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.
Ads in Google AI Mode make Google less per search, but Google has more searches. Google's John Mueller said AI spam tactics will be caught, eventually. Google is rolling out the Google Business Profile AI-powered messaging to more. Cyrus removed his site from AI Mode, AI Overviews via Search Console and shared the data. Microsoft is showing ads in the Bing AI Overviews. Gary Illyes said bot impersonation has become more of an issue with AI. Google and Bing have Halloween easter eggs. Google seems to have stopped appending UTM parameters on Gemini links. And I posted the weekly SEO video recap.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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Google: Ads In AI Mode Earning Less Than Traditional Search Ads
Google announced earnings yesterday, and during the earnings call, Philipp Schindler, Google's senior vice president and chief business officer, said that ads in AI Mode have a "lower monetization" than ads in traditional search. -
Google's John Mueller: Eventually Systems Will Catch The AI Spam & Tricks
Google's John Mueller was interviewed by David Iwanow, where he shared information on AI-generated content, the future of SEO, technical SEO, the crawl stats report, redirect chains, ecommerce product data and much more. John was asked about tactics, such as listicles, being used to rank well in AI Search, and he said that eventually the systems will catch up, so don't use those cheap, easy, and fast tactics. Google Search may be bringing back the ability to see 100 search results per page. -
Google Business Profiles AI-Powered Messaging Expands
Google seems to be rolling out access to the Google Business Profile AI-powered messaging feature to more businesses. I believe we covered this in June of this year, but since then, Google made some updates to the feature. -
Google AI Overviews & AI Mode 0.9% Click-Through Rate, Opt Out Study Says
Everyone has been asking, what is the click-through rate you get from Google Search AI features such as AI Overviews and AI Mode. Well, a new small study says the click-through rate is about 0.9%. The study also showed that when you opt out of showing in Google's Search generative AI, it also leads to a drop in clicks in the main web results. -
Google Search May Be Bringing Back 100 Search Results Parameter
Google Search may be bringing back the ability to see 100 search results per page by bringing back the num=100 parameter. As a reminder, Google dropped this feature in September 2025 as one of many methods to prevent crawlers from scraping its search results. As you know, third-party tracking tools are not working so well these days. -
Bing Showing Ads Within AI Overviews
Microsoft is now showing ads within the Bing AI Overviews powered by Copilot. I don't think I've seen ads within the AI responses in Bing Search and I personally still cannot trigger them, but Khushal Bherwani shared a screenshot of an ad within an AI Overview in Bing Search. -
Google's Gary Illyes: AI Made Bot Impersonation Worse
Gary Illyes from Google was recently interviewed by Aneta Samkoff, host of the Odys Podcast. The topic was all about bots and crawlers and they covered a lot of ground. Gary said bot impersonation is more of a problem now because of AI. Bot impersonation is when rogue bots pretend to be someone they are not, like pretending to be Googlebot. -
Google & Bing Halloween Search Easter (Pumpkin) Eggs
Halloween is tonight/tomorrow and to celebrate both Google and Bing has special easter eggs (or should I call them pumpkins) for its search results. Google asks you to find a costume using AI Mode, which is boring. But Bing has a floating ghost that explodes into candy when you tap it. -
Google Gemini Stopped Attaching UTM Parameters To Cited URLs
Google seems to have stopped appending UTM parameters on Gemini links, the cited URLs in Gemini's AI responses. Google started adding UTM parameters to links in Gemini in early September, but then, around September 28th, Google stopped. -
Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Volatility X2, Spam Updates, AI Overviews Everywhere, Blending Ads & Organic, Google & Microsoft Earnings
This week, we reported on Google Search volatility not once but twice this week. Google warned tools on user-generated spam guidelines. Google downplayed the importance of fresh indexing reporting. Google explained... -
Pumpkins In Google Kirkland Cafe
Here is a photo from the Google Kirkland office cafe. You can see there are some pumpkins on the table there for the Halloween season.
Other Great Search Threads:
- Also, it's almost impossible to let them know about this without being bucketed in the "spammy SEO emails" category. It's probably trivial to fix, John Mueller on Bluesky
- It's funny how Google's "personal intelligence" (it's not new, but in case anyone doesn't know) lets you query it to see what information is coming out of your user profile, particularly through "search services," and therefore your Google Search activity via "connected apps.", Damien Andell on X
- Yea, the favicon for @seroundtable is no longer showing in Google Search - I didn't make any changes, so I am not sure why - I blame PHP - looking to see if I can make changes..., Barry Schwartz on Bluesky
- AI visibility tools are facing their own version of tracking issues. @Semrush just emailed customers yesterday that Copilot visibility tracking will be discontinued as of 11/9 based on how Microsoft is preventing the tracking of Copilot data. I wonder when other platforms will, Glenn Gabe on X
- I'm seeing llms.txt as a citation source for the first time today for Claude online research. , Noah Learner on LinkedIn
- Lovely day in Toronto as Jyll Saskin Gales kicks off the inaugural Inside Google Ads Live conference. Excited to be here with a fantastic audience of marketers for the day. Congrats and huge thanks…, Ginny Marvin on LinkedIn
- Spooky spots on street view hit different in October, Google Maps on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Google AI opt-out test finds unexpected drop in organic clicks
- Google AI Mode sends 57% of product links to Google Shopping: Study
- The latest jobs in search marketing
- AI traffic drives 83% more revenue per visit for retailers: Adobe
- Is AI search ghosting your brand? Here’s how to fight back
- Google: AI Mode’s lower monetization slowed Search ad growth
- You don’t need more ads. You need more creative variables.
- You’re not winning by refusing to link to competitors
Other Great Search Stories:
AI & LLMs
- How Microsoft quietly reinvented itself to build better AI, Fast Company
- How Stable Are AI Citations? 10 Things We Learned Tracking 37,500 Citations, Ahrefs
- New OpenAI Signals Data Analysis Dashboard, JC Chouinard
- What AI Agents Actually Do on Websites (Study), Microsoft Clarity Blog
- Amazon CEO says shopping agents like Meta's Muse 'not great', Fortune
- An updated Model Spec for more capable and beneficial AI, OpenAI
- Why Sam Altman is against a single superintelligence, Cheeky Pint
- Write high-impact resume bullets using Gemini, Google Blog
- Edit and preview documents directly in Gemini, Google Blog
- What changed in ChatGPT in October: GPT-6, UTM tracking and sources, www.sistrix.com
Analytics
- GA4 Missed 66% Of One Retailer's Holiday Orders: Check Yours Before Peak Season, Search Engine Journal
- How to Install Tracklution Using Google Tag Manager (Step-by-Step GTM Setup Guide), MeasureU
- How We Made clarity.js 4.5% Smaller Without Sacrificing Compatibility, Microsoft Clarity Blog
Industry & Business
- Alphabet Earnings: Google Parent's Wobbly Quarter Is No Sign of a Crisis, Bloomberg
- Feds slap Google with rare lawsuit claiming tech giant refused to give Army reservist his old job back, NY Post
- Gemini education studies in UK and Italy, Google Blog
- Google may buy publishers time - they should use it to loosen tech giant's grip on them, Press Gazette
- Reddit shares sink on weak sales guidance and plans login requirement test as Google search traffic shrinks, CNBC
- Alphabet’s AI Risk Exposure Tops $1 Trillion, Quarterly Filing Reveals, Bloomberg
- Google Starved Out Publishers With AI Search. Now, Its Pivot Is Blowing Up in Its Face., Futurism
- Alphabet shares tumble in $500bn rout, Financial Times (Sub)
- Finnish police launch probe over Google data center site, Courthouse News Service
- Is AI Killing Google's Golden Goose?, The Motley Fool
Links & Content Marketing
- Audience Research Drives Siemens' Content Strategy Shift, Content Marketing Institute
Local & Maps
- EP 280- Why Google Deletes 2% of Reviews, Siri Search, Google’s New In-Stock Check & Its Ad Revenue Miss, Near Media
- Everyone defaults to Google Maps, but Apple Maps won me over in the car, Make Use Of
- Google Maps update now shows the Fall colors [Video], 9To5Google
- How I use Google Maps to spot red flags and avoid wasted trips, Android Police
- Moving from the Google Earth desktop app to the web: What's happening and when, Google Maps Platform
- TikTok is going after Yelp and Google Maps with an in-app restaurant guide, The Verge
Other Search
- Gemini Notebook adds hundreds of textbooks, Google Blog
- Celebrate Halloween with these tricks in Google Photos., Google Blog
- Latest Gemini design comes to all Android devices, more, 9To5Google
- Google Home update rolling out with Nest Cam, Matter, energy-saving improvements & fixes, 9To5Google
- The latest Google Home update goes way beyond Gemini and fixes your Nest gear too, Android Police
PPC
- The Ultimate Guide to PPC Acronyms, PPC Hero
- Google AI Mode Ads Are Coming to the UK: 7 Things Advertisers Should Do Now, Koozai
Search Features
SEO
- How the Same 16,000 Users Behave in AI Search vs. Google, iPullRank
- How To Analyze Server Logs for AI Search, Moz
- Reddit’s CEO says Google’s AI Mode ‘does not drive traffic’, The Verge
Feedback:
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