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 updated its service area business guidelines to say not to add countries or states. Google expanded its consumer alerts to disable posting reviews in the US as well. Google Local Service Ads has reviews often mention attributes. Google to end its hotel self-service hotel rates. Google updated its driving directions interface. Microsoft is testing the Copilot floating search box in the Bing search results.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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Google Disallows Adding Countries Or States To Service Area Businesses
Google updated its service areas business guidelines help document to add "Do not add countries or states as a service area." Google also updated numerous parts of the document. -
Google Expands Posting Reviews Is Turned Off For This Place
Google seems to be expanding the feature where they turn off the ability for some local listings, Google Business Profiles, to allow posting reviews. We covered this before during the UK and limited release, where you would get a notice that says "Posting reviews is turned off for this place." But now it seems to be expanding to more regions and businesses. -
Google Local Service Ads Reviews Often Mention Label
I am not sure if this is new, to be honest, we saw something super similar in the normal local review summaries about fives years ago with "X people mention [keyword]." Now in the Local Service Ads, they have it where it has this people icon with "Reviews often mention [keyword]." -
Google To End Self-Service Hotel Rates July 30
Google will be ending the ability for hotels to manage their hotel rates by themselves, instead they will need to partner with a central reservation system, Internet booking engine or other partner to manage those rates on Google Search. -
Bing Search Tests Floating Copilot Search Box
Microsoft is testing placing a floating Copilot search box within the Bing Search results page. The aim is to encourage searchers to ask follow-up questions, not in Bing Search, but in Microsoft Copilot. -
New Google Search Directions User Interface
Google updated the directions interface within Google Search. Now the drive (car icon), trains (train icon) and buses (bus icon) are in expandable menus, as opposed to tabs at the top of the "Get there" search results section. -
Google Juice by Grove?
Fewer and fewer SEOs these days are thirsty for juice from Google. I mean, with less traffic, links mattering less - who wants the Google juice. Well, it seems Grove made some in various juice flavors for the few of us still thirsting some Google juice.
Other Great Search Threads:
- Google is testing a new sponsored ad format labeled as the 'Explore', Sachin Patel on X
- If you want a break from AI Search articles, then this good old fashioned technical SEO about URL encoding might be right for you., Ryan Siddle on LinkedIn
- It does set a viewport size. It does something unusual with the viewport in some cases (viewport expansion) to make sure we get all content, but if you test how it renders in the testing tools you can make sure nothing weird happens, Martin Splitt on LinkedIn
- Just saw this new prompt in Google Ads for the first time: “Does your campaign have EU political ads?” 🗳️ Even if your ad isn’t political, you must select an option to continue. Regula, Natasha Kaurra on X
- Research from the seoClarity Research Grid for US keywords on desktop shows the steady growth of keywords with an AIO where the AIO no longer ranks in the first position., Mark Traphagen on LinkedIn
- The Rise of AI Search Does Not Mean 'SEO is Dead', Lily Ray on LinkedIn
- Why are you using that plugin?, John Mueller on Bluesky
Search Engine Land Stories:
- AI search clicks aren’t always better traffic: Study
- Google Ads tests URL inclusions and exclusions for search
- Google faces UK crackdown over AI Search, advertising practices
- Microsoft adds app placement controls to Audience campaigns
- How to use GA4 predictive metrics for smarter PPC targeting
- How to build a traffic-first strategy in a fragmented search world
- How to make your AI-generated content sound more human
- Google AI Mode now available in India
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
Industry & Business
- A federal judge sides with Anthropic in lawsuit over training AI on books without authors' permission, TechCrunch
- Google buys Botetourt County land for data center plans, Cardinal News
- Google Reportedly Taking 4% Stake In Gentle Monster To Take On Ray-Ban Meta, UploadVR
- OpenAI Quietly Designed a Rival to Google Workspace, Microsoft Office, The Information
Links & Content Marketing
- How To Build a Lasting Marketing Career, Content Marketing Institute
- User-Generated Content Marketing Market Size, Market
Local & Maps
- 2,500+ Car dealer GBPs were deleted: What happened and what to do next, SearchLab Digital
- Google brings historical Street View imagery to Google Earth, TechCrunch
- Google Earth turns 20: A look back on major moments, Google Blog
- Carmakers push back against Apple’s takeover of the dashboard, Financial Times (Sub)
Mobile & Voice
- Google is working on a feature for Android similar to Apple Handoff, Mezha.Media
- Google's Pinterest-like Images tab is here for more users, Android Authority
- I Let Google Lens Be My Tour Guide. It Might Be the Smartest Travel Tool This Summer, CNET
SEO
- AI Optimization: The Next Generational Scam, Nick LeRoy
- Decoding crawl frequency: How Googlebot behavior reflects site health, Oncrawl
- How to Future-Proof Your SEO Strategy with Relevance Engineering, Moz
- My Exact 7-Step Framework for Brand SEO (With Templates), Ahrefs
- The Expert-Reviewed Guide to Automotive SEO, Ahrefs
- Why Your SEO Shouldn't "stay In Their Lane", Nikki Pilkington
- 6 Steps to Streamline Blog Planning with SEO Strategy, JumpFly
- Noindex No Longer Means Not Rendered, Tame The Bots
PPC
- Google Expands Return Conditions in GMC for Slightly, PPC News Feed
- How integrated data can shape your marketing strategies, PPC Hero
- Unlocking growth: Maven Collective Marketing's success with Microsoft Advertising, Microsoft Advertising
- Is Demand Gen Good for Leads? How 3 Businesses Found Success, Jyll Saskin Gales
- Why Sustainable Growth Demands The Right Mix Of Paid And Organic, Semrush
Search Features
- ChatGPT Rolls Out Wider Auto Prompt / Search Suggestions, Search Engine World
- Gemini 2.5 for robotics and embodied intelligence, Google Developers Blog
- Google AI Mode vs. Traditional Search & Other LLMs [Study], Semrush
- Google rolls out new Gemini model that can run on robots locally, TechCrunch
- How to move your Chrome address bar to the bottom of your Android screen, Google Blog
- OpenAI’s first AI device with Jony Ive won’t be a wearable, The Verge
Other Search
- 80+ Up-to-Date AI Statistics for 2025 (No Stale Sources), Ahrefs
- You sound like ChatGPT, The Verge
- ChatGPT and other AI tools are changing the teaching profession, AP News
Feedback:
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