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 may be rolling out new links and citation experiences for AI Mode and AI Overviews, with author names and sources and larger favicons closer to the text. Google expanded UCP-powered checkout to core search. Google is testing Gemini 3 models in the search bar. OpenAI launched officially its beta self-serve ad manager for ChatGPT Ads. Google Local Service Ads account access is not loading for most advertisers.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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Google AI Overviews With Author Names & Source (Again)
Google is showing the full author name and the source, like LinkedIn - and name or Medium - and name, for the citations. It makes sense for these social platforms to show the name, because anyone can write anything on these platforms, so knowing the name makes it more useful. -
Google Tests New Anchor Links & Favicon Experiences In AI Mode
Google is testing an update to the citations, anchor links, and favicons within the AI Mode results. This new experience seems to make the citations more clickable because the embedded links have larger favicons and seem to appear more often, near the text it is referencing. -
Official: OpenAI Beta Self-Serve Ads Manager For ChatGPT Ads
A few weeks ago, we uncovered the beta self-serve Ads Manager for ChatGPT Ads. It was before it officially launched but now OpenAI officially announced its "beta self-serve Ads Manager that allows advertisers in the US to sign up and purchase ads directly to appear in ChatGPT." -
Google Expands UCP Checkout To Main Search Results
In February, Google announced that UCP, Universal Commerce Protocol, powered checkout is available in AI Mode. Well, now you can use UCP powered checkout in the main search results for some retailers like Wayfair. -
Google Local Service Ads Account Access Not Loading For Advertisers
The Google Local Service Ads account access tab has not been loading and working for advertisers for the past several days. There are numerous reports of it failing throughout the day and it has become a huge frustration for a number of Google advertisers. -
Google Tests Gemini 3 Model Options In Search Bar
Google is testing letting searchers select the Gemini 3 model they want to use directly in the Google Search bar. The options can include, Pro, Fast or Auto, from what I can see. -
YouTube Locker Room at Google Mexico
Here is a photo from the Google office in Mexico of a fake locker room. It has YouTube branding on it and it is just a larger poster that has a picture of a locker room. There is fake tarp down too with a soccer ball.
Other Great Search Threads:
- Interesting, based on the top 1000 sites being tracked by @AIoriginality, there was a spike in sites blocking Semrushbot right when the Adobe acquisition was announced. So if that's right, the Adobe acquisition freaked some people o, Glenn Gabe on X
- Is your SEO advice rooted in defending your business model or what you've done in the past, or what is sellable - or is it rooted in what works NOW? Lot of people would do good to ask themselves that questions., Ryan Jones on X
- Just shipped AI-powered key moments in Google Finance so you can: +Understand major price swings in stock charts (1 month+ view) +Jump to key moments in corporate earnings calls 🎧 Small team built these features from the ground, Nick Fox on X
- Measurement is no longer just a report card. It’s how to drive growth. We’ve got some pre-GML updates for our measurement solutions to share . . . With Data Manager, we’ve been on a path to make it easier for marketers to corr, AdsLiaison on X
- Repeated links appear in Bing Copilot search., Sachin Patel on X
- Shipping the helpfulness of Personal Intelligence to more people globally! Choose to connect Google apps like Gmail and Photos, and get even more helpful, relevant Search responses, personalized for your tastes and context. Starting t, Nick Fox on X
- We document it as 'When a user selects your site as a preferred source, your content is more likely to appear for them during relevant news queries in "Top Stories".' I don't think it makes sense to show spam to users just because of that, but it does hel, John Mueller on Bluesky
- Google quietly shut down Project Mariner yesterday, the web-browsing AI agent it highlighted onstage last year at Google IO. I reported for WIRED, nearly 2 months ago, that Google had moved staffers off the Project Mariner team as it, Max Zeff on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
- ChatGPT ads expand with self-serve buying
- Google expands UCP checkout to main search shopping results
- Google rolls out new data, experimentation and MMM tools to improve measurement
- ChatGPT ads show strong early CTRs — but scale is still the question
- The 10-gate AI search pipeline: Find where your content fails
- Web Bot Auth, Google’s new experimental method to validate authentic bots
- Query intent vs. conversion intent: Why the difference matters
- How China’s fragmented search ecosystem is reshaping SEO in 2026
- Unifying the search experience for real growth in 2026
Other Great Search Stories:
AI & LLMs
- AI Firms to Give US Government Early Access for Model Evaluation, Bloomberg
- Attribution gap in agentic search: how to close it, Semrush
- Google AI Mode: Only Branded Search Survives, Taqtics
- Google says you don't need MCP or Markdown to make your site agentic-friendly, Coywolf
- GPT-5.5 Instant: smarter, clearer, and more personalized, OpenAI
- How Do LLM Citations Work? (And Why Care for GEO/AEO), Ann Smarty
- Multi-token-prediction in Gemma 4, Google Blog
- OpenAI's rumored AI phone might land way sooner than we thought, Android Authority
Analytics
- Google Deprecates Location Asset Fields in Data Studio, PPC News Feed
- SEO Funnel Reporting: Impression Share by Funnel Position, KP Playbook
Industry & Business
- Alphabet Launches Six-Part Euro Bond Sale With Notes Up to 37 Years, Bloomberg
- Apple reaches $250mn settlement over delayed ‘AI Siri’, Financial Times (Sub)
- Google DeepMind workers in UK vote to unionize amid deal with US military, The Guardian
- Google’s Ban Against Lender in Chip Suit Wins 9th Cir. Approval, Bloomberg
- iPhone 17 Global Best-Selling Smartphone in Q1 2026, Top 10 Take 25% Share, Counterpoint Research
- Top Google scientist says EU data measures pose privacy risk for users, Reuters
Links & Content Marketing
- AI-Generated Content in Google Search: What the Latest Experiment Means for Businesses, JXT Group
- Content-Led Marketing: The Essential Strategy for the AI Era, Content Marketing Institute
Local & Maps
- Top Google Maps Rival Expands Beyond Android Auto: Magic Earth Announces AAOS Version, AutoEvolution
SEO
- Don't Leave Optimizing Google Discover Topics to Chance, Tallest Tree Digital
- The Whole Point Was the Mess - by Pedro Dias, The Inference
- You Can Fake a "Top list". You Can’t Fake Trust, SEO for Lunch
PPC
- eCommerce Remarketing in Google Ads: What Actually Works, ZATO
- Google Marketing Live 2026: growth in the age of AI, Google Blog
- Introducing Partial Structured Data File Upload, Google Ads Developer Blog
- What I learned when making the jump from salaried to self-employed PPC Manager, PPC Hero
Search Features
- Here’s what’s new from Google Home., Google Blog
Other Search
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