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 held another web creator summit and there is an excellent write-up from one of the seven creators on that event. Google Ads launched AI Max for search campaigns. Google is testing a large sponsored results header for search results. Google is testing moving the results count in the tools drop down menu. Google ads sitelinks tests images in the carousel. Google Merchant Center has new event promotions.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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Google Held Another Google Creator Summit - This Time In D.C.
Google held another Google Creator Summit where they invited 7 creators on a fully paid expense trip to their Washington, D.C. office to spend the first two days in some larger Small Business Summit and then day three with Danny Sullivan, Paul Haahr and I believe HJ Kim from the Google Search team. -
Google Ads New AI Max For Search Campaigns
Google has announced a new Google Ads search campaign feature named AI Max. Google says AI Max for Search campaigns is a "new, one-click feature suite" that brings you a "suite of targeting and creative enhancements" of "the best of Google AI to your Search campaigns." -
Google Search Tests Moving About Results Count Within Tools Menu
Google is testing moving the about results text, where it shows the count of results, to within the search tools menu. So when you click on "Tools" under the search bar, you may find the "about results" section. -
Google Search Results Page With Large Sponsored Results Ad Grouping
Google is testing showing a large "Sponsored results" header in the search results that can lead to more search results and grouping various Google search ads together. -
Google Ads Tests Sitelinks Carousels With Images
Google is testing showing images within the sitelinks carousel in Google Ads and sponsored results. We've seen images in sitelinks before, numerous times, but here is a version of them in the ads extension. -
New Google Merchant Center Event Promotion
Google has a "new feature," as it labeled it, within Google Merchant Center, for event promotions. This allows you to promote an event, such as a sale, promotion or occasion, that may help you sell product. -
Goats Mowing Google's Bayview Lawn
Google sometimes uses animals, like sheep, to mow its lawn. We've seen it before, but here is a new photo of tons of goats (I think) chewing up the grass by the Google Bayview office in California.
Other Great Search Threads:
- A certain amount of laziness is required to be efficient in life, John Mueller on Bluesky
- They aren't the same thing but you can use the excluded_destination attribute to exclude a marketing method for a particular product. More details here, AdsLiaison on X
- It’s NewFronts week, and I’m live from New York. I’ll be sharing some behind-the-scenes looks at the Google and YouTube presentations, including new products and tools for digital buyers. Yesterday at the Google Newfront, I, AdsLiaison on X
- Live Metrics screen feedback request! It's been about 6 months since we launched the Live Metrics screen in Chrome DevTools so a good time to step back and ask for any feedback on it. Do you use it? What's good about it? What could be impr, Barry Pollard on Bluesky
Search Engine Land Stories:
- U.S. pushes for Google ad business breakup
- How ChatGPT search ranks products and merchants
- What LLMs link to and why it matters for your brand
- Google AI Overviews now show on 13% of searches: Study
- Why creator-led content marketing is the new standard in search
- Google Ads announces AI Max for Search campaigns beta
- 10 ways to leverage generative AI for advanced SEO
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- How To Verify Consent Signals Are Being Received Correctly in GA4 for Modeling Eligibility & GDPR Compliance, KP Playbook
- Using BigQuery to Overcome GA4 Data Retention Limits, Cypress North
- Basic Consent Mode: The Guide, Simo Ahava's blog
Industry & Business
- DOJ’s proposed Google changes would ‘deeply undermine user trust,’ search chief says, The Verge
- Google Beats Patent Lawsuit as Court Slams 'Abstract' Image Tech Claims, Bill Hartzer
- Google Likely to Emerge Battered but Intact From Search Case, The Information
- Our remedies proposal in the DOJ ad tech case, Google Blog
- U.S. Urges Breakup of Google Ad Businesses, Wall Street Journal
- OpenAI expects to cut share of revenue it pays Microsoft by 2030, TechCrunch
Links & Content Marketing
- Google doesn't hate AI content: it just hates bad content, Oncrawl
- We've Launched a Brand New SparkToro Today with 10 (yes TEN) New Features, SparkToro
Local & Maps
Mobile & Voice
- Epic Games CEO on His 5 Year, $1 Billion Fight Against Apple, Business Insider
- Introducing all-new Surface Copilot+ PCs: The Surface Pro, 12-inch and Surface Laptop, 13-inch, Microsoft Devices Blog
SEO
- Cloudflare CEO Sounds the FIRE Alarm: AI Is Breaking the Web’s Economy! Search Is Broken!, Search Engine World
- Does Having Two Similar Websites Hurt Your SEO?, Google Search Central On YouTube
- Google Creator Summit 2025: SEO, AI, & Why Your Blog Traffic Dropped, Tomiko Harvey
- It Ends With Us (and Google), Sara Taher
- Key Considerations in Enterprise SEO Auditing, Sitebulb
- Optimize for LLMs & AI with Third Party Signals, Adam Riemer
- Come on, Don't Just Rely on Traditional SEO - Your Website Needs to Be AI-Ready, HackerNoon
- What are the perfect conditions to fail at SEO?, Chris Green
PPC
- Ads Studio in Editor and other product updates for May, Microsoft Advertising
- AI Max for Google Ads: My Take as A Digital Marketer, Cypress North
- AI Max for Search Campaigns Explained, Jyll Saskin Gales
- AI Max: Introducing the New Kid on the Search Block, JXT Group
- Google’s $100M AdWords Lawsuit Nears Payout—Here’s What You Need to Know, Bill Hartzer
- Slashing your ad budget in a downturn? That might be your most expensive decision yet., Brainlabs
- The Complete Guide to Product Feed Optimization in Google Merchant Center, Optmyzr
- Why Slashing Your Paid Search Ad Spend in Response to Tariffs Could Cost You More in the Long Run, JumpFly
Search Features
- Gemini 2.5 Pro update: Coding, web apps with Gemini, Google Blog
- Google AI announcements from April, Google Blog
- People struggle to get useful health advice from chatbots, study finds, TechCrunch
- Simplify text on the web using AI in the Google app, Google Blog
Other Search
- Google Reserves Best Search Data for Gemini, Not Rival AI Apps, Bloomberg
- Why Google seems to be losing its iron grip on search - and what I use now instead, ZDNET
- What's the carbon footprint of using ChatGPT?, Sustainability By Numbers
Feedback:
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