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 fixed two bugs, the favicon bug and the crawl stats bug in Search Console. Google Search Console also sent out new owner email notifications, which seemed like a bug. Google has made some minor updates to the canonicalization help documents including the What is canonicalization and Fix canonicalization issues. Google sent out an email to Google Merchant Center advertisers and users that the minimum size for product images is going up to 500 x 500. Google is aware of and in the process of addressing an issue where reviews are missing after a Google Business Profile gets reinstated after it was suspended. Google is testing pink highlights for featured snippets. Google has updated the Google Ads help document for About Maximize conversion value bidding with a number of changes.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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Google Fixed Favicon Bug & Crawl Stats Missing Data
Google has fixed two bugs this weekend related to Google Search. The first is the bug with many favicons not showing up in the Google Search result snippets. The second is the bug with two days of data missing from the Google Search Console crawl stats report. -
Google Makes Minor Updates To Canonicalization Help Docs
Google has made some minor updates to the canonicalization help documents including the What is canonicalization and Fix canonicalization issues. I am not sure if anything fundamentally is different on the page outside of making it easier to understand and follow what the page is explaining, which is why I guess Google did not document the change over here. -
Google Merchant Center Product Images Minimum Size Will Be 500x500 Pixels
Google sent out an email to Google Merchant Center advertisers and users that the minimum size for product images is going up to 500 x 500 pixels starting on January 31, 2027. Google recommends at least 1500x1500 pixels or above, but the minimum size requirement is 500x500, which, in my opinion, is way too small. -
Google Aware Of Reviews Missing After Google Business Profile Reinstatement
Google is aware of and in the process of addressing an issue where reviews are missing after a Google Business Profile gets reinstated after it was suspended. Google is reportedly actively working on a resolution but there is no estimated time for when that resolution will take place. -
Google Tests Pink Highlights In Featured Snippets
Typically, when Google highlights phrases in a featured snippet or AI Overview within Google Search, the highlighter color is blue. We've seen Google test other colors before, but here is a new one - a pink highlight. -
Google Ads Reduces Conversion Cycle For Maximize Conversion Value Bidding
Google has updated the Google Ads help document for About Maximize conversion value bidding with a number of changes. The change that stood out the most was Google lowering the conversion cycles requirement from three cycles to one or two conversion cycles. -
Google Search Console Sends New Owner Email Notifications - Bug?
Many of you may have woken up this morning to emails from Google Search Console notifying you of a new owner on your Search Console accounts. I received a couple, as did many of you. I was a bit alarmed when I saw it but the notifications were about someone who already had access, which I found weird but relieving. -
Robotic Massage At Google
Here is a robot massage table at the Google office in Mountain View, California - the GooglePlex. We saw this before, but the photo was a bit blurry.
Other Great Search Threads:
- Thanks Google! Way To Do The Right Thing On This One!, Anthony Higman on X
- Copilot Search doesn’t require sign in - I’m focused on Bing, so can’t speak to Copilot’s features., Michael Schechter on X
- Damien Andell on X: "The "Follow" button in the Google Discover header widgets is still present and is useful for explicit user customization within Discover. We saw it for the World Cup, but here it's for La Liga (football) with Real Madrid. Simply clicking the widget will make you follow the te… / X, x.com
- Example of how people are trying to spam Reddit for AEO. - This Reddit account was last regularly active 3+ years ago. - 9 months ago, this account began dumping on Semrush and Ahrefs, while prompting a competitor. - 7 months ago, still dumping on Semrush while prompting a, Harpreet on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Google working on fix for broken favicons in Google Search
- Duane Forrester: AI is rewriting SEO, but the mission is the same
- How to build an E-E-A-T checker with Claude Code
- How to measure the true value of creators and review content
- LLM visibility starts with better internal communication
Other Great Search Stories:
AI & LLMs
- DeepSeek Unveils Test Model to Rival Anthropic’s Opus 4.8, Bloomberg
- OpenAI cuts developer pricing for frontier GPT-5.6 Sol model by more than 20%, Reuters
- AI Agents Are Working Around the Clock. Why Are Startup Founders Working Even Harder?, Wall Street Journal
- AI Search Didn’t Remove Cognitive Load. It Moved It., Duane Forrester Decodes
- Sam Altman Says He's Worried AI Will Be Controlled by Few Players, Business Insider
- Faster long conversations on the web, ChatGPT Release Notes
Analytics
- Data Studio Tips: Build Marketing Reports Faster, KRM Digital Marketing
Industry & Business
- Apple Cuts Jobs in Siri, Vision Pro Immersive Video and Gaming Teams, Bloomberg
- India orders removal of Google Firebase accounts after spotting scam pattern, Reuters
- Google Ends Ex-Employee's Bid To Invalidate Her Resignation, Law360
- Suspected Russian Hackers Abuse Google OAuth and WhatsApp Linking to Hijack Accounts, The Hacker News
- Anthropic Taps Google Chip Veteran as Part of Push Into Hardware, Bloomberg
- Anthropic IPO filing will show AI backlash as risk, sources say, CNBC
- Key OpenAI Sales Executive Kaylin Voss Resigns, The Information
- It’s Greg Brockman’s OpenAI now, The Verge
Links & Content Marketing
- B2B content marketing fails without a clear success definiti, Market Scale
- AI Content Marketing: The Ultimate Guide, Salesforce
- AI Watermarks Could Censor Content, Practical Ecommerce
- How to Publish Citation-Worthy Content, Women in Tech SEO
Local & Maps
- Ads on Apple Maps, Apple Ads
- How CKE Is Scaling Local Marketing, Street Fight
- ChatGPT's Local Results Aren't Coming From Foursquare (And Probably Never Really Were), Steady Demand
Other Search
PPC
- How businesses win when AI does the shopping, Microsoft Advertising
- The Performance Max Brand Leak Audit: Measuring the Spend You Would Have Won Anyway, PPC Hero
- How to Do a SWOT Analysis (Examples & Free Template!), WordStream
- What Actually Predicts a ChatGPT Ad? Not Topic — Whether You're Asking for a Recommendation, Steady Demand
- How to Disable Automatically Created Videos in Demand Gen Campaigns [Screenshots incl.], PPC News Feed
- Attribution Reports Now Include 7-Day Upload Limit, PPC News Feed
- Update to Misleading ad design policy article (August 2026), Google Advertising Policies Help
Search Features
- How to use sign-to-text translation on Pixel 11, Google Blog
- Microsoft built a dedicated app that forces Bing everywhere on Windows 11, including Chrome, Firefox, and Brave, Windows Latest
- Is Google changing its homepage buttons again?, Search Engine Watch
SEO
- Semantic Relevance Isn’t One Metric — It Has Three Jobs, Lumar
- How to find and prioritise keywords that drive pipeline, Hallam
- Why AI Recommends Your Competitors and Not You (and How to Fix It), WordLift Blog
- How to Report SEO & AI Visibility ROI to Leadership Who Do Not Care About Rankings, WordLift Blog
- How to measure AEO, Product-Led SEO
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