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 launched "preferred sources" in US and India for top stories - make this site a preferred source please. Google Ads launched gender exclusions in PMax. Google Ads has new AI to reduce invalid traffic. Google Ads now allows dating and companionship ads in more countries. Google and Bing are testing title link changes in the search results.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
-
Google Top Stories Preferred Sources Is Live In US & India
Google has launched the Preferred Sources top stories feature fully in the US and India, after testing it in Search Labs for a bit over six weeks. As I said then, this is a nice feature for publishers and hopefully will lead to more traffic from Google Search for some. -
Google Ads Performance Max Campaigns Gain Gender Exclusion
Google Ads has added the gender exclusions feature for Performance Max campaigns. This was previously announced last week and is now showing up in the Google Ads interfaces for advertisers. -
Google & Bing Tests Search Title Expansion, Colors & More
Google and Bing are busy testing changing the search results snippets title. In one case, Google is expanding the title of the search result on mouse hover. In another case, Google is testing changing the color of the title on hover. Bing is also testing title colors and moving the URL in the search snippet. -
Google Allows Dating & Companionship Ads In More Countries
Google has removed some of the restricted countries from the list of countries not allowed to serve Dating and Companionship ads. Specifically, Google removed Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan and the UAE from the list. -
Google Ads Touts New AI To Reduce Invalid Traffic In Some Cases By 40%
Google announced it has new AI and large language models to fight invalid ad traffic or as Google calls it "IVT." Google explained they have used AI for a long time, but they had some breakthroughs that resulted in a "40% reduction in IVT stemming from deceptive or disruptive ad serving practices." -
Google Orchestra Practicing
We know Google has a Googler Orchestra and we've seen them perform. But here are some videos and photos of them practicing. I found some more on Instagram.
Other Great Search Threads:
- AIOs in Discover are expanding. I've noticed a big uptick in the amount of AIOs showing up in my feed as of yesterday. I have a number of them now in my feed where I had only seen one or two per feed over the past few weeks. Tapping, Glenn Gabe on X
- GenAI Traffic Share Update: 12 months ago: ChatGPT: 84.7% Gemini: 8.1% Claude: 2.2% Perplexity: 1.6% Copilot: 0.8%. 6 months ago: ChatGPT: 79.7% DeepSeek: 9.2% Gemini: 4.9% Perplexity: 1.8% Claude: 1.4% Copilot: 1.2%, Similarweb on X
- SEO Tip: there is a forgotten art in sitemap management that allows you to provide additional information about a page. Various additional tags can apply here based on site type, such as including tags for a page related to a video, Brodie Clark on X
- The Search Console team is hiring! If you're a Software Engineer (based in Tel Aviv), this could be a great opportunity., Daniel Waisberg on LinkedIn
- We don't always show ads on @Copilot, but when we do, they're below organic link outs and grounded in contextual relevance. Based on the UTM, the ad shown here is from a @MSFTAdvertising search campaign., Microsoft Ads Buddy on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Google taps large language models to cut invalid ad traffic by 40%
- Perplexity makes $34.5 billion bid to buy Google’s Chrome browser
- Gender exclusions spotted in Google Performance Max campaigns
- Google Preferred Sources rolling out in US and India
- The $1 trillion generative economy that smart SEOs will own
- Most SEO research doesn’t lie – but doesn’t tell the truth either
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- Data Redaction GA4, KRM Digital Marketing
- Exits in GA4, KRM Digital Marketing
Industry & Business
- Perplexity offers to buy Google's Chrome browser for $34.5 billion, CNBC
- Profound secures $35M to connect brands with one new customer: Superintelligence, Profound
- China’s Lead in Open-Source AI Jolts Washington and Silicon Valley, Wall Street Journal
- Google vet raises $8M for Continua to bring AI agents to group chats, TechCrunch
- OpenAI: Musk Loses Court Bid to Dismiss Harassment Claim, Bloomberg
Links & Content Marketing
- 5 Ways To Show Your Audience Your Content Is Original, Content Marketing Institute
Local & Maps
- How Many Categories Does Your Google Business Profile Need?, Sterling Sky
- These Google Maps tricks make life so much easier, Android Police
- Easy Win for AI Local SEO: a Strong “Why Choose Us” Page on Your Site, Local Visibility System
- I tested Waze vs. Google Maps for a weekend trip — and there's a clear winner, Tom's Guide
Mobile & Voice
- Apple HomeKit could be on the way out – but I’m still waiting for a new HomePod, T3
- We Just Got Our First Official Look At Google's Most Expensive Phone Ever, BGR
SEO
- AI in Google Search Console?, Harpreet's SEO Thoughts
- Difference Between GEO and SEO, Sara Taher
- Does Structured Data Influence ChatGPT Citations?, Nectiv
- Is GEO the Same as SEO?, Practical Ecommerce
- June 2025 Google Update: Experts Opinion, The SEO Adventure
- Despite the hype, publishers aren’t prioritizing GEO, Digiday
- How to Noindex a Shopify Page With Metafields, Shopify
PPC
- 7 Default Settings in Google Ads to Avoid, MarlinSEM
- Data Brokers Are Hiding Their Opt-Out Pages From Google Search, Wired
- Exploring AdSense Alternatives: A Guide for Site Owners Looking to Maximize Revenue, Search Engine World
- Google AI Mode ads—everything brands should know, Ad Age
Search Features
- 3 new ways we’re making web payments easier, Google Blog
- I hate Google Search's AI overviews, so I replaced them with Brave, Android Authority
- ChatGPT's model picker is back, and it's complicated, TechCrunch
- OpenAI brings GPT-4o back as a default for paying ChatGPT users, VentureBeat
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.
