Search Engine Roundtable Podcast

Today we covered how Google Search Console will get AI Mode data but it will be lumped in with all the other data, with no way to break it out. Google Ads has new help docs on AI Mode and AI Overviews, etc. I am seeing complaints about the live indexing API in Google Search. Google Shopping tests a new sub menu.  And more…

0:00 - Introduction

0:50 - Google Search Console data for AI Mode

3:06 - Google Ads help doc on AI experiences

6:24 - Google live indexing API complaints

9:24 - Google Shopping sub menu bar

11:45 - 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 Mordy Oberstein of Unify Brand Marketing with Greg Finn of Cypress North (and Marketing O’Clock) and Barry Schwartz.

This week was a huge week for search; between Google I/O and Google Marketing Live - it was just a lot. We had two unconfirmed Google ranking updates, one on I/O day and one on May 16th. Google announced AI Mode was live in the US and then announced a number of new features for AI Mode. Meanwhile, AI Mode links had a bug with tracking, it should be fixed soon, if not already. Google AI Overviews expanded to more and Google says it leads to 10% growth in queries. Google Ads are now on AI Mode and AI Overviews for desktop; no there is no control or transparency for advertisers. Google launched Smart Bidding Exploration. Google also launched many AI tools for Google Ads including Agentic capabilities. Google tests rolling out Google Discover on desktop again. Google added new documentation on using AI for content and AI search features. IndexNow works with product schema to help you keep your shopping data more up to date in Bing. Google Merchant Center recommends you use a product’s brand name in the title. Google test removing the site name from the snippet. Google AI Overviews tests hiding links and showing author names. Google Business Profiles has a name change bug. Google began migrating off its ccTLDs. Google AdSense has new anchor ad positions and new display options for ad intents. 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

0:36 - Google I/O 2025 Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up

1:17 - Google Search Ranking Update Volatility May 16th

1:30 - Google AI Mode Live In US: Tests Deep Search, Live Search, Personalization, Custom Charts, Shopping & Agentic

5:52 - Google AI Mode Tracking Referrer Issue A Bug

6:07 - Google AI Overviews Expand Again & Lead To 10% Query Growth

7:27 - Google Ads Come To AI Mode & AI Overviews Desktop

8:14 - Google's Pichai: Search Ads With AI Overviews Earn Same As Ads Without

8:38 - New Google Ads Smart Bidding Exploration: Bidding Update

8:58 - Google Ads New AI Tools & Agentic Capabilities

9:38 - Google Begins Rolling Out Discover On Desktop

9:56 - New Google Docs On Using AI Generative Content & AI Search Features

10:22 - IndexNow Works With Product Schema; Shopify & Soon Amazon

10:46 - Google Merchant Center Now Recommends Product's Brand Name In Title

11:02 - Google Tests Removing Site Names From Search Results

11:15 - Google AI Overviews Tests Hidden Links

11:24 - Google AI Overviews With Author Names & Citations

11:33 - Google Business Profiles Bug Hides Right Knowledge Panel

11:50 - Spike In Google Business Profiles Name Changes?

12:08 - Google Search Begins Migrating Off Country Specific ccTLDs

12:35 - Google AdSense Anchor Ad Positions Setting

12:46 - Google AdSense Ad Intents New Display Ads Option

12:54 - Conclusion

Today we covered the news out of Google Marketing Live around ads in AI Mode, ads in desktop AI Overviews. New Google Ads smart bidding exploration. New Google Ads AI tools and Agentic features. Why Google placed the AI Mode tab on the left, always.  Google’s new help documents on using AI for content and your website and AI search features. 

0:00 - Introduction

0:50 - Google AI Mode Ads & Ads In Desktop AI Overviews

4:57 - Google Ads New AI Tools including Agentic features

6:30 - Google Ads Smart Bidding Exploration

7:47 - Power Pack

10:50 - Google AI Mode tab position

13:03 - Google advice on using AI for content and AI search features 

16:40 - 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 and Mordy Oberstein of Unify Brand Marketing with Greg Finn of Cypress North (and Marketing O’Clock) and Barry Schwartz.

Today we covered the news out of Google I/O from yesterday, including my one-on-one with a Google executive.  Google AI Mode rolled out in the US and they are testing a slew of new features.  Google AI Overviews have expanded and they claim a 10% increase in searches from it.  Google search ranking volatility also heated up over I/O.  

0:00 - Introduction

0:55 - Google AI Mode

12:21 - Google expands AI Overviews

15:02 - Google I/O search ranking volatility

15:25 - 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 Mordy Oberstein of Unify Brand Marketing with Greg Finn of Cypress North (and Marketing O’Clock) and Barry Schwartz.

Today we covered the Google Ads benchmarks report from Wordstream.  Google is testing removing site names from the search results.  Google tests a new link icon in a box. IndexNow supports product schema, which leads to faster shopping indexing and Shopify and Amazon will support it.

0:00 - Introduction

0:45 - Google Ads Benchmarks 2025

2:18 - Google tests removing site names

3:07 - Google tests link icon box

4:54 - IndexNow with product schema

6:14 - 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 Mordy Oberstein of Unify Brand Marketing with Greg Finn of Cypress North (and Marketing O’Clock) and Barry Schwartz.

Today we covered how Google said ads with AI Overviews on the page are making as much as ads without.  Google Ads has a bug with ad spend on new customer acquisition.  Google Discover seems to be rolling out on desktop.  Google made AI mode faster, tests AI shuffle and we are seeing volatility. 

0:00 - Introduction

1:05 - Google earning on ads with AI Overviews

3:26 - Google Ads bug with ad spend

4:40 - Google Discover rolling out on desktop

7:00 - Google faster AI Mode

7:30 - Google search AI shuffle

8:09 - Google volatility before I/O

8:40 - 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 and Mordy Oberstein of Unify Brand Marketing with Greg Finn of Cypress North (and Marketing O’Clock) and Barry Schwartz.

This week, we covered, you guessed it, more Google search ranking volatility.  Google also said they are rethinking its search stack from the ground up because of LLMs.  Google is testing AI Overviews in more regions and languages prior to Google I/O/  Google is testing AI Mode buttons throughout Google Search. Google is testing a new Discussions beta feature maybe to replace Reddit. Google is testing a Shuffle button to redo AI generated answers in Search. More Google emails and documents are revealed that talk about Navboost, and many other ranking signals. Google even spoke about clicks and the bias based on ranking position.  Google’s Ryan Moulton went off on the DOJ and US court system.  Google Search Console is testing a new annotations feature for performance reports. Google said you should stop posting the same image with new image URLs. Google Ads device targeting controls for Performance Max campaigns. Google Ads now has ad funded by section.  Google Ads has a rare reporting bug that lead to click-through rates.  Google has some weird internal emails about Google Marketing Live from last year.  Google Business Profiles has a new What’s Happening section. Google Maps had 999 million reviews, 752 million photos and videos and 94 million edits published in 2024. Apple Maps added insights, ratings, and reviews from more sources. Bing Search is retiring its Search APIs in August. Google updated its super G logo for its iOS app and the web went wild.  That was this past week in search at the Search Engine Roundtable. 

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0:00 - Introduction

0:47 - Google Search Ranking Volatility Spiked - May 12 & 13

1:14 - Google Rethinking Search Stack From Ground Up With LLMs

1:51 - Google Tests AI Overviews In Turkey, Sweden, Netherlands & More Prior To I/O

2:19 - Google Tests AI Mode Button On Google Search Box

2:55 - Google Search Discussions Beta May One Day Replace Reddit Results

3:35 - Google Search AI Shuffle Button

3:52 - Google Navboost Is Not A Machine Learning System & More DOJ Leaks

4:32 - Google Doc: Link Position & Click Bias Ranking Bias Adjustment

4:58 - 18 Year Google Search Engineer Rants On DOJ's Anti-Trust Case

5:36 - Google Search Console Tests Add Annotation In Performance Reports

6:06 - Google: Stop Using Different URLs For Same Image

6:26 - Google Ads Device Targeting Controls For Performance Max Campaigns

6:44 - Google Ads Ads Funded By Section

7:10 - Rare Google Ads Reporting Bug Led To Over Reported Click-Through Rates

7:32 - Google Internal Emails On Google Marketing Live 2024 (Last Year)

8:16 - Google Business Profiles What's Happening Feature

8:40 - Google Maps 2024: 999 Million Reviews & 752 Million Photos & Videos Published

9:09 - Apple Maps Adds Insights, Ratings & Reviews From More Sources

9:23 - Bing Search APIs To Retire August 11, 2025

9:40 - Google Updated Its Super G Logo In The iOS App

10:00 - Conclusion 

Today we covered how Google said it needs to rethink search from the ground up with LLMs in mind.  Google adjusted for click bias because of rank position. Google Ads PMAx campaigns now support device targeting. Google Ads has a new “ads funded by” section.  

0:00 - Introduction

1:28 - Google Rethinking Search From Ground Up

3:32 - Google Click Position Bias

4:30 - Google PMAx Device Targeting

7:35 - Google Ads Funded By Label

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 and Mordy Oberstein of Unify Brand Marketing with Greg Finn of Cypress North (and Marketing O’Clock) and Barry Schwartz.

Today we covered Google Search Console testing the add annotations feature. Bing Search APIs are retiring.  Google internal emails on Google Marketing Live from 2024.  Google Ads PMax image optimization feature. Google Business Profiles new What’s Happening feature.

0:00 - Introduction

1:05 - Google Search Console report annotations

1:57 - Bing Search APIs retiring

2:38 - Google Power Pair internal emails

5:27 - Google Ads PMax image optimization

7:38 - Google Business Profiles What’s Happening

9:40 - 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 and Mordy Oberstein of Unify Brand Marketing with Greg Finn of Cypress North (and Marketing O’Clock) and Barry Schwartz.

Today we covered that Google executives are expecting Google Search traffic to decline and are planning what to do about ads and monetization revenue.  Google was sued in Italy for $3.3 billion and $1.4 in Texas.  More DOJ documents reveal more search ranking details.  Google’s Ryan Moulton rants on the court documents.  And we are seeing renewed signs of Google Search ranking volatility.

0:00 - Introduction

1:19 - Google Search traffic decline inevitable

4:48 - Google sued for billions

6:56 - Google search ranking document revelations

11:30 - Google engineer rants on DOJ court findings

14:50 - Google ranking volatility heats up

15:19 - 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 and Mordy Oberstein of Unify Brand Marketing with Greg Finn of Cypress North (and Marketing O’Clock) and Barry Schwartz.