Search Engine Roundtable Podcast

This week, I recorded from Boston - sorry for the appearance.  We covered the Google May 2026 core update rolling out. Google Search Console released to a few new AI performance reports and new AI controls.  Bing Webmaster Tools will release more AI reporting tools very soon. A Microsoft executive had a slide that admitted AI search reduces clicks and website visits.  Google officially released pu...

Today we had a special live version of It’s New at SMX Advanced in Boston. We covered tons of topics, listed below - sorry, not timestamps, and no screenshots this time but I wanted to get the video up in time. Thanks to our special guest, Anthony Higman of Adsquire for replacing Mordy - it was a huge improvement. • Google May 2026 Core Update Has Completed Rolling Out • Google Search Console AI P...

Today we covered Google Search Console rolling out new AI performance reports and forced to give UK publishers the ability to block its content from AI Mode and AI Overviews. Google is testing healthcare ads in AI Mode. Microsoft announced Web IQ, plus Microsoft Scout (but what about Yahoo Scout). And ChatGPT is testing multi-advertiser placements and new ChatGPT Ad Manager updates. We also spoke...

Today we covered even more Google May 2026 core update volatility touching down today, June 2nd and in the show, that core update was completed and is done. Microsoft said in a presentation that AI search reduces clicks and website visits. Google updated its Google Ads terms of service. 0:00 - Introduction 0:50 - Google May 2026 core update heated and done 2:09 - Microsoft said AI search reduces c...

Today we covered how the Google May 2026 core update heated up this weekend again. Google AI Mode and AI Overviews are testing sliding link cards.  Google Ads brand search controls are available for AI Max. And Google Ads has this new lead management screen. 0:00 - Introduction 2:45 - Google May 2026 core update heated again 3:47 - Google AI Mode sliding link cards 6:09 - Google Ads brand search c...

This week in search, we gave a status update on the Google May 2026 core update. Google strongly warned against buying mentions for AI or manipulating mentions for AI. Google removed the indexing lag between search and AI responses. Google Discover report bug caused a drop in clicks and impressions on May 21. There are video interviews with Google’s Sundar Pichai and Nick Fox. Google is testing a...

Today we covered that Google says you should not buy or manipulate your brand mentions to get ahead on Google AI responses. Google AI Mode and AI Overviews gain preferred sources, a new carousel but is it enough - oh, also the highly cited label expanded. Google Ads to delete shorter-term data starting this Monday, June 1st. ChatGPT Ads conversion optimized campaigns are coming for advertisers. 0:...

Today we covered the new Google Ads real time policy review process for faster ad approvals. Google Display ads is being folded into Demand Gen campaigns. Google Search Console Discover performance report broke again on May 21. Google local pack tests a check real time stock button. 0:00 - Introduction 2:40 - Google Ads Real Time Policy Review 4:44 - Google Display Ads now in Demand Gen Campaigns...

Today we covered that the EU may fine Google triple-digit million euros for showing its services in the search results. Bing image search officially launched its AI-curated image search results.  ChatGPT ad manager added geo-targeting, budgeting and more, and is testing ad experiences.  Google does some testing with Shopping Ads, which are renamed ratty ads. 0:00 - Introduction 1:50 - EU may fine...

Today we covered the Google core update being announced on Thursday but being felt in a bit way this weekend.  Google also appealed its search monopoly ruling on Friday. Google Search Console’s link report is broken. Google seems to have removed the index lag between AI Overviews/AI Mode and core search. And Google is promoting its AI features and I/O news on its home page but it was replaced by t...

This week, we had both Google I/O and Google Marketing Live, so we have a lot of news. Google launched a new search box it is calling the intelligent search box. Google also launched Gemini 3.5 Flash, which is now powering AI Mode. Google showed off information agents in search, expanded agentic booking capabilities, showed agentic coding directly in Google Search, expanded personal intelligence a...

Today we covered much of the Google Marketing Live news about changes with Google Ads. This includes new ad formats for AI Mode, conversational discovery ads and highlighted answers. Google Shopping ads coming to AI Mode, Business Agents for Leads also coming and expanding Direct Offers.  Google also combined Ads Advisor and Analytics Advisor into Ask Advisor.   0:00 - Introduction 0:24 - Google M...

Today we covered all the big search news out of Google I/O, including the new intelligent search box, the seamless AI Overview to AI Mode feature expanding, Gemini 3.5 Flash powering AI Mode, information agents in search, agentic booking updates, coding in Google Search, personal intelligence expanding, Universal Cart, and so much more.  Microsoft Advertising announced its monthly releases, and th...

Today we covered Google search ranking volatility heating up before Google I/O.  Google added markdown files to the help docs but John Mueller of Google said it is not used by Google Search. Microsoft Clarity adding AI citations reporting to its analytics package.  And just some ranting.  0:00 - Introduction 0:20 - Google has some big ranking volatility on I/O day 1:30 - Google added markdown file...

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...

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 betw...

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...

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. 0:0...

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 automatic...

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 - Googl...

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 fi...

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 - Intr...

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 - Ch...

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 ad...

Today we covered how Google AI Overviews and AI Mode are isolated systems on top of search, plus more. Google Search Console said the data logging issue that lasted 50 weeks is now fixed going forward. Google is testing fresh updates labels.  Ask.com shuts down after almost 30 years. Google Ads new use AI to add products.  0:00 - Introduction 1:07 - Google AI Overviews & AI Mode As Isolated Sy...