Google AI Home Page Test, AI Local Pack Slop, Google Poaching Advertisers & Meta Building A Search Engine

This week, we of course had more Google search ranking volatility, this time on the 12th. Google is testing new AI buttons on its home page, which makes you wonder. Google Search Console expanded its generative AI reporting tools again. Google AI Overviews for local results show AI slop. Google is creating AI-generated images in AI Overviews. Google can show spammy Google-selected canonical in Search Console. Don’t misconfigure your Cloudflare account, it can cause major issues for your SEO. Some SEOs are taking over expired X accounts of Googlers. Google Business Profiles now disallows repeated bilingual names and transliterated scripts. You can now report owner responses to reviews in Google. Google is still stealing advertiser accounts from agencies. Google Ads will drop the manual targeting setting in September. Google Ads is testing advertiser names and favicons at the top of ads. Google Ads and Google Analytics gain new AI features. Google Merchant Center performance reporting updates are coming August 24th. Microsoft Advertising has a new bulk edit and appeal for disapproved assets. ChatGPT Ads is testing AI-generated descriptive headlines. ChatGPT is making it harder to find sources in the interface. Google amends its lawsuit against SerpAPI citing licensed content. META/Facebook is crawling the web, maybe building an AI search engine. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.Sponsor: This video is sponsored by Ahrefs. Did you know there's a free version of Ahrefs? It has six tools - Site Explorer, Site Audit, Web Analytics, Social Media Manager, AI Content Helper, and SEO Toolbar. All free, no card required, no expiration date. Go to ahrefs.com/free and start working on your website's visibility.0:00 - Introduction1:00 - Google Search Ranking Volatility Spikes On August 12-131:28 - Google Home Page Create Images, Ask About Files & Brainstorm Buttons2:23 - Google Search Console Generative AI Performance Report Expands To More2:48 - Google AI Overview Local Results Pulling From Low-Quality Listicles3:39 - Google AI Overviews With AI-Generated Images In The Wild4:23 - Spammy Google Selected Canonical In Search Console5:07 - Misconfiguring Cloudflare Can Hurt Your SEO Badly6:02 - Googlebot Say They Are Coming From California But Might Not7:07 - SEOs Taking Over Expired Google X Accounts7:39 - Google Local Disallows Repeated Bilingual Names & Transliterations8:08 - Google Local Report Owner Response8:30 - Google Still Aggressively Poaching Agency Ads Accounts9:33 - Google Ads Language Targeting Update Coming In September10:09 - Google Ads Sponsored Results Tests Advertiser Name & Favicon Summary10:33 - Google Ads & Google Analytics Gain New AI Features10:52 - Google Merchant Center Performance Reporting Update Coming August 24th11:18 - Microsoft Advertising Bulk Edit/Appeal Disapproved Assets11:39 - ChatGPT Ads With AI Descriptive Heading11:51 - OpenAI Makes The ChatGPT Sources Less Visible12:20 - Google Amends Lawsuit Against SerpApi Over Licensed Content13:03 - Meta/Facebook Crawling Web & May Be Building Search Engine13:26 - Conclusion