Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…

Google is testing short URLs with @handles for the Google Discover publisher profile pages. Instead of those long URLs that go on forever, Google is testing a format that uses the publisher’s handle.

Over a year ago, we saw Google testing a “First order” label on shopping ads within search. Now, we are seeing Google test a variation of that named “1st order price” on those same ads. It basically tells the customer that if this is their first order with this retailer, it is a special discounted […]

John Mueller from Google said that the Google Search Quality Raters guidelines are not a guide for search rankings. Meaning, the content in those guidelines is not a blueprint on how to rank your website in Google Search.

Google Ads has expanded New Customer Acquisition with a new feature called Prospect Mode. Prospect mode also targets brand-unaware users, Google said. Those prospects who have not searched for, engaged with, or visited your site. Some call them cold prospects.

This week in search, we gave a status update on the Google May 2026 core update. Google strongly warned against buying mentions for AI or manipulating mentions for AI. Google removed the indexing lag between….

OpenAI sent out an email to some early advertisers offering them early access to conversion-optimized campaigns. Conversion-optimized campaigns are going to be available to some advertisers starting on June 5, 2026.

Gary Illyes from Google reportedly said at the Search Central Live Shanghai 2026 event on May 15th that he and Google strongly warns against buying or manipulating mentions brand mentions to try to show up in the AI responses, AI Overviews and AI Mode.

Google is testing shifting the sitename and favicon in the search results around, where it is on one line with the favicon, then a bold sitename and then the URL, followed by the rest of the snippet; the title and description and sitelinks. Typically, the favicon spans two lines covering the sitename one the first […]

Google is officially rolling out preferred source labels within AI Mode and AI Overviews and adding a new carousel to AI Mode and AI Overviews, as well. Plus, Google said the highly cited label is expanding to more search results (which is not specific to AI Mode and AI Overviews).

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 AI Mode and AI Overviews gain preferred sources…

There are two interviews that is probably worth a listen of Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai and Google’s SVP of Knowledge & Information, out of Google I/O and Google Marketing Live. If you listen, you can see the direction Google Search is headed – and duh, it is AI.

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…