Daily Search Forum Recap: November 13, 2026

Google rolled out what it calls the biggest model upgrade to Google Search yet, Gemini 4 Hydrogen, according to statements from Nick Fox and Robby Stein of Google, arriving in the middle of a core update. Google also confirmed a data logging bug in the Search Console Generative AI performance report from November 9 to November 11, 2026 that reduced impressions, and began returning AI-generated images in AI Overviews for some searchers after pausing the test in July. The Internet Licensing Collective launched with Yahoo Scout as its first commercial partner to pay publishers for content used in AI answers, while OpenAI's weekly ChatGPT Ads email announced intelligent bidding, new cost targets, geographic flexibility for product feed campaigns and flexible product set filters.

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable https://www.seroundtable.com and other search forums on the web. Google says it has pushed its biggest model update to Google Search yet with Gemini 4 Hydrogen - yes, during a core update. Google Search Console's Search Console Generative AI performance report has a data bug between November 9 and 11, yes, during a core update. Google is bringing back AI-generated image generation in AI Overviews. Google has published a new help document named Identify Google Search traffic in your web analytics or server logs. OpenAI sent its weekly ChatGPT Ads update email announcing several updates. The Internet Licensing Collective launched with Yahoo Scout a way to pay publishers for their content being used in AI. Google has updated the editorial requirements for Merchant Center titles saying you can no longer "include dates in any format" within the title of the listing in the redemption section. Google has dropped the "experimental" label from the Deal Ends annotation for Google Merchant Center Product Listing Ads. Google Ads updated its Conversion Lift help documentation primarily to provide more detailed technical requirements and troubleshooting guidance. Google has added a section to the mobile version of Google Shopping maybe desktop as well named "Highlighted on the web." And I posted my weekly video recap, it was a busy week, so might be worth watching. Search Engine Roundtable Stories: - Google Search Gets Massive Upgrade With Gemini 4 Hydrogen https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-gemini-4-hydrogen-42526.html Google Search has received a "massive upgrade with Gemini 4 Hydrogen," said Nick Fox of Google. "The biggest model upgrade to Search yet has landed," said Robby Stein of Google. It is super fast, has better understanding, improved query fan-out and linking, more visual responses and richer language understanding. - Google Search Console Generative AI Performance Report Data Bug Nov 9 - 11 https://www.seroundtable.com/google-generative-ai-performance-report-data-bug-42527.html Google has confirmed a data logging bug in the Search Console Generative AI performance report in Search between the dates of November 9 and November 11, 2026 which resulted in a decrease in impressions. - Google AI Overviews AI-Generated Images Have Returned For Some https://www.seroundtable.com/google-ai-overviews-ai-generated-images-back-42532.html Google seems to be bringing back the ability for Google Search to generate images on the fly within Google Search. Google initially announced this back in July of this year and then paused the test the next month after some controversy. Now, it seems to be coming back for some searchers. - New Google Help Doc Explains How To Identifying Traffic From Google Search https://www.seroundtable.com/identify-traffic-from-google-search-42525.html Google has published a new help document named Identify Google Search traffic in your web analytics or server logs. This document explains how to see if Google Search is sending you traffic in your own web analytics system or server logs by inspecting the HTTP Referer header. - OpenAI ChatGPT Ads Updates: Intelligent Bidding, New Cost Targets, Geo-Flexibility & Product Set Filters https://www.seroundtable.com/openai-chatgpt-ads-updates-42524.html OpenAI just sent out its weekly ChatGPT Ads update email announcing a number of updates including intelligent bidding, new cost targets in Ads Manager, more geographic flexibility for product feed campaigns and more flexible product set filters. - Yahoo Scout To Pay Publishers Through The ILC For Using Content In AI Answers https://www.seroundtable.com/ilc-yahoo-42528.html The Internet Licensing Collective, a nonprofit, publisher-led licensing collective for Internet publishers and creators, launched the other day with Yahoo Scout as its first commercial partner. Yahoo Scout, through the ILC will pay publishers for using their content in its AI responses. - Google Merchant Center Promotions Titles Now Disallows Redemption Dates https://www.seroundtable.com/google-merchant-center-promotions-titles-date-42488.html Google has updated the editorial requirements for Merchant Center titles saying you can no longer "include dates in any format" within the title of the listing in the redemption section. Previously, the document allowed some date formats, I believe. - Google Merchant Center Deal Ends Annotation No Longer Experimental https://www.seroundtable.com/google-merchant-center-deal-ends-annotation-removes-experimental-42522.html Google has dropped the "experimental" label from the Deal Ends annotation for Google Merchant Center Product Listing Ads. Google has also said this feature is no longer available in India; previously, it was. - Google Ads Updates Conversion Lift Set Up Documentation https://www.seroundtable.com/google-ads-conversion-lift-set-up-doc-update-42530.html Google Ads updated its Conversion Lift help documentation primarily to provide more detailed technical requirements and troubleshooting guidance for advertisers setting up incrementality studies. There are a lot of changes to the document but here are the big ones. - Google Shopping Section Named Highlighted On The Web https://www.seroundtable.com/google-shopping-highlighted-on-the-web-42376.html Google has added a section to the mobile version of Google Shopping maybe desktop as well named "Highlighted on the web." I can see this section when I search for product in Google Shopping on mobile, but I do not see it on the desktop interface. - Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google November Core Update Is Here, ChatGPT Business Hub Gives Us Clicks, Yahoo Pivot Search & Google Ads Invalid Traffic https://www.seroundtable.com/video-11-13-2026-42523.html Google has begun the rollout of the November 2026 core update. Google also had search ranking volatility on November 8th and 9th. Google released a major update to Google Search with Gemini 4 Hydrogen days after Gemini 4 Carbon came out. And to top all of that off... - Google Research Speaker Podium https://www.seroundtable.com/photos/google-research-podium-42393.html Here is a photo of a speaker podium at the Google office that is for the Google Research team. This is from the GooglePlex office in Mountain View, California. Other Great Search Threads: - Anthropic's policy against 'deceptive campaigns or artificial activity' is supposed to go into effect today, 11/12/26. Will be interesting to follow to see if sites engaging in risky tactics to game Claude visibility get impacted. Stay tuned. https://x.com/glenngabe/status/2120883930471747613 , Glenn Gabe on X - First look at the ChatGPT agent builder: pretty cool - it pulls a lot of recommendations out of your website so it’s pretty low-effort to get it set up. These are its initial suggestions. Of course, I’d recommend customizing and optimizing it as needed https://x.com/lilyraynyc/status/2120891188148355268 , Lily Ray on X - Podcast Video Clips in YouTube Studio https://support.google.com/youtube/thread/477472527?hl=en , Google YouTube Community - When it comes to AI images & products, the only guidelines I'm aware of from our side are from merchant center: - in short you need to include metadata in the images indicating that they're AI generated. https://bsky.app/profile/johnmu.com/post/3n263ox4stk26 , John Mueller on Bluesky Search Engine Land Stories: Other Great Search Stories: AI & LLMs - 2025 - ChatGPT named 21 competitors & us 0 times 2026 - Them 0, us 65% https://www.seerinteractive.com/insights/chatgpt-named-21-competitors-in-2025-and-us-0-today-many-are-at-0-we-are-at-65-percent , Seer Interactive - AI Traffic Reaches Nearly 80% of Websites: November 2026 Study https://visible.seranking.com/blog/ai-traffic-adoption-study/ , SE Ranking - ChatGPT Ads UX Study: Findings from Real AI Search Sessions https://www.seerinteractive.com/insights/chatgpt-ads-inside-answers-what-161-ai-search-sessions-show , Seer Interactive - Which News Sites Can AI Read, and Which Does It Cite? https://www.fiveblocks.com/datanovember-which-news-sites-can-ai-read/ , Five Blocks - AI chatbots are recommending fake retail websites, study finds https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/1032020/gemini-chatgpt-perplexity-shopping-test-risky-fake-websites-citations , The Verge - 239,266 brands, ranked by authority in Gemini 4 Hydrogen, Google's new AI search model https://dejan.ai/blog/gemini-4-hydrogen-brand-authority/ , DEJAN - OpenAI launches security products, tells orgs they’re doomed if they don’t use them https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/11/12/openai-launches-security-products-tells-orgs-theyre-doomed-if-they-dont-use-them/5309500 , The Register Industry & Business - 2026 Google PhD Fellows: $13 million in research funding https://blog.google/company-news/outreach-and-initiatives/google-org/phd-fellows-2026/ , Google Blog - Google EU Fine of $1.65 Billion Should Be Reconsidered, Court Advisor Says https://www.wsj.com/tech/google-faces-renewed-risk-of-eu-penalty-over-adsense-platform-0b5fcaf6 , Wall Street Journal - Privacy protections for intelligent eyewear https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/technology/safety-security/intelligent-eyewear-privacy-protections/ , Google Blog - OpenAI Backs US Legislation to Restrict China’s Access to AI Chips https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-11-12/openai-joins-groundswell-of-support-for-ai-chip-control-measures , Bloomberg - Nonprofits sue Anthropic, Google, and other tech giants to freeze the AI arms race https://www.politico.com/news/2026/11/12/nonprofits-sue-ai-companies-over-existential-risk-01161965 , POLITICO Links & Content Marketing - 4 Blogging Practices Losing Ground That Deserve a Comeback https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/content-creation-distribution/blogging-practices-comeback , Content Marketing Institute - The Hidden Costs of Rushing Content Production https://www.jumpfly.com/blog/the-hidden-costs-of-rushing-content-production/ , JumpFly Local & Maps - Local Search Grid now uses Google Maps data https://help.brightlocal.com/hc/en-us/articles/40682754315666-Local-Search-Grid-now-uses-Google-Maps-data , BrightLocal Help Center Other Search - Intelligent eyewear collections with Gemini features https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/technology/xr-ar/google-intelligent-eyewear-collections-pre-order/ , Google Blog - Google search gone wrong: Pleasanton woman out $14K after scammers impersonate foreign airline TAP Air Portugal https://abc7news.com/post/google-search-gone-wrong-pleasanton-woman-14k-scammers-impersonate-foreign-airline-tap-air-portugal/20034320/ , ABC7 San Francisco - Use Gemini in Chrome to get quick answers https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/products/gemini-app/research-with-gemini-in-chrome/ , Google Blog PPC - Microsoft PMax Controls and Their Availability https://ppcnewsfeed.com/ppc-news/2026-11/microsoft-pmax-controls-their-availability/ , PPC News Feed - Your Brand Traffic Is Flattering Your Google Ads Results https://ppchero.com/your-brand-traffic-is-flattering-your-google-ads-results/ , PPC Hero - Microsoft Messaging Guidelines May Not Work as Hard Rules https://ppcnewsfeed.com/ppc-news/2026-11/microsoft-messaging-guidelines-may-not-work-as-hard-rules/ , PPC News Feed - Bulk Editing for Customer Retention Settings in Google Ads https://ppcnewsfeed.com/ppc-news/2026-11/bulk-editing-customer-retention-settings-google-ads/ , PPC News Feed - Manage responsive YouTube ads with Display & Video 360 API v5 https://developers.google.com/ads/blog/posts/2026/11/manage-responsive-youtube-ads-with-display , Google for Developers - Visual Guidelines for Performance Max AI Images https://ppcnewsfeed.com/ppc-news/2026-11/ai-references-guidelines-performance-max/ , PPC News Feed - Google Ads MCP Now Allows Asset Creation https://ppcnewsfeed.com/ppc-news/2026-11/google-ads-mcp-now-allows-asset-creation/ , PPC News Feed - 2026 Microsoft Advertising Partner Awards: EMEA and LATAM winners announced https://about.ads.microsoft.com/en/blog/post/november-2026/2026-microsoft-advertising-partner-awards-emea-and-latam-winners-announced , Microsoft Advertising - Google Merchant Center now requires a conventional payment https://docswatch.stevetoth.ai/google/misrepresentation-policy-merchant-center/2026-11-12/ , Docs Watch Search Features - Brave Search to encrypt result links after Google’s scraping crackdown https://cyberinsider.com/brave-search-encrypted-urls-anti-scraping-protection/ , Cyber Insider - SearchResearch 11/13/26 : New series on "Getting the most out of your AI-powered searches" - 1 - Be careful of those summaries https://searchresearch1.blogspot.com/2026/11/searchresearch-111326-new-series-on.html?m=1 , SearchReSearch - Google promotes Chrome’s floating search bar with AI Mode https://searchenginewatch.com/chrome-floating-search-bar-ai-mode/ , Search Engine Watch SEO - 13 Things Google Search Console Ranking Data Says https://ipullrank.com/gsc-ranking-data , iPullRank - AI traffic quality: Look past the industry benchmarks and measure ROI https://www.semrush.com/blog/ai-traffic-quality/ , Semrush - Reddit's Traffic Is Down 13%, Thanks to AI Overviews https://www.businessinsider.com/reddit-traffic-down-13-percent-similarweb-google-ai-overviews-2026-11 , Business Insider - Introducing the Cross-Origin Storage API https://developer.chrome.com/blog/introducing-cross-origin-storage , Chrome for Developers Feedback: Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick https://twitter.com/rustybrick/ or @seroundtable https://twitter.com/seroundtable , on Threads https://www.threads.net/@rustybrick , Mastodon https://c.im/@rustybrick and Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/rustybrick.com and you can follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/seoroundtable and on Google News https://news.google.com/publications/CAAiEGcxG7fAnv8WVJaUn-8kyrcqFAgKIhBnMRu3wJ7 FlSWlJ vJMq3?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen , add as a preferred source on Google https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=seroundtable.com and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/rustybrick?sub confirmation=1 channel, Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id284443003 , Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/4tFYPk3RmdTfMKG6u074TS , or just contact us the old fashion way https://www.seroundtable.com/contact.php .