earnings report 2025, CNBC
Links & Content Marketing
Local & Maps
- How to Get a Google Knowledge Panel for Your Business (+Tips to Optimize It!), WordStream
- I stopped using Apple Maps in my car after this major Google Maps update — and now I'll never go back, Tom's Guide
Mobile & Voice
- Amazon CEO says 100,000 users now have Alexa+, TechCrunch
- Google: Gemini will be a personal, proactive, & powerful assistant , 9to5Google
- Meta tightens privacy policy around Ray-Ban glasses to boost AI training, The Verge
- Apple updates App Store Guidelines to allow links to external payments, 9to5Mac
- Google's NotebookLM app for Android and iOS gets a release date, Android Authority
- Updated guidelines now available - Latest News, Apple Developer
SEO
- Reddit's AI play is for the Google crowd, not just the community scrollers, TechCrunch
- SEO For Doctors — A Complete Guide to Get New Patients, Loud Grwoth
- What Is Generative Engine Optimization [Tips & Workflows To Do It], Moz
- What to do with keywords that have dropped out of the rankings, Simon Cox
PPC
- Amazon’s ad business grew 19% in first quarter, topping estimates, CNBC
- Multi-Country Google Ads Basics, Group Twenty Seven
- The Paid Search Survival Guide for 2025: How to Win Without Relying on Keywords, PPC Hero
- Welcoming Monetize Publishers to the Microsoft Advertising Partner Program, Microsoft Advertising
- Why Do PPC Campaigns Fail and How to Avoid It (with Our 6-Point Checklist), Hopskip Media
- Mastering Audience Targeting in Google Ads, Jyll Saskin Gales
- Search Themes Limit Increased to 50 in Performance Max, PPC News Feed
Other Search
- AMIE gains vision: A research AI agent for multimodal diagnostic dialogue, Google Research Blog
- Dr Google doesn't have all the answers. Here's how to use the web wisely for medical help, Euronews
- Bing is stealing millions of Google's users according to new data, Windows Central
- ChatGPT Shopping vs. Google Shopping Free Listings, Brodie Clark Consulting
Feedback:
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