Google Ad Tech Monopoly Won’t Be Broken Up, AI Mode Takes Over, Gemini Not Citing, AdSense Impression Changes & Bugs

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. Content is disappearing from the Google News tab for some reason. Google said it does not penalize for old crusty links that may later link to shady content. Google spoke more about using the disavow link tool. Google Search Console’s AI performance reports and AI controls have been globally rolled out. Google confirmed its search spam teams are still actively fighting spam. Google Trends now lets you filter by pre-defined categories. Google is testing verifying searchers are human through a delayed continue button. Google Discover was not loading for a period of time this week. Google posted details on its European search dataset licensing program. I posted the monthly Google webmaster report. Bing is testing search results without site names in the snippet. Microsoft is forcing Copilot users to login, but not within Bing Search. Google is working on a fix for a Local Service Ads bug. Google AdSense will soon use Begin-to-Render impression measurements. Google Business Profiles test business photos for verification. Microsoft Advertising is rolling out a new design preview. Google Analytics was buggy as well, missing days of data. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.Sponsor: BruceClay 𓍲 one of the founding fathers of the SEO space, doing search marketing optimization since 1996. Bruce Clay is big into SEO training, check out seotraining.com to learn more and check them out at bruceclay.com. Also, check out their new product, Prewriter.ai - this tool empowers writers to write better and more efficiently, so check it out.0:00 - Introduction0:51 - Judge Rules Google Ad Tech Business Won't Be Broken Up1:56 - Google AI Overviews Pushing Searchers Into AI Mode, Drops Show More Button3:18 - Google Search Using Gemini 3.8 Flash In AI Mode3:47 - Google AI Mode Gemini 3.8 Flash Not Link / Citation Friendly?4:47 - Publishers Noticing Google News Tab Content Disappearing6:06 - Google: We Don't Penalize For Old Outbound Links With Shady Content6:59 - Google: The Disavow Tool Does Have Effects7:38 - Global: Google Search Console AI Performance Report & AI Control8:00 - Google Confirms Search Spam Team Is Fighting & Well Resourced8:17 - Google Trends Explore Page Adds Category Filtering8:53 - Google: Verifying Your Request To Continue To Search Results9:19 - Google Discover Not Loading Or Loading Slowly9:41 - Google European Search Dataset Licensing Program Details10:07 - September 2026 Google Webmaster Report10:20 - Bing Tests Search Result Snippets Without Site Names10:30 - Microsoft Forcing Copilot Users To Login But Not For Copilot Search Answers10:52 - Google Working On Fixing Local Service Ads Bug11:25 - Google AdSense Begin-to-Render Impression Measurement Coming11:57 - New Google Business Profiles Submit A Business Photo For Verification12:15 - Microsoft Advertising New Updated Design Preview12:38 - Google Analytics September 1 Data Missing12:49 - Conclusion