Search Engine Roundtable Podcast

Today we covered a new survey on the most important ranking factors for Google Search. Google has new advertising measurement updates.  ChatGPT Ads seems to be disallowing AI service on its platform. Google may be scamming advertisers into spending more through ad credits.  Google Maps contributor scams are coming up via photos posted with fraud phone numbers.

0:00 - Introduction

1:14 - Google ranking factors survey

3:49 - Google advertising measurement updates

4:41 - ChatGPT Ads disallowing AI service ads

5:32 - Bait and switch with Google Ads credits

7:58 - Google Maps contributor photo phone number scam

13:16 - 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 posted a new help document on the regional differences in Google Search.  The people also ask feature is now almost 100% answered by Google AI Overviews.  Google’s John Mueller said there is no absolute right answer for SEO. Google had an index reporting bug yesterday. Google Ads rolls out local customer optimization and store sales in Data Manager. osoft Advertising removes Max CPC from new standalone bidding campaign and more. Google Merchant Center’s AI performance insights report added AI Search intent, AI Search terms and AI attributes. 

0:00 - Introduction

0:44 - Google documents regional differences in Google Search

2:02 - No absolute right answer for SEO, says Google.

4:46 - Google index reporting bug

5:16 - Google people also asked almost 100% answered by AI Overviews

7:21 - Microsoft Ads Max CPC update

9:44 - Google Ads local customer optimization and store sales in Data Manager

11:07 - Unhappy Higman

12:04 - Google Merchant Center new AI Search intent, AI Search terms and AI attributes

13:42 - 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, Mordy Oberstein of SE Ranking and Greg Finn of Cypress North (and Marketing O’Clock) and Barry Schwartz.

Today we covered how Google said the EU DMA changes resulted in its largest quality reduction in Google Search ever.  Google AI Overviews is testing thinner citation cards. Google AI Mode is testing paginated results with a skip button. Google Ads is rolling out the AI dashboard.  Google Ads is testing the quantity sold of an item as an ad extension. 

0:00 - Introduction

0:35 - Google: Largest search quality reduction ever

5:45 - Google AI Overviews citation cards thinner

6:35 - Google AI Mode paginations and skip

7:00 - Google Ads AI dashboard rolling out

9:48 - Google Ads quantity sold labels

11:08 - 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 Google has confirmed it has recently begun running a "small experiment" where it is serving regular pure Search campaigns with restrictive match types in AI Mode. Google Shopping Ads data shows it might have a reverse crocodile effect with AI Overviews. Google may have a bug with its job search feature because it is barely showing any new jobs within its search results. Google Business Profiles lets some owners use a business photo for verification. Google will now give you an interactive widget within AI Overviews for when you are looking for a simple character counter website.  And Google can lose faith in your site over low value content.

0:00 - Introduction

0:50 - Google Ads testing serving search ads with restrictive match types in AI Mode

3:05 - Google Shopping Ads Have A Reverse Crocodile Effect With AI Overviews

5:50 - Google job search results stale

6:18 - Google Business Profiles new business photo verification

6:57 - Google AI Overviews Get A Character Counter Tool

7:53 - Google can lose faith in your site.

9:20 - 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, Mordy Oberstein of SE Ranking and Greg Finn of Cypress North (and Marketing O’Clock) and Barry Schwartz.

This week, we covered how Google for the second time dodged being broken up, this time over its ad tech monopoly. Google AI Overviews are expanding by default, making them more like AI Mode. Gemini 3.8 Flash is now powering AI Mode but it seems it is not linking or citing much at all. Content is disappearing from the Google News tab for some reason. Google said it does not penalize for old crusty links that may later link to shady content. Google spoke more about using the disavow link tool. Google Search Console’s AI performance reports and AI controls have been globally rolled out. Google confirmed its search spam teams are still actively fighting spam. Google Trends now lets you filter by pre-defined categories. Google is testing verifying searchers are human through a delayed continue button. Google Discover was not loading for a period of time this week. Google posted details on its European search dataset licensing program. I posted the monthly Google webmaster report. Bing is testing search results without site names in the snippet. Microsoft is forcing Copilot users to login, but not within Bing Search. Google is working on a fix for a Local Service Ads bug. Google AdSense will soon use Begin-to-Render impression measurements. Google Business Profiles test business photos for verification. Microsoft Advertising is rolling out a new design preview. Google Analytics was buggy as well, missing days of data. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

Sponsor: BruceClay 𓍲 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

0:51 - Judge Rules Google Ad Tech Business Won't Be Broken Up

1:56 - Google AI Overviews Pushing Searchers Into AI Mode, Drops Show More Button

3:18 - Google Search Using Gemini 3.8 Flash In AI Mode

3:47 - Google AI Mode Gemini 3.8 Flash Not Link / Citation Friendly?

4:47 - Publishers Noticing Google News Tab Content Disappearing

6:06 - Google: We Don't Penalize For Old Outbound Links With Shady Content

6:59 - Google: The Disavow Tool Does Have Effects

7:38 - Global: Google Search Console AI Performance Report & AI Control

8:00 - Google Confirms Search Spam Team Is Fighting & Well Resourced

8:17 - Google Trends Explore Page Adds Category Filtering

8:53 - Google: Verifying Your Request To Continue To Search Results

9:19 - Google Discover Not Loading Or Loading Slowly

9:41 - Google European Search Dataset Licensing Program Details

10:07 - September 2026 Google Webmaster Report

10:20 - Bing Tests Search Result Snippets Without Site Names

10:30 - Microsoft Forcing Copilot Users To Login But Not For Copilot Search Answers

10:52 - Google Working On Fixing Local Service Ads Bug

11:25 - Google AdSense Begin-to-Render Impression Measurement Coming

11:57 - New Google Business Profiles Submit A Business Photo For Verification

12:15 - Microsoft Advertising New Updated Design Preview

12:38 - Google Analytics September 1 Data Missing

12:49 - Conclusion

Today we covered that a judge ruled Google won’t be broken up over its ad tech monopoly ruling. Google AI Mode now uses Gemini 3.8 Flash but it doesn’t seem too link or citation friendly. Content seems to be disappearing from the Google News tab.

0:00 - Introduction

1:28 - Google won’t be broken up over ad tech

5:33 - Google AI Mode with Gemini 3.8 Flash and it is not link friendly

8:06 - Content disappearing from Google News tab

9:33 - 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 current Google Analytics data bug that is freaking everyone out.  Google’s John Mueller said the disavow link tool does have an effect. Google AdSense will change its impression measurements to Begin-to-Render. Google Local Service Ads bug is being worked on.  Google Ads new pre-fill asset groups with generated assets. Bing is testing removing the site name from snippets.

0:00 - Introduction

1:34 - Google Analytics zero traffic bug

2:10 - Google’s disavow tool does have an effect

3:27 - Google Local Service Ads bug being worked on

5:12 - Google AdSense to change impression measurements

7:26 - Google Ads New Pre-Fill Asset Groups With Generated Assets

9:50 - Bing testing search results without site names

0:00 - 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, Mordy Oberstein of SE Ranking and Greg Finn of Cypress North (and Marketing O’Clock) and Barry Schwartz.

Today we covered the global rollout of the Google Search Console generative AI reports.  Google said crusty old links that now go to shady sites won’t hurt you.  Google added more human verification methods to Google Search. Google Ads is testing AI-generated what customers love from store rating reviews.

0:00 - Introduction

0:41 - Google Generative Search AI report globally available

2:36 - Google on crusty old links

5:08 - Google human verification

6:49 - AI-generated from store rating reviews

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

Today we covered how Google said its search team is still at it with fighting spam, does the data show that.  Google AI Overviews are now more like AI Mode results, which is not a great thing for us.  Google’s site reputation abuse policy won’t be enforced in several European regions.  Microsoft Advertising is previewing a new design. Google changes coming to Display & Video 360 API.

0:00 - Introduction

0:48 - Google AI Overviews more like AI Mode

2:30 - Google site reputation abuse policy EEA

4:40 - Microsoft Advertising new design preview

6:42 - Google announces October changes to Display & Video 360 API

8:46 - Google spam team still at it

11:22 - 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.

Another week, more volatility within the Google Search results. Google is also swapping out direct links to go-to URL redirect links in its search results to protect from abuse. Google seems to be showing fewer PDFs within Google Search but why. Google fixed the favicon bug and the crawl stats missing data. Google released updated help docs on the favicon to list out the supported formats including BMP, GIF, ICO, PNG, JPEG, PPM, and TIFF. The IRS and other federal websites dropped heavily in Google Search, I think it was a government issue, not a Google issue. Google AI Mode has new link carousels for developing topics. Google’s Robby Stein wants you to tell him what you want next for AI Mode. Google’s John Mueller said there is nothing special to do for generative AI responses. Google won’t enforce manual actions over site reputation abuse in Europe. Google announces search update for transparency purposes but actionable updates get blog posts and more. Google is aware of the missing reviews for reinstated Google Business Profiles. Google Ads is testing loading sponsored results using Gemini. Google Ads has a new channel setting prioritization slider. Google Ads has a new report for AI-created product titles. Google is expanding booking partners on Local Service Ads. Google will charge for missed and subsequent calls on Local Service Ads. Google Merchant Center increased the minimum size for product images to 500×500. Google is expanding the booking button to Search and PMax campaigns. Bing is testing renaming Copilot Search answers to AI Overviews. Microsoft Advertising search term landing page report is out for AI Max. Google has a special easter egg for Dolly Parton. 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

0:40 - Google Search Ranking Volatility Continues Post Spam Update

1:15 - Confirmed: Google Search Rolling Out google.com/goto Tracking Parameters

2:28 - Google Search Showing Fewer PDF Files. But Why?

3:36 - IRS Website Drops Heavily In Google Search

4:55 - Google Fixed Favicon Bug & Crawl Stats Missing Data

5:09 - Google Search Now Lists The Supported Favicon File Formats

5:32 - Google AI Mode Also Gains Link Carousels For Developing Topics

6:03 - Tell Google What You Want From AI Mode

6:30 - Google: There Is Nothing Special To Do For Generative AI Responses In Search

7:07 - Google Announce Search Updates For Transparency, Actionable Updates Get Blog Posts

8:47 - Google Won't Enforce Its Site Reputation Policy Manual Actions In Europe

9:24 - Google Aware Of Reviews Missing After Google Business Profile Reinstatement

9:52 - Google Ads Tests Loading Sponsored Results Using Gemini With Animation

10:55 - Google Ads Channel Settings Prioritization Slider (Alpha Test)

11:36 - Google Ads AI-Created Product Titles Report Beta

11:53 - Google Massively Expands Booking Partners On Local Services Ads

12:18 - Google To Charge For Missed & Subsequent Calls On LSAs

12:50 - Google Merchant Center Product Images Minimum Size Will Be 500x500 Pixels

13:16 - Google Ads Book Buttons Expand To Search & Performance Max

13:30 - Bing Tests Renaming Copilot Search Answer To AI Overviews

13:43 - Microsoft Advertising Search Term Landing Page Report For AI Max

14:04 - Google Search Has A Special Dolly Parton Easter Egg 🦋

14:24 - Conclusion