Daily Search Forum Recap: July 3, 2025

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.

Similarweb data says zero-click search is up a lot since Google AI Overviews were released a year ago. Google Ads added AI Max search match type. Google Ads will stop serving message assets ads for unverified numbers. 12% of people also ask include AI Overviews. Google is testing a local panel tab under the main search bar. Microsoft is laying off 9,000 employees, that is 4% of the workforce. Last night, Google Ads had some big confirmed issues.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Similarweb: No Clicks From Google Grew From 56% to 69% Since AI Overviews
  Similarweb released a report shows that since the launch of Google AI Overviews in May 2024, zero-click search (as coined by Rand Fishkin) grew 13 percentage points, from 56% to 69% in May 2025 - just a year later.
• New Google Ads AI Max Search Match Type
  Google has added AI Max to the search match types in the Google Ads interface. If you click on the Keywords tab in the Google Ads console, and then segment by "Search terms match type" you should see it.
• Google Ads Top Stop Serving Message Assets With Unverified Phone Numbers
  Google is notifying some advertisers that their ads with message assets will stop serving on September 1st, and won't be able to create new ones on August 1st, if the phone numbers remain unverified.
• Report: Over 12% Of People Also Ask Results Are Google AI Overviews
  Last November, Google began to power some of the people also ask results with AI Overviews. Historically the people also ask were featured snippets, but now they can be featured snippets and/or AI Overviews. Data from Mark Williams-Cook of AlsoAsked said that 12.6% of the people also ask results are AI Overviews.
• Google Tests Local Panel Tab Buttons Under Main Search Bar
  Google seems to be testing (or maybe it is a bug) the local panel sub-menu under the main search bar, under the search box. Normally, these sub-menu items would be grouped in the local panel on the right side of the page (normally on mobile) but here it is right below the search bar at the top.
• Microsoft Laying Off 9,000 Employees - 4% Of Workforce
  Microsoft will be laying off about 4% of its workforce, which is about 9,000 employees. It is unclear if any of those jobs are across the Bing, Copilot or Microsoft Advertising businesses, or any search-related business.
• Confirmed: Google Ads Errors & High Latency Issues
  Google has confirmed an issue with Google Ads, where there are unexpected errors, high latency and other unexpected issues with the Google Ads advertiser console. Google said access is fine but it is likely serving some errors and other issues.
• Google Door With A Painted Door On It
  This is weird, there is this door at the Google office in Mountain View, California with a painted door on it. Yes, someone painted what looks like a door, on an already existing door.

Other Great Search Threads:

• AdSense Earnings and Observations - July 2025, WebmasterWorld
• After yesterday’s @Cloudflare and @fastly’s AI crawl blocking announcements, I have been having thoughts. Thoughts about why this is even needed, why this crawling problem exists. And while I don’t think this solves it all,, Joost de Valk on X
• Google's new "featured snippet" is a throwback from the past. Unlike a normal FS, the same URL appears twice. This can happen for AIOs, but this isn't AI – it's the exact content with a single URL. Based on my testing, SERP Alert on X
• News-related queries on ChatGPT are rapidly increasing. Between January 2024 and May 2025, news-related prompts in ChatGPT rose by 212%. Stocks, finance, and sports dominate the share of news prompts., Similarweb on X
• Today is my 26th anniversary as an independent business person. I started my consulting as the internet was just getting off the ground. So much has changed and also stayed the same. I am proud to have lasted this long! And en, Julie F Bacchini on X

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Google Ads investigating reports of issues
• Google proposes new search display to avoid EU antitrust fine
• Google Ads adds Zoho CRM integration for customer match and offline conversions
• Google Ads rolls out “AI Max” search match type in Search Term report
• Why your Google event post isn’t showing and how to fix it
• 11 of the best free tools every SEO should know about

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

• Attribution Path Report, KRM Digital Marketing

Industry & Business

• Exclusive: Google makes new proposal to stave off EU antitrust fine, document shows, Reuters
• Google undercounts its carbon emissions, report finds, The Guardian
• Microsoft laying off about 9,000 employees in latest round of cuts, CNBC
• Oracle, OpenAI Ink Additional Stargate Deal for 4.5 Gigawatts of US Data Center, Bloomberg

Links & Content Marketing

• Brand Refresh vs. Rebrand: How to decide what’s right for you., Hallam
• The 8 Best AI Detectors, Tested and Compared, Ahrefs

Local & Maps

• Golden Gate Bridge not closed Wednesday, despite Google Maps reportedly showing closure, KRON4
• Man on Mobility Scooter Enters Highway, Uses Navigation App Like Everybody Else, AutoEvolution
• Meet the Google engineer making Maps more accessible, WBUR

Mobile & Voice

• Google releases three new Gemini-Assistant voices for Nest Mini, 9to5Google
• These Transcribing Eyeglasses Put Subtitles on the World, Wired

SEO

• GEO vs AEO vs SEO: What’s the Difference and How to Optimize for All Three, Search Engine People
• Googles Zero Click Hit List – Are you In The Crosshairs?, Search Engine World

PPC

• 5 Google Ads PMax Optimizations to Get More Leads Fast, WordStream
• How to maximize Shopping Ad visibility with feed optimization, PPC Hero
• Q&A: How generative AI is reshaping search, Microsoft Advertising
• Zoho CRM Joins Google Ads for Offline Conversions & Customer Match, PPC News Feed
• Google Ads AI Max: What Advertisers Need to Know, JumpFly

Search Features

• Google Ends Recipe Pilot That Left Creators Fearing Web-Traffic Hit, Bloomberg
• Prompt Engineer’s Guide to Gemini Schemas, DEJAN
• PR in the Age of AI Search: Why Earning Mentions Matters More Than Ever, BrightEdge
• Top domains in the new AI mode (USA), SISTRIX
• ChatGPT referrals to news sites are growing, but not enough to offset search declines, TechCrunch

Other Search

• Baidu Overhauls Search Engine With AI Features, Voice Function, Bloomberg
• Introducing Perplexity Max , Perplexity
• Reverse Engineering Responses from Major LLMs, Ecommerce Consultancy
• The AI Trust Gap: 82% Are Skeptical, Yet Only 8% Always Check Sources, Exploding Topics

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