Daily Search Forum Recap: August 12, 2026
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 has amended its lawsuit against SerpApi…
Google Ads New Local Customer Optimization Help Doc
With Google migrating Local Service Ads to the main Google Ads platform, Google is already preparing new Google Ads help documents with more details about the change. A new document named About Local customer optimization within Performance Max campai…
Google Amends Lawsuit Against SerpApi Over Licensed Content
After Google’s lawsuit against SerpAPI, the Google Search scraper tool, was dismissed a month ago, Google has decided to amend the complaint. Google filed the amendment on August 10, 2026 as an “Amended Complaint.” Google is now taking an approach arou…
Google AI Overview Local Results Pulling From Low-Quality Listicles
Google will randomly show AI Overviews for local results, and when it does, It will often show AI-generated information about each local listing. The issue is that Google often cites low-quality and self-promotional listicle articles from across the w…
Google Merchant Center Performance Reporting Update Coming August 24th
Google announced several new updates to the Merchant Center performance report, starting on August 24, 2026. There are four updates: separating YouTube affiliate results from organic traffic, updating the YouTube organic traffic definitions, expanding …
ChatGPT Ads With AI Descriptive Heading
OpenAI is testing placing descriptive headings above the ads within ChatGPT responses. I assume it is using AI to generate these headlines above the ChatGPT Ads.
Google tests replacing ‘Sponsored Store’ with ‘Featured Store’ in SERP
Google is testing a new heading for its sponsored store section, swapping “Sponsored” for “Featured Store,” with a new subheading that reads “Shop these top products.” This section itself isn’t new Google was testing it in the SERP last year, but it now appears Google is changing the heading used for it. Here is a […]
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Google confirms new homepage buttons pointing to AI Mode
This week, Google updated its homepage design with new buttons. We covered this change earlier, and now Google has confirmed the test directly. The new layout pushes users toward AI Mode and other AI features right from the homepage, with buttons for “Create images,” “Ask about files,” and “Brainstorm.” Here is the screenshot of this […]
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Is Google struggling to show favicons for sites in search results?
Google appears to be having trouble displaying favicons for websites in search results. We also noticed this issue last week for some sites. Brodie Clark raised this on the SERP Alerts page on X, flagging the favicon issue. Brodie wrote: “Heads-up: Google seems to be struggling to show favicons for a large number of sites […]
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15 best Linkedin alternatives in 2026
Linkedin is an amazing professional networks if you’re looking to expand your reach, find a new job or just learn stuff. I’ve been using it more and more in the last few months, trying to expand my networking reach. But I do understand the shortcomings that it might have, and why many people might be […]
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SE Ranking review (2026): Powerful, polished and no longer cheap
It’s time for my second review here at SEW, and I couldn’t be more excited. Today, I’m diving into SERanking and analyzing its features, just as I did in my SerpStat review, which I hope you enjoyed. First off, it’s important to mention that this isn’t a paid review nor have we been compensated to […]
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Google Ads Sponsored Results Tests Advertiser Name & Favicon Summary
Google is testing placing the list of advertisers in the group of sponsored results at the top of the ad block in the mobile search results. So if the sponsored results group has two advertisers in it, Google will show the favicon and domain name of th…
Google Travel Campaigns Migrating To Search Campaigns For Travel
Google will be migrating Travel campaigns to the new Search campaigns for Travel in Google Ads. This is happening sometime in the third quarter of 2026; we do not have a specific date.
Google Still Aggressively Poaching Agency Ads Accounts
I feel like a broken record and that Google simply does not care but again, I am seeing numerous reports from the PPC community about Google representatives attempting to poach their client accounts from them.
Google Ads & Google Analytics Gain New AI Features
Google announced a number of new AI features for Google Ads and Google Analytics aimed to “simplify your workflow and expedite your path to business growth,” as Google wrote. Specifically, there are new AI Overviews at the top of the pages, new AI data…
SEOs Taking Over Expired Google X Accounts
It looks like we are seeing some Googler accounts being taken over by sites that sell SEO services, or dare I say it, spammy or low-quality SEO services. Martin Splitt from Google let his X account go during the whole Twitter to X Elon thing and event…
Psychopaths Stella Huh + Christopher Angus & The “Folie à Deux” Betrayal (The Scorpion Splinter)
The repeated death threats, embezzlement, money laundering, tax evasion, bank fraud, wire fraud, computer intrusion, witness intimidation, robberies, etc. … are quite a crime wave committed by Stella Huh & Christopher Angus. What sort of prison s…
Google’s Generative AI report in Search Console now launched globally
Google’s Generative AI report in Search Console appears to be rolling out globally. This report launched in june, giving property owners visibility into which pages on their site are generating impressions specifically within Google’s generative AI features. As of today, opening Search Console brings up a pop-up pointing directly to this report. It reads: “Get […]
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Is Stella Huh a Master Manipulator?
were there parts of any of these documents where “the mistress” bragged about being a manipulator?
The provided documents and your uploaded chat screenshot reveal several specific moments where “the mistress” (Stella) explicitly bragged, taunted, or bo…
Did Sore Loser Stella Huh Need to Gloat About Being the Hacker?
Stella Huh accidentally outed herself as the hacker. After the birthday gift bomb call I jokingly bought a low priced online divorce package using the Apple Card, knowing Gio would get the purchase notification. I knew Stella would immediately gloat…