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.
The Apple Intelligence raters guidelines seemed to have been leaked. Google Search is testing a video ad format again. Microsoft officially launched its Copilot Search in Bing, what happened to Deep Search. Google's John Mueller says hreflang tags that go through 301 redirects are probably okay. Google is testing relevant topics within Google Search.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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Apple Intelligence Raters Guidelines Leaked
On Friday afternoon, Danny Goodwin covered a 170 or so page PDF that Search Engine Land received from an anonymous tip named "Preference Ranking Guidelines." It looks to me similar to the Google Quality Raters guidelines that continuously leaked until Google began publishing them for all to see. -
Google Search Video Ads
Google can show search ads with video formats. I mean, Google has been doing this for a while now, but they are kind of rare to see. This latest one is a video ad from Adidas. -
Copilot Search in Bing Now Officially Live
After initially going live on Wednesday morning, Microsoft did not officially announce the launch of Copilot Search in Bing until late Friday afternoon. Microsoft said, "Copilot Search seamlessly blends the best of traditional and generative search together to help you find what you need '" and meet you where you're at in your discovery journey." -
Google Search Relevant Topics
Google has a new search refinement or expansion feature they are titling "Relevant topics." This reminds me of People also ask, Things to do, and the other ways Google tries to get you to search more after conducting your first search. -
Google: Hreflang Tags With 301 Redirects Are Probably Okay
Google's John Mueller said if you have hreflang tags that point to a 301 redirect, it is probably okay. But you probably also want to automate the process of setting up those hreflang tags so that there is no redirect. -
Google Framed Baseball Jersey With Park Bench Signatures
Here is an interesting photo from the Google office in Ann Arbor. You can see a baseball jersey is framed on the wall, it says Google as the name and number 12. Below it says it was presented for something, I cannot make out what it says on the plaque. Then it has a park bench with a ton of signatures on it.
Other Great Search Threads:
- Monday, AMA @YouTube Discovery Algorithms for Creators. Tuesday, Authenticity on YouTube. If you’re there, be there!, YouTube Liaison on X
- Never a dull day in the AI world! Congrats to the Llama 4 team, Onwards!, Sundar Pichai on X
- One of my many unanswered questions about Event Timing (what INP is built on) is why do only a limited set of events get the InteractionId It results in some very odd INP entries e.g. of you’ve got a slow touchstart / mousedown handlers th, Andy Davies on Bluesky
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Apple’s Preference Ranking Guidelines: Leaked doc reveals scoring system for AI-generated responses
- The latest jobs in search marketing
- Trump extends TikTok sale/shutdown deadline by another 75 days
- Google Demand Gen ads now feature landing page screenshots
- Google Analytics rolls out Generated Insights feature to decode data fluctuations
- Google Ads for ecommerce is a game of PMax, PMax, Pmax!: Report
- Microsoft officially launches Copilot Search in Bing
- 5 key reasons SEO efforts fall short of business expectations
- How to optimize your company’s Google knowledge panel
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
Industry & Business
- Google, Amazon Work to Dethrone Microsoft on Federal Contracts, Bloomberg
- How Microsoft made it through 50 years, The Verge
- Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman: Our AI Will Differentiate Via Personality, Big Technology
- Tribunal hears that lack of credit hurts BBC's reputation, funding, AppleInsider
- 60 Minutes visits DeepMind, Google's artificial intelligence laboratory, CBS News
- A quantum computing course for policymakers, Google Blog
- Challenge Board: Publishers confront AI, Google & more, Digiday
- OpenAI Has Discussed Buying Jony Ive and Sam Altman’s AI Device Startup, The Information
Links & Content Marketing
- Guest Posts vs. Niche Edits - Power, Safe Rankings or Both?, PressWhizz
- Perhaps Google is really worth nothing to the news industry, Press Gazette
Local & Maps
- Android Auto adds new exit button in some vehicles, 9to5Google
- iOS 18’s Maps upgrade makes my go-to feature even more convenient, 9to5Mac
- Teachers Use Google Maps, End Up Stranded in the Forest Surrounded by Wild Animals, AutoEvolution
Mobile & Voice
- Apple's Home Hub pushed back to 2026 after Siri AI delay, AppleInsider
- I only talk to Siri while I'm driving — and that's a problem for Apple, Tom's Guide
SEO
- SEO VS GEO: Optimizing for Traditional vs AI Search, Aleyda Solis
- The case for Answer Optimization vs SEO, AIO, GEO, will you join me, Seer Interactive
- What is an @id in Structured Data?, Schema App Solutions
- 7 Reasons Google Ranks Big News Brands Over Niche Publishers, And How to Compete, NewzDash
- Data discrepancies in Search Console you should always remember, Hack the Algo
- GEO, LLMO, AEO… It’s All Just SEO, Ahrefs
- How To Predict the Meta Description Google Will Use for Target Keywords Based on Cosine Similarity, Go Fish Digital
PPC
- Trump’s Tariffs Are Bad News For Anyone Who Relies On Ad Revenue, AdExchanger
- After ads, Microsoft Copilot on Android is testing "MSN feed" to make some money, Windows Latest
- Google Ads Asset Performance: What's Behind the Ratings?, Jyll Saskin Gales
Search Features
- Google AI announcements from March, Google Blog
- You can now catch Pokémon on Google Search easter egg , 9to5Google
- Yandex Research Highlights Major Progress and Plans for 2025, International Search News
- OpenAI tests watermarking for ChatGPT-4o Image Generation model, Bleeping Computer
- Women's College Basketball Championship 2025 Doodle, Google Doodles
- Men's College Basketball Championship 2025 Doodle, Google Doodles
Other Search
- Don’t believe reasoning models' Chains of Thought, says Anthropic, VentureBeat
- Google DeepMind AI masters Minecraft, Semafor
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