Daily Search Forum Recap: April 10, 2025

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 Google search ranking volatility over the past couple of days. Google Ads PMax campaigns get customer lifecycle goals and more image controls. Google is testing a more from retailer expandable product carousel. Google is letting merchants manage their brand profile content. Google Search Analytics API gained the hourly data for 10 days. Google is testing anchor text and URL based links in AI mode.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google Search Ranking Volatility Kicks In April 9th & 10th
  It's been about a week since we reported on an unconfirmed Google search ranking update and well, now I am seeing multiple signs of an unconfirmed updates of sorts. I am seeing the third-party tracking tools showing volatility and I am also seeing a spike in some of the chatter within the SEO community.
• Google Ads PMax Campaigns New Lifecycle Goals & Image Controls
  Google announced a number of new goals and image controls that are now available on Google Ads Performance Max campaigns. Google added customer lifecycle goals and reporting and additional image controls.
• Google Tests More From Retailer Expandable Product Carousel
  Google Search is testing a new expandable carousel that says "more from" a specific retailer. When it loads, it loads more products in a carousel beneath the search result snippet from that retailer.
• Google Letting Merchants Manage Brand Profiles
  Google sent out emails yesterday through Google Merchant Center inviting some brands to manage and edit their brand content on Google Search. I suspect this is the visual brand profile ads/pages but I am not sure.
• Google Search Analytics API Hourly Data For Past 10 Days
  Google has finally rolled out API access to its 24-hour data feed of Search Performance data. And it is two days more than we expected, with Google giving us this hourly data for the past 10 days, not the initial 8 days that Google promised us.
• Google AI Mode Tests Anchor Text & URL Base Links
  Google is testing various link formats in AI Mode. Initially Google launched AI Mode with those tiny paperclip links, but Google, like they've done in AI Overviews, is testing in AI Mode, anchor text links and URL links within the text of the AI response.
• Google Black Telephone Booth At Ann Arbor Office
  We've seen a number of telephone booths at the Google offices, including the classic red one. But here is a black old fashioned telephone booth at the Google office at Ann Arbor.

Other Great Search Threads:

• @JohnMu About LLMs.txt : only makes sense if the system doesn’t know about your site, so in the short term it might make sense but doesn’t expect that is something that Google will take into account since Google has al, Aleyda Solis on X
• Google is testing eCommerce rich cards with both bold and non-bold heading tags. You can see the screenshot for the difference., Sachin Patel on X
• Heads Up! There seems to be an issue in GMC affecting most of my feeds. Products = 0., Boris Beceric on X
• Google Ads will continue to support click IDs where available and when appropriate in optimizing conversions and bidding outcomes., Ginny Marvin on LinkedIn

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Google quality raters now assess whether content is AI-generated
• Google Search Analytics API gains hourly break down for past 10 days
• Google Ads Sitelink Assets: Everything you need to know
• Google to expand Discover to Google’s desktop homepage
• 3 ways to optimize for AI search bots
• Personal SEO: How to get found and stand out

Other Great Search Stories:

Industry & Business

• AI Hypercomputer updates from Google Cloud Next 25, Google Blog
• Alphabet CEO reaffirms planned $75 billion capital spending in 2025, Reuters
• Google Challenges Joint Employer Finding With Accenture - Law360 Employment Authority, Law360
• Google reverses policy telling workers not to discuss antitrust case, CNBC
• Ironwood: The first Google TPU for the age of inference, Google Blog
• Google's Vulnerability In Search Is Growing, AdWeek
• Our investment in AI-powered solutions for the electric grid, Google Blog

Links & Content Marketing

• Ask for Links, Because You Can’t Rank Without Them, The Upper Ranks
• What should content strategy be for LLM Optimization? A study of 768k citations, xfunnel Blog

Local & Maps

• Google Maps now helps cities fix signs and roads, Android Police
• Google Offers to Tweak Automotive Services, Maps Contracts to Appease German Regulator, Wall Street Journal
• Local RankFlux, BrightLocal

Mobile & Voice

• Gboard’s Assistant voice typing on Pixel is now ‘Advanced features’ , 9to5Google
• Google rolling out Pixel Watch 3 Loss of Pulse Detection in the US, 9to5Google
• Worldwide PC shipments up 9% in Q1 2025 but tariffs threaten future market performance, Canalys Newsroom
• Google introduces Firebase Studio, an end-to-end platform that builds custom apps in-browser, in minutes, VentureBeat

SEO

• Google and the 130-Day Rule : Indexation strategy for already indexed pages, Alexis Rylko
• Topical Drift in SEO: Or How to Tank Your Website Faster Than You Can… - SEO - What about it?, Steady HQ
• Do More Google Reviews Mean Better SEO And Rankings?, Nikki Pilkington
• Shipping Business Days Attributes Now Supported in Data Feeds, FeedArmy
• What Are URL Parameters? A Guide on How to Use Them, Semrush

PPC

• Remarketing Strategies with Automated Nurturing Sequences in Google Ads, PPC Hero
• Setting Up Brand Exclusions for Performance Max Campaigns, JXT Group
• The Resurrection of Seller Fulfilled Prime, JumpFly

Search Features

• Cloud Next: Google Agentspace announces new features for enterprise, Google Blog
• Gemini Code Assist, Google's AI coding assistant, gets 'agentic' abilities, TechCrunch
• Google Cloud Next: New generative AI tools for Vertex AI platform, Google Blog
• Microsoft starts testing Copilot Vision update that can ‘see’ your screen and apps, The Verge
• Reddit’s conversational AI search tool leverages Google Gemini, TechCrunch
• Google to embrace Anthropic’s standard for connecting AI models to data, TechCrunch

Other Search

• OpenAI helps spammers plaster 80,000 sites with messages that bypassed filters, Ars Technica
• OpenAI launches program to design new 'domain-specific' AI benchmarks, TechCrunch

Feedback:

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