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.
We are starting to see big movement from the Google December 2025 core update. Google won't be pre-announcing core updates, despite what they told us in the past. Google is testing real estate property listings in the search results. Google is changing the Q&A feature with the new Ask button in Google Maps. Google Search Live conservational experience is more fluid thanks to Gemini. Bing is testing a more organic search results button.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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Google December 2025 Core Update Intense Impact Early
Google announced the Google December 2025 core update on Thursday afternoon, December 11th, and it already has a significant impact on Google Search results. The most noticeable day of the impact was Saturday, December 13th, but there are plenty of signs it started to hit hard on Friday, December 12th. -
Google: Pre-Announcing Google Core Updates Isn't Possible
Google's John Mueller said that it is impossible for Google to pre-announce quality improvements to Google Search, including core updates. He said, "having quality changes ready for a specific date/time is never a given, and pre-announcing for a fixed date isn't possible." -
Bing Tests See More Search Results Button
Microsoft is testing a "see more" button in the Bing Search results, which, when you click on it, loads more search results in the middle section. -
Google Tests Property Listings In Search Results
Google is testing showing full detailed property sale listings within the Google Search results. This is getting a lot of interest from those in the real estate business. -
Google Removing Q&A Feature In Google Maps For AI-Powered Ask Button
Google confirmed it is essentially removing the Q&A feature within Google Maps, and instead, searchers can use the new AI-powered Ask button on a Google Business Profile to get the answers they are looking for. -
Google Search Live Gets Conversational Language Upgrade With Gemini
On Friday, Google announced a number of updates around translation, language, audio, voice interactions and thus Search Live. Google said it released a more "fluid and expressive conversations when you go Live with Search." -
Video: Google Nap Room
We have seen plenty of sleeping areas and nap areas at Google's offices. Well, here is a video of one of the nap rooms at a Google office.
Other Great Search Threads:
- Google's Hanukkah menorah is live but not the decorations yet. Chanukah is this coming Sunday night., Barry Schwartz on X
- Interesting on Google Discover: YouTube videos embedded on Google. You don't leave the Discover app, and you get a header with the publisher's name in addition to the YouTube video's iframe. Furthermore, there's also an "Exp, Damien (andell) on X
- Beyond excited about @MSFTAdvertising Audience ads bringing even more control to where ads serve! Make informed decisions about where you want your display, native, and videos ads to serve on our premium inventory, Microsoft Ads Buddy on X
- Google has release THREE new Built-in Variables (can't remember the last time this happened!)., Simo Ahava on LinkedIn
- Really interesting, and this will please the publisher on Google Discover. Google Discover is testing X cards (Twitter), but they link to the original article instead of the X post. Here's the post extracted by Google, Damien (andell) on X
- the less it thinks of that page in terms of quality Quality is just one aspect. It also depends on, for example, page change rate. You can have the highest quality page, say, your ToS, and Googlebot will (hopefully?) rarely revisit it... because why woul, Gary Illyes on LinkedIn
- Tired finding same issues on photography websites, Reddit
- Making this kind of content well (and the rest of the site) is often a lot of work, it can become hard to justify doing it as an unpaid hobby -- hence the monetization. The SEO comes from there being a lot of competition. I agree many go overboard, but mo, John Mueller on Bluesky
- This GA4 issue was escalated to Google via this Product Expert in forums and on 10th Nov communication from Google was - they have identified the cause and prepar, Gagan Ghotra on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Sophie Fell talks why double-checking campaign settings matters
- Doctor: Google’s AI Overview made up career-damaging claims about me
- The latest jobs in search marketing
- Google Ads quietly unlocks Merchant Center videos for Performance Max
- What 15 years in enterprise SEO taught me about people, power, and progress
- The AI gold rush is over: Why AI’s next era belongs to orchestrators
- What Black Friday reveals about how LLMs understand ecommerce
- How breakthrough TV ads trigger search spikes and conversions
- Search Engine Land celebrates its 19th birthday
Other Great Search Stories:
AI & LLMs
- Ten years, OpenAI
- AI ChatGPT holiday shopping drives sales, Walmart, Target join in, CNBC
- AI Leaders Eye New Breakthrough to Build More Powerful Models, Bloomberg
- AI Mode, Content & Search Index, DEJAN
- Google AI Search Update: Completely New Grounding Format, DEJAN
- How user prompts shape your content visibility in AI search., DEJAN
- Microsoft’s Mustafa Suleyman: ‘AI Is Already Superhuman’, Bloomberg
- Oops– a hypo: AI conversion promises using unverifiable data, Not A Robot
- How AI Broke Search Trust and What Google Is Doing About It (Maybe), I Love SEO
Analytics
- I Set Up Google Analytics 4 on Many Websites, Here’s What 90% of Business Owners Get Wrong., DataDrivenInvestor
Industry & Business
- Trump signs order aimed at curbing state AI laws, Reuters
- Google to build subsea cables in Papua New Guinea under Australia defence treaty, Reuters
- Google’s Willow quantum processor will power cutting-edge UK research through the NQCC., Google Blog
- Two Approaches to Saving The Web. Only One Works., John Battelle's Searchblog
- North Weald Airfield Google data centre is approved, BBC
- OpenAI Ends ‘Vesting Cliff’ for New Employees in Compensation-Policy Change, Wall Street Journal
Links & Content Marketing
- A CFO Reveals What Finance Really Wants From Marketing, Content Marketing Institute
Local & Maps
- Is Google's AI Calling Your Business? My Experience with AI Price-Checking for a Haircut, Sterling Sky
- 2025 Changed Everything in Local Search: Key Takeaways From Google’s Restaurant Influencer Event and the Road Ahead for 2026, Claudia Tomina on LinkedIn
SEO
- Google December 2025 Core Update – Information and Analysis, SISTRIX
- Level Up Your SEO Strategy with a Product Mindset, Moz
- Red Flags Your SEO Agency Is Wasting Your Money, Nikki Pilkington
- Reverse (Over-) Engineering Is a Hamster Wheel in Reverse | Notes on Search | mob!, MoB
- SEO - Hire In-house Or Outsource To An SEO Consultant?, Nikki Pilkington
- Top Brand Visibility Factors in ChatGPT, AI Mode, and AI Overviews (75k Brands Studied), Ahrefs
- How to Use Schema Markup Wisely in the AI-SEO Era, Audiencekey
- Stop Guessing Which Prompts to Track: Use Your GSC Data to Discover Where You're Already Visible in AI Search, Metehan
- The Fake ‘GEO’ Movement: How SEO Disinfo Campaigns Target Creators, Edward Sturm on YouTube
- Who Benefits When the Line Between SEO and GEO Is Blurred, Duane Forrester Decodes
PPC
- Future of LLM & AI Chatbot Ads, Brainlabs
- US state regulations messages update for Privacy & messaging, Google AdSense Help
- Google Ads Updates Dismiss Pop-Up for AI Max Recommendation, PPC News Feed
Search Features
- Gemini native audio model comes to Search Live, Google Blog
- Google Translate gets new Gemini AI translation models, Google Blog
- Google's Browser Of The Future Is Here: The Unique Web App You Need, When You Need It, BGR
- Google Enters the Portal Wars, Mike DelPrete
- How to Trigger the Secret 6-7 Trend Easter Egg on Google Search, Yahoo
- Kindle’s New AI Feature Can Answer Questions About Your Books (Whether Authors Want It or Not), PC Magazine
Other Search
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