Global: Google Search Console AI Performance Report & AI Control
For real this time, Google has released the Google Search Console generative AI performance reports and Search generative AI controls to everyone globally. This follows a slow rollout that began in the first week of June and expanded access to the fea…
Google Ads AI-Generated From The Store Rating Reviews Label
Google Ads has been testing AI-generated snippets and summaries in the sponsored results within Google Search for some time. But now Google is labeling a new section named “What customers love” as “AI-generated from the store rating reviews.”
Google tests new memory popup in AI Mode
Google is now testing a new popup at the bottom of AI Mode: “Get more tailored responses. Ask AI Mode to remember things about you for more helpful responses.” A “Learn more” blue link accompanies it, which redirects to a Google support documentation page when clicked. Google continues testing new things within AI Mode related […]
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Google Ads Performance Max Help Docs Updated
On Friday, Google pushed out a pretty big overhaul of the Performance Max documentation within the Google Ads support area. I’ve been waiting to compare the old and new documents, but the Wayback Machine has been down for about a week now.
Google: Verifying Your Request To Continue To Search Results
In early August, Google was testing requiring searchers to sign in to verify they are humans to continue to see search results. Now, Google is testing a similar feature without requiring you to sign in, but instead, Google is asking you to click a “Con…
Google Ads AI Max Keyword Prioritization For Exact Match
Google Ads added a new paragraph to the AI Max help documentation for AI Max keyword prioritization.” It explains that when “disabling the broad match campaign setting or moving to AI Max, broad keywords are not treated as exact match keywords in prior…
September 2026 Google Webmaster Report
It is time for the monthly Google webmaster report, where I recap the larger stories from the past month, specifically related to Google SEO, search, and webmaster/site owner topics…
Google Discover Not Loading Or Loading Slowly
Google Discover has been having issues for the past hour or so. Some are reporting that Discover won’t load articles, some are reporting that Discover is loading but only after a long waiting period. It seems Google Discover is having stability issues…
Why the EU now regulates ChatGPT as a search engine
The decision does not declare ChatGPT a Google-sized search competitor. It places OpenAI’s search features under the EU’s toughest tier of platform oversight.
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What’s new in Yoast SEO 28.4: find, fix, and generate at scale
The Yoast SEO Bulk Editor already helps you update titles, meta descriptions, and focus keyphrases across your whole site, filter by content type, and let Yoast AI draft metadata you approve before it saves. This update builds on that: it’s now easier to spot exactly which posts need attention, catch AI suggestions that need a […]
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Bing tests removing site names from search results
Bing is testing the removal of site names from its search results. Instead, it’s just showing favicons followed by website URLs with breadcrumbs. This reminds us of a similar test Google ran back in May 2025, where Google also removed website names and showed just the URL instead. Here is a screenshot of how it […]
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Google answers whether old backlinks to hijacked domains hurt rankings
Google’s John Mueller replied on Reddit to a user asking whether Google would penalize a website for old outbound links pointing to a site that once hosted good-quality content but has since changed ownership and now hosts shady content. Here’s the user’s question on Reddit: “So the question is, how does Google treat OLD backlinks […]
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Google search operators I still use after 20 years as a publisher
I have spent more than 20 years building and running publishing websites that live or die by search. For much of that time, Google itself was one of my SEO tools. Before dashboards became the default answer to every question, I would use site: to look through an unwieldy archive, put a sentence in quotation […]
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Google: We Don’t Penalize For Old Outbound Links With Shady Content
Google’s John Mueller was asked if Google would penalize a site for old outbound links to a site that once hosted quality content and now changed ownership and hosts shady content. John said Google won’t penalize such links; he said “no” and added, “t…
Google European Search Dataset Licensing Program Details
Google has updated its Google European Search Dataset Licensing Program page with details on the program. Google has been designated as a “gatekeeper” under the DMA and is thus legally required to share its search data with competing search engines to…
ChatGPT is down: millions of users facing error codes as OpenAI scrambles for a fix
Yes, it’s not just you. ChatGPT is experiencing a major global outage, leaving thousands of users unable to send prompts or load conversations. Reports spiked with users experiencing elevated error rates across both the web interface and mobile applications. OpenAI’s Official Status Page confirmed that ChatGPT Plus subscribers are particularly impacted, as the platform’s […]
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Daily Search Forum Recap: August 31, 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 Search is making AI Overviews fully expanded for some queries, making it more like AI Mode and pus…
Bing tests sponsored results within its Copilot results
Bing is now testing sponsored results within its AI Overview/Copilot results. This is the first time we’ve seen sponsored results appear directly within Bing’s Copilot results. Adding sponsored results to an AI Overview could be a meaningful step for Bing’s monetization strategy. When Google first launched its own AI Overview, it initially showed just the […]
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Microsoft Advertising New Updated Design Preview
Microsoft Advertising is previewing a new design and usability update for its ad platform. This update has a redesigned navigation and improved tables and layouts. This update should make managing your ad campaigns more efficient and intuitive.
Google Merchant Center Popular Products Enhanced Coverage & Insights
Google posted a note that it has made enhancements to the Merchant Center’s Popular products reports. Specifically, the coverage and insights sections were improved back in June of this year, but Google just posted about this information on this past F…