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.
OpenAI launched shopping research in ChatGPT. Google Ads accounts are being hijacked and it seems Google is not able to do much about it. Google Local Service Ads is testing removing the more listings button. Google expanded the what to know to core search for product details. Google is reinstating suspended hotel listings.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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Google Ads Account Hijacks On The Rise?
Can you imagine you manage hundreds of clients in your Google Ads Manager Accounts (MCC) gets hijacked. Or your Google Account and your ad campaigns gets hijacked due to an MCC hijack? Well, this stuff happens and it can be incredibly scary and painful. -
Shopping Research Assistant In ChatGPT
OpenAI announced shopping research within ChatGPT, "a new experience in ChatGPT that does the research for you to help you find the right products," as OpenAI put it. This is clearly OpenAI's response to Google's AI Mode and Gemini 3 shopping experiences. -
Google Expands What To Know In Web Search Products Summary Bar
Google is now showing the "What to know" section within web search, not just AI Mode, within the product summary bar on the right side. This shows up when you click on a product. -
Google Local Service Ads Tests Removing More Results Button
Google is testing removing the "more" results button for Local Service Ads within the web search results. Instead, you are given the option to expand the results to 8 in total but not click through to see more LSA listings. -
Google Hotel Center Is Reinstating Suspended Hotels
Google announced that it will be reinstating the suspended hotels in Hotel Center and removing the Suspended Hotels" tab in the "Properties" page of your Hotel Center account. -
Google Gemini Winter Logo Plaque
I think this might be a Google Gemini logo on a stand, with a winter theme built into it. I found this in a photo on Instagram from the Google office in Mexico. This was at some event there.
Other Great Search Threads:
- Testing “Your Custom Feed”, YouTube Community
- AI Max Performance is currently... poll, Thomas Eccel on LinkedIn
- Product listing in Gemini (https://t.co/2qqflbh0yI on web and app on mobile) are now going live - in the answers when Gemini 3 Pro Thinking is selected it shows the product listings, Gagan Ghotra on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Study finds major waste in Google Shopping ads on Black Friday
- Study: Why seasonality adjustments keep failing advertisers on Black Friday
- Google to auto-link YouTube channels and Google Ads accounts
- Google Performance Max gets direct video uploads
- ChatGPT adds more images to answers
- Google: SEM and SEO will need to coevolve with search since SEO is not dead
- SEO vs. PPC vs. AI: The visibility dilemma
- 3 GEO experiments you should try this year
- Google and Microsoft: How their Performance Max approaches align and diverge
Other Great Search Stories:
AI & LLMs
- Anthropic’s new Claude Opus 4.5 model is focused on improving AI agents but still faces cybersecurity concerns, The Verge
- Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Unveils the Genesis Mission to Accelerate AI for Scientific Discovery, The White House
- Going Global: Use Profound in Your Native Language, Profound
- Google’s Having the AI Build the UI in Latest Gemini Update, Bloomberg
- How Google Finally Leapfrogged Rivals With New Gemini Rollout, Wall Street Journal
- How Video Fuels AEO and Brand Visibility, Amsive
- Introducing Claude Opus 4.5, Anthropic
- Jony Ive and Sam Altman say they finally have an AI hardware prototype, The Verge
- Google Starts to Bridge OpenAI's Product Moat, Spyglass
Analytics
- Rethinking Measurement: Smarter Data, Attribution, and AI | Arnout Hellemans, Advanced Web Ranking
Industry & Business
- A Research Leader Behind ChatGPT’s Mental Health Work Is Leaving OpenAI, Wired
- Amazon to spend up to $50 billion on AI services for U.S. government, CNBC
- Google Calls Rumble's Recusal Bid Irrelevant To Its Appeal, Law360
- Google Further Encroaches on Nvidia’s Turf With New AI Chip Push, The Information
- OpenAI temporarily blocked from using 'Cameo' after trademark lawsuit, CNBC
Links & Content Marketing
- Marketing's Human Future: 3 Rs for 2026 Success, Content Marketing Institute
- Optimize your website ads for the holidays with Google AdSense, Wix SEO Hub
Local & Maps
SEO
- 21 Things SEOs Are Thankful For This Thanksgiving, Bill Hartzer
- Beyond Deletion: What ChatGPT’s Use of Hidden Wikipedia Pages Reveals About AI Reputation, Five Blocks
- Google’s odd blind spot: Mixing up Scottish government domains, ARGH
- How Google's Web Guide Helps SEO, Practical Ecommerce
- Selling AI search strategies to leadership is about risk, Growth Memo
PPC
- Google Merchant Center Feed Optimization Guide | Q4 & Holidays, Audiencekey
- How Google’s AI Overviews are accelerating change in paid search, Adthena
- Lead Quality: The Key to PPC Profitability, Hopskip Media
- Upcoming changes to targeting in Display & Video 360 API and Structured Data Files, Google Ads Developer Blog
Search Features
- Google Home AI Descriptions will skip generic motion-only events, 9to5Google
- Google prepares to scrub Assistant from even more settings, Android Authority
- Google quietly confirms when it's pulling the plug on Assistant, Android Police
Feedback:
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