Google Ranking Cooling But Chatter Heated, AI Reviews, TLDs, Programmatic SEO, UI Changes, Bing Dark, Local, Earnings & More

This week, we noticed that many, but not all, of the Google rank tracking tools were cooling, but then later this week, the SEO chatter heated up. Google Merchant Center says AI-generated reviews are spam. John, Gary, and Martin spoke about TLDs and domains for Google SEO. John Mueller called programmatic SEO a fancy banner for spam. He also said just because Google removes your title from your title link doesn’t mean you should. Google is testing more visual search results again. Google is testing comparison sites boxes and lists, and interfaces. Bing now has dark mode for Bing Search and Bing Chat. Google Ads performance max upgrade tool is out for dynamic search ads. Google Merchant Center launched collections. Google Business Profiles moved the appointment link to the booking section. Google also updated the food ordering settings in Google Business Profiles. Google Business Profiles messaging has a new away mode setting. Google Business Profiles is testing automated FAQs features. Google and Microsoft reported earnings, and I dug into their ad business. And I posted part two of my interview with Fabrice Canel on generative AI content and IndexNow. And if you want to help sponsor those vlogs, go to patreon.com/barryschwartz. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable. SPONSOR: This week's video recap is sponsored by Duda, the Professional Website Builder You Can Call Your Own. 0:00 - Introduction 0:53 - Google Search Ranking Algorithm Volatility Finally Cooling? 1:36 - Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update Chatter Signals - July 26 2:51 - New Google Merchant Center Policy Says AI Generated Reviews Are Spam & Disallowed 4:02 - Google Search On Top Level Domains: Spammy, Keyword Rich, Coming Soon Page & More 4:59 - John Mueller: Programmatic SEO Often A Fancy Banner For Spam 6:02 - Google: Just Because Google Drops Your Site Name From Its Title; Doesn't Mean You Should 6:34 - Google Search Tests More Visual Elements For Featured Snippets, Top Stories, Products & More 7:19 - Google Search Comparison Sites List & Box Interface 7:49 - Dark Mode Now Rolling Out On Bing Search & Bing Chat 8:09 - Google Ads Performance Max Upgrade Tool Now Available For Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) 8:31 - Google Merchant Center Collections - Group Products Together 8:50 - Google Business Profiles Appointment Link Moved To Booking Section 9:10 - Google Business Profiles Food Ordering Settings 9:48 - Google Business Profile Messaging With Availability Status & Away Mode Settings 10:13 - Google Business Profiles Automated FAQs Feature 10:43 - Google Ad Revenue Up 3.3% & Bing Ads Revenue Up 8% 11:55 - Vlog #233: Fabrice Canel On Generative AI Content & IndexNow 12:10 - Conclusion