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’s CEO, Sunda Pichai, spoke about AI Overviews killing the web, small publishers dying and not giving us Search Console data (well, kinda). The Google site reputation abuse policy also applies to Google Discover. Google AI Overview colors have nothing to do with the confidence of the answer. Google about source knowledge panels get graphical. Google also is rolling out a more graphical and richer search results interface. Google Marketing Live was this afternoon, more on that tomorrow… I am going to try publishing the newsletter earlier in the day (see how you like it).

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• 
  Google’s Sundar Pichai On AI Overviews Killing Web, Smaller Publishers & Search Console Data
  
  
  Nilay Patel, Editor-In-Chief of The Verge interviewed Sunday Pichai, CEO of Google, at Google I/O and the 40 minute interview released yesterday dug into a lot of the concerns we have been covering here. This includes how AI Overviews may kill the web, how smaller/indepdent publishers are dying and if we can get data in Search Console.
• 
  Google Rolling Out More Graphical & Richer Search Results
  
  
  Rajan Patel, the VP of Engineering at Google leading the Search experiences, wrote that Google is rolling out a more graphical results interface that go “beyond visual matches to include things like more links and facts from Knowledge Graph as well as AI Overviews.”




• 
  PSA: Site Reputation Abuse Policy Also Applies To Google Discover
  
  
  Just a PSA – the newish Google site reputation abuse policy not only applies to Google Search but also applies to Google Discover. Google updated the Discover content policies a while back to add a line that reads, “Publishers should be aware of the new site reputation abuse policy that becomes effective as of May 5, 2024.”




• 
  Google Adds Visuals To About Source Knowledge Panels
  
  
  December 2022, Google began showing “About this” site under some search result snippets, when the intent of the query was to learn more about that brand. It was a pretty sparse textual box that has more details about the source. Now, Google is testing showing this information in a more graphical user interface.





• 
  Google AI Overviews Colors Do Not Indicate Confidence Of Response
  
  
  Google’s John Mueller said the colors that Google selects for the AI Overviews has no indication of the confidence of the response. Back when SGE (old name for AI Overviews), Google told me the color had more to do with the journey but they were just fun.







• 
  Android Shrubbery Statue
  
  
  Here is an Android statue at the Google London office that is covered in shrubbery. This is a super green and plant-like Android figurine.

Other Great Search Threads:

• Both are important. As is cleaning up., John Mueller on X
• If you’re an SEO looking to analyze AI Overview results, check out my new Chrome extension! It lists cited resources, compares them with traditional search results, and dynamically updates as you scroll. Easily copy tables to a spread, Amin Foroutan on X
• The buzz is all about removing AI Overviews! Search trends (data by @similarweb @Lem4) are exploding with over 100 terms including “remove,” “cancel,” and “opt out.” #GoogleSearch #AIOverviews, Shay Harel on X
• Tune in to Google Marketing Live tomorrow, Tues, May 21 at 9AM PT to hear how you can put Google AI to work for your business. Set a reminder on YouTube, Prabhakar Raghavan on X
• Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t there no such thing as a home remedy for appendicitis? Google AI suggests mint leaves., Avram Piltch on X
• If there’s a specific outcome you’re interested in, I’d make it as consistent as possible in that regard. For this kind of thing, canonicalization primarily affects reporting, so your site overall wouldn’t rank differently., John Mueller on X
• Is your SEO tool showing AI Overviews yet?, Mark Traphagen on LinkedIn
• Links to AMP pages are fine – there’s no need to remove any social media posts that include them. The only thing I’d watch out for is that you redirect them should you choose to move to a responsive site architecture (like with any site revamp)., John Mueller on X
• You want to add 2 seconds latency to your web pages? That sounds like a terrible idea. How much are they paying you for doing that?, John Mueller on LinkedIn

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.

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 said it is working on surfacing more heartful helpful content, after no sites seemed to have recovered from the last helpful content update. Danny Sullivan said he speaks directly to engineers working on Google Search. Google doesn’t let you turn off AI Overviews, but Bing lets you turn off its AI responses. Google Notes says it is ending the labs feature soon but Google may bring comments to notes.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• 
  Google Working On Surfacing More Content That Comes From The Heart
  
  
  Last week we reported how Danny Sullivan, Google’s Search Liaison, said how they are looking for ways to better promote sites that were hit by that helpful content update in September. Now, over the weekend, John Mueller from Google added, “the team working on this is explictly evaluating how sites can / will improve in Search for the next update.”
• 
  Bing Lets You Turn Off AI Responses But Google Doesn’t Let You Turn Off AI Overviews
  
  
  Google has been rolling out AI Overviews in its search results since last week and more and more searchers are super unhappy that there is no way to turn off the AI Overviews. Michael Schechter, a Vice President at Microsoft, shared a screenshot in Bing, on how you can turn off Copilot responses in Bing Search with the click of a button.
• 
  Danny Sullivan: We Speak Directly To Engineers Working On Google Ranking Systems
  
  
  Google was asked where Google’s Danny Sullivan and John Mueller get their information from when responding to search and ranking-related questions. Sullivan responded directly to the engineers who code those ranking systems at Google.




• 
  Google Says Notes On Search Now Ends Soon
  
  
  Google has updated the Google Search Labs to say that Notes on Search now “ends soon.” As a reminder, last November Google rolled out as a labs the Notes feature in Google Search and Google Discover.
• 
  Comments To Notes In Google Search?
  
  
  Google may be bringing comments to the Notes on Google Search (and Discover) feature. Notes on Search came last November as a labs feature in Google Search and Google Discover. Google recently tested a new button for the notes feature in Search. Now Google may be testing comments on Notes.
• 
  NYC Bring Your Child To Work Day At Google NYC
  
  
  Google held its annual bring your child to work day at the Google New York City office. This was back in late April and I found some cute photos of kids at Google doing face painting, gaming, balloons and more.

Other Great Search Threads:

• OpenAI has added a ‘make this chat discoverable’ option, letting users decide if their chats should appear in search engines. That’s cool! (cont..), Shameem Adhikarath on X
• Yesterday was my last day as head of alignment, superalignment lead, and executive @OpenAI, Jan Leike on X
• AI Overviews aren’t just good. They’re necessary for the long-term health of the web. It is time for a thread about AI, search and really the (nearish) future of publishing and the web. (and plz subscribe to the podcast at the end i, Bryan Casey on X
• Google has launched a small update for Search Knowledge Panels, specifically now displaying in this case the total numbers of teams managed by Josep Guardiola and Arne Slot starting with the last one (current or former)., Radu Oncescu on X
• Google! I have used your weapons against you! You have been cursed by The Smiling Man!, Ed Zitron on X
• Search engines and users don’t see what you did before you show the images to them., John Mueller on X
• I just left Google last month. The “AI Projects” I was working on were poorly motivated and driven by this mindless panic that as long as it had “AI” in it, it would be great., Scott Jenson On LinkedIn

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.

For the original iTunes version, click here.

Google announced they are rolling out AI Overviews in the US and many searchers want to turn it off, and some content creators want to opt out of them. Google also announced new AI search features that will roll out soon. OpenAI showed off their GPT-4o 24 hours before Google I/O and it was amazing. Google search results volatility has been super hearted all week long. Google confirmed it deindexed vast amounts of URLs in February. Google lifted some of the site reputation abuse manual actions earlier this week. Google said sites hit by the helpful content update can see a lift after the next core update. Google has read our feedback on our issues with search quality and changes may come, maybe. Google also might give us an automated action viewer in Search Console. Google also rolled out a web filter to see only text links in the search results. Google lowered the search ranking of some deepfake porn sites. Google locked down the complaint forum thread around images not showing in the search result snippets. Google may have a new local ranking signal, service areas. Google Local Service Ads tests messaging multiple businesses at once. Google Ads AI summaries are going live for some advertisers. Google Ads changed the functionality for suspended accounts. Google AdSense will not change the minimum reporting thresholds for channels. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

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