This week, yep, we had another story on Google Search ranking volatility. I posted the Google webmaster report for January 2026. Google Discover seems to be showing too many posts from X. Google does personalize some AI Overviews and AI Mode responses. Tailwind CSS had to let go of 75% of its engineers after a 40% drop to its documentation because of AI Search and Google. Google Search Console may be missing links in its links report. Danny Sullivan said don’t turn your content into bite-sized chunks for LLMs. Danny Sullivan and John Mueller spoke about hiring an AEO/GEO and buying AI optimization tools. Google’s John Mueller talks about if you should invest in GEO. Google Merchant Center updated its multi-channel product rules. Google Vehicle Ads can now show call assets. Google Ads to allow ads for prediction markets. Google is hiring a Chief of Staff for Search Intelligence. Google is hiring an AI Answer search quality engineer. Microsoft is hiring a very senior product manager to fight spam on Bing and Copilot. Microsoft launched Copilot Checkout and Brand Agents. Microsoft is testing a larger Ask Copilot button and a redesigned Bing home page. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

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0:00 - Introduction

2:15 - Google Search Ranking Volatility January 6th With AdSense Earnings Drops

2:56 - January 2026 Google Webmaster Report

3:30 - Google Discover Show X Posts Too Often?

4:00 - Google Personalizing Some AI Overviews & AI Mode Answers

5:03 - Tailwind CSS Lets Go 75% Of Engineers After 40% Traffic Drop From Google

6:33 - Google Search Console Links Report Missing Data?

7:03 - Google: Don't Turn Your Content Into Bite-Sized Chunks

7:42 - Google Talks On Hiring A GEO/AEO/SEO & Buying AI-Optimization Tools

8:32 - Google's John Mueller Answers If You Should Invest In GEO

9:08 - Google Merchant Center Updates Multi-Channel Products Rules

9:37 - Google Vehicle Ads Gains Call Assets

9:55 - Google Ads To Allow Ads For Prediction Markets

10:26 - Google Hiring Search Intelligence Chief of Staff

10:50 - Google Hiring AI Answers & Search Quality Software Engineer

11:10 - Microsoft Hiring Very Senior PM To Fight Spam On Bing & Copilot

11:36 - Microsoft Agents: Copilot Checkout & Brand Agents

12:06 - Microsoft Tests Larger Ask Copilot Button On Bing Home Page

12:17 - Microsoft Bing Tests New Home Page Design Promoting Copilot

12:26 - Conclusion

Today we covered how the creator of Tailwind CSS said he laid off 75% of his engineering team because traffic to his docs is down 40% due to AI Search.  Google’s John Mueller talked about if you should invest in GEO.  Google Ads vehicle ads seem to support call assets. And now Microsoft is going agentic with Copilot Checkout and Brand Agents.

0:00 - Introduction

1:03 - Tailwind CSS hit by Google AI traffic challenges

5:50 - Google’s John Mueller on investing in GEO

6:51 - Google Vehicle Ads support call assets

7:44 - Microsoft Copilot Checkout and Brand Agents

10:35 - Conclusion

A daily recap video summarizing a few of the top search marketing headlines covered at the Search Engine Roundtable.

This recap is called It's New - A quick, daily dose of the latest in SEO with Anu Adegbola of Search Engine Land and Greg Finn of Cypress North (and Marketing O’Clock) and Barry Schwartz.

Today we covered that Google does personalize some of its AI experiences. Google search ranking volatility causes AdSense revenue drops. Google Merchant Center multi-channel product updates. And Google is hiring a Chief of Staff for Search Intelligence. 

0:00 - Introduction

0:55 - Google personalizing AI answers

4:12 - Google volatility with AdSense drops

4:42 - Google Merchant Center multichannel product update

6:16 - Google hiring Chief of Staff for Search Intelligence

8:15 - Conclusion

A daily recap video summarizing a few of the top search marketing headlines covered at the Search Engine Roundtable.

This recap is called It's New - A quick, daily dose of the latest in SEO with Anu Adegbola of Search Engine Land and Greg Finn of Cypress North (and Marketing O’Clock) and Barry Schwartz.

Today we covered that Google is hiring a software engineer for AI Answer quality.  Bing is testing a new home page to promote Copilot. Google Ads has this gift card scam. Reddit has a new AI media buying tool.

0:00 - Introduction

1:32 - Google AI Answer quality engineer

3:26 - Bing testing new home page design

5:21 - Google Ads Gift card scams

7:28 - Reddit new AI media buying tool

9:22 - NYC congestion pricing

11:20 - Conclusion

A daily recap video summarizing a few of the top search marketing headlines covered at the Search Engine Roundtable.

This recap is called It's New - A quick, daily dose of the latest in SEO with Anu Adegbola of Search Engine Land and Greg Finn of Cypress North (and Marketing O’Clock) and Barry Schwartz.

Today we covered how Google Discover seems to be overloaded with posts from X.  News publishers continue to see declines in Google.  Google Ads tests new Go to button in change history.  Google Ads creator partnership enhanced with creator search and management hub.

0:00 - Introduction

0:36 - Google Discover with too much X

2:24 - News sites hit hard by Google core update

4:33 - Google Ads change history report with Go to button

5:48 - Google Ads creator partnerships enhanced with creator search and management hub

6:42 - Conclusion

A daily recap video summarizing a few of the top search marketing headlines covered at the Search Engine Roundtable.

This recap is called It's New - A quick, daily dose of the latest in SEO with Anu Adegbola of Search Engine Land and Greg Finn of Cypress North (and Marketing O’Clock) and Barry Schwartz.

Google completed the December 2025 core update this week and it hit some news publishers incredibly hard. I posted the annual Google algorithm update infographic. Google’s Frankenstein AI-recipes are a complete horror. Google questioned the need for ccTLDs for international SEO. Do not create multiple Business Profiles for each department listing on Google. Google AI Overviews is testing speaker icons in the US. Chrome is testing replacing the Gemini button with alternatives. Bing is testing expanding the people also ask on click. Microsoft Advertising added custom columns for advanced reporting and also added an all accounts tab. I posted the top contributors and the most commented on stories of 2025 to the Search Engine Roundtable. Google’s New Year’s Eve Doodle was still live on New Year’s Day. John Mueller and other Googlers were out there on New Year’s Day supporting SEOs. John Mueller posted his annual Mueller report of SEO memes. And sadly, we lost an experienced and friendly SEO, Andy Drinkwater. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

Sponsor: BruceClay one of the founding fathers of the SEO space, doing search marketing optimization since 1996. Bruce Clay is big into SEO training, check out seotraining.com to learn more and check them out at bruceclay.com. Also, check out their new product, Prewriter.ai - this tool empowers writers to write better and more efficiently, so check it out.

0:00 - Introduction

0:58 - Google December 2025 Core Update Has Finished Rolling Out

2:03 - Some News Publishers Saw Big Declines With The Google Core Update

2:43 - Google Algorithm Updates 2025 Infographics

3:27 - Google's AI Frankenstein Recipes Are A Horror

4:35 - Google Questions Need For ccTLDs For Some International Websites

5:16 - John Mueller (Personally) On If Schema Helps With LLMs & Google

5:52 - Google: Why 404s Don't Matter For SEO

6:05 - Google Search Tests Blue Send Button In Query Box

6:23 - Google AI Overviews Tests Speaker Play Button In US

6:44 - Google Chrome Tests Replacing Gemini Button With Browse With AI Button

7:10 - Bing Tests Expanding People Also Ask

7:26 - Microsoft Advertising Adds Custom Columns For Advanced Reporting

7:42 - Microsoft Advertising With All Accounts Tab

7:58 - Top Contributors To The Search Engine Roundtable In 2025

8:40 - Most Commented Search Engine Roundtable Articles - 2025 Edition

9:00 - Google Displays New Year's Eve Doodle On New Year's Day

9:50 - (John) Mueller Report Of SEO Memes (2025 Edition)

10:08 - Google's John Mueller Working On New Year's Day (2026 Edition)

10:38 - The Industry Mourns The Loss Of Andy Drinkwater - Experience & Friendly SEO

11:02 - Conclusion 

Today we did a year end happy new years special. We recap some of the biggest stories, contributors and more for the new year.  We also cover a new Google help document for soliciting reviews.  Google Ads search term report with quick selection.

0:00 - Introduction

0:52 - We do a recap on our new years recap posts

4:43 - Google help document for soliciting reviews

6:32 - Google Ads search term report with quick selection

9:18 - Conclusion

A daily recap video summarizing a few of the top search marketing headlines covered at the Search Engine Roundtable.

This recap is called It's New - A quick, daily dose of the latest in SEO with Anu Adegbola of Search Engine Land and Greg Finn of Cypress North (and Marketing O’Clock) and Barry Schwartz.

Today we covered how Google’s AI-generated recipes, aka Frankenstein recipes, are a horror to recipe bloggers and the internet. We also covered the Google core update completing.

0:00 - Introduction

0:41 - Googl’s horrible AI-Frankenstein recipes

8:57 - Google December core update finishing

9:43 - Conclusion

A daily recap video summarizing a few of the top search marketing headlines covered at the Search Engine Roundtable.

This recap is called It's New - A quick, daily dose of the latest in SEO with Anu Adegbola of Search Engine Land and Greg Finn of Cypress North (and Marketing O’Clock) and Barry Schwartz.

Today we covered how Google’s John Mueller questioned the need for ccTLDs for international SEO purposes. He also called some SEO content “digital mulch.” Microsoft Advertising added custom columns to the user interface. Google is testing a speaker icon on AI Overviews and Chrome tests Browse with AI instead of Gemini button.

0:00 - Introduction

1:20 - Google on ccTLDs for international SEO

3:24 - Google calls some SEO content digital mulch

5:02 - Microsoft Advertising adds custom columns

7:49 - Google AI Overviews with speaker icon

8:49 - Google Chrome tests new Gemini button 

10:06 - Conclusion

A daily recap video summarizing a few of the top search marketing headlines covered at the Search Engine Roundtable.

This recap is called It's New - A quick, daily dose of the latest in SEO with Anu Adegbola of Search Engine Land and Greg Finn of Cypress North (and Marketing O’Clock) and Barry Schwartz.

This week in search, we covered an update on the Google December 2025 core update. Google Search traffic to news publishers continues to vanish, but there is Google Discover. A report shows Google has deleted a ton of local reviews in 2025. Bing posted an excellent blog post on duplicate and similar content and how it impacts SEO and AI Search. Google said make sure to pick a reasonable site name to rank for. Google expanded ads in AI Overviews in more countries. Google Ads MCC accounts now see channel performance reporting. Google Ads dropped the active visitors to 100, from 1,000 for the Search Network. Google Ads has a bug with dynamic remarketing tracking. Google Ads Advisor suggestions are showing in the Google Ads reporting. Google Ads added Maps to the channel options for Demand Gen. Google is testing a learn more link after the Google Ads text. ChatGPT ads are coming and it might be prioritizing sponsored content in the AI responses. Google Discover notifications are sneaky and take you to AI Mode. Google Search bar is teasing AI responses in Chrome. Google pushes the timeline for Gemini to replace the Google Assistant. Google sued SerpApi last Friday for scraping its search results. Google Search forgot to hang the holiday decorations. John Mueller from Google provided support on Christmas day for the 18th year in a row. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

SPONSOR: This week's video recap is sponsored by Duda, the Professional Website Builder You Can Call Your Own.