September 2025 Google Webmaster Report
We finally had a confirmed Google Search update this past month, the August 2025 spam update, which seems pretty intense and it is not done rolling out yet.
New Google Ads Checkboxes To Filter Campaigns
Google Ads has reportedly added new checkboxes to the selector view within the Google Ads overviews of your campaigns. This lets you use the checkboxes, select the campaigns you want, so you can filter the view to only show those campaigns.
Google Ads AI Max Not Designed To Go More Aggressively After SPN Inventory
Ginny Marvin, Google’s Ads Liaison, responded to some data that suggests that AI Max is expansionary on SPN, the Search Partner Network. That using AI Max will more heavily target and show your ads on SPN more than other campaign types.
Google Ads Search Google Maps For Location Assets
Google Ads now lets you search Google Maps for setting up your location assets for your ad campaigns. You can select up to 10 locations from Google Maps to link with your Ads account
Google Search Mini Game Encourages Searchers To Search More
Google Search is testing a new game in its search results to encourage searchers to search more. It is likely called the Google Search mini-game and it rewards searchers with badges when they “dive deeper into topics.”
Microsoft Advertising: Here’s Why Your Bid May Be Over The Max CPC
Navah Hopkins, the Microsoft Ads Liaison, posted on LinkedIn a bit of a refresher on how CPCs work with search ads and Microsoft Advertising. Specifically, why your bid may be over the configured max CPC you set within the platform.
Google Tests AI Overview With Knowledge Panel
Google may be testing a new format for AI Overviews in the search results. This one does not have the AI Overview label on the AI Overview, plus it seems to combine knowledge panel features.
Google: Crawl Changes Are Independent Of Big Google Updates
Google’s John Mueller was asked again if a change in crawling patterns is related to Google algorithm updates. In which he said again, No, it is not.
Danny Sullivan At WordCamp On How Google Search Keeps Evolving
Danny Sullivan, the former Google Search Liaison, spoke at WordCamp on Friday on the topic of How and why Google Search keeps evolving. The video is up for anyone to watch, it is 45 minutes and doesn’t have much new in it but it is a good refresher.
Google AI Mode Model Updated – Improvements For STEM Queries
Google has supposedly updated the models that run AI Mode. Robby Stein from Google wrote on X, “We’re seeing big improvements for complex STEM questions.”
Google AI Mode Compare Checkboxes For Products & Local Business Listings
Google now has the ability within AI Mode to compare listed products or local businesses by selecting the listing and having AI Mode compare the ones you selected. Then AI Mode will just compare the ones you selected in the follow-up query.
Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Spam Update, AI Mode Changes, ChatGPT Does Use Google, Search Ad News & More
This week we had our first Google spam update in 8 months, the August 2025 spam update. This update touched down very quickly, likely within 24 hours. I also posted a Google search ranking volatility status report. Google is…
Google August 2025 Spam Update Impact Felt Quickly
Often, but not always, when Google releases an algorithm update, we don’t see the impact for the first few days. However, with the August 2025 spam update, we are likely seeing the effect within 24 hours after it was announced.
Bing Webmaster Tools Sitemaps Index Coverage Button Missing For Some
Some SEOs are noticing that when you look at your sitemaps report in Bing Webmaster Tools, for some sitemaps, some are missing the Index Coverage button. I personally can see the same thing for some of the properties I have access to within Bing Webma…
Google Tests Rounded Search Results Snippet Design Again
Google is testing a rounded corner search result snippet card design again. We’ve seen this numerous times over the past decade or so and it seems to be back. The snippet sections are bordered in with rectangular outlines, and the corners of those rect…
Google NMX Business Profiles May Show New Profiles Button
Google may show a new “Profiles” button in the Google Business Profiles NMX dashboard. It may show if you manage multiple Google Business Profiles and you are in this test.
Google Search On JavaScript-Based Paywalls
Google has added new guidance to the “Fix Search-related JavaScript problems” help document, specifically addressing JavaScript-based paywalls.
Daily Search Forum Recap: August 28, 2025
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.
There are many sites noticing a huge crawl decline recently and we are not sure what the pattern is…
Bug: Google Search Console Performance Report Search Appearance Android App
There may be a new reporting bug in Google Search Console’s performance report specific to the Android App search appearance filter. It seems some are reporting that Google stopped showing impressions, clicks and other data related to that filter.
Microsoft Testing Tests Larger Titles For Ads In Bing Search
Microsoft Advertising is testing using larger font sizes for the sponsored ads in the Bing search results. This makes the sponsored results stand out just a bit more than the free/organic search results.