New Google Business Profiles Insights
Google seems to be testing a new Insights feature for Google Business Profiles. The new insights section shows you profile suggestions, like tips on getting more reviews, what to update on your profile and what information to share with your visitors -…
Google Adds Google NotebookLM To User-Triggered Fetchers
Google added Google NotebookLM to the list of Google crawlers, under the list of user-triggered fetchers. Google said they added this user-agent “based on feedback.”
United States DOJ v. Google LLC: Federal Antitrust Case 2020-2025 Summary
For the last few months, I’ve been down a rabbit hole. Like many of you in the SEO world, I’ve been obsessively tracking the bombshells that came out of the US Department of Justice’s antitrust trial against Google. It started with a …
Claude System Internals
Every time you chat with Claude, there’s a whole secret conversation happening that you never see. System prompts, token budgets, thinking blocks, and behavior rules shape every response. Here’s what’s really going on under the hood. Claude is literally told it gets “rewards” for following instructions. This is probably related to RLHF training. Following all […]
What Is ‘Goldmine’? Google’s Universal Quality Judge For SERPS
Google’s Goldmine system is a universal quality engine for SERP elements. It pits your title tag against your H1, body text & more. The winner is chosen by AI (BlockBERT) and real user clicks (NavBoost). Your tags are just one candidate in the rac…
Google Merchant Center Adds Google Wallet Promotion Option
Google has added a new promotion option to Google Merchant Center. The new option is Google Wallet. Google doesn’t detail what this promotion does but it likely lets you promote that you accept Google Wallet for purchases.
Bing Search With History Disclaimer
Microsoft is telling Bing Search users when it is using history for some of its search features. Bing will show section named “History” and then say what history is knows about your searches.
Google Tests More Publisher Friendly Recipe AI Overviews
Google is testing a new, more publisher-friendly version of the AI Overviews for recipe results. The new design has the recipe cards at the top, citations at the bottom and a shorter AI response.
Google AI Mode Links In Italics (Test)
Google is testing using the italic font type for the links in AI Mode. So the links have a bit of a slant to them, compared to the other text in the AI Mode response.
Bing Testing Updated Copilot Product Search Box
Microsoft is testing a new and updated layout for its Copilot product box/section within the Bing search results. It looks like they just swap the answer and product listing sections from one side to the other.
Bug: Double Publisher Name On Google Discover
Google had a bug in Google Discover that showed the publisher’s name and logo twice on a story. The publisher’s name showed once at the top and once at the bottom of the article card in the Google Discover feed.
Google Ask AI Mode Anything Explore Carousel
Google Search is testing a new carousel to promote AI Mode named “Ask AI Mode anything.” It gives you ideas on how to “Explore” new or related topics in AI Mode.
Google Merchant Center Lets You Use Your Own Brand In Short Title
Google updated the wording in the title documentation for Merchant Center, now suggesting you can use your own brand or company name in the short title of your products. That is, if you manufacture your own products.
Programming Note: Offline For Sukkot On Tuesday & Wednesday
This is a programming note that Tuesday and Wednesday are Sukkot and I will be offline the next two days. I will be offline on Tuesday and Wednesday, October 7th and October 8th.
Google Search Event Carousel Feature Goes Missing?
If you search for [events near me], Google may not show you any events near you. It seems like Google is not serving that events carousel right now. I suspect it is a bug and I wonder if this is related to the serving bug from Friday afternoon?
Test: Google AI Overviews Show More Button Jumps Into AI Mode
Google is testing having the “Show More” button within AI Overviews jump you directly into AI Mode as opposed to loading more of the AI Overview beneath it. This appears to be a test, as I am unable to replicate it.
Bing Places New Dashboard Rolling Out
As we reported earlier, Microsoft said a new Bing Places update is coming soon. Well, now it is rolling out to businesses in Bing Places for Business.
Google Tests AI Generated Search Snippet Descriptions
Google was previously testing placing AI-generated snippet summaries below each search result snippet. Now, Google is testing replacing the search result snippet’s description with its own AI-generated description.
Microsoft Advertising Ad Grant Program To Be Shut Down
Microsoft will be shutting down its Microsoft Advertising Ads for Social Impact ad grant program. It will officially be discontinued in December 2025.
Google Reveals Dates For Call Ads Going Away
A year ago, we learned that Google would transition from Google call ads, call-only ads, to using call assets within responsive search ads (RSAs) but we didn’t know the dates. Now, Google said this will happen in two phases: February 2026 and February …