Search Engine Roundtable Podcast

Today we covered Google’s new guidance on how to optimize for generative AI answers. Google also updated its spam policies to note those policies apply to AI responses. Google Ads primary conversion actions not used for optimization may be used to enhance predictions. Google is moving offline conversion imports out of the Google Ads API. I asked the SEO community, pre-Google I/O, if Google AI Mode will replace Google Search - most say no.

0:00 - Introduction

1:17 - Google advice on how to optimize for AI answers

4:55 - Google spam policies apply to AI responses

5:29 - Google Ads primary conversion actions for enhanced predictions

9:50 - Offline conversions moving out of Google Ads API

11:05 - Google I/O Poll: AI Mode won’t replace Google Search

12:40 - 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, Mordy Oberstein of SE Ranking and Greg Finn of Cypress North (and Marketing O’Clock) and Barry Schwartz.

This week in search I covered, yep, heated Google search ranking volatility kicking in the middle of this week. Google updated its spam policies to say it also applies to Google’s AI responses in Search. Google Discover performance report is missing data from May 7th and May 8th. Google Search drops FAQ rich results from the search results completely. Bing Webmaster Tools does not distinguish between http and https. A new study says schema does not influence AI citations. Google Discover publisher pages are testing new links and featured posts. Google Ads teases new AI-powered dashboards. Google Ads search terms report shows the best approximation of a user’s intent. Google Ads posts a help document on site visits assets. Google Ads to automatically link your YouTube channels. Google Ads API version 24.1 is now out. Google Merchant Center tests Merchant Advisor. Google Merchant Center has new out-of-stock options. Google Merchant Center for Agencies is now globally available. Google Analytics has a new AI assistant traffic to track ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

This episode is brought to you by Yahoo Scout. Yahoo Scout is a new AI-powered answer engine that brings together AI summaries with something the search community cares about—real links to real sources, designed to be transparent. Built on Yahoo’s long history as a trusted guide to the internet, Yahoo Scout helps users get clear answers, with the ability to explore beyond. You can try it now at scout.com.

0:00 - Introduction

0:57 - Google Search Ranking Volatility Heated May 13th & 14th

1:53 - Google: Spam Policies Apply To AI Responses (AI Overviews & AI Mode)

2:36 - Google Discover Performance Report Missing Data May 7 & May 8

2:55 - Google Search Drops FAQ Rich Results In Search & Search Console

3:42 - PSA: Bing Webmaster Tools Does Not Distinguish Between http and https

4:12 - Study: Adding Schema Did Not Improve AI Citations On Google, ChatGPT & More

4:47 - Google Discover Publisher Pages To Get Links & Featured Posts

5:04 - Google Ads Teases New Dashboards Powered By Gemini

5:29 - Google Ads Search Terms Report Shows Best Approximation Of User's Intent

6:27 - Google Ads Posts Site Visits Assets Documentation

6:49 - Google Ads To Automatically Link YouTube Channels

7:14 - Google Ads API Version 24.1 Now Available

7:34 - Google Merchant Center Tests Merchant Advisor

8:05 - Google Merchant Center Gains More Out-of-Stock Options

8:27 - Google Merchant Center For Agencies Now Available Globally

8:42 - Google Analytics AI Assistant Traffic: Tracks ChatGPT, Gemini & Claude Traffic

9:15 - Conclusion

Today we covered the new Google search ranking volatility getting heated.  Google Analytics has a new AI assistant traffic that tracks popular AI engines like Gemini, ChatGPT and Claude.  Lily Ray wrote a great piece about the risks of using AI to scale your content.  Google vehicle ads now support ATVs and non-motorized vehicles. 

0:00 - Introduction

0:53 - Google search ranking volatility heats up

2:36 - Google Analytics new AI assistant traffic report

4:33 - AI content at scale risks

6:16 - Google vehicle ads supports ATVs and more

7:19 - 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, Mordy Oberstein of SE Ranking and Greg Finn of Cypress North (and Marketing O’Clock) and Barry Schwartz.

Today we covered the Google Discover performance report had a reporting bug between May 7 and May 8.   Google Ads teased new Gemini-powered dashboards. Google Ads search term report shows the best approximation of the user’s intent, not the keyword. Google is beta testing Merchant Advisor in Google Merchant Center. A study from Ahrefs says schema does not help you with placement in AI engines.

0:00 - Introduction

1:30 - Google Ads Gemini Dashboards

4:08 - Google Ads search term report best approximation of user’s intent

6:05 - Google Merchant Advisor (Beta)

7:29 - Google Discover performance report bug

8:11 - Study says schema doesn’t help with AI citations

9:53 - 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, Mordy Oberstein of SE Ranking and Greg Finn of Cypress North (and Marketing O’Clock) and Barry Schwartz.

Today we covered how Google opened Google Merchant Center for Agencies to all. Google Ads will automatically link to your YouTube account starting on June 10th. Bing Webmaster Tools does not support HTTP vs HTTPS individually.  Google is testing dark/light URLs in the search snippets.

0:00 - Introduction

0:52 - Google Merchant Center for Agencies globally available

2:30 - Google Ads will automatically link your YouTube channel

3:58 - Bing Webmaster Tools does not support HTTP vs HTTPS individually

5:00 - Google tests dark/light URLs in the search snippets

7:58 - 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, Mordy Oberstein of SE Ranking and Greg Finn of Cypress North (and Marketing O’Clock) and Barry Schwartz.

Today we covered that Google FAQ rich results are now gone from the Google search results fully.  Google may adjust the site reputation abuse penalty for EU news sites. Google AdSense won’t use the browser back button as an additional trigger when the search penalty goes live. Google Ads announced journey-aware bidding, smart bidding exploration, and budget pacing.

0:00 - Introduction

1:02 - Google drops FAQ rich results support

4:15 - Google may adjust site rep abuse for EU news sites 

7:35 - AdSense backs down on back button over search penalty 

9:45 - Google Ads journey-aware bidding, smart bidding exploration, budget pacing 

11:40 - 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, Mordy Oberstein of SE Ranking and Greg Finn of Cypress North (and Marketing O’Clock) and Barry Schwartz.

This week in search we covered more heated Google ranking volatility this morning, it seems big - so stay tuned. We also covered how Google spoke about how they try to isolate their AI systems because they tend to be a black box and hard to debug. Google improves links within AI Mode and AI Overviews. Google expands UCP-powered checkout to the mains search results. Google Search Console kind of fixed its 50 week data reporting bug. Google may have to adjust its site reputation abuse policy for EU news sites. Google AdSense will drop the back button trigger for vignette ads due to the upcoming search penalty. Google has a new way to authenticate bots named Web Bot Auth. Google is testing a “Fresh updates” label in the search results. Bing spoke about search indexing versus grounding indexing. Bing said its 1 billion monthly active users are humans, not bots. Google Ads to expand smart bidding exploration and budgeting pacing to Shopping campaigns. Google Ads will require passkeys for certain sensitive actions. Google Ads has a new use AI to add products feature. Google Ads AI Max content and title exclusions are going to the account level. Google Ads updated its data retention policy. Google Ads call recording will be on by default. OpenAI officially launched its ChatGPT Ad Manager tool. ChatGPT Ads click-through rates aren’t that bad. Google Business Profiles suspensions spike over user restrictions. Bing Places for Business is finally mobile friendly. Ask.com has shut down its search engine after almost 30 years. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

Sponsor: Ahrefs - Have you seen Ahrefs' new Agent A - a tool that gives you the reports and insights you need, right as you need them. Agent A lets you build your own reporting tools through this AI powered platform, and you don’t need to know any coding or data analysis information. So if you want to know which of my blog posts have the most untapped potential for more traffic, just ask it and it will use Ahrefs’ deep integration and powerful AI tools to dynamically built the report for you. It is slick and fun, so check it out at ahrefs.com/agent-a.

0:00 - Introduction

1:06 - Google Search Ranking Volatility Heated Today - May 8th

1:43 - Google On AI Overviews & AI Mode Being Isolated Systems (Or Not)

2:45 - Google Improves Links Within AI Mode & AI Overviews In 5 Ways

4:08 - Google Expands UCP Checkout To Main Search Results

4:28 - Google Search Console Fixed The 50 Week Data Logging Issue

5:10 - Google May Adjust Its Site Reputation Abuse Policy For EU News Sites

6:21 - Google AdSense Vignette Ads Drops Back Button Trigger Over Hijack Penalty

6:48 - Google Web Bot Auth: Validate Authentic Bots

7:07 - Google Tests Fresh Updates Label For Search Snippets

7:16 - Microsoft Bing On Search Indexing vs. Grounding Indexing

8:09 - Bing: 1 Billion Monthly Users Are Human, Not Agents

8:26 - Google Ads To Expand Smart Bidding Exploration & Budget Pacing

8:44 - Google Ads To Require Passkey For Certain Sensitive Actions After July 15

8:53 - Google Ads Adds Use AI To Add Products

9:15 - Google Ads AI Max Content & Titles Exclusions On Account Level Coming

9:53 - Google Ads Data Retention Policy Updated

10:15 - Google Ads Call Recording To Default To Yes On July 1st

10:30 - Official: OpenAI Beta Self-Serve Ads Manager For ChatGPT Ads

11:00 - Similarweb Data: ChatGPT Ads Click-Through Rates

11:21 - Google Business Profile Suspensions Spike Over User Account Restrictions

11:36 - Bing Places For Business Finally Mobile Friendly

11:47 - Ask.com Shut Down After Almost 30 Years

12:13 - Conclusion

Today we covered Bing’s blog post on indexing for traditional search versus grounding for AI. Google Analytics Data API added cross-channel conversion reporting. Google will be bringing content and titles related exclusions to the account level to Google Ads AI Max later this year. Google Ads will have call recording on by default.  Bing Places for Business finally its mobile friendly.

0:00 - Introduction

0:59 - Bing on indexing for search versus AI grounding 

3:28 - Google Analytics Data API adds cross-channel conversion reporting

4:22 - Google Ads AI Max content and title exclusions coming

5:37 - Google Ads call recording on by default

5:59 - Bing Places for Business finally mobile friendly

6:55 - 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, Mordy Oberstein of SE Ranking and Greg Finn of Cypress North (and Marketing O’Clock) and Barry Schwartz.

Today we covered breaking news that links and citations were updated in Google AI Mode and AI Overviews.  OpenAI officially launched ChatGPT Ads ad manager self serve, you can sign up in the US. Google expands UCP-powered checkout to core search.  Google Search tests letting searchers pick the Gemini 3 model.

0:00 - Introduction

1:05 - Google AI Overview and AI Mode link citation updates

6:43 - ChatGPT Ad Manager is officially live

10:25 - Google expands UCP-powered checkout to core search

11:52 - It’s New Slogan: Putting The New In Search News, Unless It Is Not

13:20 - Google Search with Gemini 3 options

14:10 - 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, Mordy Oberstein of SE Ranking and Greg Finn of Cypress North (and Marketing O’Clock) and Barry Schwartz.

Today we covered that Bing’s one billion monthly active users metric are humans, not bots.  Google is experimenting with Web Bot Auth to validate AI bots. Google Ads updated its data retention policy. Similarweb published data on ChatGPT ads click-through rates.

0:00 - Introduction

2:04 - Bing’s 1 Billion Monthly Active Users Are Human

3:32 - Google Ads new data retention policy 

6:07 - ChatGPT ads click-through rate data

8:15 - Google’s new Web Bot Auth

9:34 - 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, Mordy Oberstein of SE Ranking and Greg Finn of Cypress North (and Marketing O’Clock) and Barry Schwartz.