Daily Search Forum Recap: April 23, 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.

Google AI Overviews hurt click-through rates, three additional studies confirm. Google Posts/Updates in the local pack are not currently working. Google will deprecate the special announcements structured data on July 31st. Google Business Profiles video verification added video previews. Google LSAs have new terms you need to agree to. Google won't release an alternative to third-party cookies; they are here to stay. Google Analytics made some updates to its reporting, including a new data not available metric.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google Stops Supporting Special Announcement Structured Data On July 31
  Google announced it will be deprecating the Special announcement structured data on July 31, 2025. This structured data was introduced during COVID as a way to communicate special announcements from websites and businesses related to health and safety.
• More Studies Show AI Overviews Harm Google Click Through Rates
  In February, we covered how Google's AI Overviews really hurt the click-through rate of the search results and paid ads. Well, several more recent studies have come out that back up this data.
• Google Posts Go Missing From Local Panels
  Google Posts/Updates are starting to disappear from the local panels within Google Search. I saw complaints about this yesterday and tested it by adding a post myself on my business, it was there, until it wasn't. Now I see a huge number of complaints that posts or updates are missing from Google local panels.
• Google Business Profiles Video Verification Gets Video Previews
  Google has added video previews to the video verification within Google Business Profiles. Google's Lisa Landsman said this will help with "submitting, ensuring clarity and accuracy '" saving you valuable time and reducing the need for resubmissions."
• Google Local Service Ads Has New Legal Terms You Must Agree To
  Google sent emails to Google Ads advertisers about new Local Service Ads additions to its terms for its providers that they must accept by June 5, 2025 or else their ads will no longer serve in Google Search or Google Maps.
• Google Analytics Campaign Data Quality & Attribution Reporting Updates
  A week or so ago, Google Analytics made some updates to how it handles campaign data quality and attribution reporting. Many are now seeing a new label named "Data not available" show up in their GA4 reporting.
• Google Chrome Won't Release Alternative To Third-Party Cookies
  Google has just given up on a third-party cookie alternative. Google announced it will maintain its "current approach to offering users third-party cookie choice in Chrome, and will not be rolling out a new standalone prompt for third-party cookies."
• The Google Woods
  Here is an artistic photo that caught my eye by the GooglePlex, the Google offices in Mountain View, California. It is of the wooded area near the campus there. The Google woods. I spotted this on Instagram along other photos.

Other Great Search Threads:

• Ecommerce SEO: a major opportunity for large stores can involve achieving the Top Quality Store badging, which can give products a ranking boost. Some of the TQS categories (Shipping, Returns, Browsing, Purchase, and Store Rating), Brodie Clark on X
• Now, you can tailor your Demand Gen campaigns to the channels best aligned with your strategy. Choose where your ads appear across Google's most visual surfaces, including YouTube, Gmail, Discover, as well as the Google Display Network., Google Ads on X
• Someone just reminded me of this lecture I gave in 2009 that described the evolution of Google Search from 1999 to 2009. People who are interested in how our search systems work might find this interesting. It touches on disk-based se, Jeff Dean on X
• The value "(data not available)" appears in your reports when data in Google Analytics is unavailable or hasn't been processed for the Source and Medium traffic-source dimensions, Ginny Marvin on LinkedIn
• Migrate your tagging to the Google & YouTube app, Google Ads Community

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Google Ad spend continues to outpace traffic volume: Report
• ChatGPT search has 41 million average monthly users in EU
• ChatGPT releases Memory with Search
• Video Previews come to Google Business Profile verification
• The complete guide to high-impact educational video content
• How to use YouTube Shorts to drive sustained growth, engagement

Other Great Search Stories:

Industry & Business

• Google Antitrust Trial: ChatGPT Chief Says Search Crucial for OpenAI, Bloomberg
• International and Bipartisan Consensus Against Google's Illegal Monopolies Gains Momentum, Yelp - Official Blog
• OpenAI Would Buy Google’s Chrome Browser, ChatGPT Chief Says, Bloomberg
• OpenAI, Meta and Microsoft Approach Samsung About AI Deals on Phones, The Information
• Washington Post Inks OpenAI Licensing Deal for Search, Variety

Links & Content Marketing

• Content Substance Classification, DEJAN
• DOJ Questions Google’s AI Tactics, The Information
• The Long-Form Content Illusion: Why Longer Content Isn't Better, Ahrefs

Local & Maps

• Case Study: Garage Door Company Converts 19.7% of Website Text Leads, Leadferno
• Looking for the last human place on the internet? Try Google Maps, The Guardian

Mobile & Voice

• Apple drops ‘available now’ from Apple Intelligence page, The Verge
• Apple shares new machine learning research papers, AppleInsider
• Apple’s New Siri Chief Mike Rockwell Overhauls Management to Start Turnaround, Bloomberg
• Global PC Shipments Up 6.7% YoY in Q1 2025 Amid US Tariff Anticipation, Counterpoint Research
• Google Assistant branding is being phased out on Wear OS , 9to5Google
• Here's our first look at Gemini's secret video upload feature (APK teardown), Android Authority

SEO

• Commercial Intent Keywords: The Complete Guide for Marketers, Semrush
• Competitive Analysis & Market Research With AI-Powered SEO – p11, Search Engine World
• Data driven SEO: Competitor insights from Oncrawl, Oncrawl
• Future of SEO: Tools, Trends and Technologies to Watch, Sitebulb
• How AI is driving client success for SEO agencies, We Are Roast
• Metrics for Local SEO: How to Measure for Better Results, Semrush
• Servers and SEO: The Impact of Servers and Hosting on SEO Success, Bruce Clay
• The unintended consequences of making SEO “for everyone”, Joost de Valk
• What Is llms.txt, and Should You Care About It?, Ahrefs

PPC

• Google Caves to Pressure – will not Deprecate Third Party Cookies, Search Engine World
• Legacy Google Service Abused in Phishing Attacks, SecurityWeek
• Psst, the valuable consumers are at Microsoft media’s AI-powered experiences, Microsoft Advertising
• The Ad Copy Advantage: Crafting SEO Content with a PPC Mindset, JumpFly
• How to Set and Manage a PPC Budget, PPC Hero
• Updated UI Design for Experiments in Google Ads, PPC News Feed

Other Search

• Use Reasoning Models to research why you aren't visible in AI search, Seer Interactive

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