Google Plans To Adopt UCP Draft Spec For AI Mode Hotel Booking
UCP has published a draft hotel booking specification, Google says it will adopt the open standard for AI Mode hotel booking over the coming months.
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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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Google Spam Update, Image Search Data In GSC – SEO Pulse
Google’s September spam update may take up to two weeks, Search Console adds image-based search data, reports look at traffic from Search and AI Mode.
Google AI Overviews Have More Links, But Not All Reach The Web
Google’s AI Overview links can lead to websites or AI Mode, and Search Console measures those interactions differently.
Google Rolls Out September 2026 Spam Update Globally
Google’s September 2026 spam update is rolling out worldwide and may take up to two weeks to complete.
Google Search Console Adds Multimodal Filter For Image-Based Searches
Search Console’s new multimodal filter shows which pages receive traffic from image-based searches, without query data.
Google Search Decline Steepened To 40% YoY For Publishers
A report finds Google Search and Discover declines got steeper for publishers, while direct, internal, and dark social grew.
YouTube Turns Ask YouTube AI Into A Product Discovery Surface
YouTube is adding shopping features to Ask YouTube, which may organize product review videos into a comparison table and answer questions on watch pages.
ChatGPT Ads Climbed In 3 Retail Categories, Led By Gaming: Comscore
Data shows ChatGPT ads becoming more common in retail conversations among US users on desktop.
Clients Want GEO, Freelancers Still Bet On SEO: Fiverr Survey
Fiverr’s holiday survey finds more of its search freelancers reporting rising GEO requests than Google-ranking requests, though most still back SEO long term.
Google Analytics Hostname Filters Can Now Allowlist Your Domains
Google Analytics supports Include data filters for hostnames, so a property can keep event data from approved domains instead of excluding spam one by one.
Job Boards Say Google Indexing API Requests Get No Response
Job site operators report months-long waits for Google Indexing API approval, with no stated review timeframe in Google’s documentation.
Shopify CEO Warns AI ‘Slop Grenades’ Shift Work To Coworkers
Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke says unreviewed AI output is landing on coworkers. Freelance marketplace data shows demand for AI cleanup work rising elsewhere too.
Google Lighthouse Adds Audit For AI Agent Resource Discovery
Lighthouse 13.5 adds an audit for AI agent resource discovery, but its checks differ from the latest ARD proposal.
Google AI Payment Pilot, Search Profiles At 10,000 – SEO Pulse
Google is testing payments for content contributing to AI answers, Mueller says AI position data is hard to report, and Cloudflare splits training from search.
Google Discover Test Adds Topic Overviews, Starting With Videos
Google is testing a “Dive deeper” button in Discover, starting with videos.
Google Adds Local Businesses To EEA Search Result Units
Google updated its Search documentation to add local business queries to the two result units rolled out in the EEA for directories and direct providers.
Google’s AI Payment Pilot Vs. Cloudflare & Microsoft Models
Google, Cloudflare, and Microsoft are testing different models for paying publishers when AI systems access or use their content.
More People Expect AI To Cut Jobs Than Add Them, Pew Finds
Pew’s 37-country survey finds more people expect AI to reduce jobs than add them, a view more common in high-income countries than middle-income ones.
AI Citation Test Finds Source Order Matters Less Than It Looks
A controlled AI citation test found source order mattered less than raw data suggested, while structured rewrites shifted how citation credit was distributed.
Reddit AI Search Picks Already-Popular Comments, Audit Finds
An audit of Reddit AI search found formal, highly upvoted comments were selected more often, while experiential language appeared less often.
Google UCP Update Lets Merchants Enable Cart Transfer To Site
Google is rolling out cart transfer and checkout testing in the Merchant Center UCP hub, plus a YouTube ads beta and wider AI insights.
Google Search Profiles Now Available At 10,000 Followers
Google lowers Search profile eligibility to 10,000 followers for U.S. websites and creators, with new account tools and updated article displays.
Cloudflare Lets Sites Disallow AI Training Without Blocking Googlebot
Cloudflare’s Disallow AI Training keeps mixed-use crawlers available for search. Google and Apple honor training opt-outs; Bing robots.txt support is pending.
Google Tests Paying Publishers For AI Answers Via Search Console
Google is testing a Search Console pilot that pays publishers when their content contributes to Gemini, AI Overviews, and AI Mode answers.
Google Search Redesign, Business Profile Post Views – SEO Pulse
Google redesigned Search results across the EEA, Business Profile posts get view counts again, and ChatGPT Shopping now leans harder on product feeds.
Google Documents Partner-Only API For Full-Web Search Results
Google’s developer docs for the Web Search Service API show a partner-only path to full-web search results.
What Wikipedia Reveals About AI Overviews And Web Traffic
A University of Washington paper estimates AI Overviews reduced search referrals to Wikipedia by about 5%, a metric Google disputes.
Google Adds Post View Counts To Business Profiles
Google says Business Profile post view counts are rolling out globally for posts published in the past 18 months, combining views from Search and Maps.
YouTube Gives You Feedback On Shorts Before Publishing
YouTube is expanding Get Feedback, a tool that reviews a Shorts before publishing, to U.S. users
Le Monde Says AI Overviews Haven’t Hurt Its Audience So Far
Le Monde says its audience hasn’t dropped since AI Overviews launched in France, while app traffic and subscriber growth complicate the broader traffic story.