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Video: Google Spam Update, AI Mode Changes, ChatGPT Does Use Google, Search Ad News & More
This week we had our first Google spam update in 8 months, the August 2025 spam update. This update touched down very quickly, likely within 24 hours. I also posted a Google search ranking volatility status report. Google is...
Bing Webmaster Tools Sitemaps Index Coverage Missing
Some SEOs are noticing that when you look at your sitemaps report in Bing Webmaster Tools, for some sitemaps, some are missing the Index Coverage button. I personally can see the same thing for some of the properties I have access to within Bing Webmaster Tools.
Google's Danny Sullivan Speaks At WordCamp On How Google Search Keeps Evolving
Danny Sullivan, the former Google Search Liaison, spoke at WordCamp on Friday on the topic of How and why Google Search keeps evolving. The video is up for anyone to watch, it is 45 minutes and doesn't have much new in it but it is a good refresher.
Google AI Mode With Compare Checkboxes For Products & Local Business Listings
Google now has the ability within AI Mode to compare listed products or local businesses by selecting the listing and having AI Mode compare the ones you selected. Then AI Mode will just compare the ones you selected in the follow-up query.
Daily Search Forum Recap: August 29, 2025
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web. The Google August 2025 spam update touched down very quickly and is already stirring things up. Google is testing rounded snippet designs. Google Business Profiles NMX shows a new Profiles button for some. Google added guidance for JavaScript-based paywalls. Bing Webmaster Tools sitemaps sometimes is not showing the index coverage button. And I posted the weekly SEO video recap...
Google Testing Rounded Search Results Snippet Design
Google is testing a rounded corner search result snippet card design again. We've seen this numerous times over the past decade or so and it seems to be back. The snippet sections are bordered in with rectangular outlines, and the corners of those rectangles are curved and circular.
Some Sites Are Seeing Crawl Rate Declines In Google Search Console
There are numerous complaints from SEOs and site owners who are noticing significant declines in crawl rates within Google Search Console. Most who see this, many do not by the way, are noticing the decline starts around August 8th and continues through today.
Daily Search Forum Recap: August 27, 2025
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web. Google has announced a three-week rollout of the August spam update - hopefully you will all see benefits from it. Google is testing AI Mode in the EU. A new survey says that only 4% of searchers don't click from Google AI Overviews. Google Ads has new loyalty goals for advertisers. Google Ads renamed the chat button to "Ads Advisor...
Survey Says Only 4% Of Searchers Don't Click From Google AI Overviews
A new survey from NP Digital says that only 4% of the 1,000 people surveyed said they do not click from the Google AI Overviews. 13.3% of people surveyed said they do click every single time within an AI Overview, 30.5% said they often click, 41.5% said they sometimes click and 10.3% said they rarely click through.
Traditional Search Is Not Declining, Says Sparktoro
New research released by Rand Fishkin and friends at Sparktoro says that traditional search is not dipping in usage, even as searchers continue to adopt AI search features and tools. "95% of Americans continue to use them each month, and 86% are heavy users," Rand wrote.
Google Search Console Link Report Without Last Updated Date
Did you notice that one of the only reports in Google Search Console that does not have a "last updated" time stamp is the links report. I asked John Mueller from Google why and he said, "No particular reason. Different reports are different."
Microsoft Responds To Complaints About Hard To See Search Ad Labels
I've covered the almost invisible and incredibly hard to see experiments with Microsoft Advertising placing hard to see search/sponsored ads in the Bing search results many times. Well, now that we have a Microsoft Advertising Ads Liaison, we finally got a response from Microsoft on the topic.
Google To Test Changes To AI Mode To Encourage Clicks
Google's Robby Stein said that over the coming weeks, Google will be testing changes to AI Mode that will aim to encourage clicks to publishers. He said on X that Google has "been experimenting with how and where to show links in ways that are most helpful to users and sites."
OpenAI's ChatGPT Using SerpApi To Scrape Google Search Results
Earlier we reported that ChatGPT from OpenAI seems to be using parts of Google search results for its answers. Well, according to The Information, OpenAI has been partially using Google search results scraped by a startup called SerpApi for ChatGPT responses on current events like news and sports.
Google Search Ranking Volatility Checkin
The last time I covered the ongoing Google search ranking volatility was when I said there was a bit of a cooling period. The weird thing is that most of the week that Google volatility was calm but chatter did spike up towards the end of the week, but the tools that track it didn't show that volatility heat up until a couple days later.
Google Merchant Panel Deals & Loyalty Benefits Boxes & Shopping Ads Discount Codes
Google is now showing the deals and loyalty benefits details in the retailer/merchant knowledge panels. Plus, Google Shopping Ads show a "discount code" link that opens a dialog box with the code and a button to "continue to site."
Video: Google Volatility Check, AI Mode Expands Big Time, ChatGPT Sends Less Traffic & SPN Ad Reporting
This week, we did a check in on the ongoing Google Search ranking volatility. Google AI Mode expanded to 180 countries, added agentic experiences, got more personalized and gained sharable links. ChatGPT may be...
Daily Search Forum Recap: August 22, 2025
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web. Google Discover has these new publisher entity pages with follow counts, latest posts and more. Google Ads is testing a label that shows how many visits the page got in the past month. Google Merchant Center panel with deals...