Google has lost again in SerpApi's scraping legal fight in court, with the court giving Google 21 days to amend its complaint. But this is a major win for SerpApi and this case seems like it might be coming to a close soon.

As a reminder, Google filed a lawsuit against SerpApi over scraping its search results. That lawsuit was dismissed, so Google filed an amendment of the lawsuit around the concept of protecting licensed content within its search results.

The judge ruled in favor of SerpApi on its motion to dismiss Google's amended complaint. Importantly, the judge did not rule that SerpApi's scraping practices are lawful. The ruling is primarily about whether Google provided sufficient factual allegations to establish claims under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

However, Google has another opportunity to amend its complaint and try again by November 30, 2026. Here is what happens next:

• Google must correct the deficiencies identified by the judge.
• Google must submit a redline showing changes from its previous complaint.
• SerpApi then has 21 days to respond.
• Discovery remains on hold while the amended complaint and any new dismissal motion are resolved.
• If Google does not amend within the permitted period, the case will be dismissed with prejudice.

This is a procedural victory for SerpApi, but potentially a strategically important one. The court is demanding a much more precise legal foundation for using the DMCA against automated scraping. The next amended complaint will be particularly important because it will show whether Google can provide the missing licensing, copyright ownership, and content-specific details.

The full ruling is in this PDF.

Meanwhile, it seems Google is doing a good job preventing a lot of these scrapers from scraping in other ways.

Forum discussion at X.

OpenAI has just announced the ChatGPT Business Hub, Businesses in ChatGPT. This business hub offers analytics on mentions, profile views and you guessed it, clicks to websites! Yes, OpenAI is showing us how many people click from ChatGPT to our website.

Yes, we reported on Monday that this would be coming soon and soon it did come.

OpenAI wrote, "We're introducing Businesses in ChatGPT in beta, giving businesses a new way to connect with the 1.2 billion people who use ChatGPT each week. Through Business Hub' , businesses can claim their business, manage their information, and see insights on how people engage with them on ChatGPT. In addition, we are adding a powerful new way for businesses to interact with users via Business Agents, starting with eligible ecommerce and online service businesses in the U.S.

The analytics and insights show you the "number of mentions and website clicks a business receives." "Businesses can also explore discovery topics'"common themes across conversations where their website is cited. These insights can help businesses understand how they're represented and find opportunities to improve the information they share."

Yes, we get click data!

Here is a screenshot:

Here is the help tooltip over clicks; it says, "Number of recorded clicks on links to your website in ChatGPT. Clicks don't confirm website visits or conversions."

You can claim your business through a text or phone call to your main business number or through DNS verification. OpenAI said, "This gives businesses a new way to provide information to ChatGPT, helping people explore products and services using the most accurate and up-to-date details."

You can also add Business Agent to your business hub "customers can choose to start a conversation with the business to explore its offerings and ask follow-up questions. For example, someone comparing products could ask about the differences between two options and which features fit their needs. A Business Agent could help them explore those questions using the business's information," OpenAI wrote.

Here is the claim screen:

You then search for your business:

And you can then verify via phone, text or DNS - I did via DNS:

I don't see any data yet...

I am honestly nervous about people hijacking businesses on here but I guess OpenAI will figure it out?

This is "starting with eligible ecommerce and online service businesses in the U.S." For more details, see the OpenAI blog post.

Forum discussion at X.

I don't have data yet but some do...

@rustybrick https://t.co/0cIOhgTE34

— Second (@soysecond) November 10, 2026

@rustybrick Got mine back. https://t.co/cjtLFqcWqI

— Conrad O'Connell (@conradoconnell) November 10, 2026

Google officially announced the rollout of the November 2026 core update just now, on Tuesday at around 1:07 pm ET. This core update is expected to take about 2 weeks to roll out. Google said, "This is a regular update designed to better surface relevant, satisfying content for searchers from all types of sites."

Google posted on LinkedIn:

Today we released the November 2026 core update to Google Search.

This is a regular update designed to better surface relevant, satisfying content for searchers from all types of sites. The rollout may take up to 2 weeks to complete.

We saw some big movements earlier this week and some felt it was core like, but now it is official. Google has confirmed the third-quarter update of 2026.

Of course, this update should be done just around Thanksgiving time, which is Black Friday and Cyber Monday - the biggest shopping season of the year.

Google November 2026 Core Update Quick Facts

Here are the most important things that we know right now in short form:

• Name: Google November 2026 Broad Core Update
• Launched: November 10, 2026 at around 1:07 pm ET
• Rollout: Will take about two weeks to roll out
• Targets: It looks at all types of content
• Penalty: It is not a penalty, it promotes or rewards great web pages
• Global: This is a global update impacting all regions, in all languages.
• Impact: The normal core update - updating some of the "core systems". Google said this November update is a "regular update."
• Discover: Core updates impact Google Discover and other features, also feature snippets and more.
• Recover: If you were hit by this, then you will need to look at your content and see if you can do better with Google's core update advice.
• Refreshes: Google will do periodic refreshes to this algorithm but may not communicate those updates in the future. Maybe this is what we saw the past couple of weeks or all those unconfirmed Google updates.

Google November 2026 Core Update Details

Google wrote, as I said above:

Today we released the November 2026 core update to Google Search.

This is a regular update designed to better surface relevant, satisfying content for searchers from all types of sites. The rollout may take up to 2 weeks to complete.

Previous Broad Core Updates

Here is a list of the most recent core updates we've seen since Google started to confirm them. Previously, we nicknamed them Phantom updates or unconfirmed updates.

• May 2026 Core Update: May 21, 2026 through June 2, 2026.
• March 2026 Core Update: March 27, 2026 through April 8, 2026.
• December 2025 Core Update: December 11, 2025 through December 29, 2025
• June 2025 Core Update: June 30, 2025 through July 17, 2025
• March 2025 Core Update: March 13, 2025 through March 27, 2025
• December 2024 Core Update: December 12, 2024 through December 18, 2024
• November 2024 Core update: November 11, 2024 through December 5, 2024
• August 2024 Core Update : August 15, 2024 through September 3, 2024
• March 2024 Core Update : March 5, 2024 through April 19, 2024
• November 2023 Core Update : November 2, 2023 through November 28, 2023
• October 2023 Core Update: October 5, 2023 through October 19, 2023
• August 2023 Core Update: August 22, 2023 through September 7, 2023
• March 2023 Core Update: March 15, 2023 through March 28, 2023
• September 2022 Core Update: September 12, 2022 through September 26, 2022
• May 2022 Core Update: May 25, 2022 through June 9, 2022
• November 2021 Core Update: November 17, 2021 through November 30, 2021
• July 2021 Core Update: July 1, 2021 through July 12, 2021
• June 2021 Core Update: June 2, 2021 through June 12, 2021
• December 2020 Core Update: December 3, 2020 through December 16, 2020
• May 2020 Core Update: May 4, 2020 through May 18, 2020
• January 2020 Core Update: January 13, 2020 through mostly January 17, 2020
• September 2019 Core Update: September 24, 2019
• Google June 2019 Core Update: June 3, 2019 through June 8, 2019

Across the 23 updates, the median rollout length is 14 days (average ~14.6 days). Most rollouts fall tightly within the standard 10-to-15-day range. The March 2024 Core Update was the longest in Google's history at 45 days, as it integrated massive spam and helpful content structural changes into the core system. Google typically deploys 2 to 4 core updates per year, commonly clustered in late Q1 (March), mid-year (May'"July), and late Q3/Q4 (October'"December). In late 2024, the November and December updates landed back-to-back within a single 5-week window.

I asked ChatGPT to make it into an infographic:

Google Tracking Tools On November 2026 Core Update

Here are what the tools are showing:

Wincher:

SEMRush:

SERPrecon:

CognitiveSEO:

Wireboard - this report shows the aggregate of the tools above and plots them on one chart:

AccuRanker Grump:

Zutrix Tension:

DataForSEO SERP Volatility:

Serpstat:

Sistrix:

AWR:

Mozcast:

SimilarWeb:

Algoroo:

Mangools SERPWatcher:

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Google released Gemini 4 Carbon, its "strongest model with frontier performance in cybersecurity capabilities and long-horizon agentic workflows across complex knowledge work, software engineering, and scientific reasoning," and it is now available in Google Search via AI Mode for subscribers.

Google wrote that Gemini 4 Carbon is "rolling out to all Google AI Ultra subscribers in Google Antigravity, the Gemini app, and AI Mode in Search."

You can see the option if you are a paid subscriber in the Google Search AI Mode selector:

Robby Stein from Google posted on X, "Shipping Gemini 4 Carbon in Search today for Google AI Ultra subs! With deeper reasoning & better instruction following, you'll get more helpful responses for your toughest questions in AI Mode. I've loved using this internally '" excited for more people to try it out."

Rajan Patel from Google also posted on X amd wrote, "We're bringing our latest frontier model to Search! One thing I really love: Gemini 4 Carbon better understands your intent so you can have deeper back and forth convos in Al Mode. Rolling out now to Google Al Ultra subscribers."

Glenn Gabe has been testing it and wrote on X, "I've been testing Carbon as part of the @GeminiApp early access program. It's insanely powerful. E.g. I used it to build a new version of one of my favorite Atari 2600 games, Pitfall. I did that via one prompt. It took a few minutes and it worked perfectly. :) -> Google rolls out Gemini 4 Carbon to paid API and AI Ultra users two weeks after releasing it to cyber defenders, and previews a swarm feature in Antigravity."

Forum discussion at X.

Yahoo announced updates across Yahoo Search and Yahoo Scout including that Yahoo Scout is now out of beta and Yahoo Search added Pivot Search. Plus, Scout has now processed over 3 billion answers since it launched earlier this year.

Pivot Search

Yahoo Search announced Pivot Search, "a ground-up rebuild of Yahoo Search, the third largest search engine in the U.S., combining the breadth of traditional search with the intelligence of Yahoo Scout," Yahoo wrote. In short, Yahoo search lets you "pivot" between traditional search and Yahoo Scout's AI answers.

Here is a video of it in action:

Yahoo wrote, "The new Yahoo Search evaluates each query and allows the user to pivot between traditional search results and a Yahoo Scout AI answer. The configuration changes with user's preference, and users can move between AI answers and traditional results within the same experience. For instance, if users ask a question that benefits from an AI answer, like comparing two options or following step-by-step instructions, the search suggestions offer the option of a Yahoo Scout answer."

'Search is about more than AI,' added Feng. 'Sometimes people need a website, sometimes an explanation, and sometimes a deeper exploration of a topic. Pivot Search adapts in the moment to provide the right kind of response.'

"Yahoo Scout responses are also becoming more personalized. Yahoo Scout Memories will remember details from previous activity in Yahoo Scout and use that context to tailor future answers. Users can view, delete or opt out of Yahoo Scout Memories at any time," Yahoo added.

Here is the pivot action on the Yahoo Search home page:

The new Yahoo Search experience is available on desktop and mobile web for users in the US, UK, Europe and Switzerland.

Yahoo Scout App

Yahoo also released the Yahoo Scout app for iOS and Android that combines traditional search and Yahoo Scout AI answers in one mobile experience where users can have live spoken voice conversations with Yahoo Scout, add a photo to any chat to ask Yahoo Scout for more information and access the day's trending topics plus news digests from Yahoo News.

Here is what it looks like:

Yahoo Scout is expanding to other Yahoo properties where users can ask Yahoo Scout questions without leaving the page they're on, such as what's behind a stock's move today in Yahoo Finance or how a win affects the playoff race in Yahoo Sports, with suggested questions based on the content they're viewing.

Forum discussion at X.

Google said it can take time for search to understand the unique value of new websites. Google is testing removing the action buttons, reviews, photos, etc from the AI Overview version of the local pack. Google Ads is rolling out a new option named "Ads with pay-per-lead goals terms." Bing is testing asking searchers questions to personalize the shopping search results. You can now filter your Google product results to show non-incentivized reviews only. ChatGPT Ads are now showing when you create images.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google: It Can Take Time To Understand The Unique Value Of New Websites
  Google's John Mueller said it can take Google Search some time to understand a new site's "unique value" and then rank it accordingly. He said on Bluesky in response to a new site not being fully indexed quickly enough, "It's a fairly new site, and you've been busy with content - it can take time for the systems to understand the unique value of it all."
• Google AI Overview Local Pack Dropping Action Buttons, Photos & Reviews
  Google is testing removing the action buttons, reviews, photos, etc from the AI Overview version of the local pack. This makes it harder for searchers to visit your website, call your business, get directions and so on, from Google Search.
• Google Ads: Ads With Pay-Per-Lead Goals Terms
  Google Ads is rolling out a new option named "Ads with pay-per-lead goals terms." Advertisers must opt into this setting to activate it.
• Bing Shopping Personalizing Search Results With Questions
  Microsoft Bing is testing asking searchers questions to personalize the shopping search results. In a test, Bing will show you questions and say, "Let's personalize your results," then ask you a number of questions to fine-tune your shopping search results.
• Filter Google Product Results For Non-Incentivized Reviews
  You can now filter your product results to show non-incentivized reviews only. When you click on a product in the search results, either normal search or AI Mode, the product listing detail panel will show up on the right, and for there, you can filter the reviews to show "Non-incentivized only."
• ChatGPT Ads While It Creates Your Image Live
  OpenAI announced a month ago that it would release a "new visual ad format in ChatGPT" to show ads while ChatGPT makes images for users. Well, that ad format seems to be live - because if you ask ChatGPT to make an image, it will show an ad while the image is being generated.
• Google Pool Table With Pink Felt
  Google loves having pool tables at their offices and we've mostly seen them in typical green colored felt. But here is one that is in pink, which is different. It is from the Google Dublin office.

Other Great Search Threads:

• What's wrong with the normal weather widget?, Harpreet on X
• Hey @googleanalytics - Is this going to be a case of Wecamol? Again, new spam accounts showing up in analytics. @Google @rustybrick Have you ever seen this? Seem to be the newest spammer trick adding your account to an analytics account hoping you'll check out the site., Dennis Goedegebuure on X
• If the domain is inactive, the content usually falls out over time. You can't do redirects or site moves in a setup like that. Assuming you're specifically wondering about sponsored posts (I don't know the site), I guess this is one way to take care of paid links?, John Mueller on Bluesky
• Gen AI website traffic share update – October 2026 12 months ago (November 2025): ChatGPT: 69.5% Gemini: 15.9% DeepSeek: 4.1% Grok: 3.3% Perplexity: 2.2% Claude: 2.1% Copilot: 2.0% 6 months ago (April 2026): ChatGPT: 53.7% Gemini: 26.7% Claude: 8.0% DeepSeek: 4.0% Grok:…, Similarweb on X

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Google AI Mode multiturn ads are now rolling out
• Google AI Overviews in France: Big click losses, but not for everyone
• Website migrations can hurt SEO even when URLs don't change
• AI search activity is nearly invisible in Google Ads search terms reports: Study
• How to measure the full value of paid media beyond ROAS
• Don’t wait for the SEO report to tell clients something’s wrong

Other Great Search Stories:

AI & LLMs

• Anthropic launches new Claude Fable and Mythos 5.2 models, The Verge
• Introducing TPU 8tx and TPU 8i Max, Google Blog
• The Humanist Review of AI: Abundance & Scarcity, Common Wealth Club
• Apple Creator Studio users can pay for more AI usage, Apple Insider

Analytics

• Back/forward cache support for page view on history change events, Google Tag Manager Help

Industry & Business

• AI Developers Get Warning Shot With EU Google Opinion, Law360 UK
• Google data center could be approved before San Jose sets standards, San José Spotlight
• Google Escalates Nvidia Rivalry With New Versions of Its TPU Systems, Bloomberg
• Google's UK data center disruption caused by 'misconfiguration' of systems, Data Center Dynamics
• New Research: Traffic to the Open Web Has Fallen 24% in 5 years, SparkToro
• Canadian court certifies class action against Apple over Google search deal, 9to5Mac
• Google Researchers Use AI And Mathematical Proofs to Cut Quantum Computing Requirements, The Quantum Insider

Links & Content Marketing

• Try These Top B2B Influencer Marketing Tactics (NEW DATA), TopRank Marketing

Local & Maps

• 5 Features I Want Apple Maps To Add As Soon As Possible, BGR
• Google Maps Platform in AI Studio, Google Blog

Other Search

• The Death Knell of Digital Search, The New Yorker
• Google releases Holiday 100 gifting list based on Search trends., Google Blog

PPC

• How Big Is Google's AI Problem?, WordStream
• Local Services Ads Are Transitioning into Google Ads – Is Your Business Prepared?, JXT Group
• Merchant Center Feed Fixes That Move Google Shopping, JXT Group
• Smart Bidding, Broad Match & AI Max for Lead Gen (2026), JXT Group
• The “Ah Ha” Moment in Google Ads’ AIMax Matching in Search Query Reports, Search Engine World
• Display targeting changes in Demand Gen campaigns starting the week of December 1, 2026, Google Ads Developer Blog
• How to Explain Investing in PPC to Your Boss, SearchLab Digital
• From Static Persona to Dynamic Audience: Translating Audience Research into PPC Signals, JumpFly

Search Features

• A Hidden Switch Puts Blue Links Back in ChatGPT, Aleksandr Shamrai
• Bing search results drop the AI Mode tab for some users, Search Engine Watch
• Google Gemini app rolling out your ‘Memory summary’, 9To5Google
• Bing adds References button with hover labels in AI Mode, Search Engine Watch
• Bing Shopping tab gets a new two-row product ad format, Search Engine Watch

SEO

• Google AI Overviews roll out in France - The clearest evidence of impact to clicks and click-through rate yet [GSC Data], GSQI
• Hello Agentic World: Making Your Website Agent-Friendly, Tom Greenaway
• How has AI changed keyword research?, SEO For Journalism
• Why Google is taking aggressive action on SERP data collection, and what to do about it, DemandSphere

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.

Google's John Mueller said it can take Google Search some time to understand a new site's "unique value" and then rank it accordingly. He said on Bluesky in response to a new site not being fully indexed quickly enough, "It's a fairly new site, and you've been busy with content - it can take time for the systems to understand the unique value of it all."

He added, "so it's good to make sure it's really top notch (quality over quantity)."

This was in response to a question about why for "every "Request indexing" in GSC fails with "Oops! Something went wrong." He said, "even the first attempt of the day (Nov 1, 8, 9). No "Quota exceeded" message, no manual actions, sitemaps discovered fine (644 URLs)."

The answer is no, new sites just take time... But John did say he would "pass it on."

But he also recommended "focusing on normal crawling and indexing" and not worrying about the Google Search Console request indexing feature.

Here are those posts:

Google has discouraged the use of request indexing for force indexing in the past.

Forum discussion at Bluesky.

Google is testing removing the action buttons, reviews, photos, etc from the AI Overview version of the local pack. This makes it harder for searchers to visit your website, call your business, get directions and so on, from Google Search.

This will make visibility even worse for the local results and small businesses within Google Search than it was before. AI Overview based local packs have been around for a couple of years now. But they keep changing.

Joy Hawkins posted on X, "I'm seeing a new version of the AI powered local pack in the last few days. On mobile, every time I get this version, the traditional local pack is gone. It uses the Google Business Profile but yet removes a ton of its features (reviews, address, hours etc). This is probably the ugliest version of the AI Overview I've seen in local thus far. Hoping this one reverts soon."

I can replicate it, here is what the local pack AI Overview looks like in this test:

Here is what it should look like:

This new version, the one being tested, cannot be good for clicks, calls and direction actions to businesses.

Forum discussion at X.

Google Ads is rolling out a new option named "Ads with pay-per-lead goals terms." Advertisers must opt into this setting to activate it.

Natasha Kaurra spotted this and posted about it on LinkedIn and shared a screenshot with more details on it, here is her share:

She wrote about the terms in that link in that screenshot and summed it up saying:

• Your business must meet Google's provider requirements and cooperate with verification checks.
• Google receives broad permission to use the content you submit, including business information and branding.
• Calls and messages generated through the ads may be monitored and recorded, with required permissions.
• Your business remains responsible for service quality and customer disputes.

She added, "One detail worth highlighting: these terms don't explain lead prices, credit eligibility or guarantee booked jobs. Those require reviewing the separate platform policies. Seeing this setting alone also doesn't confirm campaign eligibility or that an account has migrated."

I don't have more information on this, yet.

Forum discussion at LinkedIn.

Microsoft Bing is testing asking searchers questions to personalize the shopping search results. In a test, Bing will show you questions and say, "Let's personalize your results," then ask you a number of questions to fine-tune your shopping search results.

This was spotted by Sachin Patel who covered this over at Search Engine Watch and wrote, "Bing is testing a personalized experience in its Shopping tab. When a user switches to the Shopping tab, Bing asks three questions. After the user submits their answers, Bing shows results based on those answers."

I could not replicate, but here is his screenshot of the questions:

Then here are the personalized results:

I think this is a pretty good way to customize and personalize search results for specific queries.

Forum discussion at X.

You can now filter your product results to show non-incentivized reviews only. When you click on a product in the search results, either normal search, Shopping or AI Mode, the product listing detail panel will show up on the right, and for there, you can filter the reviews to show "Non-incentivized only."

A year ago, Google began to require merchants to label when reviews were incentivized or not and I guess this is the outcome of that.

Here is a screenshot of this filter - it shows up for me for almost all product listings and all queries across Search, Shopping and AI Mode:

The screenshot above is from Search but again, it works in AI Mode and Google Shopping as well.

Forum discussion at X.

OpenAI announced a month ago that it would release a "new visual ad format in ChatGPT" to show ads while ChatGPT makes images for users. Well, that ad format seems to be live - because if you ask ChatGPT to make an image, it will show an ad while the image is being generated.

The ad will show with the headline "Here's an ad while we create your image." Then once the image is created, the ad will disappear.

Here is a screenshot of one that I was able to replicate in ChatGPT:

Juozas KaziukÄ-nas notified me of this on X and wrote, "ChatGPT now shows ads while generating images. "Here's an ad while we create your image." OpenAI announced this new ad format a month ago. I started seeing them today. My conversation had nothing to do with dogs or pet food)"

Here is his screenshot:

ChatGPT now shows ads while generating images. "Here's an ad while we create your image."

(OpenAI announced this new ad format a month ago. I started seeing them today. My conversation had nothing to do with dogs or pet food) /cc @rustybrick @glenngabe https://t.co/AnrrGykc3E

— Juozas KaziukÄ-nas (@juokaz) November 10, 2026

Here is a video of this in action:

Juozas KaziukÄ-nas was also the one who spotted the new ChatGPT business hub last Friday and all the new stuff around ChatGPT Ads before they were released.

Forum discussion at X.

OpenAI is working on a ChatGPT like Search Console, we have a screenshot. We may be seeing some Google search ranking volatility; believe it or not, it has been a while. We see multiturn Google Ads live in AI Mode. Google is adding booking links automatically to Business Profiles, and some are broken. Google is testing more AI-generated summaries within its search ads. Microsoft is showing ads above the AI Mode results in Bing Search. The Google aggregator unit and supplier unit documentation now include support for "things to do" queries. Google Ads is testing a new section in the advertiser console named "Asset Activity." Google has launched Data Manager in Google Analytics.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• OpenAI Working On ChatGPT Tools For Business For Analytics & Citations
  OpenAI is developing a Search Console- or Webmaster Tools-like tool that lets businesses manage and track their success on ChatGPT. This tool will let you "Claim your business in ChatGPT."
• Google Search Ranking Volatility Status: Update November 8th/9th?
  It's been about two weeks since we reported on a Google Search ranking update, whether confirmed or unconfirmed. But the truth is, the October 27th update lingered on for like a full week. Since then, ranking volatility has been relatively calm, but...
• Google AI Mode Multiturn Ads Are Live - Follow-Up Query Ads
  A couple of weeks ago, Google announced Multiturn ads, ads show up on responses to follow-up user queries. Well, those ads seem live. I was testing AI Mode on Friday afternoon and here are screenshots and videos of Multiturn ads in AI Mode.
• Google Adding Booking Links To Business Profiles Automatically?
  Google may automatically add booking links to some local business profile listings. I noticed that on my own profile, I had a booking link added and Brandon Schmidt, Joy Hawkins and Syed Amir posted on Friday that this seems to be happening for more businesses. And in some cases, the booking links break and go to a 500 error on Google's website.
• Bing Ads At Top Of AI Mode Results
  Microsoft is showing ads at the top of the Bing AI Mode (formerly Copilot Search) results. Bing will show both normal search ads and also shopping ads at the top.
• Google Ads AI-Generated Summaries Above & Within Ads
  Google is testing more AI-generated summaries within its search ads. This one shows AI-generated summaries above the grouping of the sponsored results, summarizing all the ads from all the advertisers, with also AI-generated summaries below each ad description.
• Google Aggregator & Supplier Units Gain 'Things To Do' Query Support
  Google has updated two help documents, the aggregator unit and supplier unit documentation to include support for "things to do" queries. Things to do is not new in Google Search, but Google has just added them to the aggregator unit and supplier unit help documentation.
• New Data Manager In Google Analytics Beta
  Google has launched Data Manager in Google Analytics. Data Manager in Google Analytics, "is a centralized data management tool, which lets you manage your data streams and connected products all from a single home page," Google wrote. "It can help you visualize your data connections and their status directly, by establishing a clear visual link between your data sources and their usage," Google added.
• Google Ads New Asset Activity Section
  Google Ads is testing a new section in the advertiser console named "Asset Activity." Asset Activity is labeled "Beta" within Google Ads and it uses Google AI to give you information on your Google Ads assets, such as asset performance, asset diversity, competitor performance, industry trends and more.
• Google Blue Telephone Booth
  We've seen many telephone booths at the Google office but here is a blue one. I found this one on Instagram.

Other Great Search Threads:

• Suggested by AI is also available for Google Discover. When you click on a link on discover you can save/pin an article and then add it to a collection. and Google suggests collections to create. Example here on an article from, Damien Andell on X
• This site uses XSLT Warning, Reddit
• Discovered this morning Google Merchant Center had opted us in to Automatic Promotion Updates. It launched a 15% off sitewide promo for 6 months and it was approved even though no such discount was live. There was nothing on the site stating a 6 month sale., David Kyle on X
• now AI Overviews even in entertainment related knowledge panels, Gagan Ghotra on X
• Certainly longer than 2 weeks. Not sure if there's a time cutoff tbh., Rajan Patel on X

Search Engine Land Stories:

• The latest jobs in search marketing
• YouTube description updates linked to 359% rise in AI retrievals
• When does your ecommerce site need a new category page?
• OpenAI testing business tools to track performance within ChatGPT
• Why backlinks alone won't save big brands in AI search
• How to make your Instagram videos easier to find in search
• AI reasoning, refusals, and the case for SEO verification

Other Great Search Stories:

AI & LLMs

• Agent Distraction, Google Developers Blog
• Anthropic’s R&D Speed May Have Doubled Due to AI, Researchers Find, The Information
• Big Google Antigravity update brings Remote Agents, Voice Mode, 9To5Google
• Bringing Specialized Models to Muse and Meta AI, Meta AI Research
• ChatGPT vs Google AI: Can You Trust AI Restaurant Recommendations?, Koozai
• Design the Muse App, Just for You, Facebook
• Apple Explores Turning Siri AI Into ChatGPT Dots-Like Agent; iOS 28 Shake-Up, Bloomberg
• Why Your Google Search Console Clicks Jumped In November 2026, Nikki Pilkington

Industry & Business

• Anthropic to press ahead with IPO targeting $1.5tn valuation, Financial Times (Sub)
• BBC Stuck With Video Privacy Suit Over Data Shared With Google, Bloomberg Law News
• Court Pauses Google Joint Employer Proceeding Pending Settlement, Bloomberg Law News
• Microsoft’s Buyout Offer Sets Its Workforce on Edge, New York Times
• OpenAI Completes $11 Billion Portion of Funding at $1.25 Trillion Value, Bloomberg
• Alphabet Acquires Qualcomm Stake Through Modular Purchase, The Information
• Google Takes Over Wyoming Data Center That Crusoe Had Pitched, Bloomberg
• How Much More AI Stock Can the Market Absorb?, The Information
• US Senator Urges Google to Provide AI-Free Search for Schools, Bloomberg
• Google says new Australian internet safety bill could cut off under-18s from Gmail, Reuters

Links & Content Marketing

• Introducing a Preview of DR4: Our New Domain Rating Model for Scoring Backlink Profiles, Ahrefs

Local & Maps

• EP 281- Siri Going Agentic, Apps Face the Agent Dilemma, and Big Tech Falls From Grace, Near Media
• How Google Maps leaves US service members exposed, The World from PRX
• Google Maps Mysteriously Loses Key Data on Android Auto, Are You Affected?, Autoevolution
• New Google Maps, Apple Maps and Waze alternative reveals why you should ditch the rest and start using its app instead, Super Car Blondie

Other Search

• Siri AI waitlist is (mostly) a thing of the past, Apple Insider

PPC

• Google Demand Gen Combines Ad Formats and Automates Controls, PPC News Feed
• Prepare for CocoaPods read-only mode: Migrate your iOS apps to Swift Package Manager, Google Ads Developer Blog
• What to Do With Low Search Volume Keywords in Google Ads, Optmyzr
• Microsoft Advertising Updates Financial Services Policy, PPC News Feed

Search Features

• Google free listings show new add-to-cart popup, Search Engine Watch
• Bing tells users when AI Mode answers come from its own knowledge, Search Engine Watch

SEO

• How AI Search Changes Your Earned Media Strategy, Five Blocks
• AI SEO Roadmap: Complete Guide and Template, Similarweb
• It’s the brand, stupid! Travel Search Pulse Checkup (travel SEO deep dive), Travel Search Pulse
• Ziff Davis Says Organic Google Referrals Fell About 37%, Search Engine Journal

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.

It's been about two weeks since we reported on a Google Search ranking update, whether confirmed or unconfirmed. But the truth is, the October 27th update lingered on for like a full week. Since then, ranking volatility has been relatively calm, but that may be changing over the past 24 hours.

Chatter within the SEO community has been relatively calm for the past week and the tools are showing spikes here and there. But honestly, it is hard to trust the tools since they seem a bit off with all the Google blocking mechanisms in place. Plus, Search Console's performance report is off for many and Google won't comment on the issue.

That being said, there may be some early chatter and volatility kicking in over the past day or so. This follows the unconfirmed updates I reported on October 27th or so, which lasted a week, then Saturday, October 24th, before that on October 20th & 21st and then before than on October 16th. And as a reminder, we had the Google September 2026 spam update start on Thursday, September 24, 2026 at around 12:00 pm ET and completed on October 8, 2026 at 4:37 am ET.

Google Tracking Tools

What are the tools showing? Again, knowing some might be seeing poisoned results, this is what we are seeing now:

Here are the individual tool screenshots:

Wincher:

SEMRush:

Wireboard - this report shows the aggregate of the tools above and plots them on one chart:

SERPrecon:

CognitiveSEO:

AccuRanker Grump:

DataForSEO SERP Volatility:

Serpstat:

Zutrix Tension:

Mangools SERPWatcher:

Sistrix:

AWR:

Mozcast:

SimilarWeb:

Algoroo:

SEO Chatter

The chatter is somewhat calm but I am seeing an uptick both here in the comments area and on WebmasterWorld - here are some of those comments:

The trickle of News and Discover traffic has vanished and we are on record for the worst weekend traffic in 6 years.

Just a heads-up that Google currently isn't verifying experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.

Oh and a miracle. Discover is actually switched on today! I'm curious to see how long the traffic will hold up for me this time.

I have something / one going nuts on my global specialist trade site. Around 12.00 UK time Saturday and the same time today about 500 pages each downloaded individually, every couple of seconds from a different IP, country, browser and OS, the only consistency was 1920x1080.

CF's not picked-up on it and in my server logs it looks completely normal, certainly no extra bandwidth etc, simply page views that a couple of years ago I would never have even noticed.

Discover was surprisingly live all weekend. Not at its usual level, but at least a bit better. Today it's gone again. My personal feed was also better over the weekend, with less junk, but unfortunately that's over now too. According to Semrush and similar tools, there is still a lot of movement going on with Google in Germany. Therefore, I don't think we'll see any stabilization at the moment, and I keep hoping for a core update, which should actually be due soon.

On the bright side, the shop is currently performing quite well. This weekend even brought in some good revenue thanks to Google traffic. I'm really curious to see if this trend continues.

Seeing loads of changes... again. God this is frustrating.

Strange.. I'm seeing loads in the UK. Semrush sensor seems to be showing it too

Are any of you seeing any wild movement?

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

A couple of weeks ago, Google announced Multiturn ads, ads show up on responses to follow-up user queries. Well, those ads seem live. I was testing AI Mode on Friday afternoon and here are screenshots and videos of Multiturn ads in AI Mode.

As a reminder, Google told me that "Multiturn ads show up on responses to follow-up user queries as users engage in back-and-forth conversations with AI Mode." Google also said, "Ads will be clearly labeled as 'Sponsored.' We'll continue testing new formats to ensure ads remain helpful and relevant."

So here is a full-size screenshot of ads not just in the first query but in the follow-up query. You'll see at the bottom of the results, there are ads labeled "Sponsored," twice.

Here is a video of it in action:

I even tried more queries, and I saw additional ads show up in the third and fourth follow-up queries.

I guess Google will have better earnings in its next quarterly report because we are seeing more ads in AI mode?

Forum discussion at X.