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SEO News.

Get the latest SEO news, Google algorithm updates, search ranking changes and AI search developments from Search Engine Watch. We cover Google Search, Search Console, Google Ads, Bing, ChatGPT, AI Overviews and emerging search platforms – explaining what changed, why it matters and how it could affect organic traffic, paid visibility and your wider search marketing strategy. 384 articles
Latest in SEO News

Google will test gun accessory ads in US Search this October

A six-month pilot will cover selected accessories, while ads for firearms and ammunition remain banned.

By Martin Ashmere · 28 Sep 2026

SEO News

Microsoft tests AI Mode branding for Copilot Search across Bing and Edge

Microsoft is testing AI Mode branding across Bing and Edge, with new AI Mode entry points connecting users to its Copilot-powered search…

By Venkat · 27 Sep 2026

SEO News

Microsoft Copilot now lets marketers build their own apps and dashboards

Microsoft’s new Code feature can turn natural-language instructions into internal apps, trackers, dashboards and automations, without requiring users to start with traditional…

By Martin Ashmere · 26 Sep 2026

SEO News

Google tests shorter AI Overview design on desktop

Google is testing a shorter AI Overview design on desktop, potentially giving organic results below it more visibility and clicks.

By Sachin Patel · 25 Sep 2026

SEO News

How to use Search Console’s new multimodal search filter

Google now separates image-led web searches from text searches in Search Console. Here’s where to find the new filter and what each…

By Martin Ashmere · 24 Sep 2026

SEO News

Google AI Mode carousel now shows a mix of blog and product pages

oogle AI Mode's product carousel appears to be mixing in blog content alongside product listings, a shift from the typical all-product carousel…

By Sachin Patel · 24 Sep 2026

SEO News

Firecrawl wants to pay publishers when AI agents use their content

A $75 million funding round will help expand its data partnerships, while new contributors must join a waitlist for the planned self-service…

By Martin Ashmere · 22 Sep 2026

SEO News

From Search Engine Strategies to Answer Engine Strategies

Search Engine Watch’s new online series brings experts together around a real business, competing plans and a public follow-up on what happened.

By Radu Tyrsina · 22 Sep 2026

SEO News

Google tests new sitelink design for both organic and ad results

Google is testing a new sitelink design appearing across both organic and ad results, expanding beyond the sponsored-only sitelink tests seen recently.

By Sachin Patel · 22 Sep 2026

SEO News

Here’s why Google’s contentEffort is not a confirmed ranking factor

Google’s quality guidelines explicitly allow high-effort work made with generative AI, while the leaked field leaves its ranking role unexplained.

By Julian Vennick · 22 Sep 2026

SEO News

Google’s own NotebookLM becomes a target for parasite SEO

An SEO practitioner reports an AI Overview citation from a public notebook. Another SEO practitioner has since highlighted more promotional pages indexed…

By Julian Vennick · 21 Sep 2026

SEO News

Google says page errors could explain cross-domain canonical mix-up

Google’s documentation already describes how identical error pages can make unrelated websites look like duplicates.

By Martin Ashmere · 21 Sep 2026

SEO News

Grok 4.7 launches as xAI switches X Search to per-post billing

Developers will pay for each post retrieved through the API, including parent and quoted posts returned with a thread.

By Radu Tyrsina · 21 Sep 2026

SEO News

What the Taboola-Dianomi acquisition actually means for publishers

Taboola is paying £19 million for Dianomi, potentially rising to £27 million. The interesting part is what the extra £8 million depends…

By Radu Tyrsina · 21 Sep 2026

SEO News

Google drops free listings and carousels from the European Economic Area

Google has removed free listings and product carousels from the European Economic Area as part of its Digital Markets Act compliance, with…

By Sachin Patel · 21 Sep 2026

SEO News

Bing tests removing favicons from sponsored results

Bing is testing sponsored results without favicons, showing just the website name and URL a design choice that may reduce brand recognition…

By Sachin Patel · 21 Sep 2026

SEO News

Google Wants Highly Satisfied Chrome Android Users to Boost Its Play Store Rating

Google is testing a Chrome Android app rating prompt that asks users to rate the browser on the Play Store. The test…

By Venkat · 19 Sep 2026

SEO News

OpenAI and Microsoft saw the publisher traffic problem coming, court filing says

Newly unredacted material cites internal messages, executive testimony and Microsoft data showing steep click-through declines for news sites in Copilot compared with…

By Radu Tyrsina · 18 Sep 2026

SEO News

Google’s bot crackdown is messing with your SEO reports

Sistrix confirms slower data collection, while Nozzle reports a sharp reduction in the Google results it can retrieve.

By Radu Tyrsina · 18 Sep 2026

SEO News

Google wants adult products labeled, not left to its imagination

Merchants selling adult-oriented products should flag them in Merchant Center or structured data. Google says normal organic Search visibility is unaffected.

By Radu Tyrsina · 18 Sep 2026

SEO News

Google is turning local Knowledge Panels into AI Overviews

Google is testing AI Overviews inside local business panels, giving its AI a bigger role in describing what a business does.

By Radu Tyrsina · 18 Sep 2026

SEO News

GA4’s Singapore bot problem is back, and some of it now looks almost human

Publishers and site owners are reporting another wave of suspicious traffic from Singapore, with Google Analytics dashboards filling up with visitors who…

By Radu Tyrsina · 18 Sep 2026

SEO News

Bing tests showing favicons in Shopping ad results

Bing is testing favicons within Shopping ad results, following a similar change recently seen on Google — a small update that could…

By Sachin Patel · 18 Sep 2026

SEO News

Google Free Listings now shows Visit site button in product grid

Google Free Listings is now showing a clickable 'Visit site' button alongside price and website name in the product grid, a change…

By Sachin Patel · 18 Sep 2026

SEO News

Wikipedia plans to test Google Preferred Sources as search traffic falls

Wikipedia wants to find out whether asking Google visitors to mark it as a Preferred Source can turn a search click into…

By Radu Tyrsina · 17 Sep 2026

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