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.
More Google search ranking volatility kicks in. Google to adjust its search ranking algorithm to stop prediction content from showing up in the news and stories areas. Google's AI Overviews are also killing local packs and Google Business Profiles. Google Ads campaign total budget is now global. Google Ads tests manual CPC bidding buttons and new A/B testing for shopping campaigns. Microsoft announced a huge number of Microsoft Advertising features. And I posted the weekly SEO video recap.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories
- Google To Prioritize Removing Prediction News Content From Search & News
Rajan Patel, the VP of Engineering for Search, said on X that Google is making "changes to ranking" to remove prediction content from showing up in the Google Search top stories and news sections. This comes after some sites are posting "prediction" content, predicting that some sports trades may happen, that have not happened yet, and those "stories" show up in the news section as actually having occurred. - Google Search Ranking Volatility Hits January 15-16
I am seeing new signs of yet more Google Search ranking volatility and a possible tweak to the ranking search algorithm. Something kicked off yesterday, January 15th, that the third-party tools picked up on. With this update, there is limited chatter, unlike the previous unconfirmed Google Search ranking update. - Google AI Overview Local Pack Leading To Huge Drops In Visibility
Over the past few weeks, Google has been showing AI Overviews for local packs, leading some businesses to see huge drops in visibility for their Google Business Profile and local listings. Some businesses are seeing 50% declines or more because of the local pack change. - Microsoft Advertising Adds Share Of Voice Metrics, Asset Group-Level URL Options, Customer Acquisition Goals...
Microsoft Advertising announced a slew of new features including new customer acquisition goals as an open beta, Share of voice (SOV) metrics, Asset group-level URL options and tracking templates, increased Search Theme limit, enhanced asset group import, Content Targeting now generally available, Location targeting improvements and Autogenerated assets in Responsive Search ads. - Google Ads Campaign Total Budgets Live As An Open Beta
Google Ads has made the Campaign total budgets officially live as an open beta for any advertiser to sign up and use. Campaign total budgets are now available in Search, Performance Max and Shopping campaigns within Google Ads. - Google Ads Manual CPC Bid Selection Streamlined
Google Ads has reportedly streamlined the selection capability of Manual CPC bidding during the campaign setup. Now the option can be found under the "Conversions" goal, labeled as "Manually set bids." - Google Ads A/B Tests Product Titles & Images For Shopping Ads
Google Ads is doing a limited test with some advertisers to allow them to run A/B tests with different product titles and images in Shopping Ads. Ginny Marvin, the Google Ads Liaison, said it is "currently being tested with a small number of merchants." - Google Jail Looking Stairwell
Here is a photo from the Google offices in Washington, D.C. At first I thought it was some sort of Google jail cell but it is a stairwell with barricades so no one falls off and hurts themselves. - Video: Google Personal Intelligence, Universal Commerce Protocol, Apple Picks Gemini & Ongoing Search Volatility
It is another week and more Google Search ranking volatility but this was a weird one. Google launched Personal Intelligence in the Gemini app and it is coming to AI Mode in Google Search. Google AI Mode new ad format called Direct Offer ads and...
Other Great Search Threads
- Gemini did not have a red month in website traffic in 2025., Similarweb on X
- I have the honor of testing the new Google Trends API (v1alpha), Svetoslav Petkov on LinkedIn
- The traffic share of ChatGPT took a fairly noticeable dip in December: 0.25% → 0.21%. ^ This is based on our panel of 75k+ websites. A few caveats: December is a slow month overall. So hopefully people were just enjoy, Tim Soulo on X
- January Small Business Bulletin - 5 Tips For Success in 2026, Google Business Profile Community
Search Engine Land Stories
- Google introduces total campaign budgets for Search
- Google Ads rolls out account-level placement exclusions
- AdSense publishers report sudden revenue plunge — again
- YouTube gives creators smarter ad targeting
- Microsoft adds new customer acquisition goals and deeper visibility to PMax
- The social-to-search halo effect: Why social content drives branded search
Other Great Search Stories
AI & LLMs
- Google's Our Life with AI survey: AI and learning, education, Google Blog
- How Nano Banana got its name, Google Blog
- Rich countries' greater use of AI risks deepening inequality, Anthropic warns, Financial Times (Sub)
- TranslateGemma: A new family of open translation models, Google Blog
- Your Gemini history is getting more manageable with this 'My Stuff' update, Android Authority
- ChatGPT, Anthropic, Google: AI Healthcare Push Has a Fatal Flaw, Bloomberg
Analytics
Industry & Business
- Apple Picking Google Gemini to Power Siri Was About Buying Time, CNET
- Apple will pay billions for Gemini after OpenAI declined, 9to5Mac
- Apple's Google Gemini Deal Could Be Worth $5 Billion, MacRumors
- Demis Hassabis: An interview with the man behind Google's AI machine, CNBC
- Google Mexico Appoints Sebastián Valverde as New General Director, Mexico Business
- Google to pay $8.25 million to settle lawsuit alleging children's privacy violations, The Record
- Merge Labs Raises $252 Million for Brain-Computer Interface Devices, Bloomberg
- OpenAI Hires Three AI Researchers From Murati's Thinking Machines Lab, The Information
- OpenAI Seeks US-Based Suppliers for Planned Robotics, AI Device Push, Bloomberg
- Overit Acquires Web Traffic Advisors to Lead In the AI Marketing Era, EIN Presswire
- Publishers Seek to Join Class Action Against Google, Publishers Weekly
- Publishers seek to join lawsuit against Google over AI training, Reuters
Links & Content Marketing
- Beyond Cosine Similarity: Testing Advanced Algorithms for SEO Content Analysis, Sitebulb
- The Marketing Skill That Will Eclipse Technical Expertise in 2026, Content Marketing Institute
Local & Maps
- Microsoft Launches AI Powered Brand Agents for Shopify E-commerce Stores, Igniting Business
- What B2B Sales Reps Really Think About Content, Content Marketing Institute
- Whitepaper: What 50 Million Search Results Reveal About Ranking in the Local 3-Pack, Local Falcon
- One person fed up with Google Maps and Waze builds his own app with a really smart feature that no one else is doing, Super Car Blondie
SEO
- "Really Demystified So Much Of How Google Ranks", Nikki Pilkington
- 2026 SEO & AEO Strategies for Enterprises, seoClarity
- AI Search Unpacked: AMA with Emina Demiri-Watson, Women in Tech SEO
- Google's December 2025 Core Update: Winners, Losers & Analysis, Amsive
- Moving from a Google-shaped Web to an Agent-shaped Web: A Refutation of Misinformation about Chunking, iPullRank
- What Google PageSpeed Insights Scores Mean And Why 100 Doesn't Matter, Nikki Pilkington
- Mastering AI Search: Insights from Aleyda Solís on SEO, Humans of Martech
- Reddit SEO Tips for Marketers, Sprout Social
- SEO Brand Marketing: Create a Brand Guide That Drives Search Visibility, Ahrefs
PPC
- Google Ads Adds Account-Level Placement Exclusions, PPC News Feed
- Here comes the advertising in AI chatbots, Washington Post
- What to Include in a Year-End PPC Lead Gen Report, Cypress North
- Broad vs. Exact Match: A B2B Advertiser's Guide, Jyll Saskin Gales
- Google Merchant Center Migrating from Content API to Merchant API – What You Need to Know, FeedArmy
- Google still advertised pill press machines for sale despite company ban, Mass Live
- The EC further pushes to rein-in Google's ad tech monopoly, Digiday
- Update to Cannabis-Related Content Policy in Canada (January 2026), Google Advertising Policies Help
Search Features
- Improved memory for finding details from past chats (Plus & Pro), ChatGPT Release Notes
Other Search
Feedback
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