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 updated several of its policy help articles. Bing is testing recent searches at the top of the page. Google is testing a "from online stores" section in the search results. Google has added energy-saving green leaf icons to the product listings. Google Merchant Center ads has promotion previews and chat checkbox support options. Google Trends data seemed to have stalled and so did Google Analytics for a short while.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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Google Ads Updated 14 Policy Help Center Articles
Google has updated fourteen different help center documents, specific to Google Ads policy. Google said the updates "improved organization and readability" of those help center articles. -
Bing Tests Recent Searches At Top Of Search Results
Microsoft is testing placing "Recent searches" at the top of the Bing Search results page. This is instead of it being placed at the bottom or the side. -
Google From Online Stores Section In Search
Google is testing a new section in the Google Search results titled "From online stores." We've seen a similar section for nearby stores but I am not sure if we've seen the online stores version. -
Google Search Energy-Saving Green Leaf Label On Product Listings
Google is now showing the energy-saving label with a green leaf icon in the product listings side panel within Google Search. We saw these on special compare and save type of search box but now they may be shown in the product listings box. -
Google Merchant Center Ads Promotions Preview & Chat Checkbox
Google Merchant Center now lets you preview your promotions, your sponsored ads, before adding them. Google also added two check boxes to your customer service section for live versus chatbot support. -
Google Trends Stalled With Four Hour Filter
Google Trends seems to be broken or stalled over the past few hours. If you filter Google Trends for a specific region and then say only show me trends over the past four hours, you may only see a few keywords show up and not pages of keywords, like you'd normally expect. -
Google Analytics Real Time Reporting Not Working Again
Google Analytics seems not to be functioning properly again. The real-time reporting feature is underreporting numbers for many sites. Google had a similar issue last month and a couple months prior to that. -
Fancy British Google Work Booths
Here is another photo from the Google office in London. This shows a row of work booths, they look super fancy - British style fancy. Don't ya think?
Other Great Search Threads:
- Between negative keywords and Asset Group reporting for PMax, shareable ad previews got sidelined. But here's why I love this update. Clients always want to know what their ads look like. And when you're talking about, Menachem Ani on X
- Did you know @MSFTAdvertising Multimedia ads have their own spot on the SERP? You can snag extra coverage by adding in a Multimedia ad into your existing Search campaigns! These are also eligible to serve on Copilot!, Microsoft Ads Buddy on X
- You'll see the "Ad group" option available because you can apply Page Content exclusions as another way to create negative dynamic ad targets in DSA ad groups. But with AI Max, Final URL Expansion is a campaign, AdsLiaison on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
- What’s next for SEO in the generative AI era
- Google Ads launches diagnostics tool for cart data conversions
- SEO beyond the website: Winning visibility in the AI era
- Surviving the search revolution: 7 lessons from losing weight with AI
Other Great Search Stories:
Industry & Business
- AI Release Notes podcast: Demis Hassabis on the future of AI, Google Blog
- HouseFresh Clears The Air On Google’s Changing Search Experience, AdExchanger
- Tech giants Apple and Google lose landmark court case as federal judge rules they engaged in anti-competitive conduct, ABC News
Links & Content Marketing
- Do Reach and Frequency Still Matter in Marketing?, Content Marketing Institute
- How to Detect AI-Generated Content, Ahrefs
- There's no such thing as a backlink, Jono Alderson
Local & Maps
- Waze will end updates for older Android devices soon, 9to5Google
- What Google’s AI Changes Mean for Your Local Search Visibility, SearchLab Digital
Mobile & Voice
- AirPods could get Live Translation, iOS 26 beta code suggests, AppleInsider
- Apple's new Siri may allow users to operate apps just using voice, TechCrunch
- Microsoft to shut down Lens and push users to Copilot - but you have other options, ZDNET
- Apple Watch Series 11 — 5 upgrades Apple needs to make to stay relevant with Samsung and Google, Tom's Guide
SEO
- AEO drawbacks—why marketers are pouring cold water on the AI search strategy, Ad Age
- AI Search and JavaScript Rendering - How client-side rendering causes visibility and ranking problems in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and others [Case Study], GSQI
- How GenAI is changing the SEO marketing playbook, one AI Overview at a time, Marketing Brew
- How Google’s AI Overviews Are Changing Click Behavior and SEO Metrics, BruceClay
- How To Make ChatGPT Not Suck At Keyword Research, Nectiv
- I Analyzed 1827 Real User Prompts from ChatGPT - Here What I've Found: Agentic Search Will Be The New Hype, Metehan
- International SEO Insights from China, Advanced Web Ranking
- Perplexity, Stealth AI Crawling, and the Impacts on GEO and Log File Analysis, Seer Interactive
- SEO Multiplicity: When Copies Degenerate & Nothing is Original, SEO dot co
- The Great Diversification: How 8 Companies Are Evolving Their SEO Strategies, Ahrefs
- How Branding Affects Organic Search & What You Can Do About It, JumpFly Digital Marketing Blog
- What Is Query Fan-Out & Why Does It Matter?, Semrush
PPC
- Automatic Improvements Page Renamed to Automations, PPC News Feed
- Video Retargeting: Converting Warm Leads in Your PPC Funnel, PPC Hero
Search Features
- Gemini Live is finally able to interact with other Google apps in real-time, Android Authority
- Google Is Trying to Put Microsoft Through Its '90s Browser Nightmare Again, Bloomberg
Other Search
- ChatGPT Is Not Replacing Google—It’s Expanding Search [Study], Semrush
- Claude just learned a useful ChatGPT trick, 9to5Mac
- First Look at GPT-5: How Citation Patterns Are Evolving from ChatGPT 4o, xfunnel
- Reddit will block the Internet Archive, The Verge
Feedback:
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