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 posted its FAQs on AI Overviews, asking why you can’t disable then. Google may be showing fewer Reddit links. Google explains when it is not a good thing when Googlebot is crawling you more. Google is testing 6 people also ask by default. Google launched menu buttons in the Google Maps results. Google AdSense has a new privacy and messaging feature for privacy rules.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• 
  Google AI Overviews FAQs Including Why You Can’t Disable AI Overviews
  
  
  Google has posted a new document in its forums named frequently asked questions about AI Overviews. In this document it has a section named “why can’t I disable AI Overviews?” The answer is that Google’s “goal is to help people find the information they’re looking for quickly and reliably.”
• 
  Report On If Google Showing Fewer Reddit Links In Search?
  
  
  Some in the SEO industry have been asking if Google has been showing fewer links in its search results to Reddit over the past several weeks. So Mordy Obserstein pulled some Semrush data that showed a slight downtick in Reddit results in Google’s Discussion and Forums section.
• 
  Google: Two Common Reasons When A Spike In Crawling Is Bad
  
  
  Google’s Gary Illyes posted on LinkedIn with two common examples of when a spike in Googlebot activity, crawling, is a bad thing. The short answer is when Googlebot gets to crawling an infinite section of your site (like calendar pages that goes on forever) and when your site is hacked with a ton of new hacked pages.
• 
  Google Tests Two More People Also Ask Results (6 PPA)
  
  
  Google is testing showing two more people also ask results, by default, which is a total of six people also ask, instead of the typical four people also ask that Google would show in its search results.





• 
  Google Local Panels Gains Menu Button
  
  
  Google seems to be adding a “menu” button to the Google Business Profiles, the local panels, in the web search results. I think Google has tested this one and off over the years, but as Marcin Karwowski noted, it seems to be rolling out now to some businesses.





• 
  New Google AdSense Privacy & Messaging For Users To Opt Out
  
  
  Google has begun rolling out a new privacy and messaging feature for AdSense ads in some US states. This is to comply with California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, and Utah privacy laws. The feature allows the site to communicate to the user about opting out of the sale or sharing of their personal information.





• 
  Google Japanese Circular Keyboard
  
  
  Here is a photo from Daniel Waisberg’s trip to the Google Japan office, and it shows these circular Japanese keyboards on display. There are other items on display.

Other Great Search Threads:

• It’s generally fine. Discovery will perhaps take a bit longer, but I wouldn’t worry too much about it, unless you see delays in linked pages being picked up., Martin Splitt on X
• (Update about Review Profiles) Today Google has sent out an email and have added a turn off toggle to keep reviews profile private even after 24 June. Email from Google and addition of profile privacy toggle here, Gagan Ghotra on X
• Google has updated it’s Search Help page “About your profile on Google” to now include information about Reviews Profiles. Reviews Profiles may still appear in search results even if you have turned on it to be PRIVATE, Gagan Ghotra on X
• In early June I shared about the crazy volatility I was seeing across finance sites starting on 5/10. I saw som e very big drops there (confirmed btw). Well, some of those drops just reversed course for a number of sites. Check out, Glenn Gabe on X
• So far Google has indexed 152K review profiles and perhaps all those USERS aren’t event aware of the fact that automatically a profile for their name was created and now someone can see all of their reviews in one place., Gagan Ghotra on X
• If you registered for SMX, definitely make sure you check out the presentation from @RyanJones about AI overviews. Really good stuff. He covers how AI Overviews work (or don’t), patent info about how they work (including why/how web, Glenn Gabe on X
• This is my biannual reminder that it is okay to speak at a conference for free with nothing being in it for you other than you get extreme amounts of joy out of sharing your thoughts with other people, and trying to helping them t, Wil Reynolds 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.

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 Search Console reports with # signs in them are not related to canonicalization in Google Search, it is related to Google Sitelinks. Bing Webmaster Tools can show clickthrough rates of over 100%, no joke. Google is testing black sitelinks. Google Maps added an edit and post button to the main buttons for Google Business Profiles. And no, Google Search does not always show the original source in its search results.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• 
  Google: #s In Google Search Console Reports Are Unrelated To Canonicalization
  
  
  There is a lot of talk in the wider SEO community around pound signs, #, in the Google Search Console reports, meaning something about canonicalization. John Mueller from Google, along with a number of SEOs, said it has nothing to do with canonicalization. Instead, it has to do with Google tracking on-page sitelinks from the Google Search results.
• 
  Google: Our Search Results Do Not Always Show Original Source
  
  
  Google’s John Mueller said in the last SEO Google Office Hours video that Google’s “search results are not an indication of what Google’s systems consider to be the original source.” This means that just because Google ranks a piece of content, it does not necessarily mean that the content is the original source.





• 
  Bing Webmaster Tools Clickthrough Rate Over 100%
  
  
  Did you ever sort the Bing Webmaster Tools clickthrough-rate column from highest to lowest and notice that you can see a CTR higher than 100%, I even see 300%. Well, Fabrice Canel from Microsoft said this is possible when a searcher clicks on your listing more than once from the same search result set.




• 
  Google Maps Adds Edit & Post Button To Business Profile Listing
  
  
  Google has added an “edit” and “post” button more prominently as big buttons to Google Business Profiles within the Google Maps interface. Previously, these buttons were not as accessible in the Google Maps interface.
• 
  Google Search Tests Black Sitelinks
  
  
  Google is testing another variation of its sitelinks design, this one uses black font colors for the sitelinks. Of course, Google generally uses blue for those links, because links are generally in blue underlined font.





• 
  Google Japan Zashiki Seating
  
  
  Daniel Waisberg was at the Google Japan office and he snapped some photos, shared them on LinkedIn. Here is one of one of the cafe areas that has the Japanese floor seating, also called Zashiki /Tatami seating.

Other Great Search Threads:

• Hmm…so NSR is just “New Site Rank?”, Mic King on X
• On 12th June Google update Search Central page added – AI Overviews – Business details – Structured data carousels (beta) Removed Home Activity it was, Gagan Ghotra on X
• Starting today, we are testing an experimental feature to allow people to add notes to provide relevant, timely, and easy-to-understand context on videos. For example, this could include notes that clarify when a song is mea, YouTube Liaison on X
• Unconventional take: ultimately you’re helping people with SEO., Gary Illyes on LinkedIn
• What part of the post needs updating? I’m not sure what you mean by “there is no auction.” Ad Strength is just a diagnostic tool. It does not “punish your reach if you do not keyword stuff ad copy” or, AdsLiaison on X
• ah, this is a link typo (sadly, not new). fixing soon, Lizzi Sassman on X
• Google Search Status Dashboard, but a little more mobile friendly to view, Dave Smart On LinkedIn

Search Engine Land Stories:

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

Industry & Business

Links & Content Marketing

Local & Maps

Mobile & Voice

SEO

• An E-E-A-T Checklist for Auditing How Your Site Demonstrates Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness & Trustworthiness, Digitaloft
• Choosing Between In-House and Agency SEO: What’s Right for Your Business?, Loud
• Rand Fishkin Interview: Zero Click, Regulating Google & Marketing in a Zero Click World, Near Media
• SEO for planned & tentpole news events, WTF is SEO?
• The Top 5 Takeaways From Google’s Search API Leaks, Go Fish Digital
• Why Does Google Change My Webpage Title in the Search Results? (And What To Do About It), BruceClay
• AI Overview Tracking in Google Search Console [SEO Experiment], Brodie Clark Consulting
• SEO Product Manager Reactions to SMX Adv Opening Keynote of Director, PM, Search at Google, Holly Miller Anderson on LinkedIn
• SEO Tutorial for Beginners: What to Prioritize (and What Not to), Semrush

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.

We had another possible Google search ranking update this weekend. Google Ads is forcing some advertisers off credit card payments. Apple updated its Applebot documentation in a big way. Google Maps updated its fake engagement policy. Google updated its hreflang documentation. Google Ads now allows for some opioid painkiller ads. And a special piece from Glenn Gabe on tracking AI Overviews in Google Search Console – well, kinda.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• 
  Google Father’s Day Weekend Search Ranking Volatility
  
  
  Happy Father’s Day – it looks like we are seeing some pretty significant ranking fluctuations and volatility within the Google Search results over the past day or so. Yep, yet another big Google weekend update of sorts – of course – not confirmed by Google.
• 
  The Maddening Adventure Of Tracking AI Overviews In Google Search Console
  
  
  
  
  Google launched AI overviews in the SERPs in the United States officially on May 14th at I/O. This follows the launch of Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) in May of 2023…





• 
  Google Ads Forcing Some Advertisers Off Credit Card Payments
  
  
  Google Ads is forcing many of its advertisers off the credit card option for paying for their ad accounts and onto bank-based payment methods, such as ACH, wire, or paper check. If you do not comply by July 31, 2024, your account can be suspended.





• 
  Apple Updates Applebot Docs With Applebot-Extended, Reverse DNS & More
  
  
  Apple has made some really big changes to the Applebot documentation after the Apple WWDC event, where Apple announced Apple Intelligence. Apple added more about Applebot, reverse DNS details, Applebot-Extended and much more.





• 
  Google Maps Updates Fake Engagement Policy With More Detail
  
  
  Google has updated its Google Maps contributor fake engagement policy to flesh out in more detail how the policy works. The new text is like 40% longer and seems to have received a nice refresh.





• 
  Google Updates hreflang Documentation While I Was Offline
  
  
  Google has tweaked its hreflang search developer documentation to clarify that link tags for denoting alternate versions of a page must not be combined in a single link tag. Google said it wanted to document this “quirk” in its documentation.





• 
  Google Now Allow Some Opioid Painkillers Ads
  
  
  Google Ads will update its Healthcare and medicines policy this month to allow advertisers to discuss opioid painkillers without promoting or selling them. The example given is that you can have ads to discuss public policy solutions for opioid painkiller abuse.





• 
  Googler In Training Jacket
  
  
  Here is Mike Ryan’s kid wearing a Googler in Training red rain / wind jacket. He posted about the Google merch a year ago and I guess now his kid is old enough to wear it and shared this photo of his kid wearing it.

Other Great Search Threads:

• Advertisers will get a notification (under the Notifications icon) in their account. Click the notification to view the automatically paused keywords OR go directly to the “Keywords” page under “Campai, AdsLiaison on X
• (New) Google Circle to Search now testing 3 new tabs in its results (mostly shows up for product images) Products Visual Matches About this image, Gagan Ghotra on X
• First time seeing an attribute get denied with a emailed response. Apparently you are not considered small business if you are part of a chain or franchise. This particular location has 5 total. I would still consider that small busin, ClaudiaT on X
• Update: Bing is showing a # button at the bottom of the search results. Clicking it lets you explore the Tag filter, Shameem Adhikarath on X
• Google’s VP of Search Liz Reid on driving forward with AI: “It is important that we don’t hold back features just because there might be occasional problems, but more as we find the problems, we address them,” “We should take t, Glenn Gabe on X
• Being a bit more serious, I represent both, in a way. I work for Google, but I rep how Google thinks about things externally and also very much rep and advocate for what people externally think back in internally., Google SearchLiaison on X
• Google finally cleaned up the Search Console data anomalies page. Before and after attached (shorter one is new), Barry Schwartz 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.