Google is testing anchor text links in Google Ads sponsored descriptions. The Google Ads preview ad tool is not working. Google Ads is testing a new text disclaimer feature that lets you set the text disclaimer to override descriptions pinned to position 1. Google is currently beta testing a new Search Profiles feature named Handle Swapping. And I posted the big Google Webmaster report for August 2026.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• August 2026 Google Webmaster Report
  Here is the big Google Webmaster Report for August 2026, including of course the ongoing Google search ranking volatility; we saw volatility on...
• Google Ads Tests Anchor Text Hyperlinks In Ad Descriptions
  Google is testing adding keyword-rich anchor text hyperlinks to the ad descriptions in the sponsored results within Google Search. Clicking on the link takes you to the same ad landing page URL as it would if you clicked on the main title link in the ad.
• Google Ads Ad Preview & Diagnosis Captcha Bug
  The Google Ads Ad Preview and Diagnosis tool, where you can preview your ads in the Google Search results, within the Google Ads interface is broken. It loads a CAPTCHA box and doesn't let you remove the CAPTCHA from being displayed. So you cannot use the tool to preview your Google Ads.
• Google Ads Text Disclaimer Override Pinned Descriptions Position One
  Google Ads is testing a new text disclaimer feature that lets you set the text disclaimer to override descriptions pinned to position 1. This is labeled as "new" under where you add text disclaimers in the Google Ads interface.
• Handle Swapping Coming To Google Search Profiles
  Google is currently beta testing a new Search Profiles feature named Handle Swapping. Handle Swapping allows you to switch your handle to any of your linked verified platforms within Google. Some sources say it's launching very soon.
• New Google Sail Tower Office In Austin
  Google announced the opening of its newest office building, called Sail Tower. It is in Austin, Texas and Google posted a number of photos on X and on its blog.

Other Great Search Threads:

• Morning! The publisher favicon in Discover for Showcase panels looks like it’s disappeared again. Is it working for you? Video attached this time. This is a Daily Mirror article but there is no mention of our brand in Discover., Nicola Agius on X
• Heads-up, I said this would happen again. Grokipedia just tanked again on 7/26. That's after originally surging, then tanking, and then surging again in May. It's obviously 100% AI-generated content and there was no way it would remain strong in Google over the long-term. Now it, Glenn Gabe on X
• Small Google Ads doc update "For campaigns using target CPA bidding, Google Ads recommends setting a budget that's at least 10 times your target CPA." Before it was 15 times your target CPA..., Barry Schwartz on X
• The Mystery of ChatGPT's Phantom Index Continues... I have an important update based on the case study I wrote in late June about the site with no Google visibility yet it was being cited heavily in ChatGPT. If you remember, it ends up Bing was ranking the site very well and it, Glenn Gabe on X
• AI overviews, and the debate Google is sending billions of clicks somewhere, vs disappearing traffic, runs outside of the SEO community!, Dennis Goedegebuure on X

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Google expands Data Manager API with smarter audience management
• Microsoft Clarity adds branded and non-branded AI queries
• Ana Kostic shared why “best practice” cost her client 40% of revenue.
• 4 Google Ads settings and recommendations worth a closer look
• Google publishes guidance for text disclaimers in Search ads
• How to measure your brand’s visibility in Gemini
• Keyword research meets prompt research: A smarter way to prioritize topics
• GEO for people who have to hit revenue targets

Other Great Search Stories:

AI & LLMs

• AI Agents Are Giving Publishers A New Way To Monetize Their Data, AdExchanger
• Further Developments About Internal AI Models Hacking Things, Zvi Mowshowitz
• DeepSeek's new AI model is by far the cheapest of well-known models to run, research firm says, Reuters
• Four holiday reports reveal one big divide over AI, MarTech
• Retiring the DALL·E GPT, ChatGPT Release Notes
• YouTuber Hank Green says his AI usage is ‘not healthy', TechCrunch
• Inside Kaggle’s AI Agents Intensive Course with Google, Google Blog

Analytics

• How to Build a Full SEO Analysis Dashboard with the Moz API MCP Server, Moz
• Branded vs Non-Branded AI Queries in Microsoft Clarity - Understand your customers, Microsoft Clarity Blog

Industry & Business

• The Race to Build an American Alternative to Cheap AI From China, Wall Street Journal
• Anthropic, OpenAI among firms facing new EU AI Act enforcement powers, CNBC
• Introducing Sail Tower, our new office in Austin, Texas, Google Blog
• OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, Thinking Machines fight for AI talent, Axios
• White House to Host AI Companies on Tuesday to Review AI Framework, The Information
• 9th Circ. Won't Revive Google Rival's Antitrust Suit, Law360
• ChatGPT accounts for 80% of identifiable House AI spending, CNBC
• E.U. AI Act enforcement powers target OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, qz.com
• Inside Google’s $200bn Wall Street finance machine for Anthropic, Financial Times (Sub)
• Teads Sues Google, Citing Loss Of 6.88 Trillion Ad Impressions, MediaPost

Links & Content Marketing

• A PR Firm Is Using Fake Publicists With AI-Generated Headshots to Spam Journalists With Pitches for Its Clients, Futurism
• I Analyzed Twenty Years of My Own Backlinks. Half of Them Are Gone., Bill Hartzer

Local & Maps

• How AI Is Changing Local Search for Small Businesses, SearchLab Digital
• Teen Hikers Rescued 12 Hours Into Google Maps Hike, New York Times

PPC

• Google Ads API pilot: Secure API Access to your Manager Accounts, Google Ads Developer Blog
• Is Your Agency Cutting Corners?, Hop Skip Media
• Google Shares LSA Guides for Performance Max, PPC News Feed

Search Features

• Apple finally fixed Siri. So why does it feel anticlimactic?, TechCrunch
• Google Chrome rolls out Brave Search as a built-in search engine, Windows Report

SEO

• Your rank tracker is lying to you about AI search, MLforSEO
• The Future of Discoverability, Harry Clarkson-Bennett
• We Tracked 95 Blog Articles for 3 Months. This Is How Many Got Cited by AI., Minty Orange
• Utilizing Bing Product Feeds for Ecommerce AI SEO, Brodie Clark
• How to Optimize Your Content to Get Cited by AI Search Engines, seoClarity
• How topical authority spreads (and where it doesn’t) in ChatGPT [Study], Semrush
• Search Beyond the Blue Link: Agentic Commerce and LLM Readiness | Alex Moss, Advanced Web Ranking
• The IAB’s New Advice On How To Measure AI Search Visibility, AdExchanger

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.

Here is the big Google Webmaster Report for August 2026, including of course the ongoing Google search ranking volatility; we saw volatility on August 1st into August 3rd and then on July 24th, 18th, July 11th and more. Also, Google added Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite to Google Search, such as for some (not all) AI Overviews and AI Mode.

Google had a very big earnings release, showing they just keep making money and search is breaking records. The EU then fined Google $1 billion, which is not much considering Google made $120 billion in the previous quarter alone. Google lost is lawsuit against SerpApi, which is a big win for SEO tools.

Despite Google saying it sends billions of clicks to websites through AI Search but we are not convinced. Many large publishers are considering blocking Google Search completely. I mean, we are now seeing about half of searches have AI Overviews on them.

Google Search Console announced the ability to see Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and X data in Search Console and then later rolled out those platform properties to everyone. More and more are see the generative AI controls in Search Console. Google's page indexing report is laggy and there are more issues with Search Console.

Google announced a redesigned image search home page and stuffing AI-generated images in AI Overviews. Plus, we have a ton of SEO news, see below and on the local side, we had plenty of ongoing bugs.

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

Here are the bigger stories from the past month:

Google Algorithm Updates:

• Google Search Ranking Volatility July 24th Through The Weekend
• Google Search Ranking Volatility This Weekend - Around July 18th & 19th
• Google Search Ranking Volatility Around 7-Eleven
• Google Search Using Latest Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite

• Google Search Console Now Shows You Instagram, TikTok, X & YouTube Content Search Performance
• Google Platform Properties Now Fully Live
• Google Search Generative AI Controls Rolling Out Beyond UK Sites
• Google Page Indexing Report Delays Providing Static Data
• Google Request Indexing Issue With Robots.txt Files?
• Hack: Google AI Performance Reports For Platform Properties

• Google Review Snippets Prohibits Fake or Undisclosed Incentivized Reviews
• Google: Discovered vs Crawled Not Indexed Quality Issues & AI-Generated Content
• Blocking Internal Search Results Not In Google Guidelines Anymore But...
• Google Search Doesn't Publish Precedence For Metadata In Conflict
• The Problem With unavailable_after - Google Might Not See Updated Dates
• Google Updates Its Crawl Budget Doc: Every Site Starts On Conservative Crawl
• Google: You're Better Off Without Lastmod Dates When They Are Incorrect
• Google: Significant Differences With A/B Tests Can Show In Search Results
• Google Reaffirms Include Canonical On Canonical Page Itself
• Google: Canonicalization Issues May Take Up To Two Weeks To Resolve
• Google Adds Product Category & Sale Duration To Merchant Listing Doc
• Google: Cloudflare Content Signals Robots.txt Directive Has No Effects
• Google Renamed NotebookLM Useragent To Google-GeminiNotebook
• Google StoreBot Accessibility Issues Help Document Updated
• Google To Merge Google Shopping Ads & Free Listing Policies To One Policy

• New Google Reviews Bug: You Have No Reviews Yet
• Google Local Reviews Go Missing For Many Businesses
• Google Maps Review Not Posted Email Notice
• Another Google Local Bug: Google Local Review Replies Not Displaying
• Google Business Profiles Products Are Stuck In Pending Status
• Google Business Profiles New Collected Info (Visuals)
• Google Business Profile Dashboard In Blue
• Google Business Profiles Appeals Adds Evidence Uploads In Workflow
• Google Business Profile Restrictions & Penalties Are Additive

• Google Image Search Home Page Goes From Simple Search Box To Gallery
• AI Image Generation Now Within Google AI Overviews
• Google Tests google.com/goto Tracking URLs In Search Results
• Google Related Searches Based On Your Browsing
• Further Exploration Found In The Wild Within Google AI Overviews
• Google Tests New Local Places Layout Design

• Google Ad Revenue Up 14.5% With Revenue Up 24% - Biggest Quarter Ever
• EU Fines Google $1 Billion Under DMA For Anti-Competitive Search Dominance
• Google Lawsuit Against SerpApi Over Scraping Search Results Dismissed
• Large Publishers Strongly Considering Blocking Google Search Completely
• Google: We Send Billions Of Clicks To Websites Weekly Through AI Search
• Google Search Broke All Usage Records With Highest Usage Yesterday
• Google Hotel Search Updates In EU Based On DMA
• Almost Half Of Google Searches Have AI Overviews & Climbing

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Google is testing adding keyword-rich anchor text hyperlinks to the ad descriptions in the sponsored results within Google Search. Clicking on the link takes you to the same ad landing page URL as it would if you clicked on the main title link in the ad.

Nayan Prakash spotted this and posted a screenshot on LinkedIn - here is that screenshot showing numerous sponsored listings in Google Search with these hyperlinks in the ad descriptions:

I cannot replicate this experiment just yet.

Nayan told me, "Google appears to be experimenting with showing hyperlinked text within search ad descriptions. Clicking the hyperlink takes users to the same landing page as the ad URL. It looks like Google is deciding which text to hyperlink based on the user's search intent. Definitely something to keep an eye on, as it could have an impact on CTR."

Google did previously test learn more links and read more links within Google Ads but this takes it to a new level.

I am sure this has to improve the click-through rate on those ads.

Forum discussion at LinkedIn.

The Google Ads Ad Preview and Diagnosis tool, where you can preview your ads in the Google Search results, within the Google Ads interface is broken. It loads a CAPTCHA box and doesn't let you remove the CAPTCHA from being displayed. So you cannot use the tool to preview your Google Ads.

The Ad preview and diagnosis tool helps you understand why your ad or ad asset might not be appearing and find a preview of how it appears on a Google search results page.

But again, it just doesn't work. Here is a screenshot of the issue:

I spotted this via Govind Singh Panwar who wrote on X that this issue has been ongoing for about a week. He said that he "tried multiple devices and different internet connections, but I keep getting the reCAPTCHA "unusual traffic" page." "It's been more than a week," he added.

It is not clear when this will be resolved.

Forum discussion at X.

Google Ads is testing a new text disclaimer feature that lets you set the text disclaimer to override descriptions pinned to position 1. This is labeled as "new" under where you add text disclaimers in the Google Ads interface.

This was spotted via Emirhan BayutmuÅ who posted about this on LinkedIn, hat tip to PPC News Feed. Emirhan wrote, "Now, your disclaimer text can override description line 1. Why is this important? Because you can control your message better and show critical info first."

Here is his screenshot:

Text disclaimers allow you to display the required terms, conditions, and disclosures related to your business in your existing desktop and mobile text ads. Text disclaimers are guaranteed to appear in the description line section in your responsive search ads (RSA). If your business must ensure specific text, terms, or disclosures appear in your ad for regulatory compliance, this feature guarantees that content will display.

Forum discussion at LinkedIn.

Google is currently beta testing a new Search Profiles feature named Handle Swapping. Handle Swapping allows you to switch your handle to any of your linked verified platforms within Google. Some sources say it's launching very soon.

Damien Andell was part of this beta and wrote up the feature set on his French blog and wrote (Google Translate):

Google has just announced a beta feature for creators: Handle Swapping , the ability to switch your handle to any of your linked verified platforms. A beta version is running this week with volunteers (one profile created, several linked verified accounts), and Google is announcing a "very soon" launch for everyone.

He also shared this screenshot of an email or communication he received from Google on this handle swapping feature on X:

It says:

Thank you for volunteering to test our new Handle Swapping feature. To grant you access, please share the email address connected to your Search profile in this thread so we can add it to...

If you're unsure which email you use to manage your profile, visit profile.google.com/account and sign in with your Google Account. The account that opens your Search profile is the one we'll need to allowlist.

Here is a quick reminder of the early access eligibility requirements:

'¢ An existing Google Search profile already set up
'¢ Multiple verified social accounts linked to your profile
'¢ An intention to swap your current handle with another verified handle
'¢ A willingness to share feedback and report any issues you experience

We'll follow up with next steps soon.

Yes, it's currently in early access with some creators/publishers. pic.twitter.com/2M7mVNu4ca

— Damien Andell (@AndellDam) August 3, 2026

Here's an example of a "search profile" page that changed its handle (@) between August 2nd and August 4th.

It was @anjeezyalmighty , and now the "search profile" is @anjeez:https://t.co/gypWymlovw

This was a manual change of handle made using the YouTube name instead of the'... https://t.co/8CMihbydw7 pic.twitter.com/CNCIxecACm

— Damien Andell (@AndellDam) August 4, 2026

As a reminder, Search Profiles officially launched in June and they "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.

Forum discussion at X.

We are seeing Google Search ranking volatility starting on August 1st and kicking up today, August 3rd. Microsoft has confirmed it is working on bringing filtering capabilities to the Bing Webmaster Tools performance reports. I posted the big monthly Google Webmaster Report. Google Business Profiles has an updated help document on how to protect against fraudulent calls and texts. Google Trends now lets you compare up to 400 search terms across 8 groups of terms and up to 50 terms in each group. Google Search is testing asking searchers to sign in to verify they are humans and not bots conducting the searches. Microsoft will be retiring the Bing Webmaster Tools SOAP/POX APIs on August 31, 2026. Google fixed a bug with its search tools over the weekend.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google Search Ranking Volatility Hits August 1st to August 3rd
  I am seeing signs of another Google Search ranking update with a lot of volatility hitting this past weekend again. This one started on Saturday, August 1st, and has continued thus far through today, August 3rd. Both the third-party tracking tools are showing a spike and there is chatter within the SEO community about a lot of this ranking shuffling.
• Bing Webmaster Tools Page & Query Level Filtering Coming To Reports
  Microsoft has confirmed it is working on bringing filtering capabilities to the Bing Webmaster Tools performance reports. Right now, there is no way to add a filter for any of the metrics in the report. Of course, you can download the data and do what you want with it, but there is no native filter box in the reporting interface.
• Google Trends Lets You Compare 220% More Search Terms
  Google Trends now lets you compare up to 400 search terms across 8 groups of terms and up to 50 terms in each group. Previously, it was 125 search terms across 5 groups of terms and up to 25 terms in each group. That is a 220% increase, if my math is correct.
• Google Business Profiles Protect From Fraudulent Calls and Texts Updated
  The Google Business Profile help page on Help protect against fraudulent calls and texts has been updated. It now includes how to identify legitimate texts over WhatsApp and RCS messages, it also updated a lot of the examples of the types of calls and messages you get, plus more.
• Google Search Tests Sign In To Verify Searches Are Human (Not Captcha)
  Google Search is testing asking searchers to sign in to verify they are humans and not bots conducting the searches. I don't think Google has done this before, geneally when Google tries to verify human versus bot activity, Google will serve a captcha and has done so for many years. But this test is asking the searcher to sign in.
• Bing Webmaster Tools SOAP/POX APIs To Be Retired On August 31, 2026
  Microsoft will be retiring the Bing Webmaster Tools SOAP/POX APIs on August 31, 2026. If you use these legacy APIs you should begin to migrate to the JSON/HTTP (REST) API version.
• Google Search Filter By Recent Broken (Fixed)
  If you try to filter you Google Search or Google News tab results by the recent search tools option, it simply won't work. If you try to select the "Tools" and then "Recent" options, including the past hour option, it won't listen to that filter and it won't filter the content by the last hour.
• Google 'Super G' 15 Foot Statue Gets Gradient Design
  Google put a Google 'G' statue with the new gradient Google logo design outside of the Bay View office. This is a 15-foot-tall statue; it is pretty massive.

Other Great Search Threads:

• Google has updated the new design with some tests already conducted on other Discover UIs. For example, here we see the like and share buttons on the left side of the card instead of the right. The publisher name and the sources of the AI ''summaries are still at the bottom of the card, but before the card title and the AI ''summary. The date is also displayed next to the publisher. And this new UI also adds "about this result" to the options, Damien Andell on X
• Today's Google Diff... Google Adds Maps Inventory Ads Google added a new FAQ confirming that local inventory ads can appear on Google Maps. The document recommends using local inventory ads for products available in-store or via local pickup, Shauvik Kumar on X
• Holy hell - huge finding in @ThatSearchGuyNL 's newsletter with h/t to @AnthonyHigman about "'Google-owned rich media.' It's hiding in Tools > Shared library > Location manager > Settings." YIKES. Shutting this off in our clients now, Melissa Mackey on X
• Again, that AI translation plan has gone sideways... Those Reddit translations were impacted heavily with the May core update and June spam update -> "While Reddit’s user base has been expanding, investors have expressed concern about the company’s ability to monetize traffic, as, Glenn Gabe on X
• I think there are arguments to be made for either noindex or robotted - it probably depends on the site. It's generally not an issue to just robot them, even if they're indexed just by URL, because they won't appear in normal search results anyway. , John Mueller on LinkedIn
• Re: our statement on Image Generation in Google Earth: “We know that people uniquely trust Google Earth for a reliable view of the world. We’ve seen geospatial professionals using this feature for a range of useful purposes, however we’ve also seen people sharing screenshots of..., News from Google on X
• AdSense Earnings and Observations - August 2026, WebmasterWorld

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Google publishes its first dedicated guide for YouTube audio ads
• Google Analytics adds campaign diagnostics for missing aggregate identifiers
• OpenAI appears to be building chatbot-native ads that launch AI agents
• Why every SEO team now needs a social topical map
• AI makes SEO faster, but human expertise still wins
• AI shopping starts with your product feed, not your product page
• Why separating brand and non-brand campaigns improves ROAS

Other Great Search Stories:

AI & LLMs

• Gemini Spark now uses Chrome auto browse, AI Pro goes global, 9To5Google
• AI labels to be compulsory on authentic-looking content under EU rules, The Guardian
• Siri AI could come with a paywall for power users, TechCrunch
• DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 scores 50 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, 10 points above previous DeepSeek V4 Flash, Artificial Analysis
• How to keep your AI conversations as private as possible, ZDNET
• OpenAI finds evidence other AI agents escaped containment as it widens hacking probe, Reuters
• AI-generated label becomes mandatory in the EU for companies, Euronews
• EU Icons for labelling AI-generated content, European Commission

Analytics

• What Are Metrics and Dimensions in Google Analytics 4 (GA4)?, Online Tech Tips

Industry & Business

• Microsoft R&D jobs drop for second straight year as total headcount falls for first time in a decade, GeekWire
• OpenAI Cuts ChatGPT Prices as Sam Altman Cites Customer Cost Concerns, Wall Street Journal
• Amazon completes $50bn investment in OpenAI, Financial Times (Sub)
• Reddit keeps its strange DMCA fight over Google search results alive, Ars Technica
• The OpenAI and Anthropic AI Hacking Sprees Are a Messy New Legal Frontier, Wired

Links & Content Marketing

• Create Brand-Worthy AI Visuals, Content Marketing Institute

Local & Maps

• 4 reasons why I switched to this Google Maps alternative, Android Authority
• How I use Google Maps to time travel, avoid bad air, and survive zero service, Tom's Guide
• Kosovo is now on Google Street View, Google Blog

PPC

• Data Manager API updates: RemoveAllAudienceMembers method, ingestion field warnings, expanded address data, Google Ads Developer Blog
• AI-Generated Labeling Feature for Videos, PPC News Feed
• Video Campaign Upgrade to Support Multiple Formats, PPC News Feed
• Help Page Released for Text Disclaimers in Search Ads, PPC News Feed
• Microsoft Advertising Launches Monthly Product Newsletter, PPC News Feed

Search Features

• Google is aiming to close feature gaps on Gemini desktop, Testing Catalog
• Google voice redesign merges AI Mode, Search Live on Android, 9To5Google

SEO

• The SEOs Guide to Agentic Commerce – Whiteboard Friday (Miracle Inameti-Archibong), Moz
• Lose Google and you lose AI search, SearchPilot
• AI Search Is a 3rd-Party Citation Problem With an On-Page Corroboration Base: The Data Across SaaS, Ecommerce and Finance, Aleyda Solis

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.

I am seeing signs of another Google Search ranking update with a lot of volatility hitting this past weekend again. This one started on Saturday, August 1st, and has continued thus far through today, August 3rd. Both the third-party tracking tools are showing a spike and there is chatter within the SEO community about a lot of this ranking shuffling.

As a reminder, we saw previous unconfirmed on July 24th and then before that, we had 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.

The sad thing is, these ranking movements continue to matter less and less for publishers because Google is sending less and less traffic to publishers. Which is why many large publishers are considering blocking Google Search from their websites completely. The exchange in value for Google crawling one's site, to it sending traffic, has been flipped on its head.

So what are we seeing?

SEO Chatter

Let's start with the SEO community chatter across Black Hat World, WebmasterWorld and our comments:

Analytics dancing this weekend...

Definitely something happening again on my side - even though "something happening" seems to be a constant.

I used to have more traffic on weekends. Since the June update it somehow flattened out. Ranking spikes are crazy. Yesterday before the June update I was on cushy Rank 6-7, yesterday I was almost 12 with 1.7 CTR, today back at 9 with 2.3. They lost the plot.

Does anyone else see the shuffling of results in the SERP today? It's like it's in a blender!

The event started exactly on 1-Aug-2026 coinciding with previous traffic drops on 1-Jun and 1-Jul. So, I've noticed a pattern in my traffic drops and it may not be a coincidence. Some of my sites lost rankings and one site almost disappeared from SERPs. I've manually checked SERPs and found that there is a lot of shuffling and Youtube videos are getting high preference. I keep tweaking my sites, so I don't know if I messed up something or Google dropped a nuke on my sites. Please share with us if you are experiencing traffic drops, so that I can confirm it?

I have seen positive results for my adult sites, not so sure about the update. Nowadays Google tweak algo almost every day and throw sites out of index for no good reason. Do you see any warning or updates in Google webmaster or semrush for your sites?

Our traffic is all over the place. One second looks normal ish (but low), the next second we have random articles from 2021 getting Discover traffic. I have to imagine there is an unconfirmed update happening.

Google Tracking Tools

Here are what the tools are currently showing, first with our aggregator tool and as you can see, there is a noticable spike today, August 3rd:

Here are the specific individual tools:

Sistrix:

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

AccuRanker Grump:

Zutrix Tension:

CognitiveSEO:

Wincher:

Serpstat:

DataForSEO SERP Volatility:

SimilarWeb:

Algoroo:

Mozcast:

AWR:

SEMRush:

Mangools SERPWatcher:

What are you all seeing?

Forum discussion at Black Hat World and WebmasterWorld.

The Google Business Profile help page on Help protect against fraudulent calls and texts has been updated. It now includes how to identify legitimate texts over WhatsApp and RCS messages, it also updated a lot of the examples of the types of calls and messages you get, plus more.

Google wrote, "To protect your business, you should only respond to communication from Google's verified official accounts:"

• WhatsApp: You can identify the official account by looking for the blue verification checkmark . The verified WhatsApp account name will appear as 'Google Maps' or "Google Maps" followed by your country name, like 'Google Maps Indonesia'. Learn more about WhatsApp verified business accounts.
• RCS messages: If you have RCS messaging enabled on your Android or iOS mobile device, you can identify messages from official accounts by looking for the blue verification checkmark next to the sender's name. For RCS messages, the registered business name will appear as 'Google.' Learn about RCS chats with registered businesses.

Many of the examples of the types of phone calls you'd get were from the COVID days, such as do you eat inside and such. Those have been replaced with different examples.

It is worth a read if you manage your own business on Google Business Profiles or you manage them for clients. Understanding when a call or text is from Google or from some sort of fraud establishment is important.

Here is a comparison of the before/after changes to this doc, if you want to dig in:

Forum discussion at X.

Microsoft has confirmed it is working on bringing filtering capabilities to the Bing Webmaster Tools performance reports. Right now, there is no way to add a filter for any of the metrics in the report. Of course, you can download the data and do what you want with it, but there is no native filter box in the reporting interface.

Lily Ray asked Microsoft's Krishna Madhavan if the company can add filters to these reports and Krishna Madhavan said yes. Lily asked, "please add page-level filtering to queries/keywords in Bing Webmaster Tools!" Krishna responded, "We will work on it." This conversation was on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Google has filtering it its performance reports in Google Search Console:

But Bing does not:

But they will soon, they say:

@lilyraynyc thank you for the request. Ack. We will work on it :)

— Krishna Madhavan (@kmadhavan77) July 31, 2026

Forum discussion at X.

Google Search is testing asking searchers to sign in to verify they are humans and not bots conducting the searches.

I don't think Google has done this before, geneally when Google tries to verify human versus bot activity, Google will serve a captcha and has done so for many years. But this test is asking the searcher to sign in.

Google will stop showing you search results, as you click through the pages, and say "Sign in to verify you're a human and see more results."

I cannot replicate this but Kamlesh Shukla posted about this on X and said, "Google Search in Chrome Incognito now asks users to 'Sign in to continue' after browsing beyond the first few pages of results. This wasn't happening earlier."

Here is his screenshot:

I mean, signing in seems like a pretty good verification that the user is human in this case.

But again, I cannot replicate this, I tried with numerous searches, browsers, and still cannot replicate this. Can you?

Forum discussion at X.

Google Trends now lets you compare up to 400 search terms across 8 groups of terms and up to 50 terms in each group. Previously, it was 125 search terms across 5 groups of terms and up to 25 terms in each group. That is a 220% increase, if my math is correct.

I found this update when Google quietly updated this help document, this previously said:

You can explore multiple search terms in different languages in real time. Compare up to 5 groups of terms at once and up to 25 terms in each group.

But now it says:

You can explore multiple search terms in different languages in real time. Compare up to 8 groups of terms at once and up to 50 terms in each group.

Note: Classic explore supports comparing 5 groups of terms at once and up to 25 terms in each group.

So, yes, the classic export has not yet been upgraded to support 220% more search terms but maybe it will in the near future. When it does, I will let you know.

Forum discussion at X.

Microsoft will be retiring the Bing Webmaster Tools SOAP/POX APIs on August 31, 2026. If you use these legacy APIs you should begin to migrate to the JSON/HTTP (REST) API version.

Microsoft's Krishna Madhavan posted a reminder about this both on LinkedIn and X, he said:

ANNOUNCEMENT!! Using the Bing Webmaster Tools SOAP/POX APIs?

These legacy APIs will be retired on August 31, 2026. Please review the migration guidance and plan your move to our REST/JSON APIs.

The website about that API has a notice that reads:

Notice: The SOAP and POX/HTTP APIs will be retired on August 31, 2026. After this date, requests to these endpoints will no longer be served. Migrate to the JSON/HTTP (REST) API before August 31, 2026 to avoid service interruption.

Much is not changing including:

• All API methods remain fully available over JSON/HTTP with identical functionality.
• Your API key remains the same '" no re-issuance required.
• Quotas, rate limits, and permissions are unchanged.
• JSON/HTTP endpoints continue to be supported and actively developed.

But there are things that are changing.

You can learn more about the JSON/HTTP REST API over here. And you can learn more about what is chaning over here.

Forum discussion at LinkedIn and X.

If you try to filter you Google Search or Google News tab results by the recent search tools option, it simply won't work. If you try to select the "Tools" and then "Recent" options, including the past hour option, it won't listen to that filter and it won't filter the content by the last hour.

This has been a Google Search bug for the past several hours across both desktop and mobile search.

Here is a screenshot of me filtering Google Search for the search term [google] for the past hour - you can see it does not respect the filter:

Here is the same filter but on the Google News tab - which I use a ton:

The good news is that Google is respecting the "Relevance" and then "Sort by date." So that can be a workaround for a bit.

Here is a similar screenshot but from my iPhone - showing Google Search on the left and Google News tab on the right:

There are complaints about this across Reddit, X, X, LinkedIn and many more sources.

I assume Google will fix this bug but the bug has been lingering for several hours now.

Rajan Patel from Google did confirm the team is working on it:

Apologies. We're debugging now and try to get it working ASAP.

— Rajan Patel (@rajanpatel) August 1, 2026

Forum discussion at Reddit, X, X, LinkedIn.

Update: The issue is now resolved:

The team shipped a fix this morning. Appreciate your patience. The weekend slowed things down a bit.

— Rajan Patel (@rajanpatel) August 2, 2026

Google says blocking internal search result pages is no longer a requirement and there won't be a penalty but it can lead to other big issues. Google Ads has this new insights carousel. Microsoft Advertising is moving its Predictive Matching targeting option to Search term matching within AI Max. Google has begun alerting some advertisers that it will soon require D-U-N-S numbers for businesses and users to be verified. Google Business Profiles has a products pending bug, why so many bugs? ChatGPT Ads Manager is testing "Agent" campaignt types. And I posted the weekly SEO video recap, check it out.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Blocking Internal Search Results Not In Google Guidelines Anymore But...
  In the latest Search Off the Record podcast, John Mueller from Google said that it is no longer in the Google Guidelines, now Google Search Essentials, that you must block Google from accessing your internal search results pages. He added that you likely should continue to do so because it can lead to (a) intense server load and (b) quality issues if abused, which can cause Google search ranking issues as a result.
• Google Ads Insights Carousel
  Google Ads may be rolling out a new design for its insights section where it gives you the "Top things to know today." This new interface for this section is in a carousel format, where you can toggle through the various automated insights that Google Ads is providing.
• Microsoft Ads Predictive Matching Moving To Search Term Matching
  Microsoft Advertising is moving its Predictive Matching targeting option to Search term matching within AI Max. Microsoft added a note to various help document pages about the change, it says:
• Google Local Service Ads To Require D-U-N-S Numbers For Some
  Google has begun alerting some advertisers that it will soon require D-U-N-S numbers for businesses and users to be verified. Verification is required for select verticals and users in the US. And honestly, getting a D-U-N-S numbers for some businesses can be a pain.
• Google Business Profiles Products Are Stuck In Pending Status
  Google has yet another bug with the Google Business Profiles platform. This one is with products being placed in "Pending" status, new products and old products, I believe. This started a couple of days ago and the issue still seems to be lingering, or pending, if you will. I have not seen Google respond to the complaints about this issue but it does seem widespread.
• ChatGPT Ads Business Agent Conversation Campaign Type
  OpenAI is testing a new campaign type named Agent, which allows you to send ChatGPT searchers and users to a Business Agent conversation. So instead of just going to your website, you send them into a chat experience on your website?
• Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Platform Properties Live, Google Ads Lead Journey Mapping, Microsoft Ads, ChatGPT Ads & More SEO
  This week, yep, we had more ongoing Google Search volatility but a calming period on Wednesday. Google has rolled out the platform properties to track X, YouTube...
• Google France Outdoor Courtyard & Ping Pong Table
  Google's office in France has this really nice looking courtyard area, with some grass and an outdoor ping pong table.

Other Great Search Threads:

• It's great to have passionate and locked-in users who work through 3 challenges because they want to buy something from you, but you shouldn't count on everyone being this dedicated. , John Mueller on Bluesky
• Last month, I wrote that Americans tend to be more concerned than excited about AI advances. Today, I’m sharing ideas for what we can do to ease those concerns and build the kind of trust that gets people excited about what’s ahead., Kent Walker on X
• major price cuts today: *80% drop for GPT-5.6 Luna, now $0.20 per million input tokens and $1.20 per million output *20% drop for GPT-5.6 Terra, to $2/$12 *GPT-5.6 Sol gets Fast mode in the API, up to 2.5x the speed for 2x the price, same intelligence, Sam Altman on X
• The Google Terms of Service was just updated today compare it to the old one at nice that Google offers this comparison and the archive, Barry Schwartz on X

Search Engine Land Stories:

• AI is building your digital experience. It’s also making it less accessible.
• AI models favor familiar brands in search: Study
• Google launches Structured Data Files v10.1 for Display & Video 360
• Google tests AI-generated descriptions in Shopping ads
• Selling SEO or AI services? Your sales team needs more than a pitch deck
• How to build a keyword clustering tool with Python
• Multi-location SEO: How to structure geographic pages at scale
• How to turn news articles into assets for AI search

Other Great Search Stories:

AI & LLMs

• How enabling two settings tripled our scores on the ARC-AGI-3 benchmark, OpenAI
• Gemini Robotics ER 2, Google Blog
• OpenAI discounts GPT-5.6 Luna and Terra, but not Luna, Axios
• Apple’s Siri Got an A.I. Brain Transplant. Try These 5 Prompts to Get Acclimated., New York Times
• Investigating three real-world incidents in our cybersecurity evaluations, Anthropic

Analytics

• New diagnostic in Google Analytics for aggregate parameter issues, Google Analytics Help

Industry & Business

• Banks in talks to lend $15 billion for Anthropic data center backed by Google, WSJ reports, Reuters
• EU Opens Call for Creation of Local AI Gigafactories, Wall Street Journal
• Reddit shares sink 7% on ‘choppy’ search referrals even as results blow past estimates, CNBC
• Who deleted Barry Schwartz's Wikipedia article?, David Lovett
• Does Google still have room to run?, Fox Business Video
• Google expands Seattle-area workforce past 8,000, Puget Sound Business Journal
• Google reports record earnings as publishers suffer, regulators dither, The Seattle Times
• Big Tech AI spending spree tops $1tn, Financial Times (Sub)

Links & Content Marketing

• 13 Ways To Solve Your Resource-Strapped Marketing, Content Marketing Institute
• Digital PR for AI visibility: 5 tactics + how to measure, Semrush
• Master Backlink Analysis with Link Density Charts, Majestic
• How to Make Sure Your Digital PR Pitch Gets Read, Koozai
• The easiest SEO links you can get, Product-Led SEO

Local & Maps

• Reimagine the world with Nano Banana in Google Earth, Google Blog
• Why Does Google Maps Struggle In Rural Areas?, BGR
• I tried Android Auto offline while on a road trip, and it beats mobile data in 2 ways, ZDNET
• How Nescaf pairs global creator marketing with local flavor, Google

Other Search

• Gemini Spark: new Chrome browsing integration, Google Blog
• Stronger with every update: How we’re making Chrome and the web safer in the AI Era, Google Blog

PPC

• Google Documents Negative Keyword Impact Prediction in Performance Max, PPC News Feed
• Publisher Release Roundup: Copilot Enhancements, Microsoft Advertising
• Google Ads Allows Text Disclaimer Before First Description, PPC News Feed
• Why Treating Every Product the Same in Google Ads Is Quietly Destroying Ecommerce Profit, PPC Live
• Google Publishes Help Page for YouTube Audio Ads, PPC News Feed

SEO

• SEO Audits Explained: What They Are, What They Include and Why They Matter, Koozai
• AI Invented Zero Changes and Missed 242 Real Ones, Search Engine World
• What 13 Billion Google Searches Reveal About Zero-Click Behavior, iPullRank
• Curing the Consensus: A Master Prompt for SEO Strategy and Information Gain, Advanced Web Ranking
• From SEO to GEO: Why Rankings Alone Won't Get You Visibility in AI Search, Lumar
• Threatening to quit Google’s crawlers is just publishers’ new hope, Digiday
• Enterprise SEO Fixes for AI Search Visibility, Koozai
• Does Schema Markup Impact SERP Rank?, Moz

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.