Search Engine Roundtable Podcast

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...

This week in search, we are seeing yet again more Google search ranking volatility. Google sent out notifications about back button hijacking penalties to those sites that have the problem. Google AdSense vignette ads may trigger the penalty, so be careful. Bing Webmaster Tools teased new AI reporting features but no ETA on when it will launch. Google may be deindexing pages at a higher rate says...

Today we covered both Google and Microsoft earnings reports, and Bing hit 1 billion monthly active users.  Google may be showing more links within AI Mode. Microsoft Advertising has added conversion and spend metrics to the PMax Website Publisher URL report. Google announced a number of new updates for AI Max within Google Ads.  0:00 - Introduction 0:26 - Google earnings report and ad revenue surg...

Today we covered how Google AdSense vignette ads can potentially trigger a Google search penalty for back button hijacking.  Google tests a sticky Ask Anything button for search and Enter AI Mode call to action.  Google Ads tests preview impact of negative keywords tool.  0:00 - Introduction 0:59 - Google AdSense Vignette ads trigger search penalty 3:26 - Google AI Mode Ask Anything sticky test 4:...

Today we covered how Google is now sending out notices about the upcoming back button hijacking penalty. Bing teases some new AI features coming to Bing Webmaster Tools.  We are seeing more Google search ranking volatility. Google shows the number of deleted reviews in Germany.  Adthena launches Google Ads-to-ChatGPT conversion tool 0:00 - Introduction 0:54 - Google spam penalty notices 3:16 - Bin...

Today we covered an updated report on click-through rates from search results with Google AI Overviews. Google spam reports now won’t process if there is personally identifiable information.  Google Ads Demand Gen campaigns have some review delays. Bing Copilot results test less clickable interface. Google is testing an AI label on its sponsored ads. 0:00 - Introduction 0:28 - CTR report on Google...

This week, we covered new heated Google search ranking volatility.  Google’s Danny Sullivan spoke about commodity versus non-commodity content. Google now wont use spam reports with personality identifiable information. Google said you can do a lot of SEO that doesn’t work and still do fine.  Google said no one knows everything about SEO.  Google posted documentation on the read more deep links. ...

Today we covered Danny Sullivan of Google’s slides on commodity content. Google has a job listing to hire a GEO. We are seeing more Google search ranking volatility.  And ChatGPT is allowing CPCs. 0:00 - Introduction 0:55 - Google on commodity content 6:12 - Google is hiring a GEO 8:29 - Google search ranking volatility 9:38 - ChatGPT using CPCs 10:40 - Conclusion A daily recap video summarizing a...

Today we covered Google rolling out new AI safety features for Ads Advisor. OpenAI’s ChatGPT ad management interface is out there in the wild.  OpenAI also has a new ads bot. 0:00 - Introduction 0:40 - Google Ads Advisor updated features 2:10 - OpenAI’s ChatGPT ad interface leaked 3:45 - OpenAI new ads bot 4:23 - Conclusion A daily recap video summarizing a few of the top search marketing headline...

Today we covered a couple statements from John Mueller on doing SEO.  Google Search Console has a bug with the jobs data in the performance report.  Google added read more deep link best practices documentation. Microsoft Advertising released new AI features.  0:00 - Introduction 0:35 - John Mueller on SEO 3:00 - Google Search Console jobs reporting bug  3:55 - Google read more deep links best pra...

Today we covered the Google Maps safety report and the Google Ads safety report.  Google has videos in local ads. We also covered some ChatGPT ads news. 0:00 - Introduction 0:37 - Google Maps safety report 1:45 - Google Ads safety report  3:10 - Videos in Google local ads 5:03 - ChatGPT ads news 8:00 - Conclusion A daily recap video summarizing a few of the top search marketing headlines covered a...

This week we covered a new Google Search spam penalty for back button hijacking. Google also updated its spam report, it may now be used for manual actions. Google is aware of self-serving listicles and warns not to manipulate LLMs. Google Search Console seems to be testing an AI contribution report. Google Ads is retiring Dynamic Search Ads in place of AI Max. Google Ads removed 8.3 billion ads a...

Today we covered that Google Ads Dynamic Search Ads are being replaced by AI Max.  Google spam reports may now be used for manual actions. Google Search Console had an unfortunate email bug.  Google Ads is simplifying enhanced conversions with a new on and off toggle. 0:00 - Introduction 0:38 - Google Ads DSAs deprecating to AI Max 2:58 - Google spam reports used for manual actions  5:01 - Google...