Google Spam Update And Post Volatility, Cloudflare Fights AI Overviews, Sneaky Google Ads

This week we covered the completion of the Google August 2025 spam update and then we saw ranking volatility heat up again post spam update. Google Search Console impressions are impacted by Google blocking bots. Google Darksteel AI search test. Google AI Mode product listings with AI-generated product summaries. Google Search Live is now out of beta. Google AI Mode travel planning gained more features. Google AI Mode has now rolled out agentic features. Cloudflare wants you to block Google’s AI Overviews, but will it work? John Mueller of Google posted about authentication for SEO tools and personal crawlers. Google is pushing its large sponsored results label to group ads together, but is it deceptive? Google Ads has a new campaign set-up screen. Google Ads updated its dishonest pricing practices policy. Google may label some search ads with not a government website. Google Search is testing a featured stores section for ads. Google AdSense dropped session-related metrics. Google is testing a local pack at the top of the Google shopping results. 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 - Introduction0:34 - Google's Wild August 2025 Spam Update Finished Rolling Out1:30 - Google Search Ranking Volatility Heated After August Spam Update2:15 - Google Search Console Impressions Drop Impact With Google Blocking Bots3:20 - Google Darksteel AI Search Option Test3:56 - Google AI Mode Product Listings Tests AI-Generated Product Summaries4:12 - Google Search Live No Longer Requires Labs Opt-In Within US4:49 - Google AI Mode Travel Planning Gains More Features5:11 - Google AI Mode Agentic Features Go Live For Some5:36 - Cloudflare Tries To Give Sites A Way To Block Google AI Overviews - Will It Work?6:31 - Google: Authentication For SEO Tools & Personal Crawlers7:06 - Google Large Sponsored Results Grouping Label Rolling Out To More7:53 - Google Ads New Campaign Set Up Screen Updated8:11 - Google Ads Dishonest Pricing Practices Policy Updates8:48 - Google To Label Some Search Ads With "Not A Government Website"9:08 - Google Search Tests Featured Stores Sponsored Ads Section9:21 - Google AdSense Dropping Session-Related Metrics9:33 - Google Local Pack At Top Of Google Shopping Tab9:49 - Conclusion