Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick.com)

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Search geek - like SEO, Google, Bing and dev

4.7K followers 688 following7.8K posts

It's New 10/27: Google updates UGC spam guidelines, indexing reporting, @themarketinganu.bsky.social on Google Ads policy dashboard and @gregfinn.bsky.social plays the is it an LSA game and surprise @mordyoberstein.bsky.social showed up www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXCD...

youtube.comIt's New 10/27: Google updates UGC spam guidelines, indexing reporting, Google Ads policy dashboardYouTube video by RustyBrick Barry Schwartz Search Engine Roundtable

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Unconfirmed Google Search ranking update hits over the past 24 hours after a heated Saturday Google update

seroundtable.comUnconfirmed Google Search Ranking Update: Volatility & Chatter SpikeI know I just reported on an unconfirmed Google Search ranking update from this past Saturday, October 24th. But I am now seeing a larger spike in volatility, along with an increase in SEO community chatter around another unconfirmed update over the past 24 hours.

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Google's John Mueller downplays the importance of having fresh indexing reporting in Search Console

seroundtable.comGoogle Downplays The Importance Of Fresh Index ReportingGoogle's John Mueller kind of downplayed the importance of the freshness of the Google Search Console page indexing report. He said on Reddit, in response to my coverage of the report's recent slowness, that "it can feel like it's important to focus on it, but honestly, save your energy."

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Google advertisers struggle to agree if this is a Local Service Ad or not

seroundtable.comAdvertisers Can't Figure Out If An Ad Is A Google Local Service Ad Or NotGoogle advertisers are struggling to agree on whether a specific local ad unit in Google Search is a Local Service Ad or another type of local Google ad.

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Google Ads testing dotted underlined links in sponsored ads

seroundtable.comGoogle Ads Tests Dotted Underlined Links In Sponsored ResultsGoogle is testing placing dotted underlined links in the sponsored results ad descriptions. When you click on them, you go to the ad destination's URL, like you would if you clicked on the title of the ad.

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Now we have an official statement from @semrush on the Google SERP poisoning at www.semrush.com/blog/poisone... I added it to my ongoing story at www.seroundtable.com/third-party-...

semrush.comPoisoned SERPs: An update on Google ranking data in SemrushLearn how Semrush is addressing “poisoned” Google Search results, validating ranking data, and investing in visibility for users.

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Screenshots

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Google to update its Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (CSAE) ads policy in January 2027

seroundtable.comGoogle Ads To Update Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (CSAE) PolicyGoogle Ads said it will update its Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (CSAE) ads policy this coming January. Google said this is being done as part of a "redesign of the policy, and to improve protections, clarity and transparency."

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

The library at the Google office in Montreal

seroundtable.comGoogle Montreal Library LoungeHere is a photo of the library at the Google office in Montreal, Canada. What I don't understand is that green button and QR code, what is that about? I can't read it.

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Google's Rajan Patel now says the Google Discover issue with it not allowing you to click on sources was a bug with an experiment that they have now turned off - was it a bug or an experiment or both? :) - story updated at www.seroundtable.com/google-disco...

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

21h

Google warns tools on user-generated spam guidance and adds a new section for only index content meant for Search

seroundtable.comGoogle Warns Tools On User-Generated Spam Guidance & MoreGoogle has updated its Prevent user-generated spam on your site and platform help document to specify "tools that let users publish shared pages, generated content, or web apps." The update explicitly includes platforms and tools that let users create shared pages, generated content, and web apps.

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

It's New 10/26: Google volatility, Business Home, AI Overviews grows @mordyoberstein.bsky.social on AI in AI Overviews, Discover disabled clicks @gregfinn.bsky.social on Google Ads marquee and @themarketinganu.bsky.social on expanding smart bidding exploration www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldSn...

youtube.comIt's New 10/26: Google Business Home, AI Overviews, Discover disabled, Ads marquee & smart biddingYouTube video by RustyBrick Barry Schwartz Search Engine Roundtable

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Google AI Overviews now show for 80%+ of search queries, data from Semrush, SE Ranking and seoClarity

seroundtable.comOver 80% Of Google Searches Have AI Overviews & GrowingAI Overviews now show up for over 80% of Google Searches, that is up from 50% in June of last year and about 15% from the year before that. This is from recent data from Semrush, SE Ranking, and seoClarity.

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Google Ads AI-generated review summaries new help document

seroundtable.comGoogle Ads AI-Generated Review Summaries Help DocGoogle has published a new help document named About Review summaries that explains that "review summaries on Search are AI-powered summaries of online reviews that appear directly as part of your Search ads." We have seen AI-generated summaries for sponsored results in Google for some time now, and now there is a help document on it.

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

ChatGPT Ads with new learn more link and some served through Amazon DSP

seroundtable.comChatGPT Ads With Learn More Arrow Link; Some Served Through Amazon DSPOpenAI seems to be rolling out a new ad format for some ChatGPT Ad units that have a Learn more link, that is dotted and underlined, and also with an arrow going upwards. And in some cases, ChatGPT Ads seem to be served with Amazon DSP.

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Google Discover testing disabling clicks on the source button

seroundtable.comGoogle Discover Tests Disabling Clicks In Sources SectionGoogle is reportedly testing disabling the ability to click on the sources button in the Google Discover card of articles. Normally, when you click on the sources, it will open up a new screen with all the source articles and links to them.

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Google Ads 1-click AI Max experiments

seroundtable.comGoogle Ads 1-Click AI Max Experiment RecommendationGoogle Ads updated its frequently asked questions page for AI Max search campaigns with a section on 1-click AI Max experiments. Google wrote in the document, "If your account is eligible, you may find a 1-click experiment recommendation on your Recommendations page."

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Googler basebal card

seroundtable.comGoogler Baseball CardHere is a photo of a custom Google baseball card. It says Google SFO Team and at the bottom it says field day all-star Google SFO field day at Oracle Park / October 15, 2026.

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Google Search ranking volatility is heated 🔥 on Saturday, October 24th

seroundtable.comGoogle Search Ranking Volatility Gets Heated October 24thThis past Saturday, October 24th, we saw some significant ranking volatility captured by many of the third-party Google tracking tools. There was also some heavy chatter within the SEO industry about ranking movement and Google traffic changes over the past couple of days. The two together make me believe that there was some Google Search ranking adjustment released Friday and into Saturday.

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

The Google Search Console links report updated today - I track the updates in this story for some reason www.seroundtable.com/google-searc...

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

SEO Video Recap covering Google Search ranking chatter, the massive PHP exploit, AI Search SEO worth it, Google Local, Ads, ChatGPT Ads and more www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJmg... Sponsored by Duda

youtube.comGoogle Search Chatter, PHP Exploit, AI SEO Worthwhile, Big Google Local Updates, Google Ads, ChatGPTYouTube video by RustyBrick Barry Schwartz Search Engine Roundtable

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Google AI Overview citation cards with AI-generated summaries in the snippets

seroundtable.comGoogle AI Overview Citation Cards With AI-Generated Summary SnippetsGoogle seems to be testing or rolling out AI-generated summaries within AI Overviews citation cards. So the cards on the right (or bottom) of the AI Overviews within Google Search can now show AI summary snippets/descriptions.

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Google Images & Google Discover do not support JPEG XL image format says John Mueller

seroundtable.comJPEG XL Image Format Not Supported By Google Images & Google DiscoverJohn Mueller at Google recently confirmed that Google Image Search and Google Discover don't yet support the JPEG XL image format. He said this on Bluesky recently, "FWIW if you're hoping to get images shown in Google Images & as previews in Discover, etc - JPEG-XL is currently not supported."

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

New Google Business Profiles performance reports are rolling out to some and it looks cool

seroundtable.comGoogle Business Profiles Tests New Advanced Performance ReportsGoogle is testing a completely revamped performance report section within Google Business Profiles that includes metrics on engagement, reviews, search trends, audience and more. It also includes top recommendations and a more broken-out reviews detail view.

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Google Universal Cart is live in the U.S. In Google Search, yes...

seroundtable.comGoogle Universal Cart In Search Is Live, YepLast week, we reported that Google was launching its Universal Cart in the United States after demoing it at Google I/O in May. And yes, a few days after Google announced it, it was rolling out. I think most people started to see it show up in Google Search and Gemini starting on Friday and over the weekend.

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Google AdSense inventory restrictions policy to remove the placement requirement and the scroll-to-sticky requirements

seroundtable.comGoogle AdSense Videos Placement & Sticky Requirements RemovedGoogle updated its AdSense Video inventory restrictions policy to remove the placement requirement and the scroll-to-sticky requirements yesterday, October 22nd. Google removed this line from the policy, "For In-stream or Accompanying Content placements that transition to a sticky placement, the video player must start in the main content and only transition as a user scrolls the video player off the page."

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Google Ads is testing a scrolling marquee in the sponsored results ad text

seroundtable.comGoogle Ads Tests Scrolling Marquee Style For Ratings/Reviews & UnderlinesGoogle Ads is testing a scrolling marquee on some of the sponsored results within Google Search. Google will load in the reviews/ratings, number of visits and a visit site link in one of these tests. In the other test, Google underlines the domain name in the ad snippet.

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Google Ads Sourced videos toggle setting in asset optimization

seroundtable.comGoogle Ads Asset Optimization Sourced Videos On/Off ToggleGoogle Ads has added a new "Sourced videos" on/off toggle setting to the asset optimization section. This uses Google AI to identify relevant videos from your approved sources and add them to your campaign automatically.

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

White Google umbrella

seroundtable.comGoogle Umbrella in BangaloreHere is a photo from the Google office in Bangalore of a Googler holding a white Google umbrella. That is all.

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

New Beta Google Business Home for Google Business Profiles

seroundtable.comGoogle Business Home - New Google Business Profiles HomeGoogle has launched a new "home" for Google Business Profiles named Google Business Home. It is a beta, but I just received an email with access to the new Google Business Home. Google wrote, "This beta experience brings together your Business Profile, Merchant Center, YouTube, and Ads accounts all in one place. With Business Home you can turn insights about your business and customers into quick, actionable steps to help you grow."

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

It's New 10/22: Google Search & PHP exploit, @mordyoberstein.bsky.social on tiny AI traffic @themarketinganu.bsky.social on Google Ads customer life cycle upgrades and @gregfinn.bsky.social on Google Ads translation tool www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk9-...

youtube.comIt's New 10/22: Google & PHP exploit, AI traffic, Google Ads customer life cycle & translationYouTube video by RustyBrick Barry Schwartz Search Engine Roundtable

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Google added the "AI Overview" label back, I guess it was a bug... :) updated story at www.seroundtable.com/google-ai-ov...

Barry Schwartz@rustybrick.com

Google seems to be removing the AI Overview label from some AI Overviews in search. Is it a bug? - via Glenn Gabe

seroundtable.comGoogle Removes AI Overviews Labels On Some AI OverviewsGoogle seems to be removing the AI Overviews label from some of the search results that are AI Overviews. The desktop version is missing the AI Overview label, while the mobile version has the AI Overview label.

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Google testing swapping the business name, ratings and description with the business photos in the desktop local knowledge panel design - via Ben Fisher

seroundtable.comGoogle Search Tests Layout Change For Local Knowledge PanelGoogle is testing moving things around in the local knowledge panels in Search by swapping the position of the company name, ratings, description and action button with the business photos. It is a subtle change and it matches the current mobile design on Google Search more but it is a change.

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Google Ads Translation tool is now rolling out

seroundtable.comGoogle Ads New Translation ToolGoogle Ads is now rolling out the Translation tool within the advertiser console. This allows advertisers to "Translate your campaigns to reach global customers and boost your conversions," Google wrote.

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Google Ads customer lifecycle goals gains (1) expanding high value mode to Shopping Campaigns, (2) expanding customer retention goals and (3) new percentage multipliers

seroundtable.comGoogle Ads Customer Lifecycle Goals: Value Mode, Retention Goals & Percentage MultipliersGoogle Ads is rolling out three updates to customer lifecycle goals to help advertisers before the holidays. These three updates include (1) expanding high value mode to Shopping Campaigns, (2) expanding customer retention goals and (3) new percentage multipliers.

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

3 new studies show that AI visibility and AI search may not be worth investing in - via Marie Haynes Kevin Indig and SEO Works with a great summary video from Rand Fishkin

seroundtable.com3 New Studies Suggest AI Visibility & Search Not Worth Investing InThere are three new studies out over the past week that suggest that spending time, money and resources on AI visibility and AI search may not be worth it. In short, the studies all show that AI Search or AI services send a tiny fraction of traffic (and conversions) when compared to Google Search.

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Google Ads sponsored product ad units dynamically expanding to show product attributes

seroundtable.comGoogle Ads Sponsored Products Expand To Include Product AttributesGoogle Ads is testing showing Sponsored Products results that dynamically expand to show product attributes at the bottom of the ad units in a gray background color.

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Google has also paused ads on Google properties and networks globally for advertisers based in Russia, updated help docs say

seroundtable.comGoogle Pauses Ads For Russian Advertisers & Serving Ads To RussiansBack in 2022, Google paused showing ads to users in Russia. That still seems to be active, but Google just posted a new message in the Google Ads and Merchant Center help documentation that it has "also paused ads on Google properties and networks globally for advertisers based in Russia."

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Googlebox telephone booth

seroundtable.comGoogleBox Telephone Booth In LondonThe Googlebox, Google telephone booth, is not new, we covered it a lot here. But for some reason, it keeps getting moved around, unless there are many of them in the Google London office...

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Added this statement to my story, along with the other statements from these tools www.seroundtable.com/third-party-...

Glenn Gabe@glenngabe.bsky.social

We now have a statement from Ahrefs regarding Google poisoning the search results and the overall tracking issues they are facing. I followed up with ahrefs to see if graphs will change, and be corrected, based on the cleanup they mentioned in the post. Stay tuned. ahrefs.com/blog/serp-da...

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

🤖 How should SEOs handle robots.txt for AI crawlers, emojis and international URLs? Google’s Gary Illyes and Cherry Prommawin explain the rules, RFC 9309, and common pitfalls in this new discussion

seroundtable.comGoogle On robots.txt Rules For AI Crawlers, Emojis, International URLs & MoreGary Illyes and Chery Prommawin released their second video in the Non-Canonical Cabinet series; this one is named What can you actually put in a robots.txt? Here they discuss what is, and is not, supported by robots.txt files. And while Google may support features or directives, other search engines or AI crawlers might not.

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Cherry handing @methode.bsky.social this framed photo of @johnmu.com was funny

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Google on how to handle Google Search if taking down your site to fix the emergency PHP exploit #PHP2Shell

seroundtable.comGoogle On Taking Sites Down When Fixing The Emergency PHP Exploit - PHP2ShellThe World Wide Web is rushing now to fix and patch its servers for the critical PHP exploit known as PHP2Shell. Most are able to patch these without downtime but many sites are going offline until the patch is implemented, just to be super safe. Google's John Mueller offered advice on how to handle Google Search if you decide to take down your site while patching it for the PHP security vulnerability.

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

It's New 10/21: Unconfirmed Google Search update, @gregfinn.bsky.social Google Ads A/B test asset groups and @mordyoberstein.bsky.social hyphenated URLs for Google Search @themarketinganu.bsky.social went whale shopping www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK1n...

youtube.comIt's New 10/21: Unconfirmed Google Search update, Google Ads A/B test asset groups and hyphen URLsYouTube video by RustyBrick Barry Schwartz Search Engine Roundtable

Barry Schwartz

@rustybrick.com

Google updated its Control what you share with Google Search help document to add "include existing options such as the robots meta tag, data-nosnippet, X-Robots-Tag, and the Search generative AI control"