Daily Search Forum Recap: May 12, 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 is testing expanding AI Overviews to more countries and regions. Google is testing AI Mode buttons in the Google search box and replacing the I'm feeling lucky button. Google Search has a new discussions beta section that may challenge Reddit. Google AI Overviews tests new interactive recipes. Google Ads has a reporting bug that led to overreporting on CTR.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google Tests AI Mode Button On Google Search Box
  Google is testing ways to get more people to try AI Mode with a new AI Mode button in the Google Search bar on the Google home page. We've seen Google test AI Mode promotions with banners in the search results but now Google is placing large buttons in the search bar to get people to use AI Mode.
• Google Tests AI Overviews In Turkey, Sweden, Netherlands & More Prior To I/O
  Google seems to be on the verge of rolling out AI Overviews in within Google Search in more countries and regions. We are seeing signs of Google testing AI Overviews in the wild in Turkey, Sweden and the Netherlands. This is a week or so before Google's big conference, Google I/O.
• Google Search Discussions Beta May One Day Replace Reddit Results
  Google has a new beta feature to encourage searchers to add comments and have discussions around a specific topic. It is called "Discussions" and has a beta label on it. You can add your own thoughts/comments to the topic and those comments can appear across a number of Google properties and services.
• Rare Google Ads Reporting Bug Led To Over Reported Click-Through Rates
  Google has confirmed a "rare" bug with Google Ads reporting where it can lead to over-reporting click-through rate percentages. Brad Geddes posted about the issue on LinkedIn, and Ginny Marvin, the Google Ads Liaison, responded with confirmation.
• Google Tests Recipes With Interactive AI Overviews
  Google is testing a new recipe search feature that seems to be powered by AI Overviews, it also seems to be a Search Labs feature. This allows you to see recipe ideas, then filter by recipe replacements, ingredients, in this carousel format style.
• Google Audio Visual Event Set Up
  Here is the A/V (audio/visual) set up at an event at the Google offices in London. Of course the microphones are in Google colors and also have the Google logo on them. I spotted this on Instagram...

Other Great Search Threads:

• Now it sometimes shows ads you might also like and sometimes searches you might like. When you click on them, it redirects to a new query., Sachin Patel on X
• Heads-up, there were some huge swings in volatility at the very beginning on May that are extremely clear now. And I'm seeing some ties to the March 2025 core update... E.g. Sites surging on 5/1 into 5/2 that dropped with the March, Glenn Gabe on X
• Last day at Google! Kudos to the Commerce, Ads, and Cloud teams. Proud of the positive impact we’ve made on the world. Especially excited about the transformative AI work in areas like Workspace, customer service, and sales, a, Jerry Dischler on X
• lol. this is worse than one wikipedia article citing another, Technical SEO Ian on Bluesky
• Some personal news - I’ve decided to wrap up my time at Google after 10 years. It was the opportunity of a lifetime. Grateful for all the time that I spent there. For now, I’ll take some time off to rest up. Excited for the ne, Minsang Choi on X
• Some scenes from yesterday's YouTube NewFront. The stat on YouTube's impact on shortening the online shopping journey stuck out to me -- and hearing from creators about where they've seen success with brand partnerships was very int, AdsLiaison on X
• Your top questions on AI Max for Search campaigns, answered 💬 https://t.co/2uFQbJaSUo And don’t forget to tune into #GML2025 for more Q&As on the latest product announcements, Google Ads on X
• Ziff Davis CEO Vivek Shah just said "a little over 20% of the top queries that generate our traffic now generate an AI Overview". That's up from around 12% in the prior quarter. Here are some of their Q1 2025 highlights: - Ar, Glen Allsopp on X
• The upside of ruinous lawsuits against Google is that a lot more of my work gets into the public record, so I can talk about it. Yay!, Ryan Moulton on X

Search Engine Land Stories:

• The latest jobs in search marketing
• Google Ads AI Max: Automation with a side of anxiety
• Jerry Dischler leaves Google after nearly 20 years
• Enterprise SEO is built to bleed – Here’s how to build it right
• Ad strength in Google Ads: Why Average is better than Excellent
• Set your content playbook on fire: Why the old SEO game is over

Other Great Search Stories:

Industry & Business

• Gail Slater: The Woman Who Can Make or Break Trump’s ‘Big Tech’ Crackdown, POLITICO
• Google settles Black employees' racial bias lawsuit for $50 million, Reuters
• Google to pay Texas $1.4 billion in data privacy settlement, CNBC
• How Apple Created a Legal Mess When It Skirted Judge’s Ruling, New York Times
• How Google became the internet giant at the center of a government crackdown, CNN Business
• How Google Can Win the Future, John Battelle's Searchblog
• OpenAI CEO Sam Altman: ChatGPT will 'probably not' replace Google as top search engine, GeekWire
• Over weeks of testimony, we didn’t hear how DOJ’s extreme proposals would benefit consumers — only competitors., Google Blog
• Why Apple is trying to save Google Search in the antitrust fight, The Verge
• Google search remedies trial wraps, CNBC
• Google’s search antitrust trial is wrapping up—here’s what we learned, Ars Technica
• Google Faces Potential $3.3 Billion Antitrust Lawsuit in Italy, Wall Street Journal
• OpenAI negotiates with Microsoft to unlock new funding and future IPO, Financial Times (Sub)
• The tech that defined the modern internet is changing, and Silicon Valley is finally admitting it, CNN Business

Links & Content Marketing

• Rethinking Content Strategy: Moving Beyond Keyword-First Approaches, Advanced Web Ranking
• Relative vs Absolute Links: What's the Difference & Does it Matter?, Level343

Local & Maps

• Mexico sues Google over 'Gulf of America' name change, BBC
• Why Was My Google Business Profile Suspended? (Real Estate Version), SEO Savvy Agent

Mobile & Voice

• What is Apple homeOS - rumors, release date, HomePod, AppleInsider
• Google Assistant isn't what it used to be anymore, Android Police

SEO

• 2025 Guide to a Successful Site Migration: How to Protect Your SEO and Grow in the Era of AI Search, BrightEdge
• Common SEO Mistakes B2B SaaS Brands Make and How to Fix Them, CMSWire
• Content Recycling: The Unspoken Strategy for SEO Success, RicketyRoo
• How to Write Page Titles That Rank and Convert, SEOTesting
• SEO Week: The Next Chapter of Search - A Look Back, iPullRank
• When should you do SEO?, Moz
• Semiotics, and how to use it to win you user search journey, I Love SEO
• Hiring an SEO Agency vs. In-house, Koozai

PPC

• Google Marketing Live 2025: All You Need to Know, PPC News Feed
• When Paid Media Goes Dark: A Halo Effect Case Study , Amsive
• Should You Still Use Phrase Match Keywords?, Jyll Saskin Gales
• The Dischler Departure; Here Come The LLM Ad Networks, AdExchanger

Search Features

• Advancing the frontier of video understanding with Gemini 2.5, Google Developers Blog
• These Results Illustrate Why Google Search Is So Awful in 2025, Make Use Of
• ChatGPT is finally adding Download as PDF for Deep Research, Bleeping Computer

Other Search

• I quit Google search to use alternatives. It was surprisingly easy., Washington Post
• Crawling a Million Websites in Search of LLMs.txt, Chris Green
• DNS Piracy Blocking Orders: Google, Cloudflare, and OpenDNS Respond Differently, TorrentFreak
• Jack Clark on AI's Uneven Impact (Ep. 242), Conversations with Tyler
• LLMs aren't playing by Google's rules, Jono Alderson

Feedback:

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