This week, we covered the first impact felt by the Google September 2026 spam update. And then on Wednesday and Thursday we had the second impact of this spam update. Remember the AI contribution report, well, a report says Google is paying about a 100 publishers and it comes out to about 0.1% of their ad revenue. Google is now returning AI Overviews for brand queries and also team rosters. Google’s Nick Fox sad he feels sad and terrible but why. Google has appealed the EU DMA mandate to share its search data. Penske’s lawsuit against Google’s AI Overviews was dismissed. Google AI Overviews is testing citations at the bottom, not right side. Google is testing replacing the Show more button with Loading. Google rolled out AI Mode’s monitoring capabilities in AI Mode. I posted the monthly Google Webmaster report. Google Maps requires you to sign in to see all reviews. Google Maps has a bug placing some businesses in the middle of the ocean. Google Business Profiles has a new policy on misuse of support channels. Google Local Service Ads has a but where it serves advertisers in locations they do not service. Google Local Service Ads hide the phone number and then later show it. Google is testing a sponsored products grid that looks organic. Microsoft Advertising rolled out optimization experiments globally. Bing is testing sponsored ad with one-line consumer reviews. OpenAI released a number of new ChatGPT Ads updates. Google is testing dropping the I’m Feeling Lucky button. Google celebrated its 28th birthday this past weekend. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.
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Search Topics of Discussion:
- 0:00 - Introduction
- 1:32 - Google September 2026 Spam Update Has Big Weekend Impact
- 2:12 - Phase Two Of The Google September 2026 Spam Update Hits On 9/30
- 3:22 - Google Paying ~100 Publishers 0.1% Of Ad Revenue In AI Contribution Pilot
- 4:19 - Google AI Overviews Return For Many Large Brand Names
- 5:11 - Google's Nick Fox Feels Sad & Terrible For European Searchers After DMA
- 6:45 - Google Appeals Europe's DMA Mandate To Share Search History Data
- 7:11 - Google AI Overview Lawsuit Dismissed Over No Agreement With Publishers
- 8:12 - Google AI Overviews Testing Citations Cards At Bottom (Not Right Side) Again
- 8:34 - Google Tests Replacing Show More Button On AI Overviews With Loading...
- 8:55 - Google Globally Rolls Out Monitoring Capabilities In AI Mode
- 9:21 - October 2026 Google Webmaster Report
- 9:34 - Google Maps Now Requires Sign In To Read All Reviews & More
- 10:18 - Google Maps Bug Places Map Pins In Middle Of Ocean
- 10:39 - Google Business Profiles Policies Adds Misuse Of Support Channels
- 10:53 - Google Local Service Ads Bug Serving Wrong Locations
- 11:20 - Google Local Service Ads Hiding Phone Number By Default
- 11:39 - Google Tests Sponsored Products Grid That Looks Like The Organic Product Grid
- 11:59 - Microsoft Advertising Optimization Experiments Now Generally Available
- 12:17 - Bing Sponsored Ads With One-Line Consumer Review Extension
- 12:37 - OpenAI ChatGPT Ads Gains Bulk Product Creation, Product Review Status & More
- 12:58 - Google Tests Dropping I'm Feeling Lucky Button From Search Bar
- 13:18 - Google's 28th Birthday Doodle Takes You To Google AI Mode Quiz
- 13:34 - Conclusion
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