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 says SEOs need to do the click studies to see if AI search clicks lead to conversions or not, search engines don't have visibility there. A site saw Google traffic drop by 50% in two weeks after being hacked, John Mueller of Google replied. Google Ads has a new cost toggle for PMax campaigns to show share of cost. OpenAI's ChatGPT iOS app now lets you choose Google Maps over Apple Maps. Google AI Overviews have new keyboard shortcuts for the overlay highlight feature.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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Microsoft: SEOs Need To Study Clicks To Conversions From AI Search
Fabrice Canel from the Microsoft Bing team said that search engines, like Bing, have "limited visibility" into the conversions after the click from AI search and it is up to the SEO community to conduct those studies. -
Google Traffic Drops 50% After Site Hack; Recovery Can Take Time Says Google
An SEO consultant posted on LinkedIn that one of his websites saw a 50% decline in traffic in a two week period. This was due to the site being hacked, content being injected and Google indexing that hacked content, leading to the site not ranking well in Google Search anymore. -
Google Ads PMax Cost Toggle For Share Of Cost
Google Ads is reportedly rolling out a new cost toggle in the Performance Max reporting to show you the share of cost for each channel within your PMax campaigns. -
ChatGPT App Lets You Pick Google Maps Instead Of Apple Maps
OpenAI updated its ChatGPT iOS app to let you select Google Maps instead of Apple Maps as the maps provider for local results. I am told this is new as of the past week or so. -
Google AI Overviews Testing Keyboard Shortcuts
Google is now experimenting with keyboard shortcuts to the overlay menu in the AI Overviews within Google Search. Rajan Patel, VP, Engineering for Google Search, said this is just an experiment. -
Stan Google Dinosaur BBQing
Here is a photo of Stan, the Google dinosaur, all set up for the summer BBQ. We've seen a similar set up years ago, with Yoshka enjoying it as well. But this time it is just Stan, with the beer hat noogler hat, sunglasses, BBQ grill and more.
Other Great Search Threads:
- The captcha slowdown thing Google is doing is honestly the most cancerous thing I’ve ever seen. If you get a captcha, they appear to drastically slow down your ability to search until you clear cache. It’s not even hard to get a captcha, SEOwner on X
- Bing Image Creator now offers you the choice of two models to fit your needs: GPT-4o and DALL-E3. Check out how we're giving you more options to express your creativity., Microsoft Bing Dev on X
- Definitely feels like Google is working on adding a lot more in-line, contextual links within AI Mode And they aren't just dotted line links back to Google's own search results, either, Lily Ray on X
- Why do crawlers generally have a per-resource bytesize limit, like Googlebot's 15Mb? The internet, Gary Illyes on Bluesky
- Did you know you can change chat gpt to use google maps instead of apple?, Ben Fisher on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
- YouTube expands Promote tools, no Google Ads needed
- Want your ads on YouTube TV? Here’s what Google says you need
- The implosion of the blogging-for-dollars revenue model
- Measuring what matters in a post-SEO world
Other Great Search Stories:
Industry & Business
- Google Finds Workaround for Lobbying Rules That Omits Big Bosse, Bloomberg
- Google pledges $9 billion to expand AI, cloud infrastructure in Oklahoma, Reuters
- Perplexity's Valuation Jumps to $20 Billion in Latest Fundraise, Business Insider
- Perplexity’s $34.5 Billion Bid for Google Chrome Is Mostly Mischief, Bloomberg
- Before Wild Chrome Bid, Perplexity Had Been Hunting for Browsers, The Information
Links & Content Marketing
- 5 Financial Services Content Campaigns That Paid Off, Content Marketing Institute
- Always-On Influence: Data and Experts on What Really Works in B2B Marketing, TopRank
- Use AI to Improve Content Audits (not perform them), Ian Lurie
Local & Maps
- Apple Maps introduces EV charging function, Electrive
- I've tried out the biggest addition to iOS 26 Maps — here's what I like and what I don't, Tom's Guide
Mobile & Voice
- Apple’s AI Turnaround Plan: Robots, Lifelike Siri, Home Security Cameras, Bloomberg
- Samsung might launch its own smart glasses next year, 9to5Google
SEO
- 15 SEO Copywriting Tips to Rank Higher in 2025, WordStream
- How I Created an SEO Strategy That Increased a Client’s Search Visibility by 375%, Moz
- Maximizing SEO with Google’s Loyalty Program & Promotion Features in GMC Next, Brodie Clark Consulting
- New: Site Search and Bot Lookup for OpenRobotsTXT, Majestic
- SEO Isn’t a ‘Channel.’ It’s an Infrastructure, BruceClay
PPC
- AI in PPC: The New Advertising Frontier Every Marketer Must Master, PPC Live
- GPT-5 Set the Stage for Ad Monetization and the SuperApp, SemiAnalysis
- How To Choose a PPC Agency, PPC Hero
- Update to United States Office of Foreign Asset Control Sanctions list (August 2025), Google Advertising Policies Help
Search Features
Other Search
- GPT-5s Are Alive: Synthesis, Zvi Mowshowitz
Feedback:
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