Daily Search Forum Recap: October 30, 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 and Microsoft announced earnings and they both had really good quarters, Google broke $100 billion for the first time in a quarter and ad revenue and queries keep growing. The Disney account Google Sitelink hack is still live, believe it or not. Microsoft Advertising advertiser console was down for a while. Google Merchant Center added promotion analytics. Google Ads bans sweepstake casino ads. Google spoke about case sensitivity for URLs in Google Search. Bing is testing a country/region selector option.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google Ad Revenue Up 13% & Bing Ads Revenue Up 16%
  Both Google and Microsoft reported its earnings today; Alphabet's Q3 2025 earnings and Microsoft's Q1 2026 earnings. Google reported ad revenues up by 13% with $74 billion and Microsoft reported ad revenues up by 16%.
• Disney Google Sitelinks Blackhat SEO Hack Still Live
  About a week ago, if you searched for [disney account] and looked at the Disney search result listing in Google Search, you'd see a sitelink that reads, "Black hat SEO approaches..." And guess what, that sitelink is still live.
• Reminder: Google On Case Sensitivity For URLs
  Google's John Mueller reminded us about when case sensitivity matters for Google Search and SEO when it comes to your URLs. In short, Google will probably figure it out based on two URLs having the same content on it but why leave it up to Google, so make sure to be consistent with your URLs so Google doesn't need to figure it out.
• Google Merchant Center Next Adds Promotion Analytics
  Google Merchant Center Next added new analytics data to the Promotions tab/section. This shows you two new analytics charts including "Your promotions at a glance" and "Performance in the last 28 days." These are summary cards to see how well your promotions are performing in Google Search.
• Microsoft Advertising Web User Interface Is Currently Down
  Microsoft Advertising advertiser web interface is down and Microsoft's Navah Hopkins said the "engineering team is investigating this issue with priority." This only impacts the web interface, according to Hopkins and ad serving does not seem to be impacted.
• Bing Search Adds Country/Region Selector
  Microsoft is testing a way to change the country and region you are in when doing searches on Bing. There is a new country/region selector for this, similar to how Google handles it.
• Google Ads: Sweepstake Casinos Are Not Social Casino Games
  Google updated the Google Ads Gambling and Games policy this week to define that sweepstake casinos are not social casino games. Google said this update was added on October 28, 2025. This now prohibits sweepstake casinos from using Google Ads for advertising.
• Putting Green At Google Germany
  Here is a photo from the Google office in Germany. You can see in this little corner of the office they put a small putting green with a flag pole.

Other Great Search Threads:

• Another Google Discover update with titles in images, but also image format with rounded images that don't fill the entire screen., Damien (andell) on X
• Exactly 1 year ago today, I was sitting at Google's HQ attending its "Web Creators Summit" In one ear I listened to 2 Google Search execs sitting in front of me -- they were apologizing to the 20 small & independent web publishers in, Nate Hake on X
• Grokipedia provides dofollow backlinks. Make sure you are there..., SEO Wins on X
• New YouTube thumbnail size update Thumbnail limit = 2MB → 50MB. That means real 4K (3840×2160) thumbnails on every living room TV. - Design native 3840×2160 (or 1920×1080 min) - JPEG/PNG <50MB, with zero compression, David Altizer on X
• The irony that I can't get to the page to download Microsoft Ads Editor while using Bing to find the page, in the Edge browser, on a Windows laptop. WTH Microsoft?, Robert Brady on X
• Update: this has now been updated with the AI summary label in search results after previously showing without it. This was confirmed to be a bug by @rajanpatel at the time of the original test and has now been fixed. cc @rustybrick, SERP Alert on X
• Fun fact [*]: they're called "tag"s because the "<" is shaped like the lid used to make "tagine"., John Mueller on Bluesky
• Want to know how to use the new hashtag#GoogleAds MCP server? TBH I recommend watching this video from Cory Liseno even if you don't quite know what an MCP server is. It's a really good basic intro to just some of what's possible., Ginny Marvin on LinkedIn

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Microsoft Advertising advertiser console down
• SerpAPI calls Reddit lawsuit a threat to the ‘free and open web’
• How to use Google Ads Promotion assets (a step-by-step checklist)
• Why your SEO and PPC teams need shared standards to unlock mutual gains
• The new SEO sales tactic: Selling the AI dream

Other Great Search Stories:

AI & LLMs

• Apple releases Pico-Banana-400K image editor training data, AppleInsider
• Making JavaScript websites AI and LLM crawler friendly, SALT.agency
• NotebookLM adds custom goals, upgrades performance, Google Blog
• Sam Altman says OpenAI will have a ‘legitimate AI researcher’ by 2028 , TechCrunch

Industry & Business

• Big Tech lobby budgets hit record levels, Corporate Europe Observatory
• Google and Internet2 launch AI leadership program for higher education, Google Blog
• Google Loses Bid To Transfer Monopolization Case To Calif., Law360
• Google Search continues to face AI threat, MarketWatch
• Meta, Google Endorse Transparency on Government Communications, Bloomberg Government
• OpenAI lays groundwork for juggernaut IPO at up to $1 trillion valuation, Reuters
• YouTube announces AI reorg and layoffs - by Alex Heath, Sources News
• YouTube Announces Voluntary Buyouts for Employees, The Information

Links & Content Marketing

• How To Create Content Both Humans and AI Agents Trust, Content Marketing Institute
• How we built an AI ecosystem to amplify our event content, MarTech
• How to spot fake AI-written press releases, Press Gazette

Local & Maps

• 7 Ways To Turn 1-Star Reviews Into More Sales (Yes, Really), Sterling Sky
• AI Has Made Google Business Profile and The Knowledge Panel Your New Homepage, BrightLocal
• Android Auto may soon support app widgets and more, 9to5Google
• Google launches new theme page to honor Route 66, Google Blog

SEO

• Negative and Link Based SEO Still Working Magic in Site Links, Search Engine World
• What is a robots.txt file and Common Issues With Implementation, Search Atlas
• Why Wikipedia Is Losing Traffic to AI Overviews on Google, CNET
• Why you don’t need a magic GEO hack, Fast Company

PPC

• Channel Partner Spotlight: FeedOps, winners of Microsoft Advertising's 2025 AI Innovation Award, Microsoft Advertising
• 3 Ways To Improve Lead Quality in Google Ads, JumpFly Digital Marketing Blog
• Demand Gen Placement Report Now Shows Gmail and Discover Separately, PPC News Feed
• Google Adds Help Pages for Itinerary Value Rules in Hotel Ads, PPC News Feed
• Publishers based in China and Argentina can now use PayPal Hyperwallet to get paid, Google AdSense Help

Search Features

• Play the PAC-MAN Halloween Google Doodle game, Google Blog

Other Search

• ChatGPT Pulse on Web, ChatGPT Release Notes

Feedback:

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