Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Ad Tech Monopoly Wonât Be Broken Up, AI Mode Takes Over, Gemini Not Citing, AdSense Impression Changes & Bugs

Google for the second time avoided being broken up, this time over its ad tech monopoly, as a judge ruled against the U.S. government's antitrust claims. Google AI Overviews are expanding by default, pushing searchers into AI Mode, which is now powered by Gemini 3.8 Flash, though the AI Mode appears to be not linking or citing sources much. Google also globally rolled out Search Console's AI performance reports and AI controls, and confirmed its search spam teams are still actively fighting spam.

This week, we covered how Google for the second time dodged being broken up, this time over its ad tech monopoly. Google AI Overviews are expanding by default, making them more like AI Mode. Gemini 3.8 Flash is now powering AI Mode but it seems it is not linking or citing much at all. Content is disappearing from the Google News tab for some reason. Google said it does not penalize for old crusty links that may later link to shady content. Google spoke more about using the disavow link tool. Google Search Console’s AI performance reports and AI controls have been globally rolled out. Google confirmed its search spam teams are still actively fighting spam. Google Trends now lets you filter by pre-defined categories. Google is testing verifying searchers are human through a delayed continue button. Google Discover was not loading for a period of time this week. Google posted details on its European search dataset licensing program. I posted the monthly Google webmaster report. Bing is testing search results without site names in the snippet. Microsoft is forcing Copilot users to login, but not within Bing Search. Google is working on a fix for a Local Service Ads bug. Google AdSense will soon use Begin-to-Render impression measurements. Google Business Profiles test business photos for verification. Microsoft Advertising is rolling out a new design preview. Google Analytics was buggy as well, missing days of data. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable https://www.seroundtable.com/ . Sponsor: BruceClay https://www.bruceclay.com/ 𓍲 one of the founding fathers of the SEO space, doing search marketing optimization since 1996. Bruce Clay is big into SEO training, check out seotraining.com https://www.seotraining.com/ to learn more and check them out at bruceclay.com https://www.bruceclay.com/ . Also, check out their new product, Prewriter.ai https://www.prewriter.ai/ - this tool empowers writers to write better and more efficiently, so check it out. Make sure to subscribe to our video feed https://www.seroundtable.com/videocast.xml or subscribe directly on iTunes itpc://www.seroundtable.com/videocast.xml , Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id284443003 , Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/4tFYPk3RmdTfMKG6u074TS , Google Podcasts https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy83MGI4NGU3NC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw or your favorite podcast player to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4vtdK2tCUw version of the feed. For the original iTunes version, click here http://videos.seroundtable.com/20260904.mp4 . Search Topics of Discussion: - 0:00 - Introduction - 0:51 - Judge Rules Google Ad Tech Business Won't Be Broken Up https://www.seroundtable.com/google-ad-tech-business-ruling-42008.html - 1:56 - Google AI Overviews Pushing Searchers Into AI Mode, Drops Show More Button https://www.seroundtable.com/google-ai-overviews-push-ai-mode-responses-41974.html - 3:18 - Google Search Using Gemini 3.8 Flash In AI Mode https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-ai-mode-gemini-38-42009.html - 3:47 - Google AI Mode Gemini 3.8 Flash Not Link / Citation Friendly? https://www.seroundtable.com/google-ai-mode-gemini-38-no-links-42011.html - 4:47 - Publishers Noticing Google News Tab Content Disappearing https://www.seroundtable.com/google-news-tab-content-disappearing-42012.html - 6:06 - Google: We Don't Penalize For Old Outbound Links With Shady Content https://www.seroundtable.com/google-old-shady-links-41987.html - 6:59 - Google: The Disavow Tool Does Have Effects https://www.seroundtable.com/google-disavow-tool-effects-42004.html - 7:38 - Global: Google Search Console AI Performance Report & AI Control https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-console-generative-ai-tools-live-41984.html - 8:00 - Google Confirms Search Spam Team Is Fighting & Well Resourced https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-spam-team-fighting-41980.html - 8:17 - Google Trends Explore Page Adds Category Filtering https://www.seroundtable.com/google-trends-filter-category-42007.html - 8:53 - Google: Verifying Your Request To Continue To Search Results https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-verifying-your-request-continue-41985.html - 9:19 - Google Discover Not Loading Or Loading Slowly https://www.seroundtable.com/google-discover-broken-41991.html - 9:41 - Google European Search Dataset Licensing Program Details https://www.seroundtable.com/google-european-search-dataset-licensing-program-41986.html - 10:07 - September 2026 Google Webmaster Report https://www.seroundtable.com/sept-2026-google-webmaster-report-41979.html - 10:20 - Bing Tests Search Result Snippets Without Site Names https://www.seroundtable.com/bing-search-snippets-without-sitenames-41990.html - 10:30 - Microsoft Forcing Copilot Users To Login But Not For Copilot Search Answers https://www.seroundtable.com/microsoft-copilot-login-41975.html - 10:52 - Google Working On Fixing Local Service Ads Bug https://www.seroundtable.com/google-local-service-ads-bug-41999.html - 11:25 - Google AdSense Begin-to-Render Impression Measurement Coming https://www.seroundtable.com/google-adsense-begin-to-render-41992.html - 11:57 - New Google Business Profiles Submit A Business Photo For Verification https://www.seroundtable.com/google-business-profiles-business-photo-verification-42019.html - 12:15 - Microsoft Advertising New Updated Design Preview https://www.seroundtable.com/microsoft-advertising-updated-design-preview-41978.html - 12:38 - Google Analytics September 1 Data Missing https://www.seroundtable.com/google-analytics-broken-42002.html - 12:49 - Conclusion Please do subscribe on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/rustybrick?sub confirmation=1 or subscribe via iTunes itpc://www.seroundtable.com/videocast.xml or on your favorite RSS reader https://www.seroundtable.com/videocast.xml . 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