Google’s John Mueller said the other day that “SEO is not belief-based, nobody knows everything, and it changes over time.” Super true, I’ve been covering SEO changes over the years and I spot this all the time.

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

Google is reportedly testing opening search results in a new window. Yes, there is a setting to turn this on or off, but the setting is turned off and Google is testing opening these clicks in a new window.

The folks at the Internet Archive are having issues with archiving the web. Something it has done since 1996 and is such a foundational website that it is sad to see. That being said, Fabrice Canel from Microsoft Bing wants to help.

Are ChatGPT ads allowing advertisers to go after competitors with greater specificity, or is this just a topical fluke?

A Reddit thread asks if there are any issues with Google Search handling a domain name that has a single letter change in the domain name from another domain name. John Mueller from Google said that usually this is not a problem from Google Search.

Google is testing showing video ads within the local pack ads. This is also known as immersive map view videos, I am told.

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

Google sent out emails to some of its Local Service Ads advertisers introducing “rich content” that can be pulled from your URLs. Rich content includes service descriptions and special offers.

Google has updated its reviews policy to add two items; (1) do not have your staff solicit a certain number of reviews and (2) the content of the review should not mention the staff member’s name and information.

Microsoft is testing animating the Bing “people also search for” boxes. Bing will run this animated outline around the boxes when it loads, to give it more attention to the searcher.

Google rolled an important change with how AI Mode works yesterday and it can have a big impact on the experience for desktop users. Now when users click a link in AI Mode…

Google has released its annual Google Ads safety report and the big number that stands out to me is that Google removed 8.3 billion ads, which is up almost 63% from last year’s number of 5.1 billion. Google did say that 99% of those were removed before serving the ad, thanks to Gemini.