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It finally happened: Google released the August 2024 core update; this one should reward small and independent publishers more, should it? Google had another search ranking bug, today, this was a big one. There has been tremendous Google ranking volatility this week, maybe the core update, but it was the day before and the weekend before the official announcement. The Department of Justice may decide to break up Google. Google launched new links in AI Overviews, expanded it to more countries and launched new Search Labs features, oh and Google is showing them in incognito mode. Google Gemini Research shows links as well. Google may be sending some publishers a lot more Discover traffic and a lot less Web Search traffic, a report says. Google Search Console only shows 35% of your data, maybe. Google does not technically follow links. Google may get better at URL parameter handling. Google confirms it shows 10+ shopping ads as you scroll. Google Search lists merchant center tracking parameters, causing a mess for some. Google deactivated Russian AdSense publishers. Google top stories may be showing fewer stories for political figures. Google is testing mini knowledge panel cards. Google knowledge panels have these “connections.” Google Home listings are hidden with fake WhatsApp numbers, and some hotels are closed. Google highlights reviews in the search result listings. The FTC officially banned fake reviews. And Apple Business Connect expanded its showcase feature. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

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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 released the much anticipated August 2024 core update, it will take a month to roll out and may help smaller publishers. Google has a massive search ranking bug going on today, the same time Google released the core update but they are unrelated. Google AI Overviews launches its new links, expands to more countries and more. Google does not follow links, at least not technically. Google is testing showing review snippets. The FTC banned fake reviews. And I posted my weekly SEO video recap with a new camera. What an insane 24 hours – a core update, huge ranking bug and AI Overviews being expanded.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• 
  Google August 2024 Core Update Rolling Out – Will Small Sites Rank Again?
  
  
  The time has finally arrived; the day you all have been waiting for is here – the Google August 2024 core update started rolling out on Thursday at 11 am ET. Yea, you all saw it coming, Google told us it was near and now it has finally landed. It will take about a month to fully roll out and “useful” small and independent publishers will see their rankings improve with this one – at least that is what Google implied.
• 
  Confirmed: Google Search Ranking Bug Impacting Large Number Of Results
  
  
  This morning at 1:48 am ET, Google confirmed a Google Search ranking bug impacting a large number of the Google Search results. Google wrote, “There’s an ongoing issue with ranking in Google Search that’s affecting a large number of search results. We’ve identified the root cause and this issue is unrelated to the ongoing core update rollout.”
• 
  Google AI Overview New Links UI, Save, Simpler Mode & More Countries
  
  
  Google announced a number of new features across its AI Overviews, including the new links test we saw going live. Google also is adding new Search Labs features and is expanding AI Overviews to more countries.
• 
  Google Doesn’t Technically Follow Links, It Extracts, Collects & Checks Later
  
  
  Google’s Gary Illyes clarified on the Search Off The Record podcast that Google technically does not follow links. Instead, Google will extract the links, collect them in a database, and then check them later. Of course, most of you know this already and it doesn’t really matter much for SEO to know the difference but hey.
• 
  FTC Banned Fake Reviews
  
  
  You may have heard, the Federal Trade Commission announced that they have officially banned fake reviews and AI-generated fake reviews. But will this actually end up doing anything?





• 
  Google Highlighting Review Content In Search Result Snippets
  
  
  Google is highlighting review content within its search results snippets for some queries that ask for reviews. At least, Google is testing this – since I cannot replicate it.





• 
  Fancy Windy Staircases At Google France Office
  
  
  Here are two photos I found on Instagram of fancy windy staircases at the Google offices in France. You can see more in these two posts on Instagram.
• 
  Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google August Core Update, Big Ranking Bug, DOJ Google Breakup, AI Overview Links, Gemini Research & More
  
  
  It finally happened: Google released the August 2024 core update; this one should reward small and independent publishers more, should it? Google had another search ranking bug, today, this was a big one. There has been tremendous Google ranking volatility this week, maybe the core update, but…

Other Great Search Threads:

Search Engine Land Stories:

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

Industry & Business

Links & Content Marketing

Local & Maps

Mobile & Voice

SEO

PPC

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.

We are seeing more explosive Google search ranking volatility again and still no confirmed Google update – yet. Google is testing over 10+ shopping ads as a way to promote more discovery Google said.Google is testing showing AI Overviews in incognito mode. Google may be showing fewer top stories for political figures. We have a recap of Google’s EMEA Product Experts Summit 2024.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• 
  Google Search Ranking Volatility Combusting Around August 14th
  
  
  Google is still at it, maybe it is angry again about the possibility of it being broken up by the DOJ after being ruled a monopoly. But in all seriousness, the search ranking volatility is super heating, almost combusting. The chatter is still super heated and many of the tools are showing extreme volatility.





• 
  Google Tests AI Overviews In Incognito Mode (Not Signed In)
  
  
  Google is testing showing AI Overviews for users not signed in to their Google account. Some users are seeing AI Overviews for searches when using Chrome in Incognito mode (i.e. private mode, not signed in).
• 
  Google Confirms Tests Over 10 Shopping Ads In Mobile Search Interface
  
  
  Google has confirmed it is testing more than 10 ads (some 18) in the Google Shopping ad box. Ginny Marvin, Google’s Ads Liaison, said “This is a small experiment exploring different configurations for shopping ads to promote greater discovery.”
• 
  Google Top Stories Showing Fewer Top Stories For Political Figures?
  
  
  Google Search changed how many stories it shows for political figures recently. Now Google shows the two by two top stories grid in search for searches on Harris, Trump and other political figures. Google use to show 7 top stories formats for these figures.
• 
  Google EMEA Product Experts Summit 2024 Recap
  
  
  Summer’s going by rather fast, but one event that’s already come and gone has been this year’s edition of Google’s PE Summit for the EMEA region. It took place on June 20th and 21st in Zürich, Switzerland, and was hosted at Google’s own offices as well as in a virtual format, similar to previous years.





• 
  Google’s Sundar Pichai Gets Honorary Doctorate From IIT Kharagpur
  
  
  Here is a photo from a few weeks ago from Sundar Pichai’s Instagram channel of him receiving an honorary doctorate from his alma mater IIT Kharagpur.

Other Great Search Threads:

Search Engine Land Stories:

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

Industry & Business

• Eric Schmidt Walks Back Claim Google Is Behind on AI Because of Remote Work, Wall Street Journal
• Google says Iranian efforts to hack US presidential campaigns are ongoing and wide-ranging, CNN Politics
• Google’s ex-CEO Eric Schmidt blames remote working on the company’s AI woes, Fortune
• Iranian backed group steps up phishing campaigns against Israel, U.S., Google Blog
• Reddit’s increased reliance on Google traffic has Wall Street anxious, CNBC
• The Contradictions in the DOJ’s Google Breakup Idea, The Information
• Epic judge says he’ll ‘tear the barriers down’ on Google’s app store monopoly, The Verge
• GitHub Actions artifacts found leaking auth tokens in popular projects, Bleeping Computer
• Google Has Unleashed Its Legal Fury on Hackers and Scammers, WIRED
• Podcast: Google Official Urges Greater Online Scrutiny After UK Riots, Bloomberg

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.