As I mentioned in my Friday video, there were some rumblings kicking into gear starting late Thursday, July 23rd, and through Friday, July 24th. It seems like Google kicked some of its search ranking servers, and as a result, we are seeing an unconfirmed Google search ranking update, with a lot of volatility throughout last week, but it kicked into high gear on Friday.

I am seeing both the Google third-party tracking tools showing some increased volatility around July 24th, and the SEO community chatter spiked around the same time.

As a reminder, we saw previous unconfirmed volatility on the 18th and 19th, which honestly lasted through the week. Before that was the Google 7-Eleven update. But the last confirmed Google search ranking update was the June 2026 spam update which started on June 14 and completed on June 26. Prior to that was the Google May 2026 core update that started on May 21st and completed on June 2nd.

Let's start with the tools and then share some of the chatter on this July 24th update.

Google Tracking Tools

Notice how most of the tools are showing a spike in volatility around July 24th:

AWR:

DataForSEO SERP Volatility:

Wincher:

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

Zutrix Tension:

Mozcast:

AccuRanker Grump:

CognitiveSEO:

Serpstat:

Mangools SERPWatcher:

Sistrix:

SimilarWeb:

Algoroo:

SEMRush:

SEO Chatter

So I am seeing chatter both at WebmasterWorld and the comments on this site. Here are some selected comments and chatter from those sources:

Absolute chaos again'... One day you're drowning in traffic, and the next day it's a total ghost town. It's the exact same story for both my news site and my shop. Rankings are fluctuating like crazy.

Traffic slashed on my global site today, especially this afternoon UK time.

Very, very big drop since yesterday. We are at 27% of normal traffic right now. User engagement: Zero

It's really brutal right now. Yesterday, for the first time since our launch, we had exactly 0 conversions on Google Ads; that has never happened before (and of course, the daily budget was fully spent anyway). As for the news site, I can confirm yesterday's drop. Rankings are allegedly down, and traffic hit rock bottom. Today isn't looking any better either.

Here in Brazil, the situation is this: a sharp drop in traffic of 60% to 70%!

Traffic this weekend is dead

Anyone else seeing their traffic collapse the last few days? Went from making small gains for a couple of weeks to trending down 15-25% daily. Yes, typical Google bs, but not seeing anyone mention declines.

So what are you all seeing?

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Google Ads AI Max for Shopping Campaigns expands. Google Ads now uses its AI to make recommendations within the conversion summary dashboard. Google Ads seems to have replaced Comparison Listing ads with CSS Product Listing ads. Google Merchant Center has some new AI features. Bing is testing faded-out related search buttons. Google is updating the Google Ads certification applications and standards for gambling. Google is doing away with the related search format for Google AdSense auto ads on August 6th. And I posted the weekly SEO video recap.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Sends Billions Of Clicks From AI Search, Publisher To Block Google, $120 Billion Quarter, EU’s $1 Billion Fine & More
  This week, we covered more Google Search ranking volatility. Google said it sends billions of clicks to websites every week through AI search. Large publishers are fed up and strongly considering blocking Google Search completely. Google Search is now using the latest Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite model. Google earnings were out, they made about $120 billion...
• Google Merchant Center Gains More AI Features
  Google continues to add more AI features to the Google Merchant Center portal. We saw Merchant Advisor added earlier this year, AI performance reports added just the other week, and now we are seeing more AI sprinkled throughout Merchant Center. This includes AI summary insights, search suggestions and previous chats on the Merchant Center dashboard.
• Bing Tests Fading Out Related Searches On Hover
  Microsoft is testing fading out the related searches in the Bing Search results. When you hover over a related search, that one stands out and the other related searches options then get faded/blurred out.
• Google Ads AI Max For Shopping Campaigns Expands
  Last May, Google announced AI Max within Google Ads is rolling out in closed beta globally. Well, more are now seeing AI Max for Shopping campaigns this past week. This also includes text customizations and final URL expansion within AI Max.
• Google Ads Recommended By Google Al In Conversion Summaries
  Google Ads now uses its AI to make recommendations within the conversion summary dashboard. Google will give you actions to "improve your conversion measurements," and those recommendations are labeled "Recommended by Google AI."
• Google Ads Gambling Certification Applications & Standards Update On 8/26
  Google is updating the Google Ads certification applications and standards for gambling, including gambling jurisdictions, online non-casino games and social casino games on August 26, 2026. All new applicants must use the revised forms when obtaining certification with Google.
• Google Comparison Listing Ads Now CSS Product Listing Ads
  Google Ads seems to have replaced Comparison Listing ads with CSS Product Listing ads. It has redirected the old support URL to a new page named About CSS Product Listing ads. They seem very similar, but the help document was mostly changed and was also moved to a new support URL.
• Google AdSense Related Search Format To Be Retired On August 6th
  Google is doing away with the related search format for Google AdSense auto ads. Google said it will be retired on August 6, 2026. Google sent out an email to those impacted that says starting August 6, 2026, the Related Search format will no longer appear on your site. It will also be removed as a format option from the AdSense frontend.
• Google Pastry Creations
  Here are some photos from the Google London office of a Google chef showing off his pastries he made for some Google event. He even showed photos of them being made and then on display for consumption.

Other Great Search Threads:

• Data from Google's Search Console Page Indexing report is so way behind, I thought it was the Wayback Machine, Cyrus SEO on X
• I have noticed that the sorting (Relevance or Distance) option in desktop Google Maps completely disappeared? It’s been gone for a few days now, though it's still working fine on mobile., Syed Amir on X
• Did you know you can get your products in front of Microsoft's ecosystem with free product listings through Microsoft Advertising's Merchant Center?, Navah Hopkins on LinkedIn
• Google Ads message assets now support LINE, Arpan Banerjee on X
• Yep, two weeks again, the Google Search Console page indexing tool is delayed two weeks again - updated older story, hopefully @johnmu can kick it, Barry Schwartz on X

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Google says AI Max unlocks billions of new monetizable searches
• ChatGPT gains access to Yelp reviews, ratings, and photos
• Google Ads automation makes governance a competitive advantage
• How to prepare for Google's DSA sunset and move to AI Max
• AI Max spotted in Google Standard Shopping campaigns
• Google Ads API v25 adds YouTube metrics and loyalty campaign goals
• Technical debt in SEO: When to fix vs. when to ignore
• Google fined ''¬460 million over self-preferencing Search and ''¬430 over Google Play
• The worst thing you can be in an SEO job interview is forgettable

Other Great Search Stories:

AI & LLMs

• How to Use ChatGPT and Gemini Prompts to Find Out What They Know About You, New York Times
• OpenAI Models Spent Hours on Hack That Usually Takes Weeks, Bloomberg
• The first ATLAS report on AI, Google Blog
• Google Study Says AI Is Helping Workers, Not Replacing Them, Wall Street Journal
• Introducing MAI-Image-2.5-Pro and MAI-Voice-2-Flash, Microsoft AI
• Launching Health in ChatGPT, OpenAI
• OpenAI sued over ChatGPT's 'dangerous' medical advice, Apple Insider
• Anthropic updates Claude voice mode with more capable models, TechCrunch
• Gemini Spark rolling out to Google AI Pro users in the US, 9To5Google
• How AIOs are reshaping click-through rates, Browser Media
• How the Futuristic Hack by Rogue OpenAI Models Unfolded, Wall Street Journal
• Free LLMs.txt Generator, Ahrefs

Industry & Business

• Where Did All the Computer-Science Professors Go?, The Atlantic
• Google Has the Muscle to Overpower Spending Worries, Wall Street Journal
• Google Cloud CEO Kurian says customers are spending 50% more as segment blows away expectations, CNBC
• Google Discloses $94 Billion in SpaceX Shares Following IPO, Bloomberg
• Alphabet’s AI Anthropic Stake Surges to $124 Billion in SEC Filing Disclosure, Bloomberg
• Alphabet’s Future Spending Commitments Soar to $811 Billion, Bloomberg
• Google's Immense Greed Is Destroying the Open Web, Futurism
• Google Takes $290 Billion Stumble as Investors Balk at AI Spending, Wall Street Journal
• Wall Street Sends Google a Message, The Information

Links & Content Marketing

• The Content SEO Manager: How a brand-new role took over content marketing [Study], Semrush
• 7 Reasons Every Marketing Team Should Monitor Brand Mentions, SparkToro

Local & Maps

• Apple Maps will be at the core of Ford's future electric vehicles, Apple Insider
• Ford Will Use Apple Software in New Self-Driving System, New York Times
• Yelp partners with OpenAI to surface reviews in ChatGPT, Axios
• Drive with Halo on Waze, Google Blog
• How Online Reviews Shape AI Search Visibility, Amsive

PPC

• July 2026 update to the Display & Video 360 API, Google Ads Developer Blog
• Google quietly gives ground on PMax controls, Digiday
• Google’s August 17 Bidding Change: What Advertisers Need to Do Now, Optmyzr

Search Features

• Smoother scrolling: How we halved scroll jank in Chrome on Android, Google Blog

SEO

• There's no 5 second render limit in Google, but I can see why you might think there is., Tame the Bots
• Winning Agentic Commerce: A CMO's Guide, Brainlabs
• The New (AI) SEO Playbook, Moz
• The "TikTokification" of Search: Why the Creator Model Is Replacing the Ranking Model, Moz
• Why FAQ Content Matters More Than Ever for AI Search, DealerOn
• AI Search Strategy: 4 Pillars to Show Up More (and Right) in AI Answers, 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.

This week, we covered more Google Search ranking volatility. Google said it sends billions of clicks to websites every week through AI search. Large publishers are fed up and strongly considering blocking Google Search completely. Google Search is now using the latest Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite model. Google earnings were out, they made about $120 billion, with ad revenue up 14.5% and search up 17%. The European Commission fined Google $1 billion for being anti-competitive with Google Search and Google Play. Google's lawsuit against SerpApi was dismissed because Google can't copyright its search results. Google updated its crawl budget documentation. Google is sending email notices when review content is not posted. Google had another reviews bug, this time with review replies. Google is changing up the hotel search results over the DMA requirements. Google Local Service Ads are transitioning to Google Ads. Google Ads appeal limits are not 6 months. Google Ads AI Max for shopping campaigns is out. Google warned not to uninstall and reinstall the Google & YouTube Shopify sync app. Google comparison listing ads is changing to CSS product listing ads. Google AdSense related search format is to be retired August 6th. Bing is testing open sitelinks button in search. Bing is testing an image section for the shopping panel. ChatGPT is showing two ads from two different advertisers in the results. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

SPONSOR: This week's video recap is sponsored by Duda, the Professional Website Builder You Can Call Your Own.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or your favorite podcast player to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed For the original iTunes version, click here.

Search Topics of Discussion:

• 0:00 - Introduction
• 0:42 - Google Search Ranking Volatility This Weekend - Around July 18th & 19th
• 1:27 - Google: We Send Billions Of Clicks To Websites Weekly Through AI Search
• 2:32 - Large Publishers Strongly Considering Blocking Google Search Completely
• 4:12 - Google Search Using Latest Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite
• 5:00 - Google Ad Revenue Up 14.5% With Revenue Up 24% - Biggest Quarter Ever
• 5:42 - EU Fines Google $1 Billion Under DMA For Anti-Competitive Search Dominance
• 6:18 - Google Lawsuit Against SerpApi Over Scraping Search Results Dismissed
• 7:22 - Google Updates Its Crawl Budget Doc: Every Site Starts On Conservative Crawl
• 7:50 - Google Maps Review Not Posted Email Notice
• 8:17 - Another Google Local Bug: Google Local Review Replies Not Displaying
• 8:39 - Google Hotel Search Updates In EU Based On DMA
• 8:52 - Google Local Services Ads Transitioning To Google Ads Platform
• 9:57 - Google Ads Appeals Limits Set To 6 Months
• 10:13 - Google Ads AI Max For Shopping Campaigns Expands
• 10:25 - Google Warns Not To Uninstall/Reinstall Google & YouTube Shopify App
• 11:14 - Google Comparison Listing Ads Now CSS Product Listing Ads
• 11:35 - Google AdSense Related Search Format To Be Retired On August 6th
• 11:52 - Bing Tests Open Sitelinks Button In Search
• 12:14 - Bing Tests Image Section In Shopping Panel
• 12:23 - ChatGPT Showing Two Ads In Footer Of Results
• 12:35 - Conclusion

Please do subscribe on YouTube or subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

Google continues to add more AI features to the Google Merchant Center portal. We saw Merchant Advisor added earlier this year, AI performance reports added just the other week, and now we are seeing more AI sprinkled throughout Merchant Center.

This includes AI summary insights, search suggestions and previous chats on the Merchant Center dashboard.

These updates were spotted by SERP Alerts and posted on X - they include these three updates, as noted by Brodie Clark:

1. An AI summary for insights
2. A search box with suggested queries
3. A section for previous chats

Here is his screenshot:

Forum discussion at X.

Microsoft is testing fading out the related searches in the Bing Search results. When you hover over a related search, that one stands out and the other related searches options then get faded/blurred out.

This was spotted by Khushal Bherwani who posted a vide of this on X - here is that video:

Here is the full video:

ð Bing testing for "related searches" - when hovering on a suggestion, the remainder comes into blur. pic.twitter.com/eGmatZ02NK

— Khushal Bherwani (@b4k_khushal) July 21, 2026

Also spotted by Radu:

Microsoft Bing is testing a blurred animation and effect when hovering the mouse over the search suggestions.@rustybrick pic.twitter.com/CrNiN6cfAT

— Radu Oncescu (@oncescuradu) July 21, 2026

Forum discussion at X.

Last May, Google announced AI Max within Google Ads is rolling out in closed beta globally. Well, more are now seeing AI Max for Shopping campaigns this past week. This also includes text customizations and final URL expansion within AI Max.

Arpan Banerjee posted about this on LinkedIn and so did Thomas Eccel on LinkedIn. Arpan said that AI Max landed in Standard Shopping Campaigns. This includes conversational intent, text customizations, final URL expansion, format flexibility and more controls. Thomas added there is also a new performance uplift numbers estimates when turning on both asset optimization together drives an average of +xx% more conversions for search ads.

Here are screenshots of this from them:

Forum discussion at LinkedIn.

Google Ads now uses its AI to make recommendations within the conversion summary dashboard. Google will give you actions to "improve your conversion measurements," and those recommendations are labeled "Recommended by Google AI."

This was spotted by Arpan Banerjee but he didn't share it, Adrian Dekker did on LinkedIn, (Arpan thanks for sending it to me as well). He wrote, "Google Ads now shows AI-powered conversion recommendations in the Conversion Summary dashboard."

Here is the screenshot:

Google loves its AI, so it makes sense. Just be cautious when using these recommendations; a human should always review them.

Forum discussion at LinkedIn.

Google is updating the Google Ads certification applications and standards for gambling, including gambling jurisdictions, online non-casino games and social casino games on August 26, 2026. All new applicants must use the revised forms when obtaining certification with Google.

Google wrote, "The new application forms will go live on August 26, 2026."

Google also gave us a preview of the description of the approval process and updated requirements, here it is:

Advertisers need to apply for certification from Google in order to run gambling and gambling-promoting content. To prevent application delays, all gambling entities must ensure their licensing credentials and operational details are fully up to date with the appropriate regulators.

Before applying, please refer to the policy and country-specific requirements within this article and confirm that your business meets all criteria. In addition, to qualify and maintain an active certification, advertisers must meet the following requirements.

Prerequisites and eligibility You must hold a valid local license for every region you intend to target and provide evidence of that licence. If the relationship of an advertiser to a licensee is unclear, advertisers must submit documentation which clearly describes the relationship between the advertising entity, the gambling entity, and the associated domain.

Destination site and app compliance

• Destination sites must prominently display an age warning, addiction resources, terms and conditions and a footer containing the licensee name, license number and a privacy policy identifying the data controller.
• Licensing details must be clearly displayed. The details relevant based on your business mode are:
  • Operators: Must explicitly state their own license details, including the registered business name and license number.
  • Gambling-promoting content (Affiliates/Aggregators): If you are not required to hold a license yourself, you must link exclusively to fully licensed and authorized gambling entities in the targeted geographic region on the advertised domain. The site footer must feature a prominent statement confirming that all outbound links are exclusively to gambling entities licensed and authorized in the relevant geographic location.
• Online gambling and online non-casino game operators who wish to promote a mobile application must
  • Include a prominent, working link to the application's official App Store or Google Play Store listing on the licensed domain.
  • include a direct link back to the registered domain on the app's store landing page.

How to apply

Once you have verified that you meet all the criteria above, submit your application using the appropriate track below. To help prevent unnecessary delays, be sure to provide all requested information.

• Online gambling, Online gambling-promoting content, and Non-casino games requiring certification: If you are an operator or offering online gambling-promoting content in one of the countries where we permit online gambling content, fill out the online gambling application form in the Google Ads Help Center to submit your website URL or app ID for certification.
• Social casino games: If you are a Social Casino Game operator in one of the countries where we permit social casino gaming content, fill out the Social casino games application to submit your website URL or app ID for certification.
• Multi-country and multi-category targeting restrictions: If you want to target more than one country, you must submit a separate application form for each individual country. Additionally, please note the following structural limitations for Google Ads accounts:
  • No mixed certification types: A single Google Ads account cannot hold both an online gambling certification and a social casino game certification simultaneously. You must use separate accounts for these distinct categories.
  • No mixed social casino groups: A single account cannot hold certifications for two different social casino game targeting groups. If you plan to target multiple distinct user groups or regions with different social casino certification requirements, separate accounts must be utilized.

Important maintenance rule: You must recertify in the event of any material change to the information you provided in your application. Failure to do so could result in your account being suspended.

Finally, Google added, "advertisers must comply with local gambling regulations, industry standards, and Google's Gambling and Games policy to secure and maintain certification."

Forum discussion at X.

Google Ads seems to have replaced Comparison Listing ads with CSS Product Listing ads. It has redirected the old support URL to a new page named About CSS Product Listing ads. They seem very similar, but the help document was mostly changed and was also moved to a new support URL.

If you compare the new page to the old redirected URL, you will see that 90% of the content has been updated.

CSS Product Listing Ads appear "next to Merchant Product Listing ads and CSSs will compete with merchants on an non-discriminatory basis in the existing PLA carousel," Google wrote. "All CSSs participating in Google's CSS program that meet the minimum requirements described in the later section can place these ads in countries that are part of the CSS program," Google added.

Here is how these ads look:

CSS Product Listing ads show a carousel of product on Google general search results featuring the product image, title, offer price, and number of offers for a specific product. When someone clicks on a CSS Product Listing ad, they're taken to a product page on your CSS website.

Again, a lot has changed with this and I don't yet see any announcement from Google. So you can compare the new page with the old redirected page, fi you want to do a side-by-side comparison.

Forum discussion at X.

Google is doing away with the related search format for Google AdSense auto ads. Google said it will be retired on August 6, 2026. Google sent out an email to those impacted that says starting August 6, 2026, the Related Search format will no longer appear on your site. It will also be removed as a format option from the AdSense frontend.

Bruno Ramos Lara posted a screenshot of the email he received on X but it is in Spanish, so I threw it through Google translate, it says:

We're writing to let you know that the Related Search format for AdSense Auto ads will be retired on August 6, 2026.

Starting August 6, 2026, the Related Search format will no longer appear on your site. It will also be removed as a format option from the AdSense frontend.

You don't need to do anything. All remaining Auto ad formats will continue to function as normal. Some of them may replace the original Related Search slots.

Here is the translated screenshot:

Here is a GIF of these ads from the Google support page:

Related search for content lets you show your users search terms that are related to the content of the page they're viewing. When the user clicks a related search term, they're taken to a search results page on your site.

So it is going away on August 6th. Bruno said, "I wasn't expecting this. Starting August 6, they will remove the link block format currently available in the automatic ads panel (in-page formats)."

Forum discussion at X.

Large publishers are at the verge of blocking Google Search. The EU fined Google $1 billion over DMA issues with Search and Google Play. Google posted its biggest quarter revenues yet and ads were up big too. There was another review bug in Google local, this was with review replies. Google Maps is also emailing when you review content was not posted. Google is revamping hotel search results in the EU. Google Ads API version 25 is out, it is a major release. Google Discover is testing rounded corners for its cards. OpenAI has added a new tooltip to the conversions column within the ChatGPT Ads Manager.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Large Publishers Strongly Considering Blocking Google Search Completely
  Several large publishers are strongly considering blocking Google Search entirely after clicks from Google Search have continued to decline, and the exchange of value in having Google consume its content is no longer translating into enough clicks from Google Search.
• Google Ad Revenue Up 14.5% With Revenue Up 24% - Biggest Quarter Ever
  Google reported its earnings today, its Q2 2026 earnings report showed search ad revenues up by 14.5% at $81.6 billion and overall revenue was up 24% at $119.8 billion. As you know...
• EU Fines Google $1 Billion Under DMA For Anti-Competitive Search Dominance
  The European Union has fined Google ''<<�890 million (about $1 billion) for breaches of the Digital Markets Act. Specifically, over anti-competitive behavior with Google Search and Google Play.
• Another Google Local Bug: Google Local Review Replies Not Displaying
  Another day, another bug with Google local, specific with reviews. Today's bug is that the review replies are not showing up for many. This is a new widespread bug, that seems to be impacting all Google Business Profiles.
• Google Hotel Search Updates In EU Based On DMA
  Google may be rolling out updates to its hotel search results based on the European Commission's requirement for Google to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Despite Google not being a fan of the requirement, it seems Google needs to make changes to its search results as a result.
• Google Maps Review Not Posted Email Notice
  Google is now sending out notifications when a review is not posted after a user tries to submit a review on a Google local business profile. The notice says "review not posted," and adds "Our automated systems removed this content because it seems that the content may not follow our Maps content policies."
• Google Ads API Version 25 Now Available
  Google has released version 25 of the Google Ads API, this is a major release with dozens of updates.
• Google Discover Tests Rounded Corners
  Google is testing using rounded corners for the stories and cards that show up in the Google Discover feed. Google normally shows the images for the stories as rectangles but now we are seeing Google round out the corners and add white borders to the edges of the images.
• ChatGPT Ads Manager Gains Conversions Value Tooltips
  OpenAI has added a new tooltip to the conversions column within the ChatGPT Ads Manager. This tooltip shows the conversion values for View Through Attribution (VTA) and Click Through Attribution (CTA).
• Google London Cocktail Mixing Event
  Google had some sort of event at the London office where they were mixing cocktails. Here is a video from that event which was posted on Instagram.

Other Great Search Threads:

• If you read the amazing series from @suganthan about viewing the ChatGPT pipeline (bright, labrador, bing, etc.), then you will be disappointed by the latest update. OpenAI just removed result_source. Of course they did... but it still sucks they did that. :) More from LinkedIn, Glenn Gabe on X
• Google Discover is adding, or rather reintroducing, the "About this result" option to the menus of each card. This is identical to what we see on the SERPs (search engine results pages). This isn't new, as we saw this option in Discover on November 20, 2024, under the name, Damien Andell on X

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Google loses key DMCA claims against SerpApi in scraping lawsuit
• Google Ads rolls out video campaign groups globally
• How semantics and topical authority improve local SEO
• Does topical authority matter in AI search?
• The data-backed case for publishing less content
• The 4-step health check for your target ROAS and CPA

Other Great Search Stories:

AI & LLMs

• Introducing OpenAI Presence, OpenAI
• Substack promotes human content with 'scan for AI' feature, Press Gazette
• Breaking down how ChatGPT Shopping works behind the user experience, Profound
• Unreliable AI answers are 'good enough' for most users of platforms, Press Gazette

Analytics

• Designing A Measurement Framework Before You Touch GA4, Search Engine Journal
• Analyze AI Citation Queries by Topic - Understand your customers, Microsoft Clarity Blog

Industry & Business

• Google commits to 2.1M sq ft in Silicon Valley expansion, Silicon Valley Business Journal
• Google, Nvidia deepen Europe robotics play with Microagi compute deal, Semafor
• Google to open new office building in Dublin, RTE
• Google set to face more adtech damages claims in France, Global Competition Review
• NewsCorp accuses search engine Brave of AI copyright infringement, Semafor
• OpenAI Plans to Spend Over $30 Billion on Georgia Data Center, Bloomberg
• Reddit stock sinks on report it may not renew Google AI content deal, CNBC
• OpenAI’s Planned Cloud Spending Hits $750 Billion as Computing Efforts Ramp Up, Wall Street Journal
• Google (GOOG) Q2 2026 earnings report: Live updates, CNBC
• Google says Gemini now has 950 million monthly users., The Verge
• Water Authority Addresses Questions About Google Data Center Water Usage, WDBJ7

Links & Content Marketing

• 14 Red Flags That Make Your Writing Sound Like AI (+How to Fix It), WordStream
• B2B Earned Media: What To Know Now, Content Marketing Institute

Local & Maps

• Google Maps on Android Auto Loses Traffic Information, Users Call for Emergency Update, Autoevolution
• Verified Google Business Profile In Minutes, Online Ownership
• EP 266 - Cyrus Shepard: What Local Brand Actually Means to Google and AI, Near Media
• WhatsApp adds Apple CarPlay and Android Auto upgrades, iPad sign-ups, and more, TechCrunch
• Google Maps search may have uncovered 390-million-year-old crater, USA Today

Other Search

• Reach moves away from 'volume' as traffic, revenue and share price plunge, Press Gazette

PPC

• How to Protect Smart Bidding From Spam Conversions in Google Ads, Optmyzr
• Google Introduces Attributed Brand Search Metrics to Google Ads, ZATO Marketing
• Proactivity in PPC:, PPC Live
• Update to Cryptocurrencies and related products policy (August 2026) - Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway, Google Advertising Policies Help
• Google Local Services Ads Meet PMax: What You Need to Know, WordStream
• Turning Data into Growth: How Mindgruve Is Redefining Performance Marketing, Microsoft Advertising
• Update to Healthcare and Medicines Policy (July 2026) - telemedicine providers to promote prescription drug services in Spain, Google Advertising Policies Help
• When “the Wrong Clients” Keep Showing Up, Hop Skip Media

Search Features

• How to use your Gemini Live camera for real-time help, Google Blog
• Google scrubbed it, but Bing kept the receipts that show where LeBron James may play next season, Windows Central
• Googling 'Jimothy' brings up an unexpected surprise, Mashable

SEO

• How to Do a Website Audit (+ Ways to Automate It), SE Ranking
• You're Searching Like An Expert, Not A Customer, Nikki Pilkington

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.

Several large publishers are strongly considering blocking Google Search entirely after clicks from Google Search have continued to decline, and the exchange of value in having Google consume its content is no longer translating into enough clicks from Google Search.

The Wall Street Journal's Google Was a Lifeline for Publishers. Now Some Are Thinking of Cutting It Off shares how sites like USA Today, Politico, Reuters, Economist, People, and many more, including maybe even Reddit are looking to see what would happen if they would just simply disallow Google from crawling its content.

Here are some quotes from WSJ on this:

• 'It's time to take a stand and say enough is enough,' said USA Today Co. Chief Executive Mike Reed.
• Employees at Axel Springer's Politico have talked about limiting Google's and other bots' access to its free articles.
• Reuters, which like Politico derives much of its revenue from business-to-business offerings, said it is also weighing whether to block Google's bot for its consumer-facing news product as traffic declines. 'We are certainly looking at the economic trade-offs between search and AI summaries,' said Reuters President Paul Bascobert.
• 'The question was, should we do this, and what are the implications of doing it or not?' said Josh Muncke, vice president of generative AI at the Economist, adding that exiting Google entirely isn't currently part of that discussion. 'Google is a powerful force to be reckoned with,' he said. 'Traffic can be choppy and declining, but traffic is still traffic.'
• 'Turning them off and blocking them entirely is 100% on the table,' said People Inc. Chief Executive Neil Vogel.
• 'There are now two audiences,' said Mark Howard, Time's chief operating officer. 'We're thinking about, How do we superserve the humans when they do come, and how do we think about the bots as a secondary audience?'
• Reddit, the online message board that powers a swath of Google search results, has discussed shutting off the technology giant's access to its content for AI use, according to people familiar with the matter.

Here is a chart the WSJ posted of the declines these publishers are seeing from Google Search - the data is from Semrush:

This comes after the NY Times published How Google's A.l. Search Is Imperiling the Open Web, which is why Google executives have been floating the metric of Google sends billions of clicks through AI Search features weekly. Plus, Reddit's content deal with Google is up for renewal...

Trouble in Reddit Land following the May core update and June spam update (which I covered in my blog post). Also, the $60M Google deal is up for renewal soon -> Reddit, Politico, and others mull cutting Google's access to their content for AI as traffic drops; Reddit signed a'...

— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) July 22, 2026

We are living in interesting times - and I do wonder if any of these large publishers will take that big step of blocking Google Search.

Forum discussion at X.

Google may be rolling out updates to its hotel search results based on the European Commission's requirement for Google to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Despite Google not being a fan of the requirement, it seems Google needs to make changes to its search results as a result.

This is not to say Google has not made changes already, it did in 2024 and throughout. Google even did its own test that showed how DMA'ing the results would not be good for hotels - if you believe the results.

That being said Lluc B. Penycate, the hotel SEO, spotted a lot of changes for hotel search results in Google within the EU. He posted these changes on X and wrote, "I think Google has begun rolling out a major change to Hotel Search in the EU." "Following the European Commission's findings that Google's hotel search experience did not fully comply with the DMA, we were expecting changes to the Hotel Local Pack," he added.

For generic searches like "Hotels in Playa de Palma", the traditional Hotel Local Pack is evolving into something much more complex. He is consistently seeing two new hotel modules that fundamentally change the hotel discovery journey.

There is this new "Hotel Multi-Pack," as Lluc calls it which instead of taking users directly into Google Hotels, Google first presents multiple travel providers and each expands into its own hotel listings.

Lluc then said this "creates an entirely new discovery layer." Rather than choosing a hotel, users first choose the platform they want to browse. Each effectively functions as its own hotel search engine within Google.

After the Hotel Multi-Pack, Google introduces a second module, which is called Hotel Websites ("Sitios web de hoteles"). "This highlights official hotel websites with direct links, prices and hotel cards'"creating a dedicated surface for direct suppliers," Lluc wrote.

Lluc wrote "if this rollout expands across Europe, it could reshape how hotels measure visibility and direct demand. The booking journey now includes multiple visibility layers before a user even reaches an official hotel website."

Forum discussion at X.

Google is now sending out notifications when a review is not posted after a user tries to submit a review on a Google local business profile. The notice says "review not posted," and adds "Our automated systems removed this content because it seems that the content may not follow our Maps content policies."

These notifications began earlier this week and now many in the local SEO community are starting to notice them happening globally.

The email says, "Review not posted: Thank you for your contribution. Unfortunately, we're not able to publish it at this time." It goes on to say, "Our automated systems removed this content because it seems that the content may not follow our Maps content policies. These policies help keep Maps safe and reliable for everyone."

You also have the right to submit an appeal, if you really want that review to be posted.

Here is a copy of the email from Amy Toman who posted this on LinkedIn:

Vinay Toshniwal posted the appeal process also on LinkedIn - here are his screenshots:

This is what it looks like on the web interface:

It is not nice when a review that you wrote is not posted, but it is nice to get a notification and then a way to appeal it. I suspect most users won't appeal it, I mean, why bother? How much does it help them (a reviewer) to have a review posted.

Amy wrote, "Pretty cool that Google is being upfront about this, and offering a second assessment." Vinay added, "I genuinely like this new feature."

Forum discussion at LinkedIn.

Google has released version 25 of the Google Ads API, this is a major release with dozens of updates. This update includes changes to campaigns, planning, reports, conversions, and more. Google now breaks down the change log based on breaking changes, features and updates (that do not break anything) and more.

Google wrote, "Today, we're announcing the v25 release of the Google Ads API. This major release brings support for new reporting features and goals."

Here is what is new:

For the full release note, see this document here.

Before this release was version 24.2 in June, then 24.1 in May, before that was 24 in April, then 23.2 in March, then v23.1 in February and then 23 at the end of January, then version 22 on October 15, 2025, then version 21 on August 6, 2025 , then 20 on June 5, 2025, 19.1 in April 2025, then 19 in February 2025, then version 18 in October 2024. Before that was 17.1 in August 2024 and then before that was version 17.0 in June 2024 and then before that was version 16.1 and then Version 16 in February 2024. Before that was version 15 back in October 2023. Then before that was version 14.1 which was released in August. Version 13.1 preceded this new version, which was released in April 2023. Version 12.0 was released in October 2022, Version 11.0 of the Google Ads API was released in June, and version 11.1 was in August. Also Version 10.1 was released on April 27, 2022 and version 10.0 was released on February 9, 2022. And Google has sunset the AdWords API on April 27th which will completely stop working at the end of July.

Forum discussion at X.