Google has released the December 2025 core update, its third of the year. The rollout began December 11 and may take up to three weeks.

Google officially announced the rollout of the December 2025 core update on Thursday at around 12:25 pm ET.

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…

The next phase of search belongs to companies that treat AI systems as decision engines and redesign their content for retrieval, reliability, and trust. The post 14 Things Executives And SEOs Need To Focus On In 2026 appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

This IMHO interview explores Marie Haynes’ view of an agent-led future, and why the SEOs who master agentic systems early will hold a critical advantage.

This week’s Ask a PPC digs into how learning periods influence auction dynamics, conversion modeling, and the predictability of performance shifts. The post Ask A PPC: What Are Learning Periods In Digital Marketing

Google announced it has updated the links in AI Mode to encourage searchers to click more. Google also introduced contextual introductions to embedded links in AI Mode responses.

Google announced that Preferred Sources is now rolling out globally, after launching just in the US and India in August, following its beta period in June. Plus, Google announced Spotlighting subscriptions are coming to Gemini, AI Mode, and AI Overviews.

In June, Google moved Offerwall out of its AdSense beta, making it available to all.

Microsoft is testing out the new Google Ads sponsored results label, ad grouping and hide button with its own Bing Search results ads. Microsoft Advertising search ads in Bing are testing grouping multiple search ads under one “Sponsored results” label, and then at the bottom, there is a “Hide” and then “Show” button.