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 AI Mode and AI Overviews gain preferred sources...... →
Google is officially rolling out preferred source labels within AI Mode and AI Overviews and adding a new carousel to AI Mode and AI Overviews, as well. Plus, Google said the highly cited label is expanding to more search results (which is not specific to AI Mode and AI Overviews).... →
Gary Illyes from Google reportedly said at the Search Central Live Shanghai 2026 event on May 15th that he and Google strongly warns against buying or manipulating mentions brand mentions to try to show up in the AI responses, AI Overviews and AI Mode.... →
Google is testing shifting the sitename and favicon in the search results around, where it is on one line with the favicon, then a bold sitename and then the URL, followed by the rest of the snippet; the title and description and sitelinks. Typically, the favicon spans two lines covering the sitename one the first line and URL on the next line.... →
As you know, Google updated its Google Ads data retention policy recently, which changed how long it will store some of its shorter-term performance data. Specifically, the data hourly, daily, and weekly reporting data...... →
Google is rolling out a new AI performance report within Google Merchant Center named AI performance insights. Google said the "AI performance insights can help provide you with a view into your brand's performance on AI surfaces and how you can optimize your product data to improve your performance on these AI powered experiences."... →
Cybercriminals used the Glassworm botnet to infect open source software projects with malware, and in turn hack the developers and companies that use that software.... →
Google I/O made it official: AI-generated answers are now front and center in search, and most brands have almost no visibility into how AI is describing them to their customers. For anyone who has spent years building a strategy around 10 blue links, the rules just changed in a pretty significant way. On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Rebecca […]... →
There are two interviews that is probably worth a listen of Google's CEO, Sundar Pichai and Google's SVP of Knowledge & Information, out of Google I/O and Google Marketing Live. If you listen, you can see the direction Google Search is headed - and duh, it is AI.... →
Google is testing letting searchers check for real-time stock, inventory, of products through the local pack in the search results. There is this new button being tested next to view "more places" in the local pack that says, "Check real-time stock."... →
Google has confirmed another bug with the Search Console Discover performance report on May 21st. Google said there was another data logging issue that may cause a decrease in clicks and impressions for May 21, 2026.... →
Google is rolling out what it calls Real-Time Policy Reviews within Google Ads for Responsive Search Ads and rolling out to other campaign types later in the year. Google wrote, "this feature provides instant feedback during the ad creation process, significantly reducing the time it takes for your ads to begin serving."... →
Google overhauled Search at I/O 2026, replacing blue links with AI agents. The backlash has been swift. DuckDuckGo app installs spiked 30% as users seek a way out.... →
The European Union may fine Google its largest fine for a breach of the 'new Digital Markets Act (DMA). It would be in the triple millions of Euros and would be done because Google allegedly favors its own services in its own search results.... →
We know Google said it was expanding shopping ads into AI Mode and saw some examples of that. We also know about the new conversational discovery ads and highlighted answer ads. So I am not sure if this is another new format or part of those, but this one seems different.... →
Google is testing Shopping ads that enlarge, grow and expand when you hover your mouse cursor over the ad unit. We saw something like this for another Google ad format in March and now we are seeing a variation of this for Google Shopping ads.... →
Part of Google Marketing Live was a small note about conversational attributes, a way to add more attributes to your product feeds within Google Merchant Center that can be used "to update their product descriptions to reflect the more conversational way people search."... →
Google is now showing the number of times a photo or video was viewed and seen by users in the Google Business Profiles photos/videos section. So now, business owners can see if the images and videos that they are uploading are being seen by searchers and which are the most popular ones.... →