Daily Search Forum Recap: October 7, 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.

Google Search Console is sending out emails informing site owners how many people are subscribing or following them as a preferred source on Google. Google seems to no longer be showing review rich reviews in Google Search when review schema or structured data is added to healthcare web pages. Google is expanding the Search profiles feature to more countries. Google added retry-after HTTP details to the crawl rate documentation. Google Merchant Center is rolling out the UCP integration hub in the United States. Google AI Mode now uses Nano Banana 2.1. Google Ads is testing a new billing menu bar or tab that adds more options and links to the billing section. Google is now showing WhatsApp buttons in the local panel. Google is testing allowing AI Overviews to add items to your calendar with an add to calendar link on event dates. And I published my 50,000th story on search today.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google Search Crawl Rate Doc Adds Retry-After HTTP & More
  Google has just pushed some updates to the reduce the Google crawl rate documentation. Most of the changes are just organizational to the content on the page but under the "Urgently reduce crawler traffic (for emergencies)" section, Google added new information on how to use Retry-After HTTP header.
• Nano Banana 2.1 In Google AI Mode In Search
  Google released Nano Banana 2.1 today, and it is already working within AI Mode in Google Search. Nano Banana 2.1 is Google's latest image generation and editing model.
• Google Search Profiles Expand To India & Canada With Brazil Coming Soon
  Google is expanding the Search profiles feature to more countries. Starting today, those in India and Canada are now eligible for a Search profile in Google Search. And soon, Google will also support users in Brazil.
• Google Email Shares Number Of Preferred Source Subscribers
  Google Search Console is sending out emails informing site owners how many people are subscribing or following them as a preferred source on Google. It says "people are choosing domain as a preferred source" and then lists the number of "Preferred source selections."
• Google Drops Review Snippets For Healthcare Web Pages
  Google seems to no longer be showing review rich reviews in Google Search when review schema or structured data is added to healthcare web pages.
• Google AI Overviews Add To Calendar Feature
  Google is testing allowing AI Overviews to add items to your calendar with an add to calendar link on event dates. I can't replicate this and the truth is, every time i refresh the queries I am testing on, I get a slightly different AI Overview, so who knows.
• Google Ads Updated Billing Menu With More Links
  Google Ads is testing a new billing menu bar or tab that adds more options and links to the billing section. It looks like Google added double the amount of links in the menu.
• Google Merchant Center New UCP Integration Hub
  Google Merchant Center is rolling out the UCP integration hub in the United States. The UCP integration hub allows you to onboard to UCP program from your Merchant Center account.
• Google Local Panel Gains WhatsApp Button
  Google is now showing WhatsApp buttons, in place of chat or in addition to the other action buttons, in the local panel results within Google Search. Next to the call, directions. website, share buttons can be a WhatsApp button to let searchers chat with the store or company over WhatsApp.
• Reflex Training Game At Google
  Google has this reflex training game where the machine drops these sticks and you need to catch them before they heat the floor. We saw Google have this before but now we are seeing it again.
• This Is My 50,000 Published Story On Search
  50,000 is a big number, so I figured I'd document it here by letting you all know that this "story" is my 50,000th published story for the search industry. Yes, I've written 50,000 stories on search and on the search industry over the past almost 23 years.

Other Great Search Threads:

• Cloudflare CEO @eastdakota says if Cloudflare blocks Google, it breaks search ranking (i.e. PageRank gets skewed since 20% of the web becomes invisible to Google). Note, Cloudflare switched to blocking Google by default on 9/15 so you should check your settings. Also, 20% would, Glenn Gabe on X
• Google's Nick Fox (@thefox) was asked what was the one metric that five years from now tells him Google succeeded with AI in Search Nick: The metric I look at the most is the number of queries people are doing. The number of queries reflects the number of tasks, questions, Glenn Gabe on X
• SEO tip: Never submit just the sitemap index in Google Search Console. Always submit every major child sitemap individually as well. When auditing large sites, the first bottleneck is often aggregate data. If only sitemap-index.xml is submitted, GSC groups everything into, Brodie Clark on X
• Video Campaign Groups are now available in Beta., Bia Camrgo on LinkedIn
• Has Google Search Actually Gotten Worse?, WebmasterWorld
• You know what would be a damn shame? If someone handed Cherry and me a budget and relatively free rein to start a video series. It definitely wouldn't dissolve into chaos, and we certainly wouldn't blow it on an absurd mountain of emotional support rubber chickens., Gary Illyes on LinkedIn

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Google Ads tests Video Campaign Groups for cross-campaign reach and frequency
• Google rolls out Merchant Center UCP integration hub in the U.S.
• Google shares preferred source follower data via email
• SMX Advanced San Diego 2027 speaker pitches are now open
• Google Ads can now calculate Target ROAS from profit margins
• Top PPC tactics to try for all levels of AI adoption
• How product thinking can make you a better SEO
• Google warns against using fake author information on your content
• Reddit for organic and AI search: 7 ways to build visibility
• Google Search Console performance report filter allows selection of multiple countries

Other Great Search Stories:

AI & LLMs

• AI won't take your job anytime soon. In 10 yrs, it' ll replace only 5%, Mustafa Suleyman on X
• Anthropic expands Claude Startups program for founders, CNBC
• EmbeddingGemma 2 is a best-in-class open model for natively multimodal embeddings, Google Blog
• Sharing AI progress in mathematics, OpenAI
• AI Music Streaming Fraud Sentence: Man Gets 18 Months Prison for Scam, Billboard

Industry & Business

• Google's head of data center global design and construction joins Anthropic, Data Center Dynamics
• Anthropic opens its most powerful AI models to more security teams, Reuters
• Brussels looks to capture Big Tech through tax on large corporations, Financial Times (Sub)

Links & Content Marketing

• Hidden Cost of AI Efficiency in Marketing, Content Marketing Institute

Local & Maps

• I raced Google Maps with Apple Maps for 4 days, and one thing kept deciding the winner, Make Use Of
• What Do Purple Icons Mean On Google Maps?, BGR
• Remember MapQuest? You Can Now Use It With Android Auto, Engadget

Other Search

• Apple’s Smart Home Push Includes Doorbell, Lock, Thermostat Codeveloped With LG, Bloomberg

PPC

• Celebrate Your Success with Microsoft Advertising, Microsoft Advertising
• Google Ads Editor 2.10 and Older Stop Working October 19, PPC News Feed
• AI Is Not the Expert: Why Human Judgment Still Matters in PPC, Anu Adegbola
• Conversion Lift Opens to Search and PMax With 1,000-Conversion Minimum, PPC News Feed
• Google Tests "Direct Offer" Asset in Google Ads, PPC News Feed
• Apple Has Far-Reaching Plans To Block Hundreds Of Programmatic Data Companies From iOS

Search Features

• Report: Apple’s smart home push includes LG-made doorbell, lock, thermostat, more, 9to5Mac
• Microsoft locks Copilot behind sign-in in Edge, Search Engine Watch

SEO

• Content Effort: One of Google’s Signals Your SEO Agency Doesn’t Want You to Know About, Ann Smarty
• How to Measure AI Search Visibility When Attribution Falls Short, Ahrefs
• New learning paths: curated YouTube playlists for Search fundamentals and Technical SEO, Google Search Central Blog
• SEOs Should Not Be Responsible For The "Agentic Web", Joe Hall
• The Challenger: SEOs Real MVP, SEO For Lunch
• Why Rankings Matter Less in SEO (+What to Track Instead), WordStream
• AI Search ROI Is Messy. Here's How to Measure It Anyway, Ahrefs
• The SEO Value of Dwell Time: Creating Content That Keeps Visitors on Your Site, JumpFly

Feedback:

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