Daily Search Forum Recap: October 21, 2025

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 told us we would get more core updates, more often - that did not happen. Google Ads accounts without campaigns will be deleted in 6 months. Google Ads AI MAx gains a source column in the search term report. Google AI Mode has a new what to know section, that might not be new. Google Ads tests setting your new customer value, without your permission.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google's More Core Updates, More Often, Seems Unlikely
  Ten months ago, Google said on stage at Google Search Central Live event in the Google Zurich office that we should expect more core update, more update. We now have about two months left of the 2025 year and we are in no way going to see more core updates, more often from Google.
• Google Ads Experiments With Settings New Customer Value
  Google Ads seems to be experimenting with setting the New Customer Value within New Customer Acquisition campaigns without the consent of the advertiser. Technically, New Customer Value can be turned off, but this is confusing some advertisers and impacting reporting and ad performance for some.
• Google Ads AI Max Adds Sources Column in Search Term Report
  Google added a new "sources" column to the AI Max search term report. This helps you understand where your traffic was matched from in AI Max searches.
• Google Ads To Delete Accounts Without Campaigns After 6 Months
  Google posted a new help document that says it will delete accounts without any campaigns after 6 months. "If an account does not have any campaigns, it'll be permanently deleted by Google Ads 6 months after cancellation," Google wrote.
• Google AI Mode What To Know Section: AI Product Summary
  Google is testing another variation of the AI-generated product summaries in Google AI Mode, this one is named "What to know." It is made up of user reviews and web sources, according to the disclaimer.
• Google Team Journey Mural
  I found a series of photos of the progression of the painting of a number of blank walls at the Google office. It shows artist Alia Follett painting a Google team journey mural at the Google Boulder office.

Other Great Search Threads:

• Lily nails it here! The fundamental issue isn't just that LLMs hallucinate, it's that AI companies have completely failed to educate users about what these tools actually are & how they work. What users need to know: LLMs are pat, Britney Muller on X
• Today marks the end of my 9+ years at Google, where I was able to play a role in bringing some truly incredible Ads launches to market alongside some truly incredible marketers. It's hard to summarize a decade of experiences in one LinkedIn post, so I won, Eric Couch on LinkedIn
• I am sure this will be hugely unpopular with a lot of people; but I think AI prompt visibility tracking is generally a big and expensive waste of time., Mark Williams-Cook on Bluesky

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Google Ads’ new text guidelines feature begins rolling out
• Google Ads to permanently delete canceled accounts after six months
• Google officially shuts down Privacy Sandbox
• SEO in the black box era: Why reports will look more like Mad Men than Search Console
• Search Engine Land Awards 2025: Complete finalists list
• How AI media partnerships influence your brand visibility in genAI: Research
• Google crawl stats report is missing a day of data
• What they don’t teach you about marketing at Harvard Business School: Being positionless

Other Great Search Stories:

AI & LLMs

• For jobs, AI skills training will be essential, Washington Post
• Google AI Overviews 'leading to affiliate revenue drop of 20-40% at some publishers', Press Gazette

Analytics

• TikTok Tackles Attribution’s Blind Spot, Starting With Google Analytics, BeetTV

Industry & Business

• Google searching for bed bugs as outbreak hits New York HQ, PageSix
• Trial opens in Klarna's $8.3-bn lawsuit against Google, Citizen Tribune
• Why Google, Amazon, and So Many Others Have Gotten Worse, NY Magazine

Links & Content Marketing

• How (and When) to Start Building Your Content Team, Intergrowth
• How To Manage Your Marketing Leader (for Now), Content Marketing Institute

Local & Maps

• 7 ways Google Maps can point you straight to lower costs and savings, Android Police
• Google Maps Rival Gets a Waze-Inspired Feature for Better Navigation, AutoEvolution
• Is Your iPhone Secretly Tracking You? Here’s How to Stop Apple Maps from Logging Every Place You Visit, Techlusive

SEO

• How and Why Google Rewrites Your Hard-Earned Headlines, Leadership SEO
• How to tell if you were impacted by the August 2025 spam update (and what to do about it), Marie Haynes
• Quick Tip: How OpenAI’s Product Feed Redefines Commerce Data, iPullRank
• SEO Is Dead (and Other Bollocks LinkedIn Gurus Want You To Believe), Nikki Pilkington
• Topical Authority: Site Radius & Site Focus Score from the Google Leak, Hobo
• What publishers need to do about zero-click search, SEO For Journalism
• Wikipedia Traffic Shifts Highlight Big Impact of Google’s AI Overviews, Search Engine World

PPC

• Creative Differentiation in Paid Media: The Hidden Cost of Blending In, Hallam
• Google Ads Rolls Out AI-Powered Asset Suggestions, PPC News Feed
• Google Merchant Center Adds Centralized Issue Details Page, PPC News Feed
• How Managing PPC is like Managing Fantasy Football, JumpFly

Feedback:

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