Search Engine Roundtable

Google has confirmed it has recently begun running a "small experiment" where it is serving regular pure Search campaigns with restrictive match types in AI Mode.

Google may have a bug with its job search feature because it is barely showing any new jobs within its search results. This has been happening for the past week and it is unclear why. I mean, we know based on today's jobs report that there are plenty of jobs out there? Nonfarm payrolls jumped by 162,000 in August, well ahead of the consensus for 53,000, while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%, as expected, was reported. But there are barely any new jobs being posted in job search.

Barry Schwartz / Executive Editor Barry Schwartz is the CEO of RustyBrick and a technologist, a New York Web service firm specializing in customized online technology that helps companies decrease costs and increase sales. Barry is also the founder of the Search Engine Roundtable and the News Editor of Search Engine Land. He is well known & respected for his expertise in the search marketing industry.

Home / Search Video Recaps / Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Ad Tech Monopoly Won’t Be Broken Up, AI Mode Takes Over, Gemini Not Citing, AdSense Impression Changes & Bugs Sep 4, 2026 - 8:01 am 0 — 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.

Google Business Profiles seems to be adding a fifth way to verify your business, this new method is by submitting a photo of your business location. The other methods are phone or text, email, live video call or a postcard in the mail.

Home / Google News / Google Ads / Google Expands Waze Ads Beyond The United States Sep 4, 2026 - 7:41 am 0 — Filed Under Google Ads Google has expanded access to Waze Ads beyond the United States and to a total of 42 countries. Google updated the PMax help documents in the Google Ads help center with this new information.

Home / Google News / Google Ads / Google Ads Collapsing Sitelinks That You Can Expand Sep 4, 2026 - 7:31 am 0 — Filed Under Google Ads Google Ads is testing another variation of expandable sitelinks, where sitelinks are collapsed by default and a number indicator shows how many more are available. You can then click to expand the sitelinks to show more.

Microsoft is testing bolding the HTTPS portion of the URLs in the Bing Search results. We've seen Microsoft test HTTPS labels in various forms over the years, including using lock icons. But here, Microsoft Bing is being more subtle about it by just bolding the HTTPS portion of the URL.

Google Ads is now pushing notifications to advertisers for recommendations they have previously dismissed. Google shows a message in the ads console that reads, "You still have dismissed recommendations for this campaign," which you can dismiss once again? This was spotted by Julie Bacchini who wrote on X, "First time seeing this in a Google Ads account...

We got a number of updates coming from OpenAI about ChatGPT Ads and the ChatGPT Ads Manager, we also suspect that the shopping results coming from ChatGPT only come from those who submit product feeds. The other updates include a plugin for integration with ChatGPT and/or Codex, custom audience improvements, conversion matching updates, ad unit formats, budget pacing, more conversion optimization options and expansion of the platform.