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 released the Google June 2026 spam update yesterday afternoon, it will take a few days to roll out and it seems like it has been heated thus far. Google posted a deep dive help document on how the new Search Console AI controls work. John Mueller from Google explained how impressions are tracked in the AI performance reports. The page indexing report in Google Search Console is delayed by two weeks. Google is testing an AI Overview button that takes you to the web only tab. Google AI Mode is testing an autocomplete feature for the Ask Anything follow up box. Google Ads API version 24.2 is out with a lot of security updates.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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Google June 2026 Spam Update Has Been Released
Google has just announced the release of the June 2026 spam update and said it should only take a few days to roll out. Truth is, we kind of saw this coming, although Google would say no, we did not. -
Google's Deep Dive On Google Search Generative AI Controls
Earlier this month, Google announced new ways to control how Google's general search AI features (like AI Mode and AI Overviews) can use your content and link to your content. Well, Google has released a super detailed help document explaining how it all works, including how to access it, the controls, what it does, the time it takes, the property inheritance, and how to submit feedback. -
Google AI Overviews Tests Button To Go To Only Web Results
Google is testing a button in the AI Overview within Google Search that takes you to the web only tab. As a reminder, the web only tab does not have any AI search features or other search verticles, it only has the web search results. -
Google Ads API Version 24.2 Now Available
Google has released version 24.2 of the Google Ads API, this is a minor release with dozens of updates. This update includes "critical security updates, new AI transparency features, reporting enhancements, and powerful planning insights," Google announced. -
Google: When AI Performance Reports Count Impressions
Google's John Mueller explained when Google will count an impression for a web page within the generative AI features in Google Search. In short, there needs to be a link to your site being shown in AI Overviews / AI Mode for it to show as an impression in the new Google Search Console AI performance reports. -
Google AI Mode Ask Anything Box With Autocomplete
Google is testing autocomplete within the Ask Anything follow-up box within Google Search's AI Mode. So when you start to type a follow-up question, Google will suggest autocomplete suggestions. -
Google Search Console Page Indexing Report Delayed By Two Weeks Again
The page indexing report within Google Search Console is now two weeks delayed. It is stuck at June 11, 2026, for me, and has not been updated in 14 days. Google has been reporting issues with Search Console often enough, so this is not unusual, but this delay is significant enough to cover, since we are now at the two-week mark. -
Doogler Zooming Around The Google Office
Here is a video of a Doogler, Google dog, running around the office. Google loves to let Googlers bring their dogs, so here is a video of a Scottish dog doings its thing at the Google office.
Other Great Search Threads:
- 15 years ago, when I was working at Google's Zurich office, Eric Schmidt was visiting. He was jokingly telling how Europeans love bureaucracy. He gently asked us stop being bureaucrats and assured that asking forgiveness is a good tool when it comes to dealing with ambiguity., Jaana Dogan on X
- Users significantly more likely to choose AI-recommended brand Across all three industries we studied, users who saw a brand recommended by ChatGPT were significantly more likely to visit that brand's website in the following week., Similarweb on X
- It’s Community Q&A time! Last month, the PPC Chat community, moderated by Julie Friedman Bacchini, had lots of good questions after hashtag#GML2026 on Slack., Ginny Marvin on LinkedIn
- Two months ago I was fired by Google for creating the Google Workspace CLI. It went viral, hit #1 on Hacker News, gained thousands of GitHub stars and many thousands of actual users in just a couple days. It was an incredible, confusing journey, from directors and leaders asking, Justin Poehnelt on X
- Google Small Business Bulletin - Special Edition, Google Business Profile Community
Search Engine Land Stories:
- How to find who’s using your brand in paid search
- Google releases June 2026 spam update
- Google Ads API to stop supporting new Smart Campaign creation
- ChatGPT recommendations drive more brand website visits: Study
- OpenAI says ChatGPT ad dismissals have dropped 50% as relevance improves
- Stop trying to replace people with AI
- How to measure paid social’s impact on paid search performance
- A 13-word edit can steer what deep-research AI agents recommend
- B2B brands rank in Google but appear in just 3% of AI Overviews
- Google tests “Strongest match” labels on Search ads
- Tailor Your Feed: The Google Discover fan-out that surfaces niche sites
Other Great Search Stories:
AI & LLMs
- We have a new version of GPT-5.5 Instant for you, and it's much more fun to talk to. Our most-used model is now better at understanding the intent behind a question and adapting its response accordingly. It also handles complex constraints more reliably and makes shopping and, OpenAI on X
- Why AI Search and Agentic Commerce Should Be on Every Marketing Team's Radar This Summer, Koozai
- Are AI chatbots like ChatGPT politically biased? We tested them., Washington Post
- Cloudflare Collaborates With Leading Browsers to Develop a Privacy-First Protocol For the Global Internet, Cloudflare
- Introducing computer use in Gemini 3.5 Flash, Google Blog
- Time and Axios turn AI prominence into advertising revenue, Press Gazette
Industry & Business
- $135M settlement over Google data transfers nears final approval, Courthouse News Service
- As AI Companies Race for Power, Amazon and Google Have the Lead, Wall Street Journal
- Google as High as 7 Billion’ish Clicks a Day, Search Engine World
- Google Poised to Lose Two More High-Profile AI Staffers to Anthropic, Bloomberg
- Google tells tribunal its shopping fix restored competition, not favoritism, Courthouse News Service
- Inside the Google Creative House at Cannes Lions, Ad Age
- OpenAI and Broadcom reveal Jalapeno, first AI chip in partnership, CNBC
Links & Content Marketing
- Why Vibe-Led Content Sounds New But Feels Familiar, Content Marketing Institute
- When Your Audience Isn't Who You Think They Are, SparkToro
Local & Maps
Other Search
- How Similar are Google and Bing's AI Results for a site?, Tame the Bots
- Google Home Speaker Review: Impressive AI, Underwhelming Audio Quality, Bloomberg
PPC
- The AI Competency Gap in PPC We Need to Solve, Quickly, ZATO Marketing
- OpenAI Sees Fewer Users Dismissing ChatGPT Ads as It Scales, AdWeek
- More autonomy, less context: Introducing Agent Skills for Google Advertising and Measurement, Google Ads Developer Blog
Search Features
- Visual features are taking over the SERP, STAT Search Analytics
SEO
- What Makes A Successful SEO Podcast? - Live Podcast, Majestic
- Still Hyperfocusing on Keywords? Why Topic Clustering Is a Better Way to Go for SEO, JumpFly
- The State of GEO Readiness 2026: How 100 B2B Brands Are Preparing for the Next Generation of AI Search, GEOScan
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