Daily Search Forum Recap: July 14, 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.

The Google June 2025 core update is still super heated, with a ton of volatility over the weekend. Google updated its merchant return policies and loyalty program policies. Google Local Service Ads reviews are not managed in Business Profiles, you may notice changes to your reviews. Google AI Mode with link only cards - likely a bug. Google AI Overviews with embedded videos. Google Ads apply recommendations within Gmail is dangerous.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google June 2025 Core Update Volatility Remains Heated Through Weekend
  Today marks the two-week mark of the start of the Google June 2025 core update. This update seems pretty significant thus far, with Google announcing the update on June 30th at about 10:30 am, then the volatility kicking off on July 2nd and seeing some partial recoveries from the helpful content update.
• Google Updates Merchant Return Policies & Loyalty Programs
  Google has updated a number of search-related help documents for its merchant return policies and loyalty programs. Google said these updates are to "remove unclarities in the documentation and examples."
• Google Local Service Ads Reviews Now Managed By Business Profiles
  We knew this was coming but as of July 11th, your reviews on Google Local Service Ads are now managed by Google Business Profiles. I know a number of local folks noticed who have LSAs noticed their Business Profiles reviews jumped on Friday, and this is why.
• Google AI Mode With Link Cards Only - A Bug?
  Google is either testing showing link cards only within AI Mode or it might be a bug. Randomly over the past few weeks or so, I've seen reports of people noticing AI Mode responses without any content, but instead just the link cards.
• Google AI Overviews Now With Many Videos
  Google is now showing not just short videos in AI Overviews but also longer-form videos in the AI Overviews. AI Overviews may show no videos or may show several videos as you scroll through the AI-generated response. Google AI Overviews can now show many videos in these AI-generated answers.
• Google Ads Apply Recommendations Within Gmail Can Be Dangerous
  Google Ads with Gmail has this feature that you can now click one button to apply a recommendation for your Google Ads. The scary part, you don't even need to open the email to apply this recommendation, so you are kind of applying them blindly.
• Google Indoor Beach Life
  Here is an oldish photo from the Google London office of a bunch of Googlers pretending they are at the beach but instead they are in the office. You can see a beach ball, inflatable pool toys and towels and more.

Other Great Search Threads:

• Google Small Business Bulletin - June 2025, Google Business Profile Community
• I woke up this morning to see that all of my Shopify clients had their robots.txt updated., Johnny Herge on LinkedIn
• We ran a randomized controlled trial to see how much AI coding tools speed up experienced open-source developers. The results surprised us: Developers thought they were 20% faster with AI tools, but they were actually 19% slower when they had acces, METR on Bluesky

Search Engine Land Stories:

• The latest jobs in search marketing
• Google Ads API v18 to sunset Aug. 20: What you need to know
• Is web traffic a vanity metric? Not if you’re a publisher
• Why phrase match is losing ground to broad match in Google Ads

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

• GA4 404 Report, KRM Digital Marketing

Industry & Business

• Australia is quietly introducing 'unprecedented' age checks for search engines like Google, ABC News
• Microsoft and OpenAI's AGI Fight Is Bigger Than a Contract, Wired
• Windsurf's CEO goes to Google; OpenAI's acquisition falls apart, TechCrunch

Links & Content Marketing

• How Brands Are Taking Back Social Media From Influencers, New York Times
• How to use AI to turn one event into a month of content, MarTech

Local & Maps

• Apple Maps in iOS 26 gains the proactive feature I’ve long needed, 9to5Mac
• Friends Spot Google Street View Car, They Know Exactly What To Do, Newsweek
• Google Maps and BLACKPINK team up to get fans to the DEADLINE world tour, Google Blog

Mobile & Voice

• Apple Vision Pro rumors: More speed, more comfortable, and eventually cheaper, AppleInsider
• Google Phone rolling out Home, Keypad, & nav drawer redesign, 9to5Google
• Apple Smart Home Hub release pushed back to 2026, AppleInsider
• Google Gemini's Android app is almost ready to roll out this basic feature, Android Police

SEO

• AI Optimization: How to Rank in ChatGPT, SEO National
• Does Vehicle Listing Schema Improve Search Visibility?, SearchPilot
• Entity SEO: How to Get Your Business Recognised as an Entity by Google, Hobo
• Introducing Schema App’s Entity Hub: A Solution for Scalable Entity SEO, Schema App Solutions
• Introducing Schema App’s Entity Manager, Schema App Solutions
• Journalist says 4,000 fake AI news websites created to game Google algorithms, Press Gazette
• Explain SEO to your boss ...like a boss, Product Led SEO
• How To Write SEO Copy That Doesn't Make Readers Want To Cry, Nikki Pilkington
• There's A A Difference Between "AI Copy Won't Hurt Your SEO" And "AI Copy At Scale", Nikki Pilkington

PPC

• 16 tips to shake up and optimise your Google Ads Performance Max campaigns, PPC Hero
• New Study Shows Google Tracking Persists Even With Privacy Tools, Hackread
• Why Google Ads & Analytics Data Don't Match (+ How to Fix It), KP Playbook
• AI Search Is Expanding the Funnel, Not Replacing It, AdWeek
• Google Ads Support Pages Now Show View Counts, PPC News Feed
• When to Use Google Ads Customer Lifecycle Goals, Jyll Saskin Gales

Search Features

• What's New in AI Search? Whiteboard Friday Revisited With Garrett Sussman, Moz
• Why Your Brand Needs a Story To Be Remembered, SERP Conf.
• Google's AI Is Actively Destroying the News Media, Futurism

Feedback:

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