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 has announced a three-week rollout of the August spam update - hopefully you will all see benefits from it. Google is testing AI Mode in the EU. A new survey says that only 4% of searchers don't click from Google AI Overviews. Google Ads has new loyalty goals for advertisers. Google Ads renamed the chat button to "Ads Advisor."
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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Google August 2025 Spam Update Unleashed
Google has released the August 2025 spam update on August 26, 2025 at around 12:00 pm ET. This update applies globally and to all languages and will take a few weeks to complete. -
Survey: Only 4% Of Searchers Don't Click From Google AI Overviews
A new survey from NP Digital says that only 4% of the 1,000 people surveyed said they do not click from the Google AI Overviews. 13.3% of people surveyed said they do click every single time within an AI Overview, 30.5% said they often click, 41.5% said they sometimes click and 10.3% said they rarely click through. -
Loyalty Goal In Google Ads & More Merchant Center Loyalty Offerings
After seeing the loyalty pricing and discounts in the Google search results and shopping ads, Google has now announced that they have new loyalty offerings in Merchant Center and also loyalty goal in Google Ads. -
Google Ads Renamed Chat To Ads Advisor
Google Ads renamed the "Chat" section or button in the Google Ads interface to "Ads Advisor." The Chat feature was spotted earlier this year in January, and I guess Google would rather call it an "advisor" and not "chat." -
Google Tests AI Mode In European Union
While Google expanded AI Mode access to 180+ countries and regions last week, Google is testing AI Mode in currently unsupported regions. Such regions including countries in the European Union, including Romania. -
Android Ball Pit In NYC Office
Google loves its ball pits, but normally they are filled with red, blue, green and yellow colored balls. This one is filled with stuffed Android figurines. I guess it makes the landing much more cushy?
Other Great Search Threads:
- Another Wirecutter update. They finally changed the robots.txt file to allow full crawling. IMO, they should just redirect the file to the NYT like they were doing originally, but this is clearly much better than disallowing all cra, Glenn Gabe on X
- Google has finally lifted the review ban that has been in place in Israel since Oct 2023., Mike Blumenthal on X
- Some notes on the insecurity baked into Perplexity's Comet "AI Browser" - the Brave security team reported serious prompt injection vulnerabilities in it, but Brave themselves are developing a similar feature that looks doomed to have similar problems, Simon Willison on Bluesky
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Amazon resumes Google Shopping ads – but not in the U.S.
- Google Ads adds loyalty features to boost shopper retention
- AI tool adoption jumps to 38%, but 95% still rely on search engines
- Google releases August 2025 spam update
- ChatGPT’s answers came from Google Search after all: Report
- Historic recurrence in search: Why AI feels familiar and what’s next
- How to tell if Google Ads automation helps or hurts your campaigns
- Global expansion and hyperlocal focus redefine the next chapter of retail media networks
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
Industry & Business
- Apple’s Aversion to Big Deals Could Thwart Its AI Push, The Information
- Google Could Get Broken Up This Week for Antitrust Violations. Here’s What It Would Mean., New York Times
- Google warns of state-backed web hijack attack, The Register
- Microsoft talks set to push OpenAI’s restructure into next year, Financial Times (Sub)
Links & Content Marketing
- Ditch the Labels: Keep Inclusivity In Your Marketing, Content Marketing Institute
- The difference between backlinks and internal links, Ilana Davis
- Why Link Building In-House Will (Probably) Fail, The Upper Ranks
Local & Maps
- 2025 UPDATE: How Proximity Impacts Google Organic Results - Google Ranking Proximity, Sterling Sky
- GBP Categories for car dealer sales profiles, SearchLab Digital
- Want to Rank in ChatGPT? Focus on These Review Sites (New Research), Whitespark
Mobile & Voice
- Apple may use Google Gemini for its big Siri overhaul, Mashable
- Auto industry tries to improve rigid, clumsy voice assistants, Automotive News
SEO
- How AI Will Affect Client Services in Digital Marketing, Koozai
- Scraping vs. API: Best Method to Track AI Search Visibility, seoClarity
- SEO Has Been Tactical for 20 Years. GenAI Forces the Strategy Question., Duane Forrester Decodes
- SEO testing lessons from more mature experimentation programs - a conversation with Ryan Lucht, Search Pilot
- The Leading Brands & Domains in AI Search Across 10 Business Categories, Amsive
- Why You Should Be Tracking AI Traffic and What It Means for SEO, Koozai
PPC
- Google May Re-Trigger Verification for Accounts Using Branded Keywords, PPC News Feed
- Introduction to Negative Keywords in Google Ads, Taikun Digital
- How to Show Ads in Google AI Overviews/AI Mode and Microsoft Copilot, JumpFly Digital Marketing Blog
Search Features
- Google Translate adds live translation and language learning, Google Blog
- Google Translate's latest feature is its take on Duolingo, Engadget
- Introducing Gemini 2.5 Flash Image, our state-of-the-art image model, Google Developers Blog
Other Search
- Google announces native image editing in Gemini app, Google Blog
- Google Gemini's AI image model gets a 'bananas' upgrade, TechCrunch
- Google’s AI model just nailed the forecast for the strongest Atlantic storm this year, Ars Technica
- OpenAI Plans to Update ChatGPT as Parents Sue Over Teen’s Suicide, Bloomberg
- Perplexity new revenue share program! But its not WIDELY accessible!, Gagan Ghotra
Feedback:
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