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.
Did the num 100 Google change impact Google Ads reporting and tools? ChatGPT now has instant checkout, would you let OpenAI purchase for you? Google is testing search result snippets without title underlines on hover. Google is testing a progress bar on the shopping ads carousel. Google AdSense has a new traffic source breakdown report.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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Is Google Ads Reporting Also Impacted By Num=100 Change?
As a reminder, Google dropped its unofficial support of showing 100 search results per page, which caused issues for third party tracking tools and even Search Console itself. The theory with Search Console is that the scrapers were injecting artificial data into Google and thus the reporting. But is the same happening with Google Ads reporting? -
ChatGPT Gets Instant Checkout With Agentic Commerce Protocol
OpenAI announced Instant Checkout in ChatGPT, allowing you to make purchases directly in ChatGPT. This is powered by the Agentic Commerce Protocol that is built with Stripe. -
Google Tests Dropping Underline From Search Result Snippets On Hover
Google is testing not underlining the search result snippets when you hover your mouse cursor over the snippet. Generally, Google will add an underline to the title of the link (sometimes the whole snippet) when you hover over it. But here, Google is testing not doing that. -
Google Tests Progress Bar For Shopping Ads Carousel
Google is testing a blue progress bar under the Shopping Ads carousel in the search results. As you scroll the carousel to see more products, the blue progress bar will indicate how much of the carousel is remaining to be seen. -
New Google AdSense Traffic Source Breakdown Report
Google added a new report to the Google AdSense reporting named traffic source breakdown. This report helps you understand the origins of your page traffic. It also categorizes traffic based on whether it arrived directly to your page, or from popular and classified platforms. -
Google Bangalore Bhangra Dance
Here are some Googlers at the Google office in Bangalore, doing a dance with Bhangra music. I am not sure what Bhangra is, I read about it on Wikipedia. But this person in the photo said it was her first time as a dance lead.
Other Great Search Threads:
- Everything Vanished in 3 Months: A Horrible Automation Story, Raaquib Pathan on LinkedIn
- I helped a client migrate domains earlier this year. Smooth move, no visibility loss, except for Google News. Traffic plummeted to almost zero., Jes Scholz on LinkedIn
- not particularly, no, Gary Illyes on Bluesky
- On Wednesday we hosted the first Google Publisher Day in Spain. We explored the latest trends in the publishing ecosystem with exceptional speakers from the news industry alongside News Partnerships. We reiterated Google's ongoing commitment to continue t, Nora Lama on LinkedIn
- This is so bad - I asked @perplexity_ai about recent SEO/AI news and it responded with a information about a non-existent, made-up algorithm update Perplexity cited two AI-generated articles on digital marketing agency domains the, Lily Ray on X
- Who is searching for [asics login]? For online services where people have accounts that seems different, but for these? (not every page has to be crawlable or indexable :-)), John Mueller on Bluesky
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Pinterest tests Top of Search ads to capture high-intent shoppers
- OpenAI turns ChatGPT into a shopping tool with Instant Checkout
- TikTok launches Travel Ads to capture trip planning moments
- ‘Mistakes make you stronger’: PPC lessons from Inderpaul Rai
- Pinterest Ads cost data comes to Google Analytics
- Google Search Labs gains Agentic capabilities in AI Mode
- How AI search responds when you make a site more crawlable
- Google’s AI Max for Search: What 30 days of testing reveal
Other Great Search Stories:
AI & LLMs
- Debt Is Fueling the Next Wave of the AI Boom, Wall Street Journal
- How people REALLY use LLMs and what that means for Publishers, Leadership SEO
- Microsoft launches ‘vibe working’ in Excel and Word, The Verge
- OpenAI announces ChatGPT Instant Checkout for Etsy and Shopify, CNBC
- OpenAI Is Preparing to Launch a Social App for AI-Generated Videos, Wired
- OpenAI’s New Sora Video Generator to Require Copyright Holders to Opt Out, Wall Street Journal
Analytics
Industry & Business
- Google ad-tech antitrust trial remedy phase, day 4: The nitty-gritty, Marketing Brew
- Google to Pay $24.5 Million to End Trump Lawsuit Over Jan. 6 Ban, Bloomberg
- Google witnesses predict tough times for publishers if judge divests advertising arm, Courthouse News Service
- OpenAI names ex-chief of Google Korea to head Korean unit, The Korea Herald
- Sir Tim Berners-Lee to Receive the 2025 Internet Archive Hero Award, Internet Archive Blogs
- Watch Alphabet & Google's Porat on AI, Bloomberg
- What’s in and what’s out in the Google ad tech antitrust reckoning, Digiday
- OpenAI’s First Half Results: $4.3 Billion in Sales, $2.5 Billion Cash Burn, The Information
Links & Content Marketing
- Why New Tech Feels Magical, Then Miserable, Then Ours, Content Marketing Institute
- Brand Ads Done Right: The Power of Smart Copywriting, PPC Hero
Local & Maps
- BMW UI chief busts CarPlay 'myth' over in-car navigation, AppleInsider
- Ford will not install CarPlay Ultra, but could reconsider, AppleInsider
- Ultimate Local SEO Checklist, SEO dot co
- Simple Template for Self-Auditing Your AI Local Search Visibility, Local Visibility System
SEO
- AEO vs SEO: Core Differences & How to Win Visibility in Both, Semrush
- AI-Powered SEO Metrics for Future Success, Yoast
- Can Adding a Numeric Rating Beside Stars Boost SEO Performance?, Search Pilot
- Google’s Spam Updates, Explained, Practical Ecommerce
- Mastering Topical Authority in a Multi-Platform Search World, Andy Chadwick
- Our take on the future of search: SEO, GEO, and beyond, Raptive
- The Ridiculously Easy SEO Trick You're Probably Not Using Enough: Internal Links, Sterling Sky
- Vector Index Hygiene: A New Layer of Technical SEO, Duane Forrester Decodes
- We Analyzed 26K Quora URLs Cited in Google AI Mode: Here’s What Works, Semrush
- 7 Reasons Why an Influencer Marketing Strategy Benefits SEO, JumpFly
PPC
- New Help Page on Asset Studio, PPC News Feed
Search Features
- Brave updates its AI-powered search with a detailed answers feature, TechCrunch
- ChatGPT can buy stuff for you now - forever changing online shopping, ZDNET
- Google Flights Now Displays Live Flight Delay Information, Upgraded Points
- OpenAI Adds Parental Safety Controls for Teen ChatGPT Users. Here’s What to Expect, Wired
- Traditional Search vs. AI Search: The Side-by-Side Comparison (diagram), Orbit Media Studios
- You've heard of Now Brief, but Google Home could soon get Home Brief (APK teardown), Android Authority
- Google might be prepping ‘Home Brief’ to turn daily alerts into smarter summaries, Android Police
Other Search
- Google’s “G” gets a brighter look, Google Blog
- Partial Google Gemini outage impacting some prompts , 9to5Google
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