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 has released the Google Search Console generative AI performance reports and Search generative AI controls to everyone globally. Google said old outbound links that now point to shady content won't penalize you. Google has updated its Google European Search Dataset Licensing Program page with details on the program. Google is labeling a new section named "What customers love" as "AI-generated from the store rating reviews." Google Ads pushed out a pretty big overhaul of the Performance Max documentation. Google Ads added a new paragraph to the AI Max help documentation for AI Max keyword prioritization. Google is testing yet another human verification method within Google Search. Google Discover was not for many this morning. And I posted the monthly Google Webmaster Report.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories: #
[Global: Google Search Console AI Performance Report & AI Control](https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-console-generative-ai-tools-live-41984.html)
For real this time, Google has released the Google Search Console generative AI performance reports and Search generative AI controls to everyone globally. This follows a slow rollout that began in the first week of June and expanded access to the features over the past few months. -
[Google: We Don't Penalize For Old Outbound Links With Shady Content](https://www.seroundtable.com/google-old-shady-links-41987.html)
Google's John Mueller was asked if Google would penalize a site for old outbound links to a site that once hosted quality content and now changed ownership and hosts shady content. John said Google won't penalize such links; he said "no" and added, "the web is full of turmoil." -
Google European Search Dataset Licensing Program Details Google has updated its Google European Search Dataset Licensing Program page with details on the program. Google has been designated as a "gatekeeper" under the DMA and is thus legally required to share its search data with competing search engines to foster fair competition. -
Google Ads AI-Generated From The Store Rating Reviews Label Google Ads has been testing AI-generated snippets and summaries in the sponsored results within Google Search for some time. But now Google is labeling a new section named "What customers love" as "AI-generated from the store rating reviews." -
Google Ads Performance Max Help Docs Updated On Friday, Google pushed out a pretty big overhaul of the Performance Max documentation within the Google Ads support area. I've been waiting to compare the old and new documents, but the Wayback Machine has been down for about a week now. -
Google: Verifying Your Request To Continue To Search Results In early August, Google was testing requiring searchers to sign in to verify they are humans to continue to see search results. Now, Google is testing a similar feature without requiring you to sign in, but instead, Google is asking you to click a "Continue" button after a few seconds, after Google verifies your request. -
Google Ads AI Max Keyword Prioritization For Exact Match Google Ads added a new paragraph to the AI Max help documentation for AI Max keyword prioritization." It explains that when "disabling the broad match campaign setting or moving to AI Max, broad keywords are not treated as exact match keywords in prioritization." It then tells you how to handle this within AI Max. -
September 2026 Google Webmaster Report It is time for the monthly Google webmaster report, where I recap the larger stories from the past month, specifically related to Google SEO, search, and webmaster/site owner topics. If you took a vacation, some days off, or if you just want to make sure you didn't miss anything important on this topic... -
Google Discover Not Or Slowly Google Discover has been having issues for the past hour or so. Some are reporting that Discover won't load articles, some are reporting that Discover is but only after a long waiting period. It seems Google Discover is having stability issues this morning. -
Googlers Painting Here is a photo of Googlers at the Dublin office showing off their artwork, their paintings. I guess this was some sort of Google team building project.
Other Great Search Threads: #
Interesting, an article from @1492_Vision already in the Dreambeans cards with a card to read in the afternoon, the prompts used by Google Dreambeans: "Google Discover ecosystem mechanics and publisher research on August 29, 2026. A 14-month longitudinal study, Damien Andell on XGen AI referral traffic split, July 2026: Reddit: 59.41% Wikipedia: 40.59%, Similarweb on XSeems like Google is mix testing citation icons in AI Overviews answers! showing both the card ones and link icon clicking either bringing up citations list carousel on mobile, Gagan Ghotra on X[Hack 3] Brave just killed Google's /goto links. So if you want the real URLs back, use Brave to scrape them. Here's what happened, Natzir on XWe've been super busy building with you in mind at Microsoft Advertising and this August was a big month for product updates!, Navah Hopkins on LinkedInWell, I checked. I found https://t.co/ft93Tp0WfH URLs among retrieved sources in ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Microsoft Copilot. So yes, /goto is making its way into AI search retrieval too. For Claude, the earliest findings I’ve seen point back to July, Metehan Yesilyurt on XGoogle noted it fixed the Search generative AI report data that was missing - Google actually fixed it a while ago but just added a note that it was fixed today - story updated, Barry Schwartz on X
Search Engine Land Stories: #
Calls and clicks keep falling as Google Maps becomes the destinationGoogle Search Console AI performance reports and Search generative AI control rolling out globally5 steps to building Reddit authority for Google and ChatGPT visibilityMicrosoft Advertising rolling out new design for advertiser consoleHow to map AI search prompts to every stage of the sales funnelBuilding an AI agent for ad management: The hard part isn’t the AI
Other Great Search Stories: #
AI & LLMs
Agency and Agents, One Useful ThingWilliams-Sonoma revenue from AI assistant grows 620% in Q2, Digital Commerce 360How to use AI tools for competitor analysis in 2026, SemrushGemini Multi-Agent Teams in Antigravity, Google BlogHow Google is courting Hollywood to use its AI tools, Los Angeles Times
Industry & Business
AI could cause global economic downturn, Bank of England governor tells G20, The GuardianOpenAI's ad business hits $1 billion annualized revenue run rate, CNBCApple’s Phil Schiller Steps Down from Running App Store and Product Events, BloombergChatGPT, Reddit, Roblox Face EU Digital Services Act Rules, BloombergOpenAI says Apple has only itself to blame in trade-secret fight, Reuters
Links & Content Marketing
Local & Maps
Local SEO expert's AI processes, BrightLocalMapQuest Tops App Store Charts After Refusing 'Lake America' Change, MacRumorsLocal SEO automation: 7 tasks you can take off your plate (without leaving them all to AI), BrightLocal
PPC
What is a Good CTR for Google Ads in 2026?, OptmyzrAI Max for Search and other product news for August 2026, Microsoft AdvertisingHow to Structure Your Meta Ads To Drive Sales, Hop Skip MediaMaking Google Ads More Secure with Updates to Developer Policies, Google Ads Developer BlogAI in Online Advertising: 5 Key Trends from August 2026, JumpFly
Search Features
Improved pronunciation help in ChatGPT, ChatGPT Release Notes SEO
The August 2026 Google Spam Update – Scaled Content Abuse, AI Content, Programmatic Content, Thin Affiliates, And More [Case Studies], GSQIReddit should stop feeding Google, Product-Led SEOA Content Analysis of llms.txt Files from the July 2026 Crawl Archive, Common Crawl BlogCrucial details about your store, Ilana DavisHow Can Filtered Reviews Help Your Local SEO & Marketing?, Local Visibility System
Feedback: #
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