Category Archives: computers

All things computers/servers…

Gary Illyes Implies Click Data Not Coming To Google Search Console AI Reporting

Gary Illyes from Google has implied that click data and query data are likely not coming to the AI performance report in Google Search Console. Gary Illyes wrote that the Search Console team is interested in bringing “data that makes sense” to the report but didn’t say clicks or query data was that data.

Google Ads Strategists Using AI-Generated Fake Names & Profile Photos

Google Ads Strategists, who are part of the Google Extended Workforce, are using AI-generated profile photos and names when reaching out to advertisers. An email sent from Kassy Garcia from Google to Joe Youngblood seems legit but when you look up who Kassy Garcia is, you won’t find anything.

Reddit Stock Drops 33% After CEO Confirms Declining Google Search Traffic

Reddit’s stock dropped 36% over the past week after Reddit’s CEO, Steve Huffman, confirmed Google Search traffic has been declining for the popular social media site. Of course, every SEO on this planet knew this would happen eventually, and it did.

Google Ads Promotion Offers Within Promotions

Google has added a new “Promotions offers” section within the Promotions section in Google Ads. This lets you quickly filter your promotions by these three statuses, offered, expired and invalidated.

November 2026 Google Webmaster Report

It is time for the big Google Webmaster report, the November 2026 edition, where I recap all the big changes Google made organically in Google Search. Of course, the big one is that Google completed its September 2026 spam update in October, and we also saw several unconfirmed Google algorithm updates as we wait for […]

This month in security with Tony Anscombe – October 2026 edition

The PHP2Shell disclosure and other major cybersecurity news this month brought into relief the need for well-thought-out cyber-readiness plans

Microsoft Bing New AI New Controls With AI Training From AI Search Grounding

Microsoft just announced new Bing AI content controls “offering newer, simpler, and clearer preferences that allow you to make choices about training, grounding, or both while remaining eligible for Bing search results,” Krishna Madhavan, Principal Product Manager, Microsoft Bing, wrote.

ChatGPT Gets Wider Ads, Multi-Image Ads Expands, Expansion & More

OpenAI just sent its weekly email update to advertisers announcing the ChatGPT Ads are live in 26 more countries, a new wider standard ad unit format, Multi-image ads are now available in open beta to all advertisers, Shopify integration is now available internationally and Shopify integration is now available internationally.

Google Adopts New AI Training Control

Google is adopting new AI training controls, under consideration by the IETF, that should simplify and streamline AI training controls for publishers and site owners.

Google & Bing Halloween Search Easter (Pumpkin) Eggs

Halloween is tonight/tomorrow and to celebrate both Google and Bing has special easter eggs (or should I call them pumpkins) for its search results. Google asks you to find a costume using AI Mode, which is boring. But Bing has a floating ghost that explodes into candy when you tap it.

Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Volatility X2, Spam Updates, AI Overviews Everywhere, Blending Ads & Organic, Google & Microsoft Earnings

This week, we reported on Google Search volatility not once but twice this week. Google warned tools on user-generated spam guidelines. Google downplayed the importance of fresh indexing reporting. Google explained…

Google AI Overviews & AI Mode 0.9% Click-Through Rate, Opt Out Study Says

Everyone has been asking, what is the click-through rate you get from Google Search AI features such as AI Overviews and AI Mode. Well, a new small study says the click-through rate is about 0.9%. The study also showed that when you opt out of showing in Google’s Search generative AI, it also leads to […]

Bing Showing Ads Within AI Overviews

Microsoft is now showing ads within the Bing AI Overviews powered by Copilot. I don’t think I’ve seen ads within the AI responses in Bing Search and I personally still cannot trigger them, but Khushal Bherwani shared a screenshot of an ad within an AI Overview in Bing Search.

Daily Search Forum Recap: October 30, 2026

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. Ads in Google AI Mode make Google less per search, but Google has more searches. Google’s John Mueller said AI spam tactics will be caught…

Google Search May Be Bringing Back 100 Search Results Parameter

Google Search may be bringing back the ability to see 100 search results per page by bringing back the num=100 parameter. As a reminder, Google dropped this feature in September 2025 as one of many methods to prevent crawlers from scraping its search results. As you know, third-party tracking tools are not working so well […]