Google added a new help document on third-party tools, services and advice, plus Google updated its hiring an SEO document. Google is testing Search profile insights and analytics. Bing has a new way to hide AI responses from Copilot. Google said it won't be making AI Mode the default search experience from Chrome.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google Search Ranking Volatility This Weekend - Around June 6th
  Earlier this month, the Google May 2026 core update was completed on June 2, 2026. But the volatility has not seemed to calm down. I am seeing a lot of chatter spike up from within the SEO community over the weekend. The SEO chatter started Friday, June 5th and continued through the weekend. Meanwhile, most of the third-party Google volatility tracking tools seem somewhat calm.
• New Google Document On Third-Party SEO Tools, Services & Advice
  Google not only updated its advice on hiring an SEO document, but also created a new one named Google Search's guidance on using third-party SEO tools, services, and advice. This document drills into how to evaluate the advice you get from these sources and some tips to think critically about such SEO advice.
• Google Updates Its Hiring An SEO Doc Warning On SEO Tools & AI Optimization
  Google has updated its help document titled Do you need an SEO? Google said the changes are to help when "evaluating your SEO's recommendations and tools, along with other minor updates to the page to simplify and modernize the content." But the document also added a section for Optimizing for generative AI and making sure your SEO follows Google's guidelines around that topic.
• Google Search Profiles Insights & Analytics
  Google launched Search Profiles late last week, a way for creators and publishers to have a place on Google to highlight its content and platforms. And Google seems to be testing a new Insights section for Search profiles, where you can see how searchers are interacting with your Search profiles on Google.
• Bing Gives Searchers A Way To Disable AI Copilot Answers
  Microsoft Bing announced a new way to disable the Copilot, Microsoft AI, responses from showing up in the Bing search results. There is a new browser extension available for Chrome and Edge that you can install to toggle off showing AI responses, or you can just add -ai to the end of your query.
• Google: Google Chrome Won't Set AI Mode The Default Search Experience
  Google has confirmed that the search company has no plans on making AI Mode the default search experience within Google Chrome. This comes after Chrome Canary added a new experimental flag that redirected searches from the address bar directly to AI Mode. According to Rajan Patel, a Google VP, that was an error.
• Satyajeet Salgar Walk By In Time Magazine Google's Pichai Interview
  Earlier this month, Time Magazine interviewed Google's CEO, Sundar Pichai. And some how, just some how, Satyajeet Salgar, Director of Product and UX at Google, made it into the video. Well, kind of... He was in a filler portion of the interview...

Other Great Search Threads:

• Spotted something new in Google Business Profile! It's been a while since 'Place Page Attributes' showed up in GBP, but now for the first time, I'm seeing a 'PRIMARY' tag appearing right next to the selected Chat/Texting number, Syed M. Amir Hassan on X
• Is it new @rustybrick I'm seeing an AI Preview in the https://t.co/USsMgNeZrW search results powered by Google. It appears on mobile, but I don't see it on desktop., Saurabh Bhardwaj on X
• It appears Google is planning to convert the "follow" button to "subscribe." DiscoverCard = convert_follow_to_subscribe, Damien Andell on X
• Schema.org is publishing the Public Usage Statistics dataset via a collaboration with Google., Shameem Adhikarath on X
• Seems like it would be good to at least have the landing page crawlable. Their main site has a more differenced robots.txt file, maybe send them a note :)., John Mueller on Bluesky
• We're rolling these reports out to a subset of websites, allowing us to thoroughly test them and receive feedback before making them widely available. This enables us to thoroughly test these features to ensure they’re working at a smaller scale before , John Mueller on Bluesky
• ChatGPT surpassed 600 million MAUs for the first time., Similarweb on
• Hit by may update, BlackHatWorld
• Hmm... crazy to see Grokipedia surge with the May 2026 core update. It dropped heavily in early February but really shot up with the core update. But... that's for now. I have a feeling that will drop again (and maybe so, Glenn Gabe on X

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Google adds guidance on third-party SEO tools, services, advice and updates hiring an SEO doc
• Google clarifies sensitive audience targeting rules for Demand Gen campaigns
• Microsoft expands Audience Ads eligibility for cryptocurrency exchanges
• The latest jobs in search marketing
• Cloudflare: Bots now make up 57% of webpage requests
• 4 ways to track AI search visibility when attribution falls short
• Delegation search: Why users outsource decisions to AI
• How TV ads create search demand '" and what to do about it

Other Great Search Stories:

AI & LLMs

• Anthropic Urges Global Pause in AI Development, Flags ‘Self-Improvement’ Risk, Wall Street Journal
• ‘Bots have now passed human traffic online,’ Cloudflare boss laments — says agentic traffic wasn’t expected to eclipse real people until next year, Tom's Hardware
• 'World-first' vaccine designed by artificial intelligence, BBC
• 9 Vibe Coding Examples: AI Apps You Can Use Right Now to Grow Your Website, Ahrefs
• Lockdown Mode, OpenAI
• OpenAI makes its next hardware move with Opal Electronics, Testing Catalog
• WTF is NLWeb? — Whiteboard Friday, Moz
• AI Search Runs on Two Memory Systems. The Platforms Don’t Use Them the Same Way., Duane Forrester Decodes
• OpenAI plots biggest ChatGPT overhaul since launch, Financial Times (Sub)

Analytics

• GA4 via Google Tag Manager: Step-by-Step Guide, KRM Digital Marketing
• Google Tag Gateway Now Available for Amazon CloudFront Users, PPC News Feed

Industry & Business

• European publishers seek £552m+ from Google claiming ad market abuse, Press Gazette
• Google Defeats "Negligent Digital Architecture" Claim-Starr v. Google, Eric Goldman
• Has Microsoft Lost Its Mojo (Again)?, Wired
• Nadella Rebukes Microsoft Executive’s Plan to Make Users “Addicted” to AI Agents, The Information
• OpenAI to comply with Trump AI model review order: Osborne, CNBC
• U.S. Officials Discuss Taking Financial Stakes in AI Industry, Wall Street Journal
• The Data-Center Slowdown and Google’s Gambit, Wall Street Journal
• WWDC 2026: Apple’s Secret Meeting That Led It to Take AI Seriously; iOS 27, Bloomberg

Links & Content Marketing

• 91 Best Marketing Blogs, Newsletters, Podcasts, and Videos, Content Marketing Institute

Local & Maps

• Android Auto redesigns Google Maps alerts to be less distracting, 9to5Google
• Google Starts Rolling Out Android Auto 17.1: How To Skip the Wait and Download It Right Now, AutoEvolution

SEO

• First Preview: Google Search Console Generative AI Report Now Live, Brodie Clark Consulting
• Automated SEO: What It Is and How It Works in 2026, Ahrefs
• Google May 2026 Core Update: Reddit Up, YouTube Down, SE Ranking
• How to Optimize for AI Visibility and Prepare for Agentic Search, Moz
• Keyword strategy in SEO: What it is & how to create one, Semrush
• Google Suggest Scraper in the Age of AI Search, Grumpy Old SEO
• Site Migration SEO Mistakes: 32 Pitfalls & Fixes, Pwani

PPC

• Local Services Ads policy update (June 2026), Google Advertising Policies Help
• Microsoft Allows Audience Ads for Cryptocurrency Exchanges, PPC News Feed
• Rolling out ads in the UK, ChatGPT Release Notes
• Saying Goodbye to DSA: How to Prepare for the AI Max Switch, ZATO
• Campaign Guidance for Experiments, PPC News Feed

Search Features

• Chrome tests redirecting searches to AI Mode instead of Google Search results, Windows Report
• How to Get a Google Search Profile From Outside the US, Suganthan

Other Search

• WWDC 2026 Preview: iOS 27, Siri, AI Features, macOS 27, More Apple Will Announce, Bloomberg
• A Double Victory for Web Speed: Chrome Breaks Records Again on Speedometer 3.1 and Jetstream 3, Google Blog

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.

Earlier this month, the Google May 2026 core update was completed on June 2, 2026. But the volatility has not seemed to calm down. I am seeing a lot of chatter spike up from within the SEO community over the weekend. The SEO chatter started Friday, June 5th and continued through the weekend. Meanwhile, most of the third-party Google volatility tracking tools seem somewhat calm.

I will say that this May core update was much more volatile than the March 2026 core update. So maybe folks are feeling that a little bit after the update finished rolling out? Or maybe, Google is doing some post-core update tweaks. It is really hard to know.

As a reminder, the Google May 2026 core update was announced on May 21, 2026, and then that following weekend, we saw some significant ranking volatility, and then again, this past weekend, we saw even more volatility. But today, I am seeing even more volatility spike up - yes, on a Tuesday - June 2, 2026 right before Google said the update was done.

Now, we are seeing more volatility over the weekend following the core update being marked as done.

SEO Chatter

There is chatter within the WebmasterWorld forums and on this site - here is a sampling of that chatter:

What happened Friday about 12.00 PDT?

My traffic across all sites, including niche UK, fell off a cliff edge and are still dead. After 12 hours today I am at about 10% of average!

Anyone else?

Good question; it's the same for me. Traffic has been very low since around noon yesterday, and the shop has practically come to a standstill.

Our week-over-week Google traffic has been up most days lately (anywhere from single- to double-digit percentages). The increases are almost academic, though, when you consider that AI Overviews have lowered the baseline to a pittance.

With 2 hours of my Googleday to go my global site is at 20% of average, this makes Xmas Day look busy!

EU traffic is really crashing since yesterday.

Things are looking great. I was hit by the 2023 core update and I'm seeing a recovery. My traffic is back to 90% of what I used to get.

But my revenue is still down. I guess it is just bot traffic.

Yep traffic is up but not in the revenue, I agree, its all bot traffic. As I posted below , it quoted Cloudflare now saying over 50% of traffic is bots now earlier than had been predicted.

Google Tracking Tools

But the majority of the third-party Google tracking tools are showing little volatility, so I am not sure what is up.

Here is my interactive chart that plots all of them in one chart:

What are you all seeing?

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Google not only updated its advice on hiring an SEO document, but also created a new one named Google Search's guidance on using third-party SEO tools, services, and advice. This document drills into how to evaluate the advice you get from these sources and some tips to think critically about such SEO advice.

Google said they did this "To highlight important considerations when evaluating third-party SEO tools and advice, and to simplify some sections and remove outdated examples in existing documentation."

Google wants you to be careful when listening to advice from SEO tools, services or just blanket SEO advice. Google wrote in the document, "We recommend carefully evaluating any advice you might be considering implementing against our official SEO guidance, including our guidance on optimizing for generative AI, and making your own informed decisions."

When it comes to the advice from SEO tools, Google said to ask these questions:

• Assisting in sitemap generation
• Establishing indexing directives
• Offering to generate "SEO-optimized" content for you
• Providing advice they claim will improve the ranking of your existing content
• Promising improvements for AI experiences and search formats (also known as "AEO" or "GEO" tools)

Google added:

Some of these services may be helpful in your work, while others may make claims or imply that what they do is somehow "acceptable" or "approved" by Google Search. Google doesn't evaluate third-party services, so be wary of such claims and those making them. Keep in mind that using a service or tool doesn't guarantee ranking success.

Some third-party services provide data that some users of those tools misinterpret as somehow being from Google. Third-party tools don't have access to our internal ranking data. They can't guarantee performance. Any predictions are their own and like predictions generally, may not happen.

Of course, Google also dropped a recommendation for its own SEO tool, Search Console. "Whether you use a third-party tool or not, we strongly encourage using our first-party tool, Google Search Console, which provides you with key information and data directly from Google Search itself," Google wrote.

ð Google updates guidance on third-party SEO tools, services, and advice ð'

Specifics of this in these two posts from @glenngabehttps://t.co/v0RdsxqEDZhttps://t.co/MM6xTcb42N pic.twitter.com/vcL1tBBmra

— Gagan Ghotra (@gaganghotra_) June 6, 2026

Forum discussion at X.

Google has updated its help document titled Do you need an SEO? Google said the changes are to help when "evaluating your SEO's recommendations and tools, along with other minor updates to the page to simplify and modernize the content." But the document also added a section for Optimizing for generative AI and making sure your SEO follows Google's guidelines around that topic.

The two key changes in the document are the "Optimizing for generative AI" sections and its content around SEO tools and using third-party tools for SEO. The FTC line was always there, even though some reported that as new.

Here is the new document and here is an archived version to compare.

There are tons of textual changes to the document, and it is overall a lot smaller than the original document; it is about 30% smaller now. But Google wrote:

If they have advice on optimizing for AI experiences (also known as "AEO" "GEO" services), is their advice aligned with Google Search's official guidance on optimizing for generative AI features?

This links to Google's new document on generative AI optimization. Google wants you to make sure that your SEO company is not using spammy tactics to manipulate the generative AI search responses.

Also, Google added a section on third-party tools:

If your SEO offers to do an SEO audit for you, be sure to carefully consider what's involved and only grant read access to Search Console (at this stage, don't grant them write access). An SEO audit should be about giving you realistic estimates of improvement, and an estimate of the work involved. If they guarantee you that their changes will give you first place in search results, find someone else.

If your SEO uses a third-party tool, keep in mind that Google doesn't evaluate or endorse third-party SEO tools, and these tools don't have access to Google's internal ranking data. Be wary of tools that claim to be "acceptable" or "approved" by Google Search.

In fact, that last section is in red and highlighted.

Here are some nice screenshot highlights from Glenn:

Second, there's a new page for "Google Search's guidance on using third-party SEO tools, services, and advice" which contains information about AEO/GEO as well. I still believe we will see a spam update that wipes out sites gaming AI Search... We might also see new manual actions'... pic.twitter.com/tIrwxOQOSg

— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) June 6, 2026

Google also made a new document on third-party tools, services and advice.

Forum discussion at X.

Google launched Search Profiles late last week, a way for creators and publishers to have a place on Google to highlight its content and platforms. And Google seems to be testing a new Insights section for Search profiles, where you can see how searchers are interacting with your Search profiles on Google.

As a reminder, "Search profiles are a dedicated, shareable space to highlight content across platforms, and help audiences find accurate, up-to-date information about sources on Search," Google explained.

Jane Manchun Wong shared a screenshot on X of the Search Profiles Insights beta screens that show your Search profiles:

• Top five posts on Search ranked by most clicks
• Clicks: The number of visits to your content from Google
• Impressions: The number of times your content appeared on Google
• Top Countries: Where your clicks are coming from

Here is Jane Manchun Wong's screenshot:

I do not know how to see these yet but I did ask. My Google Search Profile is at profile.google.com/@rustybrick - if you want to follow.

Forum discussion at X.

Microsoft Bing announced a new way to disable the Copilot, Microsoft AI, responses from showing up in the Bing search results. There is a new browser extension available for Chrome and Edge that you can install to toggle off showing AI responses, or you can just add -ai to the end of your query.

Jordi Ribas, the President, Head of Search at Microsoft, wrote on X about this saying, "We just shipped a preview extension in Bing that lets you toggle AI chat-like features on or off with just one click."

"It's a simple but important step we're taking to ensure that our users always feel confident they have a choice in the search experience we're providing," he added.

Here is a screenshot of this extension:

You don't need to use the extension, you can also append -ai to your query to do the same thing. For example, here is a normal query without the -ai:

Now the same query with the -ai:

Jordi Ribas added:

AI is doing powerful things for search, but research tells us that not everyone wants to use AI for everything all the time. With this extension, you decide which experience is right for you in the moment. I'm proud of the AI experiences we're building in Bing - I've also always taken pride in listening to our users to create products that truly work for them.

DuckDuckGo recently saw a huge surge in usage because it does not include AI-generated responses in its search results. I guess Microsoft wants to have it both ways?

Here is the Chrome extension and here is the Edge extension.

Some are asking, why build an extension to do this, why not just have a toggle or a setting in your account. Here is how Michael Schechter from Microsoft responded to that:

We're looking to better understand what people are looking for with features like this. The extension lets the most interested users show us the right path forward.

— Michael Schechter (@mikeschechter) June 7, 2026

Looking for feedback from dedicated users (which is why it's in preview) to figure out how to best integrate such functionality more generally into the product

— Michael Schechter (@mikeschechter) June 5, 2026

Forum discussion at X.

Google has confirmed that the search company has no plans on making AI Mode the default search experience within Google Chrome. This comes after Chrome Canary added a new experimental flag that redirected searches from the address bar directly to AI Mode. According to Rajan Patel, a Google VP, that was an error.

First to spot this was Windows Report on Friday, which originally reported:

Chrome Canary has a new experimental flag that redirects searches from the address bar directly to AI Mode threads. I confirmed it works. When enabled, search queries typed into the omnibox open an AI Mode conversation instead of the standard Google Search results page.

Generally, this is a sign of what is coming to the stable release of Google's popular web browser, Chrome.

But no, this was an error. Vice President, Search Engineering at Google, Rajan Patel told Glenn Gabe on X that this was an error, he wrote, "this was an error."

He then added, "We're not planning to make AI Mode the default for Chrome searches."

So no, Chrome won't default searches to go directly to AI Mode:

Hey Glenn-- this was an error. We're not planning to make AI Mode the default for Chrome searches.

— Rajan Patel (@rajanpatel) June 5, 2026

I was about to cover this news on Friday, but I am glad I waited - it just didn't feel to me that this was part of Google's long term plan.

Forum discussion at X.

Google is rolling out Search profiles that you can manage and follow. Google Business Profiles will soon be connectable to Google Analytics. Microsoft Advertising will be making changes to UTM auto-tagging. Google added passkey and security agent help documentation. Google is asking searches if the business is offering rewards in exchange for a review. And I posted the weekly SEO video recap from Boston.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google Search Profiles: Publisher Profile Pages Officially Live
  After tons and tons of testing and tweaking, Google is officially announcing what it calls Search profiles and what I called Discover publisher pages. Google said Search profiles provide "a central place to showcase their latest articles, videos and social posts."
• Coming Soon: Connecting Google Business Profile To Google Analytics
  Google will soon allow you to connect your Google Business Profile with Google Analytics. Google sent out an email to some businesses saying this is coming soon, within the next "few weeks."
• Microsoft Advertising To Update UTM Analytics Auto-Tagging Sep. 2
  Microsoft emailed advertisers notifying them that Microsoft Advertising will update UTM auto-tagging beginning on September 2, 2026. Microsoft added that no action is required on your part, as the updated tags will be applied automatically.
• Google Passkey & Security Agent Added To Account Security and Safety Doc
  With the rise of Google Ads accounts being hijacked, Google has updated its Account security and safety help document with more details on passkeys and the security agent feature. This is in addition to a number of changes Google made recently around ad account security.
• Google Dialog: Does This Business Offer Rewards In Exchange For Reviews
  About five months ago (I missed it), Google began asking searchers if the business location they are visited offers rewards in exchange for reviews. The prompt that comes up in the app asks, "Does this business offer rewards in exchange for reviews?"
• Video: Google May Core Update Done, AI Performance Reports & Controls, Google Ads, ChatGPT Ads, Microsoft Scout & Tools
  This week, I recorded from Boston - sorry for the appearance. We covered the Google May 2026 core update rolling out. Google Search Console released to a few new AI performance reports and new AI controls. Bing...
• Cleaning A Waymo
  Here is a photo from the Google offices in Mountain View, California - the GooglePlex. There is this guy cleaning a Waymo inside and out. There is a video of this on Instagram if you want to watch it...

Other Great Search Threads:

• AI Mode shows a "Get more features update your settings", Sachin Patel on X
• Bing is now comparing add-on features of Edge with Chrome, which are only provided by Edge. Before, we had seen many variations while searching Google or Google Chrome on Edge, Khushal Bherwani on X
• Had a great time sitting down with @kimmonismus to talk product and the evolution of Google Search. Thanks for the convo!, Robby Stein on X
• Technically, Google has never mentioned these as "Key impacts and focal points" specific for the Google May 2026 core update - or am I wrong, Barry Schwartz on Bluesky
• We are fully dedicated to deepening your understanding of grounding and AI visibility. I invite you to explore this insightful technical blog on WebIQ written by my colleague Knut Risvik!, Krishna Madhavan on LinkedIn

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Google introduces Search profiles within Google Discover
• Why so much SEO work no longer drives growth
• Your #1 competitive advantage in Google Ads: Customer Match
• AI in the wild: Confident, wrong, and weirdly expensive
• Google's expanded candidate set and the selection crisis

Other Great Search Stories:

AI & LLMs

• Bringing Gemma 4 12B to your Laptop: Unlocking Local, Agentic Workflows with Google AI Edge, Google Developers Blog
• Apple approves Poke as the first AI agent on its Messages for Business platform, TechCrunch
• ChatGPT Is Asking for Reddit by Name Before It Answers, Foundation Inc
• Dreaming: Better memory for a more helpful ChatGPT, OpenAI
• Google DeepMind CEO Says AGI Is Coming Fast: 'We Don't Have Long to Prepare', Decrypt
• Study Finds AI Systems Crediting Brand Trademarks to Rival Companies, AIMCLEAR
• When AI builds itself, Anthropic

Analytics

• Google Tag Gateway vs. Google Tag Manager: The Difference, KP Playbook

Industry & Business

• An Interview with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella About Finding Core Competencies, Stratechery by Ben Thompson
• Google and Intersect to build Meitner Energy Center in Texas, Google Blog
• Meet this year’s Doodle for Google winner, Google Blog
• Will Hayter interview: The civil servant trying to regulate Google, Press Gazette

Links & Content Marketing

• B2B brand strategy: How to build a brand that earns trust at scale, Hallam
• The 8-Step Checklist for Every New Link Building Campaign, The Upper Ranks

Local & Maps

• 5 Android Auto mistakes you're probably making - and how to fix them, ZDNET

SEO

• AI SEO Has Brands Astroturfing Reddit; Outcomes Obsession Fuels Principal Media, AdExchanger
• Google‘s AI search optimization guide: what to do next, Semrush
• What is Generative User Interface Optimization? GUIO!, Hobo

PPC

• AI Max is Coming to Google Shopping: Strategy & Testing Checklist, Smarter Ecommerce
• Can These ChatGPT Ads Make You Love A.I.?, New York Times
• Google Ads Terms of Service Update July 2026: What Advertisers Need to Know About Automation Responsibility, ZATO
• Updates to Restricted targeting in Personalized advertising (June 2026), Google Advertising Policies Help

Search Features

• Google Wallet and Pay are getting even better, Google Blog

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, I recorded from Boston - sorry for the appearance. We covered the Google May 2026 core update rolling out. Google Search Console released to a few new AI performance reports and new AI controls. Bing Webmaster Tools will release more AI reporting tools very soon. A Microsoft executive had a slide that admitted AI search reduces clicks and website visits. Google officially released publisher profile pages to some, they are called Search profiles. I posted the monthly Google Webmaster Report for June. Google Ads has a new leads management screen and tool. Google Ads has new branded searches controls for AI Max. Google Ads has a new invalid activity credit report. Google started to test healthcare ads in AI Mode. Google Ads updated its terms of service. Google Merchant Center expanded attribute rules to automatically found products. Google AdSense now lets you share your full IP address with buyers. Google Business Profiles can be connected to Google Analytics soon. ChatGPT has new multi-advertiser placements for ads and a bunch of new Ad Manager updates. Microsoft announced Web IQ and Microsoft Scout. And I created a new Google volatility tracker aggregator tool. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

Sponsor: BruceClay 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:

• 0:00 - Introduction
• 0:53 - Google May 2026 Core Update Has Completed Rolling Out
• 1:15 - Google May 2026 Core Update Volatility Hits Hard Again June 2nd
• 2:05 - Google Search Console AI Performance Report & AI Blocking Controls (Limited)
• 4:33 - Microsoft: Bing Webmaster Tools AI Reporting To Gain New Features Soon
• 4:56 - Microsoft: AI Summarizes Results, Reducing Clicks & Website Visits
• 5:32 - Google Search Profiles: Publisher Profile Pages Officially Live
• 6:30 - June 2026 Google Webmaster Report
• 6:38 - Google Hosted Forms Leads Screen In Google Ads
• 7:03 - Google Ads New Branded Searches Controls For AI Max
• 7:23 - Google Ads Invalid Activity Credit Report - New Help Document
• 7:48 - Google Begins Limited Test Of Healthcare Ads In AI Mode
• 8:12 - Google Ads Terms of Service Updated For AI Changes After 8 Years
• 8:32 - Merchant Center Expands Attribute Rules To Automatically Found Products
• 8:55 - Google AdSense New Full IP Address Sharing
• 9:26 - Coming Soon: Connecting Google Business Profile To Google Analytics
• 9:46 - ChatGPT Multi-Advertiser Placements & Ads Manager Updates
• 10:44 - Yahoo Scout Slighted By Microsoft Scout? And More on Microsoft Web IQ.
• 11:30 - New SER Volatility Aggregator Chart & Backend Update
• 11:58 - 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!

After tons and tons of testing and tweaking, Google is officially announcing what it calls Search profiles and what I called Discover publisher pages. Google said Search profiles provide "a central place to showcase their latest articles, videos and social posts."

Yea, we saw this coming and covered it several times but now it is offical and Google is calling it Search profiles.

"Search profiles are a dedicated, shareable space to highlight content across platforms, and help audiences find accurate, up-to-date information about sources on Search," Google explained. You can follow your favorite publishers from the profile page, see a large header image, find the publisher's other social profiles, the latest articles and more.

Here is a video of it in action:

Google wrote:

Search profiles give publishers and creators a central place to showcase their latest articles, videos and social posts. People can easily follow sources from their profile, so they're more likely to see that content on Discover, found on the home screen of the Google app. Search profiles can be accessed on mobile via a creator or publisher's knowledge panel (the information box on Search for notable people, places and things), by tapping the name of a publisher or creator on Discover, or through a direct URL.

To start, publishers and creators with a sizable following on at least one major social or video platform can claim their Search profile and customize it with an avatar, bio, website, social media and video platforms, and other important content. Claiming a profile may trigger the creation of a Knowledge Panel for eligible publishers and creators. If you already have a Knowledge Panel, it will be enhanced with your updated avatar, latest content, and a direct profile link.

Not everyone can make a Search profile, you need to be "sizeable" enough to get one. Here are help documents on how to create a search profile, claim a search profile and manage a search profile. You can also go to creators.google/profile to walk you through claiming your profile.

You need to have a minimum number of subscribers or followers on at least one content platform:

• YouTube: 100,000
• Instagram: 100,000
• X: 100,000
• TikTok: 300,000

Here is my Search profile - if you want to follow it: profile.google.com/@rustybrick.

Forum discussion at X.

Microsoft emailed advertisers notifying them that Microsoft Advertising will update UTM auto-tagging beginning on September 2, 2026. Microsoft added that no action is required on your part, as the updated tags will be applied automatically.

The email says, "Starting September 2, 2026, Microsoft Advertising will update UTM auto-tagging to improve how your campaign performance is measured in third-party analytics platforms (e.g. Google Analytics 4)."

"With this update, format specific UTM tags will be applied automatically, enabling campaign formats such as Search, Audience, Shopping, and Performance Max to be reported distinctly by campaign type within your analytics platform. You'll begin seeing this reflected in reporting for campaign activity starting September 2, 2026," Microsoft added.

Here are the listed benefits of this UTM change according to Microsoft:

• More accurate performance reporting: Your analytics platform can attribute Microsoft Advertising traffic more specifically by campaign format.
• Better budget decisions: Format level insights make it easier to see what's working and shift spend to higher performing campaigns.

Here is the full email including how the UTM changes will show in your analytics tool:

Forum discussion at LinkedIn.

Google will soon allow you to connect your Google Business Profile with Google Analytics. Google sent out an email to some businesses saying this is coming soon, within the next "few weeks."

The email says, "You will soon be able to link your Google Business Profile directly to Google Analytics, rolling out over the next few weeks!" The email then describes the data you will get from this added into Google Analytics, the data includes:

• ð" Calls
• ð"... Bookings
• ð" Direction requests
• ð Website clicks
• ð¤ Total interactions

Here is a screenshot of this report from Google:

But here is the full list of data:

• Interactions
• Website clicks
• Calls
• Directions
• Messages
• Bookings
• Menus

Google Business Profile metrics are available for the last 6 months. If multiple Business Profile(s) are linked, the metrics shown in the reports will be the sum of the data from all linked profiles.

To set it up, go to the Google Analytics Admin panel, look for Product Links. Then select Google Business Profile and follow the prompts to choose the specific locations you want to link to your GA property. I do not see this option yet but it should show up in a few weeks.

Once linked, your data will populate immediately. Simply head to your GA Reporting tab, look for the new Google Business Profile section, and open the Performance report to see your aggregated local data across all linked locations!

Here are the list of benefits that Google listed:

• Centralized reporting: View key Google Business Profile (GBP) performance metrics directly within Google Analytics.
• Understand local impact: Measure how users interact with your Business Profile(s), including actions like website clicks, calls, and direction requests.
• Analyze marketing effectiveness: See correlations between your local advertising spend and Business Profile engagement, such as direction clicks.
• Holistic customer journey: Gain insights into how your Business Profile(s) contribute to traffic and engagement on your website.
• Multi-profile insights: If you manage multiple locations, you can see aggregated performance across all linked Business Profile.

I spotted this via @soumo_dg and @SyedMAmirHassa1. This was also posted in the Google Business Profile Forums by Google's Lisa Landsman.

For more details, check out this Google help document.

Here is a screenshot of the email:

Forum discussion at X and Google Business Profile Forums.

With the rise of Google Ads accounts being hijacked, Google has updated its Account security and safety help document with more details on passkeys and the security agent feature. This is in addition to a number of changes Google made recently around ad account security.

Google added three new links and help documents to the Account security and safety help document - they include:

• Use a passkey to complete sensitive actions
• Use a passkey to log into your Google Ads account
• About the Security Agent for account hygiene

Here is a screenshot of what was added:

This is in addition to Google requiring passkeys for sensitive actions starting July 15th. And the new Multi-party approval.

Forum discussion at X.

About five months ago (I missed it), Google began asking searchers if the business location they are visited offers rewards in exchange for reviews. The prompt that comes up in the app asks, "Does this business offer rewards in exchange for reviews?"

I spotted this recently via Colan Nielsen on LinkedIn but this was also posted by Claudia Tomina 5 months ago on LinkedIn and also on Reddit.

Here is what it looks like - two screenshots side by side:

Businesses are not allowed to offer rewards or incentives in exchange for reviews, this is against the guidelines:

We do not allow merchants to offer incentives '" such as payment, discounts, free goods and/or services - in exchange for posting any review or revision or removal of a negative review.

Obviously, this can lead to those reviews being deleted or even worse, the business listing being suspended.

Forum discussion at LinkedIn.

The big Google webmaster report for June 2026 is now up. Google Merchant Center attribute rules now work for automatically found products. Bing Webmaster Tools to gain new AI performance reporting features sooner rather than later says Microsoft. Google Merchant Center may have a bug in its automated validation of products and landing pages. Bing is testing larger favicons for the top sponsored ad. Plus, be careful when clicking on login links, especially from Google Ads - it is dangerous and can steal your login credentials.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Merchant Center Expands Attribute Rules To Automatically Found Products
  Google has expanded the attribute rules feature in Google Merchant Center to work for automatically found products. Before, attribute rules only worked for products added through your merchant feeds, but not it works...
• June 2026 Google Webmaster Report
  Here is the monthly Google webmaster report - the June 2026 edition - where I cover all the larger SEO and webmaster related Google Search news that you may want to catch up on over the past week. Yes, we had...
• Microsoft: Bing Webmaster Tools AI Reporting To Gain New Features Soon
  Microsoft's Fabrice Canel confirmed on LinkedIn last night that more features are coming sooner rather than later around Bing Webmaster Tools AI performance reporting and AI reporting...
• Google Merchant Center Mass Product Page Unavailable Notices Last Night?
  Google Merchant Center may have a bug in its automated validation of products and landing pages. Last night, some Google Ads merchants received disapproval notices for "Product page unavailable" even though...
• Bing Tests Larger Favicons For Top Sponsored Ads
  Microsoft Bing is testing using a larger favicon format for sponsored ads in the top position. The favicon is about 33% bigger in the top sponsored ad position than in an organic or lower sponsored ad position...
• Warning: Google Ads Phishing Attack For Google Accounts
  It is not that uncommon, unfortunately, to see Google Ads that are designed to steal your login credentials for various platforms, including your Google account. Now, when you search for "my business," which is how many businesses login to their Google Business Profile account, you are presented with a Google Ad that will attempt to grab your login credentials and take over your account.
• Doogler At Desk & Computer at GooglePlex
  Here is a cute white dog, a Google dog, or also known as a Doogler. You can see the Doogler badge as the dog sits at its desk at the GooglePlex, Google office in California, working at its workstation computer....

Other Great Search Threads:

• A big tip of the Viking hat to @knutmr who not only led the WebIQ project from slides to production, but also somehow managed to author 2 blog posts today. This one goes even deeper on the technical details for folks who are i, Michael Schechter on X
• BS Optimization? Could be worse :-) Tell me more about it all., John Mueller on Bluesky
• On Monday we announced an equity offering for Alphabet - part of our multi-year investment strategy to meet the AI opportunity ahead and support the demand we’re seeing from enterprises and consumers. Pleased to share the offeri, Sundar Pichai on X
• Papercut fixed: Thinking Levels are now available on Gemini across Web, iOS, and Android., Josh Woodward on X

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Shopify outage disrupts stores, checkouts and admin access
• The new PPC skill set: From keyword manager to system optimizer
• How Google Display exclusions guide AI-driven optimization
• The overlooked business value of SEO and affiliate alignment
• What to do now that AI Overviews turned search into reading sessions

Other Great Search Stories:

AI & LLMs

• Active account session controls, ChatGPT Release Notes
• AI has a water problem. Google thinks it has a fix, The Verge
• ‘Close to the Terminator narrative’: The dawn of self-improving AI, Financial Times (Sub)
• How AI Search is Transforming the Role of Reviews in Higher Education, Amsive
• Microsoft and OpenAI broke up — now they’re ready to fight, The Verge

Analytics

• One GTM Container for Multiple Domains, KRM Digital Marketing

Industry & Business

• Google announces water stewardship commitments and initiatives, Google Blog
• Google Equity Raise Exceeds Expectations, Wall Street Journal

Links & Content Marketing

• Content Coherence: Connecting Prose, Pages, and Governed Truth, Schema App Solutions
• Understanding Non-Commodity Content (With B2B Examples), Foundation Inc
• What Data Can't Tell You (But a Conversation Can), Content Marketing Institute

SEO

• Google May 2026 Core Update Analysis: Intent, Market Fit and Source Type Drove the Biggest Visibility Shifts, Aleyda Solis
• Google Ordered To Let Publishers Opt Out Of AI Search, Law360
• GSC's new AI Overview reporting - How can we use this information?, Marie Haynes
• The Columnar Index Is Now the URL Index, Common Crawl Blog

PPC

• How to Use Claude + Optmyzr MCP to Manage PPC Accounts Without CSV Exports, Optmyzr

Search Features

• Amazon will show AI product images when you search for some reason, TechCrunch
• Gemini Go rolling out to replace Google Assistant on Android Go, 9to5Google
• Try these 5 thrifting tips from Google, Google Blog

Other Search

• Search Engines that don't use AI, Matt Tutt

Feedback:

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