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 Ads is removing the ability to manually set your language targeting next month. Google is placing AI-generated images in AI Overviews, and it is not good. Googlebot says it crawls from California but it might not. Google has a new local reviews feature to report owner responses. Google updated a help document within the Google Merchant Center help area to document that Google Merchant Center for Agencies can now link to up to 1,000 Merchant Center accounts. And I posted the weekly SEO video recap.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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Google Ads Language Targeting Update Coming In September
Google Ads will roll out a change to language targeting that will remove the ability to manually adjust the language setting. This change is happening next month, in September 2026. Google said its ad systems already match languages automatically and enhanced AI prioritization will automatically select the most relevant ad language when there are eligible ads in multiple languages, Google told me. -
Google AI Overviews With AI-Generated Images In The Wild
A month ago, we reported that Google said it would be rolling out AI-generated images within AI Overviews in Google Search. Well, it seems Google is starting to roll out those AI-generated images in AI Overviews this week. -
Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google AI Home Page Test, AI Local Pack Slop, Google Poaching Advertisers & Meta Building A Search Engine
This week, we of course had more Google search ranking volatility, this time on the 12th. Google is testing new AI buttons on its home page... -
Google Merchant Center For Agencies Can Link Up To 1,000 Accounts
Google updated a help document within the Google Merchant Center help area to document that Google Merchant Center for Agencies can now link to up to 1,000 Merchant Center accounts. Previously, that number was not there, and now we know - up to 1,000 accounts can be linked to a single agency account. -
Googlebot Say They Are Coming From California But Might Not
As we know, Google has often declared that its crawlers, Googlebot, etc, come from Mountain View, California. But the truth is, that is where they self-declare the bots are coming from. Google has data centers all over the world, and even though Google may be declaring the crawler is coming from a specific location, it might be coming from a different location. -
Google Local Report Owner Response
Google has a new reporting option for reviews in Google Business Profiles and Google Local. This one is called "Report owner response." It lets you tell Google if an owner response to a review is off-topic, contains profanity, is harassing, discriminatory, hateful, or includes personal information. -
Don't Fall Off The Google UK Rooftop
This photo made me a bit nervous, as this lady was a bit too close to the edge of the Google London rooftop. Google had some sort of rooftop party at the office there.
Other Great Search Threads:
- I just looked at site: searches for a few major brands and found thousands of impressions for site: searches, but almost 0 clicks. The number is generally increasing over time, too. Thinking out loud: could this be coming from ChatGPT? If ChatGPT is doing more site: searches, Lily Ray on X
- last 4 weeks hearing a lot about thin content manual actions 👀 seems like Google web spam team did actions against a set of sites which they have been keeping eye on #SEO, Gagan Ghotra on X
- Ads Decoded season 2 launches next week! Kicking off with Merchant Center tips for Holiday Retail, and we've got some special things planned this season. Let me know your big questions for the Google Ads product teams in the comments., AdsLiaison on X
- Everyone (myself included) assumes AI is swallowing Search and killing organic discovery. Surprisingly, Shopify's numbers say otherwise: AI-referred sessions are up 3x YoY, but organic still grew 12% on a much bigger base. The pie itself got bigger., Mikhail Parakhin on X
- You’re invited: Meet the new AI agent in Merchant Center, Menachem Ani on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Google Ads is removing language targeting from Search campaigns
- Shopify: AI referrals up 197%, but organic search still leads traffic
- Microsoft Clarity AI Scrape-to-Referral insights report
- Link building works better when you think beyond links
- Your B2B SEO can win the click and lose the consideration
- Only 1.1% of news publisher visits come directly from AI: Study
- Most AI visibility gains are just technical debt repayment
- Why SEO uncertainty is creating opportunities for challengers
Other Great Search Stories:
AI & LLMs
- ChatGPT and Gemini disagree on the best software in a third of categories, and the review sites have been skipped, TheNextWeb
- I Tested a Popular A.I. Slop Detector. It Felt Empowering., New York Times
- DeepSeek Releases Flagship V4-Pro Model in Challenge to Kimi K3, The Information
- Microsoft starts merging its Copilot consumer and business apps in advance of 'Super App' rollout, GeekWire
- August 2026 Ramp AI Index: Cracks in the AI thesis, Ramp
- ChatGPT can now remember what you did on your Mac — without screenshots, The New Stack
- Gemini 3.7 Flash: our most intelligent workhorse model, Google Blog
- Trust isn't a schema field: how machines decide to believe you, MLforSEO
Analytics
- See Which AI Crawlers Drive Real Website Visits, Microsoft Clarity Blog
- #GTMTips: Split GA Events Between Client-Side And Server-Side Dispatch, Simo Ahava's blog
- Updated conversion window configuration, Google Analytics Help
Industry & Business
- Former Google Exec Has Been in Talks for a $10 Billion Valuation for AI Startup, Business Insider
- AI Looms Over Software Companies — and the Investors Who Piled Into Them, Bloomberg
- DeepMind’s Hassabis Pitched AI-Oversight Body Before Shake-Up, Wall Street Journal
- OpenAI Hires New Chief Revenue Officer After Less Than a Year, Bloomberg
- OpenAI revenue chief Denise Dresser leaving, second major executive departure in days, CNBC
- OpenAI’s Revenue Run Rate Tops $40 Billion Ahead of IPO, Bloomberg
- The Safety Reckoning Inside OpenAI, Wired
- Customers Can't Depose Google, Apple CEOs, 9th Circ. Says, Law360
- ‘That is not acceptable’: Judge orders Google to make rival app store installs easier, The Verge
Links & Content Marketing
- How To Handle the Old Content AI Keeps Finding, Content Marketing Institute
- Building Quality Links Without Quality Content (8 Examples), The Upper Ranks
Local & Maps
- Prepare your business for the AI era, Google Small Business on LinkedIn
- How Enterprise Brands Can Scale Local Marketing Strategy, Brainlabs
Other Search
PPC
- 37 Proven Ways to Use AI in Marketing, Ahrefs
- How To Find the Right Non-Branded Keywords, JumpFly
- AI Max for Search: The Complete Guide to Campaign Controls, Targeting, and Performance Reporting, Amsive
- Homebuilder Case Study: Get Better Leads with Paid Ads, Hop Skip Media
- The ChatGPT ad gap: why major brands are losing ground on brand comparison prompts, PPC Live
- Colgate-Palmolive’s bet on AI Max pays off with 44X conversions, Google
Search Features
- Gemini is getting over a dozen new connected apps – here's the list, 9To5Google
- Build mini-apps with Gemini in Google Sheets, Google Blog
SEO
- Publishers are replacing Google with a little bit of everything, Digiday
- "Yes, Go On": The AI Conversations Leaking Into Your Search Console, Suganthan
- How To Find And Organize AI Mode Queries Via the Search Analytics API, Analytics Edge, and Claude Cowork, GSQI
- How to grow your AI Visibility with community signals, Growth Memo
- AI and organic search are doing different jobs: What Shopify's data shows (2026), Shopify
- Introducing citation decay in Profound, Profound
- Does Your Website Still Matter in the Zero-Click Era?, SparkToro
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