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.
Microsoft Bing does not do one-off search penalties. Seeing signs of an unconfirmed Google update around 7/11. Google Ads is testing a new interface for sponsored results. Google reaffirmed that you should include self-referential canonicals on the page itself. We now see what the Collected Info action looks like on Google Business Profiles. Google Ads now lets you see ad previews by filtering by assets, plus you can preview examples of text customizations and final URL expansion. Google Ads now has new conversion statuses including misconfigured, awaiting conversions and more. Also, Google Ads email support seems to be broken right now.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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Google Search Ranking Volatility Around 7-Eleven
We may have had another unconfirmed Google Search ranking update around July 11th, which I will call the 7-Eleven update. It has been an unusual time since the completion of the June 2026 spam update, where I was on the verge of covering a few unconfrimed updates but it seems the chatter in the SEO community is at an all time low. -
Google Reaffirms Include Canonical On Canonical Page Itself
Google has updated its canonical help document to say "Do include a rel="canonical" link on the canonical page itself (also known as a self-referential canonical)." The advice is not new to Google's communication but it was just added to the help document. -
Google Ads Previews For Assets, Text Customizations & Final URL Expansion
Google Ads now lets you see ad previews by filtering by assets, plus you can preview examples of text customizations and final URL expansion directly within the Google Ads advertiser console. -
Bing: We Do Not Do One Off Indexing / Ranking Penalties, It's Not Scalable
Krishna Madhavan, Principal Product Manager at Microsoft Bing, said that Bing does not do one-off search penalties because it is not scalable. Instead, Bing will build a spam algorithm to detect the type of spam it is and unleash it on its index to pick up on not just one site doing that, but as many sites as the algorithm can find. And then it takes action on all those sites, not just one, at scale. -
Google Tests Sticky Sponsored Results With Gray Curved Borders, Again
Google is testing a slight update to the sticky sponsored results interface that it tested back in September 2024. Note: A version of this was launched in October 2025, but this interface has a thinner and smaller sponsored label and uses curved borders. -
Google Ads Conversion Tracking Status: Awaiting Conversions & Misconfigured
Google Ads has updated the conversion actions overview statuses it shows in the Google Ads user interface. Now there is misconfigured, awaiting conversions and even removed as new statuses, that replaced inactive, no recent conversions and other. -
Google Business Profiles New Collected Info (Visuals)
A few weeks ago we reported on a new Google Business Profiles help document change that talks about the Collected Info action. Well, I have not seen it live yet and most have not, but we have a screenshot of what it looks like when it does go live. -
Google Ads Email Support Broke
Google Ads email support option seems broken right now, when you try to use it, you get a notice that reads in red, "Something went wrong. Please try again." -
Smart Car With Lots Of Wires With Googler
Here is Googler, Paige Bailey, sitting in a smart car that has all the wires exposed. I am not exactly sure what is going on, but I think the car has a lot of Google's AI features built in.
Other Great Search Threads:
- We count them once per search results page, so (assuming it's the same URL, which is hard to see here) it would be 1x the URL impression, and 1x the site impression (depending on the settings in the report, you see either URLs or site impressions)., John Mueller on Bluesky
- Google is now testing out an Ask Anything box for AI Mode attached to the outside of the popular products grid on mobile. Google has tested this same feature in the past but attached within the grid itself. This is the first time Google has tested this search box as attached to, SERP Alert on X
- Big update on this case. The site that was surging like crazy in ChatGPT without any Google visibility (due to Bing rankings) was just nuked from the Bing index. The site has been completely deindexed. There were close to 90K urls indexed as of yesterday. Now gone. Poof., Glenn Gabe on X
- ~6 years ago, with a few other folks, I helped start "Delight" on Search to do a whole bunch more Easter Eggs. This kind of organic, perfectly-capturing-a-very-specfic cultural moment, really quickly, was the goal. I loved this one! Kudos to whoever pushed this through., Satyajeet Salgar on X
- Contrary to popular belief - I do show up to work :) - errr… most days and my friend the great @facan would never have retired if he thought we would drop the ball…., Krishna Madhavan on X
- It sounds like there is some confusion. DSAs were initially planned to migrate to AI Max in September, but we've extended that to Feb 2027. Automatically created assets and the campaign level broad match setting will still transition to AI Max as planned in September., AdsLiaison on X
- Ads in Google's AI Mode: Out of all ad formats that are currently active, this is the most prominent by far. It features 2 non-rich inline shopping ads, with the favicon, site name, shipping details, then sale pricing in green. There are 4 other types:, SERP Alert on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
- The latest jobs in search marketing
- How to win SEO budget conversations with your CFO
- Why frontloading your ad spend usually backfires
- OpenAI sets Aug. 9 end date for ChatGPT Atlas
- Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol: The SEO implications
- Google clarifies canonicalization fixes can take up to two weeks to resolve
- Gemini Intelligence signals a new era for search and commerce
Other Great Search Stories:
AI & LLMs
- The End of Reading Is Here, The Atlantic
- AI Recipes Harming Trust, Inspired Taste
- Anthropic extends Fable 5 access through July 19, The Economic Times
- Do the Answer Engines Keep Your Fingerprint, or Do They Start Fresh Every Time?, Duane Forrester Decodes
- The Hard-Line Activists Ramping Up for the War With AI, Wall Street Journal
Analytics
- Source Group Dimension - High Level Social Media Tracking, KRM Digital Marketing
- Updates to container behavior for unsupported installation paths, Google Tag Manager Release Notes
- Introducing Topic Insights: Actionable Content Recommendations - Understand your customers, Microsoft Clarity Blog
Industry & Business
- UK to regulate cloud service providers Microsoft, Google and others to protect financial stability, Reuters
- Apple sues OpenAI alleging trade secret theft, CNBC
- Big Tech Doubles Debt Load to $350 Billion in AI Spending Spree, Bloomberg
- OpenAI and Google sell AI models to blacklisted China groups, Financial Times (Sub)
- OpenAI power consolidates under co-founder Greg Brockman ahead of IPO, CNBC
- OpenAI responds to Apple’s trade secret theft lawsuit, 9to5Mac
- Google Opposes Site Blocking in Europe as U.S. Piracy Blocking Plans Gain Momentum, TorrentFreak
- Apple-OpenAI Legal Battle Highlights Tensions Over AI Hardware Talent Poaching, Bloomberg
- Elon Musk and Sam Altman spar on X after Apple files OpenAI lawsuit, CNBC
Links & Content Marketing
Local & Maps
- Where are your customers really searching?, BrightLocal
- This hidden Google Maps feature finally made my Pixel's always-on display useful, XDA Developers
- Apple Maps vs Google Maps: Which App Wins on iPhone, Geeky Gadgets
- Google Maps killed the Commute tab—here's what to use instead, How To Geek
- I found a way to use Apple Maps and Google Maps together, and it's actually not that complicated, Pocket-lint
- How to fix Google Maps showing preview instead of start, Tom's Guide
- Waze introduces new ways to customize your drive, Google Blog
Other Search
PPC
- How to Untangle Google Ads New Customer Value, the Settings Checkbox, and True ROAS, ZATO Marketing
- Google Ads Demand Gen tROAS Bidding Without Threshold, PPC News Feed
- Microsoft Advertising Restructures Healthcare Policy, PPC News Feed
Search Features
SEO
- Google Discover and cold-start: how fresh articles can get tested in the feed, 1492vision
- How Google May 'Understand' Unique Content, Leadership in SEO
- Patreon Blocks Crawlers From Stealing Creators' Work for AI Training, 404 Media
- Publishers Are Preparing to Opt Out of Google Search, AdWeek
- SEO Is Dead. Long Live SEO, Optimisey
- SEO In 2026 - What 310 Million Websites Tell Us About Blogs, AI And Rankings, Nikki Pilkington
Feedback:
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