Daily Search Forum Recap: October 6, 2026

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.

The third and probably final phase of the Google Spam update seems to be hitting. Google warned about using deceptive authorship information in your content. Google Search Console's performance report gains a multi-select country filter. Google spoke about larger product aggregator websites. Google Maps updated its contribution policy for merchants. Google has added information to the Search generative AI control page in Search Console about when a child property overrides the parent setting for AI controls. Google Ads is testing displaying the advertiser's name within the click to call phone number call asset on the sponsored listings. OpenAI is testing new labels appended to the ChatGPT product results.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Final Phase Of Google September 2026 Spam Update Rollout Oct 4-6?
  I believe we are seeing the final phase of the Google September 2026 Spam update rolling out between October 4th and October 6th, today. The update should be done any day now, so there may be another spike in volatility, but I suspect this is it - we are pretty much done with this spam update.
• Google Warns Against Deceptive Authorship Information Within Content
  Around the same time Google updated its helpful content search documentation with defining main content and the new EOT/SA sections, Google also posted a warning to "avoid using deceptive authorship information."
• Google Search Console Performance Report Multi-Select Country Filters
  Google now lets you check off multiple countries within the Google Search Console country filter in the performance reports. This lets you group countries together, to see how your search performance is doing for multiple countries at once, instead of one country at a time.
• Updated Google Maps Policy: What Merchants Can't Post In Listings Or Posts
  Google has updated the Google Maps and Business Profiles Prohibited & restricted content policy's advertising and solicitation section to list what merchants and business owners cannot post on their listings and posts.
• Google Search Generative AI Control Page Adds Top-Level Domain Details
  Google has added information to the Search generative AI control page in Search Console about when a child property overrides the parent setting for AI controls.
• Google Ads Call Extensions Includes Advertiser Name
  Google Ads is testing displaying the advertiser's name within the click to call phone number call asset on the sponsored listings. Normally, Google will just show the phone number but in this test, Google is also adding the advertiser's name.
• Google On Large Product Aggregator Websites
  Google's John Mueller was asked why Google continues to crawl tons of pages on a large website but indexes only four of them, and why the home page isn't indexed. John categorized the site as a "large product aggregator."
• OpenAI Tests New Product Labels On ChatGPT Results
  OpenAI is testing new labels appended to the ChatGPT product results. These labels can add information about the product it is displaying, such as "best all-rounder," "best for beginners," "best cushioning," and so on.
• Google Claw Machine At Bengaluru Office
  Here is a claw machine for some sort of event at the Google office in Bengaluru, India. The event was Google Ananta cultural carnival 20 years of cultural club celebration. This is not the first time Google had a claw machine.

Other Great Search Threads:

• This is a must watch @CNN Terms of Service episode hosted by @claresduffy “Is it getting harder to find information online?”with @doctorow. Google is destroying themselves by harming publishers., Inspired Taste on X
• Ecommerce SEO: This store is missing ~8 million product images in Google Merchant Center. Not on the site. In the feed. 2M+ products in the account. Average image count: 1. Each location carries ~116K products (incl. variants). Multiply that across every country in a global, Brodie Clark on X

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Microsoft Advertising updates pricing rules for U.S. automotive ads
• Google changes view-through conversion reporting for Demand Gen Display ads
• OpenAI brings visual ads and expanded measurement to ChatGPT
• Google Search shares data on how long crawling, indexing and serving takes
• Want lasting AI brand visibility? Stop looking for hacks
• How to build topic clusters for SEO and AI search
• Why Google is pushing advertisers toward demand-led budgeting
• AI usage surges 6X for local search, fragmenting the digital ecosystem

Other Great Search Stories:

AI & LLMs

• Internet Watch Foundation reports huge rise in AI child sexual abuse material, The Guardian
• How to Spot an AI Recipe, The Kitchn
• It’s Nearly Impossible to Budget for AI Spending, Wall Street Journal
• Anthropic Subscriptions Offer 5x+ More Value Than OpenAI, Semi Analysis
• Our approach to EU text provenance rules, OpenAI
• Using Gemini Notebook to teach 8th-grade science, Google Blog
• ChatGPT is adding real cartoonists’ signatures to fake New Yorker cartoons, Nieman Journalism Lab

Industry & Business

• Anthropic, OpenAI, Meta and Google execs testify under oats at NYC council meeting, CNBC
• Ex-Anthropic Researcher Jacob Coxon Testifies at NYC Council AI Hearing, Bloomberg
• Google Bid to Buy Spirit Airlines Data for AI Training Got a Boost, Business Insider
• Pentagon stops using Anthropic AI tools months after blacklisting company, BBC told, BBC
• Polish regulator suspects Google abused dominant position in publisher payment talks, Reuters
• Sam Altman Sees the Future. Are We In It? (Part 1 of 2 Exclusive Interviews), Vanity Fair
• Meta and Microsoft Work to Wean Staff Off Anthropic’s Claude, The Information
• Why Google, Amazon and Microsoft Need Chinese Data Center Suppliers, The Information
• Google, Constellation Near Billion-Dollar Deal for Nuclear Power, Bloomberg

Links & Content Marketing

• 9 B2B Marketing Sessions to Attend at Content Marketing World 2026, TopRank Marketing

Local & Maps

• Android Auto might start requiring Android 11 or later soon, driver reports suggest, 9To5Google
• Android Auto update fixes missing signal icon, Google confirms, 9To5Google
• Google Maps now lets you turn your car into a McLaren F1, 9To5Google
• Google Flights data to find holiday deals and trending destinations, Google Blog

Other Search

• Siri Can Index More Of Your Personal Data — Here's How To Limit It, Engadget
• Apple may soon track when Google promotes Chrome inside Safari, 9to5Mac

PPC

• The Three Things I’m Doing Next After Google Rethink Retail, PPC Live
• TikTok Search Ads: When Is It Worth Testing?, Hop Skip Media
• Update to Gambling and Games Policy: Colombia (October 2026), Google Advertising Policies Help
• Guardrails for Google Ads AI - Practical Ecommerce, Practical Ecommerce
• Assign Merchant Center Products to Multiple Google Business Profiles, FeedArmy

Search Features

• Yahoo pushes scout with new homepage button and product recommendations, Search Engine Watch
• Google AI Overviews now appear for most major brands, Semrush

SEO

• Google Search Console, SEO For Journalism
• Link relevant collections to expose more products, Ilana Davis
• SISTRIX in Q3 2026: brand analyses in the AI Check, Deep Dive chat and a new navigation, SISTRIX
• The Big List of AI Visibility, AEO, GEO & Citation & Mention Tracking Tools, Search Engine World
• Myth vs Data: 3 SEO and AI myths most teams overlook, Oncrawl

Feedback:

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