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 spoke about when (if ever) independent sites will see their content surface better in Google Search and hint, some may never. Google Ads search term report gets PMax terms. Google said removing European news content did not impact its ad revenue. Google Merchant Center lost conversion data in February. Google AI Overviews has this get an AI explanation and related images button. Google confirmed the Google Business Profiles delays are still ongoing and gave no ETA for when it will be resolved.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
-
Google Search: No Specific Date For Independent Sites Surface Better
Google would not give a specific date for when we will see independent sites to start surfacing better and higher in Google Search. As a reminder, Google wrote with the March 2025 core update, "We also continue our work to surface more content from creators through a series of improvements throughout this year." -
Google Ads Search Terms Report Gets PMax Terms
Google now is showing Performance Max terms in the Google Ads search terms report. Plus this report shows the new negative keywords terms that is now supported for PMax campaigns. -
Google: Removing EU News Publishers Had No Impact On Search Ad Revenue
On Friday, Google published its findings from its experiment of removing some EU news publishers from its search results. The results said that Google had no visible loss of search ad revenue when the news publishers were removed. -
Google Merchant Center Conversion Data Lost & Unrecoverable In February
Google Ads has confirmed that it has lost some conversion data for some advertisers who used Google Merchant Center in February. The data is not coming back, it is unrecoverable. We don't know the exact dates, but Google did mention it was in February 2025. -
Google AI Overviews With Al Explanation & Related Images Button
Google is testing a new feature in the AI Overviews (although, they look familiar to me for some reason). When you click or hover over on a word in the AI Overview, Google will bring up a menu to get an AI explanation, show related images or copy to clipboard. -
Google Business Profiles Appeals Still Delayed
A month ago, we reported that Google Business Profiles support was backlogged and delayed. Well, the delay is not getting any better. Victoria Kroll from Google posted an update on Friday afternoon in the Google Business Profiles to inform us that the delay is still there. -
Holi Dance At Google Office
Here is a photo from a video of two Googlers dancing in front of the Google logo in the Google India office. At least I think it is Googlers at the Google India office.
Other Great Search Threads:
- Bing test survey about the above result is helpful., Sachin Patel on X
- I checked with some folks here, and for online offers InStoreOnly availability is interpreted as out-of-stock as you cannot have it delivered. For local offers it's interpreted as in-stock., John Mueller on Bluesky
- He does. What I said is I’m here and on other social nearly every day (I’m sure I qualified that; I don’t work every day) and that I interact with people here nearly every day when I’m on throug, Google SearchLiaison on X
- How dynamic are the SERPs now? Analyzing some top queries for a client and this is what I'm seeing for an important query: 1) They rank in the AIO, but not at the top. Their key competitor ranks #1 in the AIO. 2) My client ranks #2, Glenn Gabe on X
- Morgan, I was explaining that sometime people come to a site from search that they’ve never been to before, so it’s good if a site can make it easy for them to understand what a site is about, to recognize it as a brand — whether that’s a big or a, Google SearchLiaison on X
- No, we generally don't share the slides separately, sorry! Glad you could make it, it's always good to see you!, John Mueller on Bluesky
- Totally agree! It was tough capturing @dannysullivan ’s sincerity and passion through live tweets alone. What stood out was his genuine compassion, emotion, and determination to improve search, even if it’s not always obvious externally. Danny do, Mr Jonathan Jones on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Google: Not all sites will fully recover with future core algorithm updates
- The latest jobs in search marketing
- Google adds Search Terms visibility to Performance Max campaigns
- 6 free Chrome extensions for PPC
- Beyond Google: How to put a total search strategy together
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- How to Track Traffic from AI Overviews (AIO), Featured Snippets, or People Also Ask (PAA) Results in Google Analytics 4 (GA4), KP Playbook
- Annotations in GA4, KRM Digital Marketing
Industry & Business
- Inside Google’s Two-Year Frenzy to Catch Up With OpenAI, Wired
- Perplexity’s bid for TikTok continues, The Verge
- Yahoo Is Still Here—and It Has Big Plans for AI, Wired
- How Do You Solve a Problem Like Google Search? Courts Must Enable Competition While Protecting Privacy., Electronic Frontier Foundation
Links & Content Marketing
Local & Maps
- Google fixes missing Maps Timeline history, users can restore data, 9to5Google
- The Quickest Local SEO Tip That Boosts Rankings, Sterling Sky
- Is Waze the next app to make its way to the Google Graveyard?, Android Police
Mobile & Voice
- Google app adding new ‘Activity’ tab on Android, 9to5Google
- Apple Explores Turning Watches Into Wearable AI Devices with Cameras, Bloomberg
- Gemini Live Astra camera & screen sharing rollout starts on Android , 9to5Google
- To Truly Fix Siri, Apple May Have to Backtrack on One Key Thing—Privacy, Wired
SEO
- How Do You Explain the Value of SEO? — Whiteboard Friday, Moz
- Schema App’s Dynamic Markup Drives Long-Term SEO Success, Schema App
- Selling SEO transformations to leadership, Product Led SEO
- Boost your SEO strategy for Longtail Keywords, BrightEdge
- Google changed the HTML code, which led to errors in well-known SERP parsers, Devaka Talk
PPC
- Fake Semrush ads used to steal SEO professionals’ Google accounts, Bleeping Computer
- Improved Change Tracking in Google Ads API, Google Ads Developer Blog
- Search Engine Ads Explained in 10 Minutes (with Expert Tips), Ahrefs
- Why Google Ad Costs Are Rising in 2025 (+What to Do About It), WordStream
- New Limitations for the Condition Feed Attribute in GMC, PPC News Feed
Search Features
- Are Google AI Overviews common in the United Kingdom?, ZipTie
- Terakeet Case Study: What Impacts Inclusion in AI Overviews?, Terakeet
- Celebrating Cherry Blossom Season Doodle, Google Doodles
Other Search
- How AI is reshaping the customer experience, Think with Google
- OpenAI’s Sora Is Plagued by Sexist, Racist, and Ableist Biases, Wired
- A peek inside the busy home of the Internet Archive, NPR
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.
