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.
We noticed a lot of Google Search ranking volatility late last week. Did your site see a boost? Google Search Console's crawl stats report is missing a day of data. Google Ads rolled out text guidelines beta. Google AI Mode now lets you select text of the AI response, to do a follow up question. Google is testing paperclip icons in the snippet. Google Search adds a price tracker graph by retailer. Google LSAs now support sitelinks in the maps view.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up From October 15th To 17th
There may have been another unconfirmed Google search ranking update that occurred between October 15th and October 18th. The bulk of the volatility seemed to be around Thursday, the 16th. -
Google Search Console Crawl Stats Missing Day Of Data
The crawl stats report in Google Search Console is missing a day of data again. The data gap is for October 14, 2025. If you look at the chart, you will see a hole in the data, where it is missing a full day of data. -
Google Local Search Ads In Google Maps Now Supports Sitelinks
Google now supports Sitelinks for local search ads in the Google Maps interface. They show in the form of a carousel, under a sponsored ad listing in the Google Maps interface. -
Google AI Mode Tests Text Selection For Follow Up Questions
Google is testing the ability to highlight portions of the response, to do a follow-up question on what you highlighted. It is similar to past tests on the AI Overview, but this is within AI Mode. -
Google Ads Text Guidelines Now Rolling Out?
Five weeks ago, Google announced a new feature named "Text'¬' guidelines'¬'" at the Think Retail event. Google said these would roll out "over time this Fall." Well, some are now seeing the new feature. -
Google Search Adds Price Tracking Graph For Each Retailer
Google has added price tracking data charts for each retailer within Google Search. On the right side, after you click on a product, Google may show a price chart with pricing over time. Google may also let you click on the available merchants and retailers to see how the price has changed for that specific merchant over time. -
Google Tests Clickable Paperclip Icon In Search Snippets
Google is testing the paperclip style icon in the search results, by the search result snippets and description. Clicking anywhere on the paperclip or the snippet will take you to the webpage. -
Massive Spinners In Google Office
Here is a photo from the Google Bayview where they have these absolutely massive spinners/tops in a lobby area in that office. Of course this photo from Instagram caught my eye.
Other Great Search Threads:
- What is everyone's thoughts on organic vs ad GLP pins? You can click/hover over either type of pin to get info even if the business is not showing on the (4) GLP results. The downfall if you advertise here, there is no organic pin, Nate Louis on X
- How do i deindex the bulk spammy pages from my website?, Reddit
- Ah, interesting! I can see on my Discover feed the return of "Explore Places" on Discover cards. I know it's not really new, but when you click on this button, you see a new page that opens with other complementary articles,, Damien (andell) on X
- i don't know - that seems like a pretty generic query, and I'd at least also expect travel blogger type content there. There's room for a lot of different kinds of insights in search :)., John Mueller on Bluesky
- Small Business Bulletin - October 2025 - 5 Key Tips & Treats for the Holiday Season, Google Business Profile Community
- Wirecutter update: It seems that robots.txt change for Wirecutter might have worked. Visibility has been steadily creeping back since they made that change on 9/6. I need to update my post about this., Glenn Gabe on X
- GenAI Traffic Share Update Takeaways: - ChatGPT continues to lose share. - Perplexity exceeds 2.0% threshold. 12 Months Ago: ChatGPT: 87.1% Gemini: 6.4% Perplexity: 1.7% Claude: 1.7% Copilot: 1.1% 6 Months Ago: ChatGPT, Similarweb on X
- Raptive just dropped its pageview requirement from 100K per month to just 25K per month "Raptive's long-time requirement was 100K page views per month in order to qualify. This has to be verifiable by Google Analytics. This week Raptive, Glenn Gabe on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Google Ads to auto-generate videos from existing Demand Gen image ads
- AI search isn’t the end of SEO – it’s the next era
- Google Maps Ads get scrollable sitelinks boost
- The latest jobs in search marketing
- Susan Yen talks account structure & PMax fails
- Google adds ‘Sources’ column to AI Max search term reports
- The future of SEO: Why optimization still matters, whatever you call it
- Agentic PPC: What performance marketing could look like in 2030
- Why incrementality is the only metric that proves marketing’s real impact
- The AI Visibility Index: Here’s who’s winning AI search
Other Great Search Stories:
AI & LLMs
- ChatGPT's mobile app is seeing slowing download growth and daily use, analysis shows, TechCrunch
- Inside the web infrastructure revolt over Google’s AI Overviews, Ars Technica
- Microsoft and OpenAI invest millions in AI training for teachers, AP News
- Siri's long-awaited update allegedly 'concerns' iOS 26.4 testers, AppleInsider
Analytics
- What is the first_visit event, KRM Digital Marketing
Industry & Business
- Google readies Gemini 3, Perplexity hits its goal, Alex Heath
- Google Data Centre: Local Protests Halt $1bn US Project, Deccan Herlad
Links & Content Marketing
Local & Maps
- Grounding for Google Maps now available in the Gemini API, Google Blog
- Gemini removes @Google Maps & @YouTube apps, 9to5Google
SEO
- How We‘re Driving LLM Visibility at Semrush, Semrush
- The Anatomy of a Winning SEO Content Strategy Framework, The SEO Adventure
- Screaming Frog SEO Spider Update – Version 23.0, Screaming Frog
- SEO Myth: Local SEO Is Just About Google Business Profile!, Nikki Pilkington
PPC
- First Look: Screenshots Reveal New Campaign Creation Flow, PPC News Feed
- Google Adds Handling Cutoff Time Feed Attribute for Accurate Delivery Estimates, PPC News Feed
- Google's Privacy Sandbox Is Officially Dead, AdWeek
- Your guide to Google’s Power Pack: AI Max, PMax, Demand Gen, Smarter Ecommerce
Other Search
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