A well-rounded view on search engines and search engine marketing from five segments of the Web population represented by senior members of the major SEO/SEM forums on the Internet.https://www.seroundtable.comen-usBarry SchwartzTue, 01 Sep 2026 15:17:00 -0400en-usnoSearch Engine Roundtablesearch,search,engines,google,yahoo,ask,com,microsoft,live,com,adcenter,adwords,adsense,ypn,barry,schwartz,search,engine,roundtableThe Pulse with Barry Schwartz and co-hosts Ben Pfeiffer and Chris Boggs covers search topics that receive the most buzz from within the search community. Each Tuesday, The Pulse will recap those important search topics in a roundtable style format, allowing the hosts to debate and argue some of the latest trends and stories in the search industry.Search Pulse from the Search Engine RoundtableBarry Schwartzbarry@rustybrick.comBarry Schwartzhttps://www.seroundtable.com/google-local-service-ads-bug-41999.htmlTue, 01 Sep 2026 15:17:00 -0400https://www.seroundtable.com/google-local-service-ads-bug-41999.htmlGoogle is working on fixing a bug with Local Service Ads where it seems Local Service Ads are being unlinked from the associated Google Business Profiles. There are also complaints of instability and slowness on the Local Service Ads platform.Google AdSensebarry@rustybrick.com (Barry Schwartz)https://www.seroundtable.com/recap-09-01-2026-41989.htmlTue, 01 Sep 2026 10:00:00 -0400https://www.seroundtable.com/recap-09-01-2026-41989.htmlHere is a recap of what happened in the search forums today...Search Forum Recapbarry@rustybrick.com (Barry Schwartz)https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-console-generative-ai-tools-live-41984.htmlTue, 01 Sep 2026 07:51:00 -0400https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-console-generative-ai-tools-live-41984.htmlFor real this time, Google has released the Google Search Console generative AI performance reports and Search generative AI controls to everyone globally. This follows a slow rollout that began in the first week of June and expanded access to the features over the past few months.Google Search Engine Optimizationbarry@rustybrick.com (Barry Schwartz)https://www.seroundtable.com/google-ads-ai-generated-store-rating-reviews-41983.htmlTue, 01 Sep 2026 07:41:00 -0400https://www.seroundtable.com/google-ads-ai-generated-store-rating-reviews-41983.htmlGoogle Ads has been testing AI-generated snippets and summaries in the sponsored results within Google Search for some time. But now Google is labeling a new section named "What customers love" as "AI-generated from the store rating reviews."Google Adsbarry@rustybrick.com (Barry Schwartz)https://www.seroundtable.com/google-ads-pmax-help-doc-updated-41982.htmlTue, 01 Sep 2026 07:31:00 -0400https://www.seroundtable.com/google-ads-pmax-help-doc-updated-41982.htmlOn Friday, Google pushed out a pretty big overhaul of the Performance Max documentation within the Google Ads support area. I've been waiting to compare the old and new documents, but the Wayback Machine has been down for about a week now.Google Adsbarry@rustybrick.com (Barry Schwartz)https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-verifying-your-request-continue-41985.htmlTue, 01 Sep 2026 07:21:00 -0400https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-verifying-your-request-continue-41985.htmlIn early August, Google was testing requiring searchers to sign in to verify they are humans to continue to see search results. Now, Google is testing a similar feature without requiring you to sign in, but instead, Google is asking you to click a "Continue" button after a few seconds, after Google verifies your request. Googlebarry@rustybrick.com (Barry Schwartz)https://www.seroundtable.com/google-ads-ai-max-keyword-prioritization-41988.htmlTue, 01 Sep 2026 07:15:00 -0400https://www.seroundtable.com/google-ads-ai-max-keyword-prioritization-41988.htmlGoogle Ads added a new paragraph to the AI Max help documentation for AI Max keyword prioritization." It explains that when "disabling the broad match campaign setting or moving to AI Max, broad keywords are not treated as exact match keywords in prioritization." It then tells you how to handle this within AI Max.Google Adsbarry@rustybrick.com (Barry Schwartz)https://www.seroundtable.com/sept-2026-google-webmaster-report-41979.htmlTue, 01 Sep 2026 07:11:00 -0400https://www.seroundtable.com/sept-2026-google-webmaster-report-41979.html It is time for the monthly Google webmaster report, where I recap the larger stories from the past month, specifically related to Google SEO, search, and webmaster/site owner topics...Google Search Engine Optimizationbarry@rustybrick.com (Barry Schwartz)https://www.seroundtable.com/google-discover-broken-41991.htmlTue, 01 Sep 2026 07:04:00 -0400https://www.seroundtable.com/google-discover-broken-41991.htmlGoogle Discover has been having issues for the past hour or so. Some are reporting that Discover won't load articles, some are reporting that Discover is loading but only after a long waiting period. It seems Google Discover is having stability issues this morning.Googlebarry@rustybrick.com (Barry Schwartz)https://www.seroundtable.com/google-old-shady-links-41987.htmlMon, 31 Aug 2026 14:59:00 -0400https://www.seroundtable.com/google-old-shady-links-41987.htmlGoogle's John Mueller was asked if Google would penalize a site for old outbound links to a site that once hosted quality content and now changed ownership and hosts shady content. John said Google won't penalize such links; he said "no" and added, "the web is full of turmoil."Google Search Engine Optimizationbarry@rustybrick.com (Barry Schwartz)https://www.seroundtable.com/google-european-search-dataset-licensing-program-41986.htmlMon, 31 Aug 2026 12:13:00 -0400https://www.seroundtable.com/google-european-search-dataset-licensing-program-41986.htmlGoogle has updated its Google European Search Dataset Licensing Program page with details on the program. Google has been designated as a "gatekeeper" under the DMA and is thus legally required to share its search data with competing search engines to foster fair competition.Googlebarry@rustybrick.com (Barry Schwartz)https://www.seroundtable.com/recap-08-31-2026-41981.htmlMon, 31 Aug 2026 10:00:00 -0400https://www.seroundtable.com/recap-08-31-2026-41981.htmlHere 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 Search is making AI Overviews fully expanded for some queries, making it more like AI Mode and pushing the core search results down...Search Forum Recapbarry@rustybrick.com (Barry Schwartz)https://www.seroundtable.com/microsoft-advertising-updated-design-preview-41978.htmlMon, 31 Aug 2026 07:51:00 -0400https://www.seroundtable.com/microsoft-advertising-updated-design-preview-41978.htmlMicrosoft Advertising is previewing a new design and usability update for its ad platform. This update has a redesigned navigation and improved tables and layouts. This update should make managing your ad campaigns more efficient and intuitive. Bing Adsbarry@rustybrick.com (Barry Schwartz)https://www.seroundtable.com/google-merchant-center-popular-products-report-enhanced-41977.htmlMon, 31 Aug 2026 07:41:00 -0400https://www.seroundtable.com/google-merchant-center-popular-products-report-enhanced-41977.htmlGoogle posted a note that it has made enhancements to the Merchant Center's Popular products reports. Specifically, the coverage and insights sections were improved back in June of this year, but Google just posted about this information on this past Friday afternoon.Google Adsbarry@rustybrick.com (Barry Schwartz)https://www.seroundtable.com/microsoft-copilot-login-41975.htmlMon, 31 Aug 2026 07:31:00 -0400https://www.seroundtable.com/microsoft-copilot-login-41975.htmlMicrosoft is now forcing all users to log in before using Copilot, but this currently does not apply to Copilot Search answers within Bing Search. When you try to go directly to Copilot, even by clicking on the Copilot button on Bing's home page, you are asked to sign into your account.Bing Searchbarry@rustybrick.com (Barry Schwartz)