Search Engine Roundtable Podcast

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 -...

This week in search, we covered how Google’s Nick Fox announced Google Search broke all usage records when Argentina scored its winning goal in the World Cup. Google Search Console now shows third-party platform content performance data from Instagram, TikTok, X and YouTube. Google Search Generative AI controls are rolling out to more sites outside of the UK. There is a trick to see the AI perform...

Today we covered how Google announced it had broken all time historical usage records after Argentina scored its winning goal at the World Cup.  Google seems to be rolling out the search generative AI controls in Search Console to more.  Google Merchant Center Next dropped Next, it is just Merchant Center. Google Ads fights back on budget bidding changes complaints. 0:00 - Introduction 1:15 - Goog...

Today we covered Google is testing google.com/goto tracking URLs in the search results and it might cause trouble for trackers. Google Business Profiles updated its appeal form.  Google Ads added frequently asked questions to the AI Max help document. 0:00 - Introduction 0:42 - Google Tests /goto tracking URLs from search results 2:50 - Google Business Profiles updates appeals form 4:25 - Google A...

Today we covered Google Search Console releasing social and video channels reporting with platform properties. Google merchant listings structured data supports product categories and sale durations. Google is testing visit site buttons on sponsored results. 0:00 - Introduction 0:32 - Google Search Console reporting for social and video channels with platform properties 3:02 - Google merchant list...

Today we covered how last week, Google reviews went missing in masses and Google is investigating. Google page indexing report is now back, after 3 weeks of delays. Google AI Overviews now show further explorations section.  Google and YouTube Shopify sync app may cause a huge mess with your Google shopping campaigns.  ChatGPT Ads can use AI to generate your ads. 0:00 - Introduction 1:17 - Google...

This week, I covered that Google’s June 2026 spam update completed last Friday afternoon. Fraudulent DMCA takedown requests are breaking Google Search and no one seems to be doing anything. Google AI Mode improved links for recipes again. Google also started putting top stories carousels in AI Overviews. Google AI Overviews can show markdown files in snippets, but it doesn’t mean anything. Google...

Today we covered how Google Ads is making changes to bidding for campaigns limited by budget. Google Ads is testing a new Channel Diagnostics feature for Performance Max campaigns within Channel Performance. Google Ads updated the all campaign drop down. Google Ads now lets you unsubscribe from those pesky ad expert emails. Google Search makes changes to the behavior of AMP pages. Bing Webmaster T...

Today we covered how the fraudulent DMCA takedown requests on Google are causing a huge mess. Google Ads is testing AI-generated summaries. Google AdSense ad intent ads with AI-generated text. Google AI Mode updates recipe links, but is it enough. Google Trends added the ability to see previous period comparison data. Google Search Console had a data bug for Discover and AI Discover reports. Fabri...

Today we covered how John Mueller said Google does not require meta descriptions but they can be useful.  Shocking content in Google Ads are now allowed for kids. Google Ads and Merchant Center now let you upload your customer match data via the Merchant API.  Google Ads is testing open in new window icon. 0:00 - Introduction 0:54 - Google on meta descriptions 2:58 - Google Ads drops shocking cont...

Today we covered the Google June 2026 spam update completing late Friday.  Google’s Liz Reid said it wants your content to shine in Google Search.  Google is testing top stories in AI Overviews. Bruce Clay, an SEO pioneer, and the father of SEO, has passed. Google Ads makes changes to Display & Video 360 API and Structured Data Files. The Google Ads API version 21 will sunset soon. Google Ads...

This week, Google released the June 2026 spam update, Google said it was a normal spam update but it does feel like this one started a bit earlier and was a big one. Yes, we covered on Sunday what we thought was a Google update that focused on black hat techniques. Google Search Console’s AI performance report is rolling out to more users. Google’s John Mueller explained when an impression is coun...

Today we covered the new Google June 2026 spam update being rolled out. The page indexing report is delayed two weeks. Google is testing autocomplete in the follow up section of AI Mode. Google explained how impressions are counted in the AI performance reports. The Google Ads API will stop supporting new Smart Campaign creation.  And the Google Ads API version 24.2 is out. 0:00 - Introduction 1:0...

Today we covered Google Ads testing strongest match and strong match labels on sponsored results. Google Ads new unique search categories with clicks, conversions and impressions. Google Ads to allow some final URLs to redirect to outside different domains. Google Merchant Center added details on how to remove the Found by Google products from your feed. 0:00 - Introduction 1:37 - Google Ads stran...