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 clarified again that it does not have a system to rank brands better or worse. Google's local Q&A feature seemed to disappear. Microsoft Advertising announced a bunch of new features. Microosft seems to be rolling out its own AI Mode, Bing Copilot AI Search. Google is testing indented vertical bars by titles and descriptions.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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Google: We Don't Have A Brand-Ranking System But...
Danny Sullivan, Google's Search Liaison, said it again, that Google does not have a system to recognize if a site is run by a big brand and then automatically just ranks it higher. He said on X, "but no, we don't have a brand-ranking system." -
Google Local Questions & Answers Feature Gone?
It seems the Google Search local feature that showed Questions and answers on local panels is no longer working for most businesses. I know Google disabled them in India, but they worked fine everywhere else. -
Microsoft Bing Copilot Search Now Live
In late February, Microsoft began quietly testing its new AI Search interface and engine probably named Bing Copilot Search or maybe just Copilot Search. Well, now it seems to be more rolled out, according to Mayank Parmar at Windows Latest. -
Google Search Tests Indent Vertical Bars By Title & Descriptions
Google is testing placing vertical gray bars by the search results titles and descriptions, indenting them in a bit, for stylist purposes. I am not sure what this adds to the search results, but Google decided to test it. -
Microsoft Advertising Updates For Shopping Campaigns, Audience Ads, PMax & More
Microsoft Advertising's team posted its monthly recap of what is new with the Microsoft Advertising platform. There are new items across Shopping campaigns, audience ads, and Performance Max (PMax) management and more. -
Google London Sky Deck View
I am not sure what Google named this deck/patio on the rooftop of the Google offices in London - but I just called it the Google London sky deck view. This is a pretty cool photograph, don't you think?
Other Great Search Threads:
- GeeksforGeeks got a manual action ..... This site has almost 70 million monthly traffic per Semrush numbers., Gagan Ghotra on X
- Google Travel got a massive boost with the recent algorithm update., Lily Ray on X
- How about this for a crappy local AIO? AIO mentions 1 franchise, but gives the phone number for a different franchise. The source? A state govt PDF that was published in 2014., Brandon Schmidt on X
- Today, we are expanding Immersive Ads to more app publishers across AdMob and Ad Manager. And Roblox is now engaging Ad Manager to help them scale their immersive advertising offerings, starting with Rewarded Video formats and soon a, AdsLiaison on X
- Tracking brand visibility within LLMs has started to become of interest to large brands with the rise of AI. It is a challenge to get reliable insights from these tools, which often don't show their workings. This is where Ahrefs s, Brodie Clark on X
- we are getting things under control, but you should expect new releases from openai to be delayed, stuff to break, and for service to sometimes be slow as we deal with capacity challenges., Sam Altman on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Google partners with Roblox on video ads
- Indexing and SEO: 9 steps to get your content indexed by Google and Bing
- Data providers: Google March 2025 core update had similar volatility to the previous update
- Your guide to Google Ads Smart Bidding
Other Great Search Stories:
Industry & Business
- ChatGPT Revenue Surges 30%—in Just Three Months, The Information
- Researchers suggest OpenAI trained AI models on paywalled O'Reilly books, TechCrunch
Links & Content Marketing
- Does American Express Business Class Get a Good Content Marketing Grade?, Content Marketing Institute
- How GenAI Supercharges Content Collaboration and Breaks Down Silos, SuccessWorks
Local & Maps
- 7 Ways I Use Google Maps for the Easiest Travel Experience, CNET
- Google Maps is giving your ETA screen a glow-up on Android, Android Central
Mobile & Voice
- Apple and Google app stores host VPNs linked to sanctioned Chinese group, Financial Times (Sub)
- ChatGPT isn't the only chatbot that's gaining users, TechCrunch
- Gemini is an increasingly good chatbot, but it’s still a bad assistant, Ars Technica
- How Meta’s Upcoming $1,000+ Smart Glasses With a Screen Will Work, Bloomberg
SEO
- Another Google core update was completed last Friday, Digiday
- Competitive companies prioritize mentorship: Here’s why you should too, Oncrawl
- How SEO Agencies Can Mitigate & Minimize Client Attrition, SEO dot co
- On-Page SEO Tips for AI Era, The Upper Ranks
- Optimizing Video Content for Google Search Results – It’s Time to Level Up – Masters of Traffic Part 9, Search Engine World
- Prompt engineering for SEOs, MetaMonster
PPC
- Google expands Immersive ads and Roblox partnership, Google Blog
- How to Write Google Ads Like a Pro in 2025 (+Examples!), WordStream
- Is Your Competitor Bidding On Your Brand Name on Google?, Group Twenty Seven
- Roblox announces new ad format, Google partnership to boost advertising business, Reuters
- What Is Semantic Search? Context vs. Keywords, JumpFly
Search Features
- The evolution of graph learning, Google Research Blog
- Why I abandoned Google search after 27 years in favor of Kagi, Boston Globe
Other Search
- How crawlers impact the operations of the Wikimedia projects, Wikipedia
- Sogou: A Strategic Alternative to Baidu in China, International Search News
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