Search Engine Roundtable Podcast

This week we covered some big Google Search ranking movement and volatility. Google earlier confirmed a serving issue with Google Search. Google AI Mode expanded to 35 new languages and 40 new countries. Google added shoes to the Try On feature and supports three new countries. Google is testing a more publisher-friendly recipe AI Overview. Google is testing an Ask AI Mode anything carousel. Google is testing AI Overviews that jump faster to AI Mode. Google is testing AI-generated search result snippets. Google Voice Search is now powered by Speech-to-Retrieval. Microsoft Ads blog has a post about how to optimize for AI Search. Google Business Profiles is testing a new Insights feature. Bing Places rolled out a new dashboard. Google Merchant Center has a new wallet promotion option and also allows you to use your own brand in short titles. Google Ads has a new missed growth opportunities tab. Google Ads auto-apply recommendation setting has moved. Google revealed the dates for when call-only ads will go away. Microsoft Advertising ad grant program is shutting down. Google AdSense authorized buyers will replace the ad networks blocking controls. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

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0:00 - Introduction

1:25 - Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up October 7th & 8th

2:25 - Google Confirms Google Search Serving Issue

3:03 - Google AI Mode Expands To 35 New Languages & 40 Countries

3:33 - Google Try On Adds Shoes & Expands To Australia, Canada and Japan

4:00 - Google Tests More Publisher Friendly Recipe AI Overviews

4:45 - Google Ask AI Mode Anything Explore Carousel

5:04 - Test: Google AI Overviews Show More Button Jumps Into AI Mode

5:35 - Google Tests AI Generated Search Snippet Descriptions

6:02  - Google Voice Search Now Powered By Speech-to-Retrieval (S2R)

6:37 - Microsoft Ads Posts On How To Optimize For AI Search Answers

7:10 - New: Google Business Profile Report Negative Review Extortion Scams

7:39 - New Google Business Profiles Insights

7:57 - Bing Places New Dashboard Rolling Out

8:42 - Google Merchant Center Adds Google Wallet Promotion Option

9:08 - Google Merchant Center Lets You Use Your Own Brand In Short Title

9:26 - Google Ads Missed Growth Opportunities Tab

9:42 - Google Reveals Dates For Call Ads Going Away

10:11 - Microsoft Advertising Ad Grant Program To Be Shut Down

10:35 - Google AdSense Authorized Buyers To Replace Ad Networks Blocking Controls

10:56 - GA4 Surge In Organic Search Traffic But Search Console Flat

11:37 - Conclusion 

Today we covered new heated Google search ranking volatility.  Google Business Profiles has a new Insights feature.  Google is testing a more friendly AI Overview for recipes. Google AI Mode has more languages and regional support.  Campaign type was added to the Google Ads channel performance report.  Google Ads has a new missed growth opportunities report. 

0:00 - Introduction

0:43 - Google Search ranking volatility hits

1:48 - Google Business Profiles insights section

2:47 - Google AI Overviews recipes update

4:20 - Google AI Mode expands to more languages and regions

4:47 - Campaign type added to Google Ads channel performance reports

6:02 - Google Ads Missed Growth Opportunities report 

8:14 - 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 the ongoing Google Search serving issue and events go missing in Google Search. Google is testing AI-generated search descriptions. Google is testing AI Overviews that link directly to AI Mode. Microsoft is testing super large images on Bing Copilot ads.  Google call ads revealed the sunset dates.

0:00 - Introduction

0:35 - Google Search serving issue

1:24 - Events go missing in Google Search

1:50 - Google testing AI-generated descriptions

4:20 - Google AI Overviews show more button jumping to AI Mode

6:07 - Microsoft Advertising Bing Copilot massive image ads

7:13 - Google call ads sunset dates

9:27 - 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 we covered the Google AI Mode news that it is more visual for many queries, including shopping queries. Google AI Mode agentic capabilities can now be opted into. Google AI Overviews tests a sticky citations box. Google Shopping Ask Stores feature is being tested. Google’s Liz Reid as interviewed again about AI Search. Google said the old domain history sometimes needs to be shaken off. I posted the monthly Google webmaster report. Google Search rolled out the emoji answer box. Google is testing removing the underline from the title link in the search results. Google Business Profiles has a spike in suspensions. Google is testing product reviews labeled as incentivized. Google Ads Performance Max has introduced new segmentation options in asset reporting and channel reporting features. Google Ads has new message asset requirements. Google Ads reporting may not be impacted by the num 100 change. Google will remove more lodging listings with inaccurate pricing. Google AdSense has a new traffic source breakdown report. Bing has new large image ads in Copilot boxes. ChatGPT launched Instant Checkout with Agentic Commerce Protocol. 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

0:46 - Google AI Mode With More Visual Responses & Visual Fan-Out Technique

1:41 - Google AI Mode Agentic Capabilities Opt In

2:29 - Google AI Overviews With Sticky Citations As You Scroll

2:43 - Google Shopping Ask Stores AI Chat

3:05 - Google's Elizabeth Reid Interviewed On AI, Search, Blue Links, SEO & More

3:40 - Google: Old Domain History/State Needs Time To Be Shaken Off

4:32 - October 2025 Google Webmaster Report

4:42 - Google Search Rolls Out Emoji Answer Box

5:04 - Google Tests Dropping Underline From Search Result Snippets On Hover

5:23 - Google Business Profile Suspensions Spike

5:57 - Google Reviews Labeled Incentivized

6:20 - Google Ads PMax Segmentation In Asset Reporting & Channel Reporting Features

6:55 - New Google Ads Message Assets Requirements

7:25 - Is Google Ads Reporting Also Impacted By Num=100 Change?

8:10 - Google To Remove More Lodging Listings With Inaccurate Prices

8:33 - New Google AdSense Traffic Source Breakdown Report

8:48 - Microsoft Tests Large Images In Bing Search Copilot Ads

9:01 - ChatGPT Gets Instant Checkout With Agentic Commerce Protocol

9:36 - Conclusion 

Today we covered Google AI Mode gets more visual with the visual search fan-out technique. Google tests AI Overviews with sticky citations.  Google Ads updated its reporting features. Google’s head of search, Liz Reid, interviewed again.  Also, the emoji answer box is live in Google Search.

0:00 - Introduction

1:02 - Google AI Mode more visual

3:36 - Google AI Overviews sticky citations

4:29 - Google Ads PMax reporting updates

5:30 - Google’s Liz Reid was interviewed again

6:08 - Google goes live with the emoji answer box

7:18 - 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 the new ChatGPT Instant Checkout with Stripe using Agentic Commerce Protocol.  Did the num 100 parameter change impact Google Ads reporting and tools? Google AdSense launched a new traffic source breakdown report. We covered an article on Google’s AI Max for Search 30 day test.

0:00 - Introduction

1:13 - ChatGPT Instant Checkout

5:13 - Google Ads num 100 change impact

7:30 - Google AdSense traffic source breakdown report

8:25 - Google’s AI Max for Search 30 day test

9:36 - 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 Ads has a new campaign setup screen. Google Ads tweaked the default conversion goal behavior. Google said old domain history needs time to be shaken off.  Google Business Profiles suspensions are spiking.

0:00 - Introduction

1:01 - Google Ads new campaign setup screen

3:11 - Google Ads tweaks default conversion goal behavior

4:40 - Google says old domains history needs to be shaken off

6:32 - Google Business Profiles suspensions spike

7:10 - 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 and Greg Finn of Cypress North (and Marketing O’Clock) and Barry Schwartz.

This week we covered the completion of the Google August 2025 spam update and then we saw ranking volatility heat up again post spam update. Google Search Console impressions are impacted by Google blocking bots. Google Darksteel AI search test. Google AI Mode product listings with AI-generated product summaries. Google Search Live is now out of beta. Google AI Mode travel planning gained more features. Google AI Mode has now rolled out agentic features. Cloudflare wants you to block Google’s AI Overviews, but will it work? John Mueller of Google posted about authentication for SEO tools and personal crawlers. Google is pushing its large sponsored results label to group ads together, but is it deceptive? Google Ads has a new campaign set-up screen. Google Ads updated its dishonest pricing practices policy. Google may label some search ads with not a government website. Google Search is testing a featured stores section for ads. Google AdSense dropped session-related metrics. Google is testing a local pack at the top of the Google shopping results. 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.

0:00 - Introduction

0:34 - Google's Wild August 2025 Spam Update Finished Rolling Out

1:30 - Google Search Ranking Volatility Heated After August Spam Update

2:15 - Google Search Console Impressions Drop Impact With Google Blocking Bots

3:20 - Google Darksteel AI Search Option Test

3:56 - Google AI Mode Product Listings Tests AI-Generated Product Summaries

4:12 - Google Search Live No Longer Requires Labs Opt-In Within US

4:49 - Google AI Mode Travel Planning Gains More Features

5:11 - Google AI Mode Agentic Features Go Live For Some

5:36 - Cloudflare Tries To Give Sites A Way To Block Google AI Overviews - Will It Work?

6:31 - Google: Authentication For SEO Tools & Personal Crawlers

7:06 - Google Large Sponsored Results Grouping Label Rolling Out To More

7:53 - Google Ads New Campaign Set Up Screen Updated

8:11 - Google Ads Dishonest Pricing Practices Policy Updates

8:48 - Google To Label Some Search Ads With "Not A Government Website"

9:08 - Google Search Tests Featured Stores Sponsored Ads Section

9:21 - Google AdSense Dropping Session-Related Metrics

9:33 - Google Local Pack At Top Of Google Shopping Tab

9:49 - Conclusion

Today we covered the volatility we are seeing in Google Search post the August spam update. Google Search Live is now really live in the US. Google Ads sponsored grouping label expands.  Google Ads dishonest pricing policy. 

0:00 - Introduction

0:54 - Google post spam update volatility

4:13 - Google Search Live is live

5:36 - Google Ads dishonest pricing

6:40 - Google sponsored grouping label

9:32 - 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 Google completing the August 2025 spam update and how it is a mess to look at even with Search Console data. Google added a ton of AI features to Chrome. Google also warned the DOJ on its ad-tech remedies ruling.  Also, a programming note, a lot of us are offline Tuesday and Wednesday for the Jewish new year.

0:00 - Introduction

1:21 - Google August 2025 spam update completed

3:05 - Google Search Console data’s impact with num parameter change  

5:53 - Google adds AI to Chrome

8:14 - Google warns on DOJ ad-tech remedies 

10:00 - 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.