Search Engine Roundtable https://www.seroundtable.com en-us Barry Schwartz Fri, 03 Jul 2026 10:00:00 -0400 Daily Search Forum Recap: July 3, 2026 https://www.seroundtable.com/recap-07-03-2026-41624.html Barry Schwartz Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.

Google Local reviews are disappearing from many businesses, Google said it will investigate the issue. Google finally fixed the three week long page indexing report in Search Console. Google Business Profile suspension penalties are additive. Google is testing a new places local pack design. Google third-party rates for hotel ads are going away in a few months. Microsoft Advertising has opened up a new betas for Performance Max experiments. Google posted its July 4th Doodle on July 3rd, it is pretty animated. And I posted the weekly SEO video recap, it was a bit longer than normal.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

Other Great Search Threads:

Search Engine Land Stories:

Other Great Search Stories:

AI & LLMs

Industry & Business

Links & Content Marketing

Local & Maps

Other Search

PPC

Search Features

SEO

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.

]]> Search Forum Recap Barry Schwartz Fri, 03 Jul 2026 10:00:00 -0400 Google Page Indexing Report Has Been Fixed & Updated https://www.seroundtable.com/google-page-indexing-report-fixed-and-updated-41626.html Barry Schwartz Google Pages

Google has fixed the page indexing report within Google Search Console after it was struck and delayed for over three weeks. It was literally just fixed within minutes of this story going live, as I continuously check the report like an unwell-OCD man.

Here is a screenshot of the report showing it was updated on June 29th, prior it as stuck at June 11th:

Google Page Indexing June29

Here is the one I saw earlier this morning:

Google Search Console Page Indexing June11

You can now login to Google Search Console and access the page indexing report and run the indexing numbers for your sites and client sites.

Forum discussion at Bluesky.

]]> Google Search Engine Optimization Barry Schwartz Fri, 03 Jul 2026 08:20:00 -0400 Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google June Spam Update Done, Fraud DMCA Takedowns Breaks Google, Costly Google Ad Budget Changes & More https://www.seroundtable.com/video-06-03-2026-41619.html Barry Schwartz

This week, I covered that Google's June 2026 spam update completed last Friday afternoon. Fraudulent DMCA takedown requests are breaking Google Search and no one seems to be doing anything. Google AI Mode improved links for recipes again. Google also started putting top stories carousels in AI Overviews. Google AI Overviews can show markdown files in snippets, but it doesn't mean anything. Google is now sending searchers to publisher hosted AMP pages versus Google hosted cached pages. Google Search Console had its first data logging issue for the AI performance report, specifically with Discover. Google's Liz Reid was interviewed and she wants your great content to shine in Google. Bing Webmaster Tools backfills data continuously, which is interesting. I posted the monthly Google Webmaster report. Google reviews are disappearing from Google Business Profiles. Google Trends added trending data with previous period comparison. Google Ads is making changes to bidding for campaigns limited by budget and it will cost you big time. Google Ads is testing AI generated summaries under descriptions. Google AdSense ad intents is adding AI generated content with Gemini. Google Ads added channel diagnostics for Performance Max campaigns. Google Ads is testing open in a new window icons. Google now lets you unsubscribe from those pesky and annoying Google Ad Expert consult booking emails. Microsoft Advertising has new beta experiment types for PMax. Fabrice Canel has announced he retired from Microsoft after almost 30 years. And the industry deeply mourns the passing of Bruce Clay, the Father of SEO. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

Sponsor: BruceClay ð"² one of the founding fathers of the SEO space, doing search marketing optimization since 1996. Bruce Clay is big into SEO training, check out seotraining.com to learn more and check them out at bruceclay.com. Also, check out their new product, Prewriter.ai - this tool empowers writers to write better and more efficiently, so check it out.

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:

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!

]]> Search Video Recaps Barry Schwartz Fri, 03 Jul 2026 08:01:00 -0400 Google Local Reviews Go Missing For Many Businesses https://www.seroundtable.com/google-business-profile-reviews-vanish-41620.html Barry Schwartz Broken Google Review Stars

Google reviews are disappearing from Google Business Profile local listings. In the past few days or so there has been an influx of complaints in the Google Business Profile forums. This seems like a bug, as Amy Toman received word from Google that the company is "aware of the missing reviews issue and working to resolve it."

Some businesses have lost thousands of reviews from their Google listings. Some have lost a few, but it is all dependent on how many reviews the business listing had in the first place. Many are saying their listings were spammed or pounded with fake reviews and then shortly later, all of the reviews disappeared and no new reviews are being added.

One business owner wrote, "We had approximately 4,651 legitimate customer reviews collected naturally over many years from real customers. Suddenly, within about 24 hours, our public review count dropped to only 63 reviews."

If you scan through the Google Business Profile Forums, you will see tons of complaints. Here are some of the complaints, but trust me, there are many more:

Amy Toman posted on LinkedIn:

There is a new issue I'm seeing on Google listings, where after reporting fake or spam reviews, listings are receiving a review block and all reviews are being hidden. And in at least one case, their rating is reduced to 0.

Google has been alerted and they now say they're aware of the missing review issue and are working to resolve it.

If you or a client are in this situation, you can post on the forum if you'd like, but know that Google is aware and working on it. No timeline for resolution stated yet.

A Google spokesperson told the Search Engine Roundtable:

When our systems detect suspicious reviews, we take a range of actions including removing reviews and temporarily pausing reviews on the profile to prevent further abuse. We are investigating the issue and will restore any reviews that were incorrectly removed.

Forum discussion on LinkedIn.

]]> Google Maps Barry Schwartz Fri, 03 Jul 2026 07:51:00 -0400 Google Business Profile Restrictions & Penalties Are Additive https://www.seroundtable.com/google-business-profile-restrictions-double-41594.html Barry Schwartz Google Violation Troll

Google will add to existing penalties or restrictions on your Google Business Profiles if you continue to violate the same policy over and over again. The initial restriction might be 30 days but then if you are caught doing the same thing, Google can make that restriction twice as long.

Ben Fisher posted an example of this on LinkedIn where he showed an email of a Business Profile restriction notice but that was in addition to previous violations. The email said:

Reviews and ratings on your Business Profile will be restricted

We recently found additional incentivised reviews associated with your profile. These are in addition to the reviews we previously identified to you and constitute a new violation. This violates our fake engagement policy and isn't allowed.

Customers won't be able to post new ratings and reviews or see past ratings and reviews for 2 months. They'll also see a warning saying that suspicious reviews were removed.

If you think we've made a mistake, you can appeal this decision below.

Here is a screenshot of that email:

Google Reviews Restriction Email

Ben wrote, "Review restrictions on your Google Business Profile are Google's way of protecting the ecosystem from spammy content. Previously, a 1-month restriction was put in place if found to be in violation. I wonder how many more months they will add for this penalty?"

Forum discussion at LinkedIn.

]]> Google Maps Barry Schwartz Fri, 03 Jul 2026 07:41:00 -0400 Google Tests New Local Places Layout Design https://www.seroundtable.com/google-tests-local-places-layout-design-41608.html Barry Schwartz Google Local Retail Corner

Google is testing updating the design for the local pack and places listings within Google Search. The map was moved to the top, instead of on the right and the action buttons are also moved and changed. I am not sure which version I like more, but here is what changed.

This new design was spotted first by Khushal Bherwani on X and then by @Punit6008.

Here is the test version:

Google Places Company Button Redesign

Here is what I see (normal version):

Google Places Buttons Normal

Forum discussion at X.

]]> Google Maps Barry Schwartz Fri, 03 Jul 2026 07:31:00 -0400 Google Fourth Of July 2026 Doodle Celebrating 250 Years Of The USA https://www.seroundtable.com/google-fourth-of-july-2026-doodle-41625.html Barry Schwartz Google Fourth Of July 2026 250 Homepage

Google has posted its Fourth of July Doodle for 2026, the United States Semiquincentennial celebrates the 250th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence. The Doodle is an animated GIF of the American flag in the background.

Google wrote:

Fourth of July 2026: Celebrating 250 years of the USA

Happy Fourth of July! This Doodle celebrates 250 years of the USA. On July Fourth, Americans gather with friends and family for backyard barbecues, lively parades, and stellar fireworks shows. Today's artwork shows a video of the American flag waving and confetti sprinkled within the Google logo.

Yes, today is July 3rd, but many start celebrating today because tomorrow is Saturday and a day off anway.

Here is the GIF enlarged:

Fourth Of July 2026 6753651837111012 2xa

And when you click on the Doodle, you are taken to the Google Search results with confetti all over the results:

Google Fourth Of July 2026 250 Search Results

Here is a video from Google on how this Doodle was made:

Happy Fourth of July to all!

Forum discussion at X.

]]> Google Barry Schwartz Fri, 03 Jul 2026 07:23:00 -0400 Google Third-Party Rates For Hotel Ads Feature Going Away On Sept. 30 https://www.seroundtable.com/google-third-party-rates-for-hotel-ads-sunset-41603.html Barry Schwartz Google Hotel

Google added a note to the About Google third-party rates for hotel ads saying after September 30, 2026 this will become unavailable. Google said campaigns will stop serving ads across all Hotel Ads inventory after September 30th.

The Google third-party rates for hotel ads feature is available in Hotel Ads and Performance Max for Travel Goals campaigns but won't be after that date.

The impacted Hotel Ads campaigns will no longer serve while the Performance Max for Travel Goals campaigns will continue serving ads through other available channels such as Search, Display, and YouTube. Google added that "for these channels, no action is required."

To continue showing hotel ads, you must set up a direct price feed byworking with an integration partner or creating a Hotel Center account, link the feed to your Google Ads account, and recreate your campaigns with similar bidding and budgets.

Forum discussion at X.

]]> Google Ads Barry Schwartz Fri, 03 Jul 2026 07:21:00 -0400 Microsoft Advertising Performance Max Experiments Beta Types https://www.seroundtable.com/microsoft-advertising-pmax-experiments-41615.html Barry Schwartz Microsoft Bing Experiments

Microsoft Advertising has opened up a new betas for Performance Max experiments. There are now Max upgrade or uplift experiments available in Microsoft Advertising.

Navah Hopkins, the Microsoft Ads Liaison, posted on LinkedIn saying, "Microsoft Advertising opened up the beta for PMax experiments around upgrading to PMax as well as PMax uplift."

She added that these experiments allow you to explore two key questions on PMax impact:

(1) Compare performance of a new PMax campaign, either compared to another campaign or when run alongside other campaigns, asking 'Is Performance Max performing better than what we're running today?'

(2) Measure incrementality by comparing treatment (exposed) vs control (suppressed) users for 6+ week period for your eligible campaigns, asking 'what happens if we don't run these ads? Is this incremental, would these conversions have happened anyway?'

Here are screenshots:

Microsoft Advertising Pmax Experiments

Microsoft Advertising Pmax Experiments2

If you would like to participate in the open beta, you can request access through the Microsoft Advertising chat representatives.

Forum discussion at LinkedIn.

]]> Bing Ads Barry Schwartz Fri, 03 Jul 2026 07:11:00 -0400 Daily Search Forum Recap: July 2, 2026 https://www.seroundtable.com/recap-07-02-2026-41616.html Barry Schwartz Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.

Google now sends searchers to the publisher-hosted AMP page. Bing says it continously backfills data in Bing Webmaster Tools. Google Ads updated the all campaign drop down. Google Ads has new channel diagnostics for PMax campaigns. You can now unsubscribe from those book a call with your Google Ads expert emails. And I posted the monthly Google webmaster report.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

  • July 2026 Google Webmaster Report
    Here is the monthly Google Webmaster report, where I summarize the major organic Google Search news and SEO topics from the past month. The big news was the Google June 2026 spam update, which took only two days to roll out and felt like it started earlier and was substantial.
  • Google Ads Makes Changes To Bidding For Campaigns Limited By Budget
    Google Ads, as we covered earlier, made changes to Target CPA & Target ROAS. But now, Google sent out an email about even more changes starting on August 17, 2026 around bidding for campaigns limited by budget. It seems like this bidding update will end up costing advertisers even more money.
  • Bing Webmaster Tools Backfilled Data For AI Performance Reports On June 1st
    If you take a look at the Bing Webmaster Tools newish AI performance reports, you may see more data, impressions, etc showing up on and after June 1, 2026. Microsoft said this is just "regular data backfilling" and there are "no anomalies" (which I think is a dig at Google).
  • Google Ads Updates All Campaigns Drop Down
    Google has reportedly updated the Google Ads "All Campaigns" drop-down selection box to be from the center of the screen to the top-left corner and added the full campaign hierarchy in an expandable view.
  • Google Sends Searchers To Site-Hosted AMP Pages Instead Of Cached Page
    Google updated how it handles sending searchers to AMP pages within Google Search. Now Google will send searchers directly to publisher-hosted AMP pages instead of the cached pages displayed in an AMP viewer. Google said this was done because it "simplifies and reduces maintenance efforts for publishers who are creating AMP content."
  • Google Ads Performance Max Channel Diagnostics
    Google Ads is testing a new Channel Diagnostics feature for Performance Max campaigns within "Channel Performance" under the "Insights & Reports" section. This shows you the diagnostic data of all the channels together and of a specific channel in particular, all in one place.
  • You Can Now Unsubscribe From Google Ads Expert Book Call Emails
    Google has now added an unsubscribe option to those book a call with your Google Ads expert emails that you find in your inbox just way too often. This has been a complaint for a while, like since 2005 and we covered it many times, but in 2022, Google said it will do something about it. Well, in 2026, we now have an unsubscribe link.
  • Dancing At The Google Orb
    Here are several dozen dancers dancing by the Google Orb at the GooglePlex. I am not sure why they are doing this there, but here is the video I found of it on Instagram.

Other Great Search Threads:

Search Engine Land Stories:

Other Great Search Stories:

AI & LLMs

Analytics

Industry & Business

Links & Content Marketing

Local & Maps

Other Search

PPC

Search Features

SEO

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.

]]> Search Forum Recap Barry Schwartz Thu, 02 Jul 2026 10:00:00 -0400 Google Ads Makes Changes To Bidding For Campaigns Limited By Budget https://www.seroundtable.com/google-ads-bidding-campaigns-limited-budget-41618.html Barry Schwartz Google Ads Budget

Google Ads, as we covered earlier, made changes to Target CPA & Target ROAS. But now, Google sent out an email about even more changes starting on August 17, 2026 around bidding for campaigns limited by budget. It seems like this bidding update will end up costing advertisers even more money. Although, I think we covered some of this change over here there are now a lot more details on what is changing.

Google said, "Starting August 17, 2026, Google is updating its bidding systems to deliver more predictable campaign performance. This update applies to Search, Shopping, Performance Max, and Demand Gen campaigns that use a target-based bid strategy (e.g. Target CPA, Target ROAS)."

Specifically, "Campaigns that are limited by budget that use a target-based bid strategy will more consistently perform toward your target, including when you make budget adjustments." Previously, "when a campaign is limited by budget, it may perform better than the target you've set. When you increase your budget for these campaigns, it's hard to know exactly what performance to expect," Google explained.

Today, when your campaign has a "Limited by budget" status, if you use a Target-based bid strategy (for example, Target CPA or Target ROAS), some campaigns may be overperforming on bidding targets and see performance fluctuations when budgets are adjusted. After August 17, 2026, campaigns that are limited by budget that use a target-based bid strategy will more consistently perform toward your bid target, including when you make budget adjustments so you can grow your campaigns with more predictable performance.

Here is the example Google provided:

If your campaign's Target CPA is $10, but your recent actual CPA performance is $5, your campaign will deliver more closely to a $10 actual CPA starting August 17, 2026 if no changes are made. If you are satisfied with performance at your current target, no action is required. If you want to maintain your campaign's recent performance you can update your target to $5. You can also decide your target based on the performance you want and your business goals.

Google posted this all cheery video:

Google has a lot more detail on these changes over here.

Google updated its help documents for About Target CPA bidding and About Target ROAS bidding to document these changes.

Google posted a box that says:

Important: Starting August 17, 2026, Google is updating its bidding systems to deliver more consistent and predictable performance for campaigns that are limited by budget. If your campaigns use Target CPA or Target ROAS, these changes may cause temporary performance and traffic fluctuations. To learn how to prepare, review your settings, and use the new Bid Target Adjustment Tool (available starting on July 6, 2026).

I recommend comparing the About Target CPA bidding to the older version and the About Target ROAS bidding to the older version.

Google recommends that you review your campaigns that are "Limited by budget" and are using target-based bid strategies by August 17, 2026. Ensure your settings align with your business goals, especially for campaigns that are performing better than your targets. Google will not automatically adjust your bidding targets or budgets.

To help you review your campaigns, you'll receive a notification in your Google Ads account guiding you to a new tool starting July 6, 2026, where you can review historical campaign performance and quickly apply updates.

If you want to maintain current performance for campaigns that are performing better than your targets, select 'Apply' to update your targets based on the performance shown in the tool. If you're happy with your current bidding targets, no action is needed.

Additionally, you always have the option to increase your budget to confidently scale your campaigns and capture more volume at your stated targets.

Google did email Arpan Banerjee and other Google Ads advertisers about this change, here is the email that Arpan posted on LinkedIn:

Google Ads Bidding Campaigns Limited Budget Email

Forum discussion at LinkedIn.

]]> Google Ads Barry Schwartz Thu, 02 Jul 2026 07:58:00 -0400 July 2026 Google Webmaster Report https://www.seroundtable.com/july-2026-google-webmaster-report-41591.html Barry Schwartz Google Webmaster Report

Here is the monthly Google Webmaster report, where I summarize the major organic Google Search news and SEO topics from the past month. The big news was the Google June 2026 spam update, which took only two days to roll out and felt like it started earlier and was substantial. There were a few other unconfirmed Google search ranking updates in the past month.

Google's Head of Search, Liz Reid, said it was great content to shine in Google Search. Google's search team spoke about chunking, site signals, content, paywalls, AI clicks and more. Google also updated its help documents on SEO advice from third-party tools and others. Google said LLMS.txt files won't help or hurt you in Google Search.

Google Search Console expanded access to the AI performance reports and posted a deep dive help document on AI controls. Google also fixed the link report bugs in Search Console but had other outages with other reports this month. We are also expecting a new platform property tooltip feature from Search Console.

Google launched Search Profiles and was quick to give us analytics for that. Google is testing a lot of new user interfaces and search features, including updates to Google Business Profiles.

The CMA ordered Google to share how its rankings work and there is an updated zero click report.

If you missed last month, you can read the June 2026 Google Webmaster Report.

Here are the bigger stories from the past month:

Google Updates & Spam Update:

Google SEO: Google Search Console: Google User Interface & Search Features: Google Business Profiles & Local: Business & Industry:

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

]]> Google Search Engine Optimization Barry Schwartz Thu, 02 Jul 2026 07:51:00 -0400 Bing Webmaster Tools Backfilled Data For AI Performance Reports On June 1st https://www.seroundtable.com/bing-webmaster-tools-ai-reports-backfill-41606.html Barry Schwartz Bing Data Influx

If you take a look at the Bing Webmaster Tools newish AI performance reports, you may see more data, impressions, etc showing up on and after June 1, 2026. Microsoft said this is just "regular data backfilling" and there are "no anomalies" (which I think is a dig at Google). It just seems that this is how data flows in to these tools.

Glenn Gabe noticed that across almost all his profiles in Bing Webmaster Tools, there was an uptick in impressions being shown for all those sites in the AI Performance reports. He posted examples on X and said, "I'm seeing some huge surges in Bing's AI Performance reporting starting right on June 1st. I'm seeing this across many accounts."

Here is one example:

Bing June Ai Performance Report

Krishna Madhavan from Microsoft Bing replied on X saying, "just regular data backfilling. No anomalies. "These are not the droids you are looking for...." :)"

I guess when Bing launched these reports, not all the data sources were showing up in the reports yet? I am not sure. Either way, this is normal according to Microsoft, despite it not appearing normal.

I asked for clarification and Krishna said on LinkedIn, "we are continuously backfilling data. It is not a question of completeness - it is just the run of the mill data processing pipeline artifact."

Forum discussion at X.

]]> Bing SEO Barry Schwartz Thu, 02 Jul 2026 07:41:00 -0400 Google Ads Updates All Campaigns Drop Down https://www.seroundtable.com/google-ads-updates-all-campaigns-41598.html Barry Schwartz Google Ads Concrete

Google has reportedly updated the Google Ads "All Campaigns" drop-down selection box to be from the center of the screen to the top-left corner and added the full campaign hierarchy in an expandable view.

This update was spotted by Vivek Gupta who posted the following screenshot on LinkedIn and then Hana Kobzová who posted on PPC News Feed:

Google Ads Updates All Campaigns

As you can see, the new interface has been moved to the top left corner of the screen. It also displays the full campaign hierarchy in an expandable view, "making it easier to navigate complex account structures," Hana wrote. Plus, there is a new search feature, helping advertisers quickly find campaigns and campaign groups.

Not everyone will see this update yet but it is supposedly being tested or being rolled out more broadly.

Forum discussion at LinkedIn.

]]> Google Ads Barry Schwartz Thu, 02 Jul 2026 07:31:00 -0400 Google Sends Searchers To Site-Hosted AMP Pages Instead Of Cached Page https://www.seroundtable.com/google-publisher-hosted-amp-pages-change-41614.html Barry Schwartz Google Rocket

Google updated how it handles sending searchers to AMP pages within Google Search. Now Google will send searchers directly to publisher-hosted AMP pages instead of the cached pages displayed in an AMP viewer. Google said this was done because it "simplifies and reduces maintenance efforts for publishers who are creating AMP content."

"Starting today, we are updating how we connect users to AMP pages from Search, taking them directly to the AMP host pages," a Google spokesperson told me.

"AMP content will continue to rank just like any other webpage, and this change will reduce maintenance efforts for publishers creating AMP content," the spokesperson added. There is no impact on how AMP pages are ranked or served in Google Search and Google Discover.

Google added that you "no longer need to update the AMP cache or configure signed exchanges."

With that, Google updated its AMP documentation, Google added these two new sections at the top of that page:

About AMP on Google Search

Google Search indexes AMP pages just like other web pages, and applies the same standard to all pages, regardless of the technology used to build the page. This page covers how AMP pages appear in Search results, guidelines for using AMP with Google Search, and common questions about AMP and Google Search. For more information on the benefits of using AMP, see the AMP Project success stories.

How AMP pages can appear in Search results

AMP pages can appear in Google Search as a rich result, just like other pages on the web. To help Google better understand your page, you can add structured data to your page. Adding structured data doesn't guarantee that your page appears as a rich result in Search results. For more information, refer to the Structured Data General Guidelines.

AMP pages can also appear as Web Stories. Learn more about how to enable Web Stories on Google Search.

There are other miscellaneous changes, here is the comparison comparing the new to the older version:

Amp Text Compare

Google also made similar changes to the wording on these three AMP related help documents (and also redirected some older AMP docs to the main doc listed above):

It is weird writing about AMP in 2026 but hey, there was this change made.

Forum discussion at X.

]]> Google Search Engine Optimization Barry Schwartz Thu, 02 Jul 2026 07:21:00 -0400