Google Makes Gemini 4 Hydrogen The Default Model In AI Mode
Google made Gemini 4 Hydrogen the default model in AI Mode worldwide and is using it for the hardest AI Overview questions.
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Follow on YouTube. Matt G. Southern is the Senior News Writer at Search Engine Journal, where he’s covered Google, SEO, and AI for over 13 years.
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Visits To The Top Million Websites Fell 12%, Data Shows
Data shows visits to the world’s top million websites declined from an earlier peak, visits going to sites outside the top 100 barely changed.
Google’s November 2026 Core Update Starts Rolling Out
Google has begun rolling out its November 2026 core update globally and says it may take up to two weeks to complete.
Google Releases Modern Web Guidance 1.0 For AI Coding Agents
Google’s Modern Web Guidance 1.0 adds a codebase audit to its free skill set for AI coding agents.
Meta Pauses Its Updated Business And Ad Terms Due Nov. 20
Meta paused its updated business and ad terms, leaving existing crawl rights in place for advertisers.
ChatGPT Ads Is Replacing Max Bid & Max CPC With Cost Targets
ChatGPT Ads is replacing manual bid caps with average cost targets, with separate dates for new campaigns, existing campaigns and API partners.
Google Ads Tests A Weekly AI Report Card For Your Ad Creative
Some Google Ads accounts show an Asset activity page that uses AI to deliver weekly insight cards on ad creative, including headline ideas to test.
Why An AI Usage Report Stopped Comparing AI With Search Engines
Graphite estimates AI assistants reached 76 billion monthly sessions worldwide and says it can no longer reliably compare AI search use with search engines.
Ziff Davis CEO: ‘Not Planning On A Search Recovery’
A large publisher says organic Google referrals fell again and pointed to Search Console’s AI report. Here’s what its AI impressions comparison measures.
Google’s AI Features Sent One Site An Estimated 21% Of Its Clicks
One site opted out of Google’s AI features to estimate its clicks from AI Overviews and AI Mode, plus a possible lift on regular listings.
Tripadvisor Says SEO Will Still Weigh On Growth In 2027
Tripadvisor tied a writedown largely to search changes, expects SEO to weigh on growth next year, and says marketing takes more of its revenue.
Cloudflare CEO Likens AI Agent Optimization To A New Version Of SEO
Cloudflare’s CEO says OpenAI pays for hints that tell its crawler when pages change, and sites may charge agents less when they explain their visits.
Google Rank Data Issues, Lighthouse Update & AI Opt-Out – SEO Pulse
Rank data may carry one-word results and redirect URLs. Other updates cover PageSpeed lab scores, a shared AI training opt-out, technical SEO and AI search.
Google Gemini Business Profile Tools Are Coming To Workspace
Google says Gemini’s Business Profile tools are coming to Workspace accounts and moves the Maps Message button. Its help page no longer lists region limits.
Google Ads Skills Transfer To TikTok Search Ads – With 4 Catches
TikTok’s search ads carry match types, negatives, keyword bids, and impression share. Here’s what carries over for a paid search team, and what doesn’t.
Most ChatGPT Ads In Beauty & Travel Ran On Research Prompts: Report
New holiday data counts ads inside Google AI Overviews, AI Mode and ChatGPT across five shopping categories and shows which prompts ChatGPT ads ran on.
Google Appears To Limit How Fast Goto Result Links Can Be Followed
SERP data providers say Google throttles goto links per results page, so some rank data may store Google redirect links in place of page URLs.
Reddit Adds Ads To Search, Expands Keyword Targeting
Reddit is testing ads in its own search results with select advertisers and may match ads to what people search for.
Google Adds Home Service Booking & Quote Links To AI Mode
AI Mode now links home service searches to booking and quote pages. Here’s how businesses reach those pages and what partners say about lead fees.
Google’s Search Volume Is About 5x ChatGPT’s, OpenAI Says
ChatGPT’s search-like queries equal about a fifth of Google’s volume, its maker says, counting each question that sends it to the web. Traffic data differs.
Google Ad Tags In Server-Side GTM To Get Full IP Addresses
Google says ad tags in server-side Tag Manager will accept full IP addresses while Analytics tags stay redacted. Here’s what changes and how to redact.
Rank Trackers Find Google Results About One Word Of A Query
Rank tracker data shows unrelated Google results that follow one word of the query, mostly below the top spots. Here’s how to check a drop.
Google Lighthouse Update Changes How PageSpeed Insights Simulates Loading
A Google Lighthouse update changes how PageSpeed Insights simulates page loads, which can raise lab scores on pages that haven’t changed.
TikTok Search Ads Adds Brand And Category Keyword Packs
TikTok is highlighting two impression share metrics for Search Ads and adding curated keyword packs. Here’s what each does.
Google Says No AI Click Reporting News Yet, Ahead Of UK Deadline
Google says it has nothing to announce on adding more AI search data to Search Console, ahead of a UK compliance date.
Google Search Ad Visits Out-Earned ChatGPT Ads In U.S.
Data finds ChatGPT ad visits brought advertisers a fraction of paid search’s revenue per visit in U.S. traffic, and most saw no sales from them.
Google, Microsoft & OpenAI Plan To Honor Shared AI Training Opt-Out
A shared robots.txt line could let sites opt out of AI training with several providers at once, but companies involved are handling it differently.
Spam Guide Update, Restaurant Controls & AI Mode Revenue – SEO Pulse
Google’s spam guide adds indexing advice for pages made for sharing. Other updates cover restaurant ordering controls, report dates and AI Mode revenue.
Shopify CEO Says AI Performance Review Answers ‘Didn’t Matter’
Shopify’s performance reviews asked how staff used AI. Its CEO says the answers didn’t matter, and the question can give a company a reputation.
Google Opens Connected Apps Preview For AI Mode & Gemini
Developers can apply to bring apps into AI Mode and the Gemini app, and Google’s policy bars misleading descriptions meant to get an app picked.