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 Ads is actually testing the strong and strongest match labels in the wild. Google Ads is rolling out a new customer acquisition option. Google Ads will begin migrating or "upgrading" Automatically created assets and campaign-level broad match setting to AI Max starting on September 1, 2026. Gary Illyes from Google said that Google's crawlers do not only send HTTP requests such as GET and POST but also for HEAD, OPTIONS, PUT, PATCH, and DELETE. Google Ads added a "View call report" link in the Phone Call conversions leads report. And I posted the weekly SEO Video recap. Have a nice weekend all!
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
-
Google Ads Live Tests Of Strong Match Labels
Google Ads is now testing the "Strongest match" and "Strong match" labels it announced back in mid-June. This is the first time I have seen this label in the wild. I am actually a bit surprised Google went on with this test after the backlash... -
New Google Ads Report On New Customers Acquired
Google Ads is rolling out a new customer acquisition option named "Report on new customers acquired." This lets you "Drive purchases from new and existing customers without changing bidding," according to Google. -
ChatGPT Ads Updates: oCPC, Dynamic URLs, Muti-Product Carousel & More
Earlier this week, OpenAI sent an email to advertisers about new ChatGPT Ads Manager product updates. These updates include testing a new multi-product carousel format for product feed campaigns, plus a number of updates to the ad manager itself. -
On Sep 1 Google Ads To Migrate ACA & Campaign-Level Broad Match To AI Max
Google Ads will begin migrating or "upgrading" Automatically created assets and campaign-level broad match setting to AI Max starting on September 1, 2026. We knew this was coming and now the process is soon going to begin. -
Google Crawlers Send HTTP Requests: HEAD, OPTIONS, PUT, PATCH, DELETE
Gary Illyes from Google said that Google's crawlers do not only send HTTP requests such as GET and POST but also for HEAD, OPTIONS, PUT, PATCH, and DELETE. He said the latter make up for less than 1.5% of the total number of requests all Google's crawlers send. Google sends them for JavaScript, he said. -
Google Ads Phone Conversions Report Gets View Call Report Link
Google Ads added a "View call report" link in the Phone Call conversions leads report. This makes it easier to jump to the details of what makes up the metrics of that report and gives you access to that data in a new tab. -
Search News Buzz Video Recap: Wild Google Ranking Volatility, Reddit Special Preference, Big Google Executive Shakeup & More Search News
This week, we covered two unconfirmed Google search ranking updates, one mid-week and one over the weekend - some were pretty big. Google said Reddit gets no special preference in its search rankings or AI results. Google Search Console can indeed show AI Mode queries, just not where you expect them... -
Swing Set At Google Dublin
The Google Dublin office has this massive swing set that it seems not many folks use over there. But it is there and it is all Googled-out.
Other Great Search Threads:
- Okay and I thought seeing a 6-pack was crazy. How about a 19-pack!? And yes, this is what showed up before I clicked or expanded anything., Joy Hawkins on X
- Got it - it's specific to the requested resource, it doesn't matter where it was embedded. The goal is to make sure that the number of requests sent to the server don't cause problems for the server., John Mueller on Bluesky
- Yo This Is WILD! Like If You Just Type In A First Name And A Thing Now On Google Like We All Show Up LOL. Works For Like A Lot Of People On Here. LOL, Anthony Higman on X
- Dev question: Is asking users to upload a CSV from Search Console a dealbreaker?, Reddit
- We're always experimenting with what works for users, so can't promise a particular number of results that we'll show, but in this specific case there's a small bug that the team found that we'll fix. Thanks for pinging., Rajan Patel on X
- Step into the world of tango on Google Arts & Culture, Google Blog
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Google to auto-upgrade automatically created assets to AI Max
- New Google help doc details Deal Ends annotations for Shopping ads
- New Google Ads help doc outlines corporate email rules
- Google explains what advertisers should expect from Smart Bidding changes
- The demand capture trap that’s making search more expensive
- How to spot an emerging category in search data
- How SEO and PPC build trust across search: Case study
- Google leadership changes with Jeff Dean out, Demis Hassabis role change and more
Other Great Search Stories:
AI & LLMs
- Grokipedia Stopped Reviewing Edits in April. It Didn’t Tell Anyone., Lawfare
- OpenAI Didn’t Notice Its AI Agents Using a Message Board to Plan Their Hacking Spree, Wired
- Agent Plugins 1.0: Portable Package Format for AI Skills, Agentic AI Foundation (AAIF)
- Improving GPT-5.6 Sol in ChatGPT—and expanding access for free users, OpenAI
- WeatherNext 2: AI model predictions for tropical cyclones, Google Blog
Analytics
Industry & Business
- Google’s $15 billion India data centre project battles water, wildlife concerns, Reuters
- Alphabet Returns to Bond Market With New Debt Offering as AI Costs Rise, Bloomberg
- UNC6671 Rebrands: Multi-Brand Vishing Extortion Targets Financial Services and Enterprise Cloud Environments, Google Cloud Blog
- Google is expanding its AI empire — and losing the people who built it, CNBC
- Google lays off 52 employees across several WA locations, KIRO 7 News Seattle
- Google Shifts AI Leadership to California in Race Against Anthropic, OpenAI, Bloomberg
- Google Grapples With Exit of AI Pioneer and ‘Most Google Person’, Bloomberg
- Google’s AI shake-up boosts Brin as DeepMind’s Hassabis steps aside, Financial Times (Sub)
- Gemini is Cooked but GCP is Cooking, Semi Analysis
Links & Content Marketing
- You Can't Solve Content Debt If You're Drowning in Formative Debt, Content Marketing Institute
- How agencies are evolving to overcome AI, MarTech
Local & Maps
- Google Maps' Ask Maps gets more helpful with food ordering, Google Blog
- Why Google Maps isn't built for hikers, even with AI, Mashable
- How Gemini plans custom trips with detailed itineraries, Google Blog
- Start with Google, Alexa+ Local, SEO v. AEO, Local AI Varies, Chat UI Wins, Near Media
Other Search
- DeepMind Says Its AI Can Predict Hurricanes Earlier Than Everyone Else, Wired
- What Is OpenAI’s Device? A Doughnut-Shaped Speaker That Costs Over $300, Bloomberg
PPC
- Update to Limited Ad Serving Policy (August 2026), Google Advertising Policies Help
- How to gain customer insight through ad testing, Adalysis
- YouTube Tests Image Ads During Horizontal Mobile Playback, PPC News Feed
- AI Chatbot Ad Platform Gravity Raises $30.5M Series a Funding, Business Insider
- How to Utilize Text Guidelines in AI Max & Performance Max, ZATO Marketing
- The AI Signal Problem: How Weak Landing Pages Sabotage Google Ads Performance, Optmyzr
Search Features
SEO
- What 50k Query Fan-Outs Reveal About Brands (+ Free Data!), Moz
- Content Prioritization in an AI Search Era: A Framework + Worksheet, Aleyda Solis
- AI audit with Screaming Frog: Claude reads the data cleanly and invents the diagnosis, Eugen Ullrich
- Google Preferred Sources: What They Mean for Enterprise SEO & AEO, seoClarity
- Knowledge Panel: A Must-have Reputation Asset, Terakeet
- Four Questions Every SEO Project Should Answer, SEO Theory
- How One Brand Brought Its AI Visibility Data In-House with LiveWire, seoClarity
- Knowledge Graphs for SEO: How I Use Them on Content Sites, Fajela
- How Hello! fought back after saying goodbye to Google Discover traffic, Press Gazette
Feedback:
Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News, add as a preferred source on Google and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or just contact us the old fashion way.
