Google announced a bunch of AI-based search features for Google Shopping, AI Mode and Gemini for the holiday season.

Google Ads is bringing brand controls, like brand inclusion support, to Standard Shopping campaigns. This was supported for PMax and AI Max camapigns but now are showing up for Standard Shopping campaigns.

Google has clearly documented how it tracks link clicks, impressions and positions for AI Overviews in this help document. But if you ever saw an AI Overview and interacted with them, you’d know that (1) when you click on a link icon, the citation cards on the right change and (2) running the same query a minute later may return different citation cards.

Google proposed a number of changes in the ”¬2.95B EU antitrust fine over its ad technology.

Google’s upcoming shift to default AI Mode marks a turning point for SEO, forcing brands to optimize for AI citations, brand authority, and multi-platform presence. The post Is Google About To Go Full AI Mode? appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

Google improves suspension accuracy and appeal turnaround times, reducing false positives and helping legitimate advertisers resolve issues faster with clearer policy enforcement. The post Google Sharpens Suspension Accuracy and Speeds Up Appeals for Advertisers appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

Google updated its review snippet documentation to clarify that each review or rating in structured data should point to one clear target, reducing ambiguity. The post Google Reminds Websites To Use One Review Target appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

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

When a publisher demands money for a link, Quid Pro No helps you turn the solicitation into a safer, higher-value outcome.

The llms.txt proposal aims to guide AI systems through web content, but without governance or verification, it risks repeating old SEO trust failures. The post llms.txt: The Web’s Next Great Idea, Or Its Next Spam Magnet appeared first on Search Engine Journal