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 is only paying about 100 publishers in the AI contribution pilot, and it is only 0.1% of their ad revenue. Google Maps now makes you login to see all reviews, probably to block AI bots. Google is testing making sponsored products look more organic. Microsoft Advertising tests "consumer review" ad extensions in the Bing search results sponsored results section. Bing is testing adding product feature labels to product listings in the search results. Google Analytics had a bug last night but it should be resolved now.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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Google Paying ~100 Publishers 0.1% Of Ad Revenue In AI Contribution Pilot
As you know, Google has a small pilot named the AI contribution pilot, where they are paying some publishers for using their content in AI features like AI Overviews, AI Mode and Gemini. Well, according to The Information, it is about 100 publishers and those publishers are getting about "one-tenth of 1% of their advertising revenue." -
Google Maps Now Requires Sign In To Read All Reviews & More
Google Maps now requires you to sign in to a Google account to see all the reviews on a Google Business Profile listing. It is also required in order to sort the reviews, leave a review, and more. I assume this was done to help prevent AI, bots, and third parties from scraping the Google reviews. -
Google Tests Sponsored Products Grid That Looks Like The Organic Product Grid
Google is testing making the sponsored products search results block or grid look more like the organic products/shopping grid. Instead of showing a long carousel of products across the top or on the right, this shows a product grid format we are more accustomed to for the free product listings. -
Bing Tests Product Features Labels On Product Listings
Microsoft Bing is testing adding product feature labels to product listings in the search results. This can add labels like "great for...," "effective," "performs well," "lightweight", and so on. -
Bing Sponsored Ads With One-Line Consumer Review Extension
Microsoft Advertising now shows "consumer review" ad extensions in the Bing search results sponsored results section. These are one-line snippets of text, added under the sponsored result, that come a "from consumer review." -
Google Working To Restore Google Analytics
Google has confirmed there are issues with Google Analytics loading the platform. Google updated its status report to say that it has "restored for some users" and Google expects "a resolution for all users in the near future." -
Google Keychain Making
Google has some sort of end of summer event and at that event they had a keychain making station. I assume Googlers and their kids were able to make custom keychains to bring home with them.
Other Great Search Threads:
- Got our first https://xwf.google.com email with an unsubscribe link. takes you to https://support.google.com/s/google-rep/meet?hashCID=XXXXXXXXX - feel free to test it out with one of your CID's, Greg on X
- Grok Bot's App Performance: Downloads are approaching the 1M mark. DAUs have surpassed 200K., Similarweb on X
- Heads up that product-only asset groups are no longer safe from the terrible automatic videos created by Pmax. Yesterday Google Ads AI went through and added 5 off-brand videos to every product-only asset group I have., David Kyle on X
- A little personal news: I've joined Google. I'm now Thought Leadership and Messaging Lead for YouTube Ads Marketing, working on a product and space I've spent much of my career thinking about:…, Purna Virji on LinkedIn
- Help #searchcentrallive, John Mueller on Bluesky
Search Engine Land Stories:
- What 714 suppression campaigns show about pushing down negative results
- Report: ChatGPT Ads are growing fast, but advertisers are still figuring them out
- Your 2027 guide to SEO reporting and tracking
- Amazon Ads taps Yelp to turn product purchases into local service leads
- Publishers want Congress to stop AI crawlers from hiding
- Is your Google Ads account ready for Q4?
- Google appeals the European Commission’s DMA mandate to share search data
- ChatGPT shortlists: How to benchmark visibility and find room to compete
- Google AI Mode monitoring capabilities now live for all
- Why Performance Max isn’t a YouTube ad strategy for ecommerce
Other Great Search Stories:
AI & LLMs
- Introducing dots, OpenAI
- OpenAI answers TypeSafe's Jev with a Decision API built on Luna, The New Stack
- OpenAI makes 'Sign in with ChatGPT' a way to use your subscription in third-party developer tools, The New Stack
- OpenAI expands ChatGPT's plugins with app-like interfaces and automations, TechCrunch
- Bill Gates’s Blunt Warning on A.I., New York Times
- Google Gemini powers new America.gov portal, Google Blog
- GPT-6.1 Sol comes close to Astra at a fifth of the price, The Decoder
- OpenAI connects the Dots, Platformer
- Leaders Want AI Reassurance Not a Lecture, SEO For Lunch
- A new path to AI discovery, Brainlabs
- OpenAI’s Dots Are Always-On AI Agents—and Its Answer to Meta’s Muse, Wired
- OpenAI Unveils Always-On AI Agent Dots, New $500 Paid Tier, Bloomberg
- OpenAI gives Codex reusable cloud environments that work across devices, TechCrunch
- OpenAI Adds $500(!) Pro Subscription, Nerfs Its Existing $200 Tier, Engadget
- ChatGPT Space Is A Shared Hub For Work Projects And Personal AI Agents, Engadget
Analytics
- Customize Your Brand Terms in Microsoft Clarity AI Visibility - Understand your customers, Microsoft Clarity Blog
- Improved app conversion management and reporting capabilities for Google Ads customers, Google Analytics Help
Industry & Business
- 300 publishers head to D.C. to push ‘bad bots’ bill on AI scraping, Digiday
- Nothing is on Fire at Google, Pedro Dias
- Scoop: OpenAI's annual recurring revenue nears $70B, Axios
- Timnit Gebru Believes There Is No ‘Existential Threat’ From AI, Wired
- US appeals court upholds Thomson Reuters' landmark win in AI training lawsuit, Reuters
- Announcing our partnership with OpenAI, Baseten
- Apple’s New CEO Moves to Overhaul Company to Run Faster and Leaner, Bloomberg
- Trump Hosts Nvidia, Anthropic CEOs at White House to Discuss AI Safety Risks, Bloomberg
- OpenAI vs. Anthropic: Inside the Biggest Rivalry in Tech, www.theatlantic.com
- Sam Altman says OpenAI won’t go public until its models are safe, The Verge
- How A.I. Super PACs Are Trying to Influence the Midterms, New York Times
- OpenAI Targets $30 Billion in New Funding at $1.4 Trillion Value, Bloomberg
Links & Content Marketing
- B2B Agentic Commerce Hype Outruns Buyer Readiness, Content Marketing Institute
Local & Maps
- Apple Maps Ads for Multi-Location Brands, Location3 Media
Other Search
PPC
- Google Display Ads to Demand Gen Transition, JumpFly
- The State of ChatGPT Ads — Five Percent, Graphite
- OpenAI Says Sponsored Chats Are The Future – But Publisher Monetization Isn’t A Priority, AdExchanger
- New Subattribute for Google Merchant Center Installment (vehicle listings), FeedArmy
- PPC lead generation form: the ultimate guide, PPC Live
Search Features
- Gemini on my Google Home speakers has been an absolute disaster, Android Police
- Google has fixed an issue that caused iPhone apps to crash, 9To5Google
SEO
- AEO/GEO: So How to Proactively “Earn” The Most Important Layers of AI Visibility?, Ann Smarty
- Is Prompt Tracking Actually Worth It for AEO?, seoClarity
- Is Your Page Even Eligible for Generative Search?, Lumar
- Google CTR Stats – Changes Report for Q2 2026, Advanced Web Ranking
- Top 5 GEO Myths You Should Ignore, Joe Hall
- The LLM positioning lag: What it is and how to avoid it, Semrush
- The Social Search & AI Visibility Report | Emplifi x Semrush, Emplifi
Feedback:
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