Search Engine Roundtable Podcast

Today we covered the August 17th Google update is here, today is August 17th.  Google Ads language targeting changes are coming next month. Google AI Max timeline is also here.  Google Merchant Center for Agencies has a new limit.  Google Search can now use Gemini 3.7 Flash. Google is hiring a product manager for content automation. Google seems to be testing AI-generated images in AI Overviews fo...

This week, we of course had more Google search ranking volatility, this time on the 12th. Google is testing new AI buttons on its home page, which makes you wonder. Google Search Console expanded its generative AI reporting tools again. Google AI Overviews for local results show AI slop. Google is creating AI-generated images in AI Overviews. Google can show spammy Google-selected canonical in Sea...

Today we covered Google ranking volatility hitting yesterday. Be careful with your Cloudflare setting, it can hurt your SEO. OpenAI makes the sources in ChatGPT responses less visible. Google makes the subscriber count requirement for Search Profiles lower. 0:00 - Introduction 1:00 - Google search ranking volatility 1:53 - Don’t misconfigure your Cloudflare account 3:54 - ChatGPT sources are now l...

Today we covered how Google amended its lawsuit against SerpApi now citing licenses content protection and safeguards. Google Merchant Center performance reporting update is coming. Google added a campaign data import validation report in Google Analytics. New Google Ads help document named About Local customer optimization within Performance Max campaign for store goals. 0:00 - Introduction 3:10...

Today we covered how it seems the Google Search Console generative AI performance reports are fully rolled out. Google Ads and Google Analytics added AI Overviews at the top of the pages, new AI data dashboard tools, and a new benchmarking AI feature. Google Ads is testing site names and favicons at the top of the sponsored results ad grouping section. And scammers are snapping up expired X accoun...

Today we covered how Google updated its home page to add some AI buttons right under the search bar.  Google Ads is rolling out the strong match labels in the wild. The Google Ads with AI labels on local pack and Discover. META/Facebook is crawling the web and may be building an AI search engine. ChatGPT Ads rolled out oCPC, AAM and a new product carousel.  Google Business Profiles won’t let you u...

This week, we covered two unconfirmed Google search ranking updates, one mid-week and one over the weekend - some were pretty big. Google said Reddit gets no special preference in its search rankings or AI results. Google Search Console can indeed show AI Mode queries, just not where you expect them. Google crawled send HTTP requests for GET and POST but also HEAD, OPTIONS, PUT, PATCH, and DELETE....

Today we covered the core-like Google Search ranking volatility that hit yesterday.  Google had big executive changes with Jeff Dean leaving, Demise Hassabis changing roles and much more. Google Search Console can show AI Mode queries but not where you need it.  Google has new Deal Ends annotations for Product Listing Ads.  Microsoft Advertising adds excluded content terms for Audience Ads. 0:00 -...

Today we covered how Google said Reddit gets no special preference in its search or AI rankings. Gemini will be replacing Google Assistant on September 4 on mobile devices. Google Ads is testing keyword anchor text links in ad descriptions. Google Ads has new help docs for PMax pay per leads. 0:00 - Introduction 1:08 - Google says Reddit gets no special preference 4:06 - Gemini to replace the Goog...

Today we covered more Google search ranking volatility kicking in this weekend and heating up today.  Bing Webmaster Tools promises the ability to filter by query, URL, etc in the performance reports. Google Search is testing making searchers sign in to see more results. ChatGPT Ads is rolling out a new campaign type for business agents. 0:00 - Introduction 0:47 - Google Search ranking volatility...

This week, yep, we had more ongoing Google Search volatility but a calming period on Wednesday. Google has rolled out the platform properties to track X, YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. Google page indexing delays has caused weird static snapshots. Google does not list the order precedence for how they deal with metadata conflicts. Google does support the unavailable_after date but it might not see...

Today we covered how half of Google search results have an AI Overview.  Google is testing AI-generated descriptions on Shopping Ads. Google blamed the websites for a race-based AI Overview response. Microsoft earnings were out and Bing search ads are up 10%.  0:00 - Introduction 2:00 - Google AI Overviews On Almost Half of Searches 5:15 - Google Shopping Ads With AI-Generated Descriptions  9:12 -...

Today we covered Google Ads new budget panel is in the help document.  Google also had this new Lead Journey Mapping tool. Google Ads target CPA and target ROAS is showing as bidding options.  Google Platform Properties live for all in Google Search Console. Google Search has no order precedence for metadata conflict.  Google spoke about using the unavailable_after meta tag and can it cause issues...

Today we covered Google Ads in account certification applications.  Google Ads has new product clicks and non-product clicks metrics.  Microsoft Advertising ad preview hub for PMax campaigns. And Google Search Console page indexing report has ongoing issues.  0:00 - Introduction 0:38 - Google Ads in account certification application 2:39 - Google Ads product clicks and non product click metrics 3:...

Today we covered Google search ranking volatility over the weekend again.  Google reviews structured data has updated the guidelines for reviews snippets.  ChatGPT Ads has released some new features again. Google Ads Editor 2.13 is now out.  Google Ads has new household income exclusions. Google AdSense may be retiring the related search format on August 6th. 0:00 - Introduction 0:45 - Google Sear...

This week, we covered more Google Search ranking volatility. Google said it sends billions of clicks to websites every week through AI search. Large publishers are fed up and strongly considering blocking Google Search completely. Google Search is now using the latest Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite model. Google earnings were out, they made about $120 billion, with ad revenue up 14.5% and search up 17%. Th...

Today we covered  how major publishers are threatening to block Google Search. Google was fined $1 billion by the EU over anti-competitive practices in Google Search and Google Play.  Google seems to have made changes to hotel search for the DMA already. Google earnings were highest ever, hitting $119 billion for the quarter and ad revenue was up 14.5%, search revenue up almost 17%. Google now ema...

Today we covered how a judge dismissed Google’s lawsuit against SerpApi. Google Search now uses Gemini 3.5 Flast-Lite, but how.  Google updated its crawl budget documentation.  Google Ads moved the missed opportunities report from labs to the recommendations tab. Google Ads appeal limits now set to 6 months. 0:00 - Introduction 0:52 - Google lawsuit against SerpApi dismissed 3:33 - Google Search i...

Today we covered Google moving Local Service Ads to Google Ads.  Google confirmed Local Inventory Ads will be enabled by default. Google drops $50,000 spend requirement for lead form assets.  Google Ads has bulk linking for Google Analytics. Bing tests an open button for sitelinks. 0:00 - Introduction 1:20 - Google Local Service Ads migrating to Google Ads 5:18 - Google confirms Local Inventory Ad...

Today we covered Google’s Nick Fox saying AI Mode and AI Overviews send billions of clicks to websites weekly. We saw some big Google search ranking volatility this weekend. Google said not to uninstall and reinstall the Google & YouTube Shopify sync app, Google will resolve it.  Google opened a form to request an extension for the closure of the Content API. Google business data feeds are now...

This week, we saw some Google Search ranking volatility around July 11th, so I called it the 7-Eleven update. Bing said it does not do one-off search penalties because it is not scalable. Google Images celebrated its 25th birthday with a brand new image search home page. Google AI Overviews will soon show AI-generated images in the responses. Google spoke about AI-generated content quality issues...

Today we covered how Google spoke about indexing issues due to content quality, including AI-generated content. Google said not to use the lastmod date for sitemaps if the date is incorrect. Google gave us an update on the reviews bug.  Google Ads PMax product reporting has an update. Google Ads will turn on local inventory ads by default. Apple Maps banned home service businesses.  And Greg share...

Today we covered Google Image Search’s 25th birthday where a new gallery style home page will replace the clean search box.  Google AI Overviews will soon generate AI images to go along with AI answers.  Google is testing hide and show toggles for product ads in Google Shopping.  ChatGPT Ads got location and audience exclusions. OpenAI may miss its ChatGPT Ads revenue targets by 90% 0:00 - Introdu...

Today we covered how Google Merchant Center has its own AI Performance report, for some. We saw Google search ranking volatility around July 11th. ChatGPT Ads has new metrics for Attributed Sales Value and Sales ROAS and added product level reporting. 0:00 - Introduction 0:50 - Google Merchant Center AI performance report 2:42 - Google 7-Eleven ranking update 4:32 - ChatGPT Ads gain Attributed Sal...

Today we covered how Microsoft said Bing doesn’t do one-off search penalties.  Google updated its canonical documentation to say it takes up to two weeks and you should do self-referential canonicals.  Google has a new reviews bug that says you have no reviews yet.  Google fixed the hack for platform properties AI performance workaround. Google Ads new AI labels on ads.  0:00 - Introduction 0:50 -...