Daily Search Forum Recap: October 2, 2026

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 phase two of the Google September spam update hit on Wednesday and Thursday. Google now says it is critical to manually review all AI-generated content before publishing. Google updated its helpful content document to say what is main content and how quality raters review it. Google is testing adding tracking URL parameters to AI Overview links. Google won a case over AI Overviews hurting publishers' ad revenues. Google made several changes to the about merchant loyalty program within the Google Merchant Center help documentation. Google Local Service Ads seems to hide the phone number until you hover your mouse over the ad. Microsoft Bing is testing a new'ish section labeled "Recommended by" followed by the company making the recommendations. Google is testing new AI Mode sitelinks. Google Ads may have a bug or maybe it is testing, not showing images on sponsored product results. Google Ads will update its business name policy to allow some advertisers to use a business name that differs from the ad's destination domain. OpenAI announced that it is rolling out virtual try-on for clothing and accessories for ChatGPT on the mobile and web interfaces. And I posted the weekly SEO video recap - yea, big day.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Phase Two Of The Google September 2026 Spam Update Hits On 9/30
  Google announced the Google September 2026 spam update a week ago today on September 24th. We most likely saw the first wave of sites getting hit on September 25th, 26th and into the 27th. Then things cooled a bit but it all heated back up yesterday, September 30th. September 30th may have been the second wave, the second phase of this Google spam update.
• Google: Manually Factcheck & Review AI-Generated Content For Accuracy
  Google has updated Google Search's "guidance on using generative AI content on your website" document to tell those who use AI-generated content to "manually factcheck and review all AI-generated content for accuracy and trustworthiness before publishing."
• Google Helpful Content Doc With New Main Content & EOT/SA Sections
  Google has updated the creating helpful, reliable, people-first content help document to primarily add two new sections. First, it added that the main content is super critical, added what is main content and then explained how Search Quality raters review content quality of the main content.
• Google AI Overview Lawsuit Dismissed Over No Agreement With Publishers
  About a year ago, Penske, which operates and owns Rolling Stone, The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, Variety, and others, sued Google over its AI Overviews. Well, that case was dismissed because Penske failed to prove that Google entered into any formal agreement with Penske to sell its content in exchange for any amount of traffic.
• Google Tests URL Tracking Parameters To AI Overviews
  Google seems to be testing adding tracking parameters to the link URLs within AI Overviews. If this rolls out fully, this will help you decipher when you get a click from an AI Overview in Google Search or just a click from the main Google Search web results.
• Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Spam Update Impact, Google Not Paying Much For Your Content, Google Feels Sad & Terrible and more
  This week, we covered the first impact felt by the Google September 2026 spam update. And then on Wednesday and Thursday we had the second impact of this spam update. Remember the AI contribution report...
• Google Loyalty Customer Match Expands To AI Mode & More Regions
  Google made several changes to the about merchant loyalty program within the Google Merchant Center help documentation. The key changes are that Loyalty Customer Match expanded to AI Mode and Gemini and to more regions, but there are even more changes noted in the help documentation.
• Google Local Service Ads Hiding Phone Number By Default
  Google Local Service Ads seems to hide the phone number until you hover your mouse over the ad. I am not sure if this is new or not, but there is a big button that says "Get phone number" which is not needed because the phone number does show up as soon as you move your mouse near the ad.
• Bing Product Results With Recommended By Section
  Microsoft Bing is testing a new'ish section labeled "Recommended by" followed by the company making the recommendations. The weird thing is, the specific product thumbnails link to various retailers and not the place that recommended it.
• Google Ads Sponsored Products Results Missing Images
  Google Ads may have a bug or maybe it is testing, not showing images on sponsored product results. You can see from the screenshot below, the images that are generally shown above the ad titles and descriptions are missing from the Sponsored products carousel in Google Search.
• Google Ads Sitelinks Format In AI Mode
  Google Ads show up a lot within AI Mode these days and with that, Google is testing various ad formats to see which formats get the highest click-through rate (unlike links in AI Mode). Here is a screenshot of what may be the Google Ads Sitelinks within AI Mode.
• Google Ads To Allow Some Advertisers To Use Different Business Names
  Google Ads will update its business name policy to allow some advertisers to use a business name that differs from the ad's destination domain. This is limited to certain cases, specifically three cases and it also excludes advertisers who are not the direct verified brand.
• ChatGPT Adds Virtually Try On Clothing & Accessories
  OpenAI announced that it is rolling out virtual try-on for clothing and accessories for ChatGPT on the mobile and web interfaces. This also includes saving these to your ChatGPT Library.
• Google Birthday Cake For 28th Birthday
  As you know, Google celebrated its 28th birthday this past Saturday on September 27th. Well, here is a Google office that celebrated with tons of cakes and treats.

Other Great Search Threads:

• New change to search profiles on Google Discover. Google is removing the "Profile generated by Google" tag from unclaimed profiles. Here's what it looks like., Damien Andell on X
• ChatGPT is quietly moving logged-out users to a different app, and it hides most of what AI visibility tracking relies on. OpenAI has been testing a lightweight logged-out version of ChatGPT, internally called "unauth-mweb". In the last few days we watched it go from a slice of, Jay ( Radarkit ) on X
• DAUs on Muse are approaching 2M, Similarweb on X
• So… I helped @Google design their @WNBA Doodle that just went live today. And that’s my voice on the call of the promo vid for the WNBA Playoffs presented by Google Pixel! This was a pretty nifty cool lil project to give feedback & be part of! Now, are we watching, Ros Gold-Onwude on X
• Grokipedia launches redesign and resumes edits as visibility keeps dropping in Google: "Grokipedia had paused autonomous edits and user-suggestion reviews for several months before resuming activity in September 2026.", Glenn Gabe on X
• Search interest in latte art reached an all-time high globally this year! So this International Coffee Day, @rajanpatel and I tried to level up our barista skills using Search Live. We had it talk us through the pour step-by-step, then showed what we made for some real-time, Robby Stein on X
• This Google Search Console recommendation is just wild, Barry Schwartz on X

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Google Search now says it’s critical to manually factcheck and review all AI-generated content for accuracy and trustworthiness
• Publishers’ Google ad-tech antitrust claims clear a major legal hurdle
• Google clarifies ‘Destination not working’ ad policy with more examples
• Penske Media lawsuit over Google AI Overviews dismissed
• Microsoft Advertising adds HubSpot integration ahead of holiday season
• Google AI Overviews jump from 26% to 80% of branded queries
• The best SEO hires bring judgment, not just expertise
• SEO and meta descriptions: Everything you need to know in 2027
• Google location asset requirements: What you need to know

Other Great Search Stories:

AI & LLMs

• Anthropic Moves to Cut Off Discounts When Customers Hit Their Cap, The Information
• Who’s to Blame When A.I. Goes Rogue?, New York Times
• Google’s WikiSkill gives AI agents a memory of what went wrong — without putting it in the prompt, VentureBeat
• Do Americans Use AI for News?, BuzzStream
• In Robotics, Google Goes Android to Tesla’s Apple, The Information

Analytics

• Google Gemini Adds UTM Parameters For Referral Attribution, Search Engine Journal
• The KPI Most Marketers Aren’t Tracking for AEO, Content Marketing Institute

Industry & Business

• Google Wants Hollywood to Stop Being So Afraid of Technology, New York Times
• Anthropic Targets November IPO After Delays, Eyes SpaceX-Sized Debut, Bloomberg
• Google to Face $3.2 Billion Damage Claims Over Ad-Tech Monopoly, Bloomberg
• OpenAI cuts ties with 3 safety researchers, WSJ reports, TechCrunch
• Publishers clear major hurdle in Google ad-tech antitrust fight, Editor and Publisher
• OpenAI alerts more than 100 groups about rogue AI agent activity, Reuters
• Wayne County commissioners override veto of Google data center tax breaks, CBS Detroit

Links & Content Marketing

• AI content marketing in 2026: Confidence rises, but so does scrutiny, EMARKETER

Local & Maps

• How to Remove Bad Google Reviews: 4 Steps That Work, Sterling Sky
• Google Maps ate my battery on longer drives until I discovered this setting, Android Police

Other Search

• Apple Home Hub colors revealed in macOS code, Apple Insider

PPC

• Black Friday & Cyber Monday Ecommerce Tips, Cypress North
• ROAS vs. Incrementality: Why Efficiency Alone Limits Growth, Brainlabs
• Turn your existing social assets into high-impact YouTube ads., Google Blog
• October 2026: Gambling and Games Policy Updates for Croatia, PPC News Feed

Search Features

• 5 tips for making better coffee at home with help from Google Search, Google Blog

SEO

• Do sitemaps still matter?, Search Off the Record
• Identifying the Right KPIs in the Context of AI Search, iPullRank
• Introducing Yoast SEO AI+ for Shopify, Yoast
• Yoast SEO One Billion Download Celebration: Thank You Users, Yoast
• SEO for Static Sites: 8 Problems to Watch For, Ahrefs

Feedback:

Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News, add as a preferred source on Google and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or just contact us the old fashion way.