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 updated its search documentation to state that it does smaller core updates more often without confirming them. Google Discover is now minimally aligned to search rankings, which seems like a change from earlier. Google Ads Advisor seems to be added to the Google Ads contact us support form. Google Shopping crawlers move too fast to consume dynamic JavaScript structured data. Bing is testing ad labels on the right of the ads.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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Google Updates Docs: We Do Smaller Core Updates Without Announcements
Google updated its core update documentation to say it does smaller core updates and does not announce those updates. This is not new; Google told us this back in 2019. What is new is... -
Google: Discover Minimally Aligned To Search Ranking
Google has told us that core updates impact visibility within Google Discover, but that may have changed at some point. Andy Almeida from the Google Trust and Safety spoke about Google Discover and one of his slides wrote, "Minimal alignment to Search ranking..." -
Google Ads Contact Us Support Tests Integrating Ads Advisor
Google is testing incorporating Ads Advisor into the contact us page for Google Ads support. Google was doing this for policy disapproval support requests as well. -
Google Shopping Crawlers Are Too Fast For JavaScript Generated Structured Data
14 months ago, Google updated its documentation around its shopping related structured data warning not to generate your structured data dynamically through JavaScript. Yesterday, at the Search Central Live event... -
Bing Search Ads Tests Ad Labels On Right
Microsoft is testing moving the ad labels in the Bing Search results from the left side of the ad to the right side of the ad. I am not sure which makes it harder to see the label or not but I assume Microsoft is testing this to see which will get more clicks. -
YouTube Panda Bear At Google France
Pandas can be scary, especially for any SEO who reads this site. But here is a Panda bear from the Google France office wearing a YouTube shirt. So all is good, right?
Other Great Search Threads:
- "Key ingredients" in recipe search feature taking to AI Mode, Gagan Ghotra on X
- AI sessions are more conversational and personalized than traditional search. ChatGPT prompts average 60 words, which are far longer than Google’s 3.4, reflecting how users add context and preferences for tailored responses., Similarweb on X
- Google Maps StreetView API + Nano Banana for making any location feel festive! Pictured below: the @Google offices in San Francisco (am now feeling serious FOMO RE: lack of twinkly lights and wreaths). And reall, Paige Bailey on X
- This week I'll be joining Microsoft Advertising/Microsoft AI PMMs for an off-site to brainstorm on how we can serve our customers better, innovate in more meaningful ways, and collaborate on cross-department initiatives., Navah Hopkins on LinkedIn
- Grokipedia is growing in Google Search. Now up to 650K urls indexed. And I'm seeing it rank in a number of knowledge panels (including for people). Very interesting. Will be interesting to follow., Glenn Gabe on X
- Ranking of leading Gen AI websites in the list of top-visited sites, November 2025: #5 ChatGPT (no change from October) #26 Gemini (+4) #91 DeepSeek (+1) #128 Grok (+27) #167 Perplexity (-26) #176 Claude (-11) #174 Character AI (+3), Similarweb on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Judge limits Google’s default search deals to one year
- Google denies ads are coming to Gemini in 2026
- Google Shopping Ads now show merchant location labels
- What is AI, actually, and how is it affecting SEO?
- Why LLM perception drift will be 2026’s key SEO metric
- OpenAI says ChatGPT ‘ads’ weren’t ads
Other Great Search Stories:
AI & LLMs
- China’s open-source AI is a national advantage, Financial Times (Sub)
- Sam Altman’s Sprint to Correct OpenAI’s Direction and Fend Off Google, Wall Street Journal
Industry & Business
- Google’s ‘TPU’ chip puts OpenAI on alert and shakes Nvidia investors, Financial Times (Sub)
- Neal Mohan: CEO of the Year 2025, TIME
- Semify Acquires Dragon Metrics to Accelerate Global AI Optimization Capabilities and Expand International Market Reach, Semify
- Monopoly Force Google - Back to Business as Usual - Stronger than Ever, Search Engine World
Links & Content Marketing
- 5 Content Marketing Ideas for January 2026, Practical Ecommerce
Local & Maps
SEO
- 10 ChatGPT SEO Tools That Help You Rank Higher, Ahrefs
- 2026 Winter Olympics: Nine ways to improve your search strategy, SEO For Journalism
- Bridging Information Retrieval and SEO Practice | Dawn Anderson BlockRank and Misinterpreting Academic Papers, Advanced Web Ranking
- How To Create SEO Images At Scale With Screaming Frog + Nano Banana Pro, Nectiv
- Predictions for Journalism 2026, Nieman
- SEO for AI Agents: The Next Frontier of Search Visibility, seoClarity
PPC
- Google Ads Highlights of 2025, Google Ads Help
- Google Tells Advertisers It’ll Bring Ads to Gemini in 2026, AdWeek
Search Features
- Gemini for Home working on some older Assistant speakers, 9to5Google
- Google details Gemini in Chrome’s agentic browsing security, 9to5Google
- Google Glass is now real with Android XR glasses in 2026, 9to5Google
- Google Says First AI Glasses With Gemini Will Arrive in 2026, Bloomberg
- Samsung Galaxy XR Gets Realistic Face-Tracked 'Likeness' Avatars, UploadVR
- You can buy your Instacart groceries without leaving ChatGPT, TechCrunch
Other Search
- Google and Apple partner on better Android-iPhone switching , 9to5Google
- Watch our Year in Search 2025 film now., Google Blog
Feedback:
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