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 Ads released promotion mode beta, expanded smart bidding exploration and made changes to bidding target optimization. Google Search has rolled out the Information agents feature to paid subscribers in Google Search. Google Business Profiles has a bug with inviting new owners and managers. Google Ads will limit ad impressions from unqualified advertisers for negative ad experiences. Google Shopping is testing a "good price" label in the product carousel.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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Google Ads Bidding Target Optimization Changing, Promotion Mode Beta, Smart Bidding Exploration Expands
Google Ads announced a number of updates and changes this morning including changes to bidding target optimization, expanding access to Smart Bidding Exploration and promotion mode beta rolling out. My biggest... -
Google Search Rolls Out Information Agents In AI Mode For A Fee
Google is rolling out Information agents within Google Search AI Mode. Information agents was announced at Google I/O and is a search feature that you can pay for within Google AI Ultra subscription plans, allowing Google Search to perform tasks and seek out information for you, even when you are not actively using Google Search. -
Google Local Finder Interface Drops Pagination
It looks like Google has removed the pagination feature within the Google Local Finder interface. When you scroll through the local business profiles, it keeps adding more and more but the pagination bar is no longer there. I suspect the pagination feature was removed and replaced with infinite scroll? -
Google Ads To Limit Ad Impressions From Unqualified Advertisers
Google sent out an email notice to some advertisers saying, "Google will update its Limited Ad Serving policy to cover additional scenarios on Google Search." "Google may limit ad impressions from unqualified advertisers on searches that are more likely than others to result in negative ads experiences," Google explained. -
Google Business Profile Owner/Manager Access Invites Not Working For Some
There are reports of a bug with Google Business Profiles where using the feature to invite others with owner and/or manager access is not working. Supposedly, the invite emails are either not going out at all, or they are not being delivered; either way, it is making giving access to Google Business Profiles a bit of a hassle. -
Google Shopping Results With Good Price Label
Google is showing a new label or extension on the Google Shopping product carousel named "Good price." Truth is, I am not sure if it is new, I mean, Google can show many different labels there but I've never seen "Good price" listed there before. -
Google Art Installation Named Shionari Acrylic Glass On Wood
Google has installed a new art installation on one of the walls in the Google Gradient Canopy Headquarters in Mountain View, California. It is named Shionari Acrylic Glass On Wood, I believe.
Other Great Search Threads:
- Google adapts search profile pages based on the page's location and language. If I set a Google profile page in English (via HL and GL) on a French page, all the French content in "Latest posts" disappears, and I only see English, Damien Andell on X
- Google created a new article explaining how small business owners in Tennessee can receive notifications from Google Search, Barry Schwartz on X
- I have covered before how if you drop in Google, you can drop in AI Search (including ChatGPT). Here is a site that got wiped out by Google and AIOs and AI Mode drop heavily. But as you can see, ChatGPT visibility drops heavily as we, Glenn Gabe on X
- The number of advertisers on ChatGPT increased by 46% over the past week. The increase appears to be driven by a lower spend threshold for participation., Similarweb on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Google expands limited ad serving policy on Search
- The latest jobs in search marketing
- Microsoft Ads launches Product Explorer for catalog insights
- Google Analytics adds source grouping and hostname filtering
- Claude visibility may depend heavily on Brave Search rankings, new data suggests
- How to build a Claude Code-powered second brain for agency work
- Google delays Dynamic Search Ads migration to AI Max
- Why attribution and impact are no longer the same thing in PPC
- How AI prompt patterns vary by industry and shape search visibility
Other Great Search Stories:
AI & LLMs
- KPMG report contained AI hallucinations on benefits of . . . AI, Financial Times (Sub)
- How AI Search Grounding Actually Works: Google vs OpenAI vs Anthropic, DEJAN
- Retiring GPT-5.2 models, ChatGPT Release Notes
- A frontier without an ecosystem is not stable, Satya Nadella on X
- Alex Stamos, cybersecurity leaders push Trump to restore Anthropic Mythos and Fable access, Axios
Industry & Business
- Digital Marketing Hot Takes from SMX Advanced, Cypress North
- Google to appeal German court ruling assigning liability for AI Overviews false claims, Reuters
- OpenAI Investigated by Coalition of State Attorneys General, Wall Street Journal
- Read Sundar Pichai’s Stanford commencement speech, Google Blog
- Publishers to bill AI firms for unwanted scraping - and take them to court if they don't pay, Press Gazette
Links & Content Marketing
Local & Maps
- Google Maps vs. Waze: Waze Just Added a Major Upgrade, But It Still Won't Change Our Winner, PC Magazine
- All Android Users Can Now Update Android Auto to Version 17.1, AutoEvolution
SEO
- Does adding descriptive alt text to listing images improve SEO?, Search Pilot
- Drug Sites Hijacked Spotify’s Search Ranking Through Fake Podcasts, Wired
- Quantifying YouTube Keyword Opportunities — Whiteboard Friday, Moz
- Rank and AI Citation Aren’t the Same Number, Duane Forrester Decodes
PPC
- End of an era for ad blockers in Google Chrome, MyBroadband
- Google's New Prospect Mode Lets You Stop Wasting Ad Budget on People Who Already Know You, JXT Group
- Issues Reported With Google's Search Lost IS, PPC News Feed
- Update to Gambling and Games Policy: France (June 2026), Google Advertising Policies Help
- Launching Structured Data Files v10, Google Ads Developer Blog
Search Features
- Gemini app for macOS gets new icon and screenshot shortcut , 9to5Google
- Siri AI Hands-On Review; iOS 27, macOS 27 Details; iPhone Fold, Touch MacBook, Bloomberg
- Watch How Google Is Reinventing Search with AI, Bloomberg
Other Search
- How the Open Knowledge Format can improve data sharing, Google Cloud Blog
- SPUR publishes 'common language' for tracking AI use of publisher content, Press Gazette
- Scholar Labs update: Search 10x faster, 3x deeper, Google Scholar Blog
- 5 Reasons Why People Ditch Their Google Home Speakers, BGR
Feedback:
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