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Yep, another week, more Google search ranking volatility to report on. Google released new shopping features including a new home page, a new researched with AI, more personalized results and deal-finding tools like price comparison, price insights and price tracking. Bing Webmaster Tools added more data, new recommendations and previewed Copilot integration. Semrush has acquired Third Door Media’s properties including Search Engine Land, Search Marketing Expo and more. Bing also seems to be taking recipe bloggers content, fully. A popular YouTuber smashed Google Search. Google Search is testing top links, which seem like sitelinks. Google Ads will release new penalties for agencies or third parties that abuse their policies. Google Ads is testing expandable and collapsible ad formats. Google Ads is rolling out gross profit optimization settings. Google Ads will remove data older than 11 years. Google Merchant Center added new verification methods. Google Business Profiles removed insurance carrier derails. Microsoft said it unshipped 26 Bing features. I am offline for Sukkot, this video and everything I’ve posted on Thursday and Friday were pre-written and pre-scheduled. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

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Note: This was pre-written and scheduled to be posted today, I am currently offline for Sukkot.

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 is testing an article view design. Google is testing centered people also ask more results. Google is testing a new image pack design. Gogole translate in Google Search can show images. Google Local maps pack testing open in maps button. Plus, I scheduled my video for you all today. I am offline Wednesday night through Saturday night, so anything you see from me was pre-written and pre-scheduled to be posted. I’ll catch up when I return.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• 
  Video Recap: Google Shopping Goes AI, Bing Webmaster Tools Updates & Semrush Acquires SMX & Search Engine Land
  
  
  Yep, another week, more Google search ranking volatility to report on. Google released new shopping features including a new home page, a new researched with AI, more personalized results and deal-finding.
• 
  Google Search Tests Article List View Instead Of Carousel
  
  
  Google Search is testing replacing the article carousel format with a list view format of sort. This shows the articles in two columns with a show more button, instead of a carousel of article cards you can toggle through.
• 
  Google Tests People Also Ask More Results Centered Button
  
  
  Google is testing a more results button with a bit more design, the button expands or refines your query in the people also ask section. Normally you just see a text link that says “more results” but here Google a query and a search icon enclosed in a button.




• 
  Google Tests New Image Pack Design In Search
  
  
  Google is testing a new image pack design that shows four images instead of three images with a more images button. This may not be a new change, it might be query dependent but it seems newish to me.




• 
  Google Search Translate Feature Can Show Images
  
  
  Google Search’s translate feature may sometimes show images that match the word or words, depending on the language you are translating from and to. So if you want to translate the word baby into Spa
• 
  Google Local Pack Map Tests Open In Maps Button
  
  
  Google is now testing an “open in maps” button in the local pack maps embed interface. That button takes you into the core Google Maps product for that Google search query.
• 
  Dog In The Google Bike Basket
  
  
  HEarlier this week we posted a photo of a baby in a Google bike basket, well now here is a photo of a small dog in the basket on a Google bike.
• 
  Programming Note: Offline For Sukkot On Thursday & Friday
  
  
  This is a programming note that Thursday and Wednesday are Sukkot and I will be offline the next two days. I will be offline on Thursday and Wednesday, October 17th and October 18th.

Other Great Search Threads:

Search Engine Land Stories:

Other Great Search Stories:

Industry & Business

Links & Content Marketing

Local & Maps

Mobile & Voice

SEO

PPC

Search Features

Feedback:

Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.

Note: This was pre-written and scheduled to be posted today, I am currently offline for Sukkot.

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.

Bing announced a bunch of upgrades to Bing Webmaster Tools. Semrush acquired Third Door Media, Search Engine Land, SMX, etc. Google released version 18 of the Google Ads API. Google Merchant Center lets you rename your shipping policy. Google Ad renamed text assets to customizations. Google is testing a product carousel for Amazon. I am offline Wednesday night through Saturday night, so anything you see from me was pre-written and pre-scheduled to be posted. I’ll catch up when I return.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• 
  Google Ads API Version 18 Now Available
  
  
  Google Ads has released an update it the Google Ads API, version 18. Version 18 includes updates across account management, ad groups, ads, assets, campaigns, hotel/travel, local, PMax, reporting and more. This is a major release update of the Google Ads API.
• 
  Bing Webmaster Tools Gets 16 Months Of Data, Recommendations & Copilot Tools To Come
  
  
  Microsoft has provided some new updates to Bing Webmaster Tools, including 10 months more of data for the search performance reports, an updated recommendations section, and a preview of Copilot tools coming to the toolset.
• 
  Google Merchant Center Lets You Name Your Shipping Policy
  
  
  Google Merchant Center now lets you name your various shipping policies. This is a welcomed change because previously, it was hard to know which shipping policy was associated with which products.




• 
  Semrush Acquired Search Engine Land, SMX & Third Door Media (Industry Reaction)
  
  
  Semrush, the well-known and popular SaaS search marketing platform, has acquired Third Door Media and all its properties, including Search Engine Land, SMX, MarTech, and Digital Marketing Depot. As you know, Semrush went public in March 2021 and has grown its business over the past 16 years to over 1,000 people and hundreds of millions of dollars.




• 
  Google Ads Renames ACA Text Assets To Customizations
  
  
  Google Ads has renamed “text assets” to “customizations” within the Automatically created assets section of Google Ads. Customizations lets you use text from your website, landing pages, ads, and provided assets to create customized ad copy.
• 
  Google Tests Snippet Product Carousels For Amazon
  
  
  Google is testing a product carousel within the search results snippets that contain product images, product information, ratings and prices. This might be specific to Amazon, but I am not sure.
• 
  Google Tree Root Ceiling At Google Brazil
  
  
  Here is an interesting ceiling at the Google offices in Brazil. They have the roots of a tree, or at least the design of one, coming out from the top of the ceiling.
• 
  Programming Note: Offline For Sukkot On Thursday & Friday
  
  
  This is a programming note that Thursday and Wednesday are Sukkot and I will be offline the next two days. I will be offline on Thursday and Wednesday, October 17th and October 18th.

Other Great Search Threads:

• Looks like Google Ads is now showing offers and price drops above images on mobile SERP., Shameem Adhikarath on X
• Google with vertical “Things to Do” section., Khushal Bherwani on X
• Microsoft Rewards started in Bing a decade ago and now is a company-wide program. Users earn loyalty points by searching on Bing, playing games in Xbox, shopping for games and digital content in the Microsoft Store, and more. These, Jordi Ribas on X
• SEO Case Study: CNN dominates searches for the ’24 Election, one of the most competitive spaces in SEO right now. Here’s a breakdown of how they do it: In the middle of an election cycle, publishers are all pushing extremely aggress, Chris Long on X
• The NYT sends a cease-and-desist letter to AI startup Perplexity to stop using its content; Perplexity says it is “interested in working with every” publisher (@alexbruell / Wall Street Journal), Techmeme on X

Search Engine Land Stories:

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

Industry & Business

Links & Content Marketing

Local & Maps

Mobile & Voice

SEO

PPC

Search Features

Other Search

Feedback:

Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.

Note: This was pre-written and scheduled to be posted today, I am currently offline for Sukkot.