Google's September 2026 spam update began rolling out Friday with major ranking swings continuing through the weekend; the full deployment spans two weeks.

Google is deploying its September 2026 spam update worldwide, with completion expected to take up to two weeks.

Publisher traffic from Google Search and Discover fell 40% year-over-year, according to new reporting.

An OpenAI engineer's court filing claims users of generative chat interfaces won't click links, backed by Microsoft data showing lower CTRs in Bing Chat versus traditional search.

Google has begun rolling out a spam algorithm update that will take approximately two weeks to fully deploy across its index.

Google has activated SAFE, an AI spam detector designed to catch AI-generated content spam, likely integrated into its broader spam-fighting efforts.

Google deployed its fourth spam update of 2026 and expanded Search Console with multimodal search filters and new Page Experience metrics.

Search Console's block flattening feature makes AI Overview presence appear stronger than actual visibility, requiring practitioners to shift from position-based to outcome-based metrics.

Google is challenging an EU Digital Markets Act ruling that would require it to share anonymized search history data with competitors.

Google's September spam update is rolling out over two weeks; Search Console now shows image search data and AI Mode traffic separately.

Google has released multimodal search performance reporting in Search Console so publishers can track how their content appears in visual and multimodal search experiences.

Google is compensating roughly 100 publishers at approximately 0.1% of their advertising revenue through its AI contribution pilot.

Google confirmed Google Analytics experienced a loading outage and has restored access for some users, with full resolution expected soon.

Google's AI Overview links lead either to external websites or to its own AI Mode feature, and Search Console tracks these two traffic sources separately.

OpenAI's AI trainers used AI tools to shortcut their work instead of completing tasks manually, per 404 Media.

SERoundtable reports significant volatility in Google Search rankings on September 23–24, suggesting a possible unconfirmed ranking update.

Nick Fox, Google's SVP of Knowledge & Information, told an interviewer that EU regulations forced Google to reduce search quality in ways that made him feel "terrible" and "sad."

Google added a multimodal filter to Search Console that reveals which pages drive traffic from image-based searches.

Google is experimenting with moving AI Overviews from the top of hotel search results to a bottom-right panel position.

Google Search desktop CTR declined while mobile CTR increased in Q2 2026, marking a shift in user click behavior across devices.

Google is testing a redesign that moves AI Overview citation cards from the right side to the bottom of the response on desktop.

Google is rolling out a new multimodal search type filter in Search Console's performance report to help SEOs segment traffic by search modality.

Google is testing a new grid layout for sponsored product ads that mirrors the appearance of organic product listings rather than the traditional carousel format.

Google announced it will adopt the Universal Commerce Platform's draft hotel booking specification for AI Mode search results.

Google Ads now ties budget recommendations to advertisers' conversion forecasts, urging them to spend more to reach projected performance goals.

State attorneys general are leveraging Meta's $18 billion teen safety settlement as a template to negotiate similar restrictions on rival platforms like TikTok and YouTube.

Google Maps now requires users to sign in with a Google account to view all reviews, sort results, and leave feedback on business listings.

Google updated its video structured data schema to add support for the creator property and clarified which interaction types are supported in VideoObject.

Google announced R4T-Diffusion, a new query fan-out framework designed for production-scale search systems.

SERoundtable reports Google is testing a redesigned Local Service Ads format with larger images and highlight boxes to increase prominence in search results.

Google Local Services Ads have switched to displaying Google Business Profile phone numbers for call tracking instead of advertiser-specified Google Ads numbers, and the change appears to be permanent.

Bing is testing descriptive feature labels (like

Search Engine Journal is hosting a webinar where STAT's Tom Capper will discuss how to measure AI Overviews and LLMs for enterprise SEO.

Google is experimenting with a two-row button layout for local search panel actions on mobile devices.

Google Maps is placing some service area business pins in the ocean instead of at correct locations.

Google is expanding monitoring capabilities in its AI Mode search feature from paid subscribers to all users globally.

Google removed Web Search Service API documentation it had accidentally published, though the API itself remains unavailable to most users.

Google updated several Google Merchant Center policy documents covering product eligibility, content standards, and prohibited categories.

Google is testing a "Loading..." button to replace "Show More" under AI Overviews.

Google is testing alternative sitelinks designs in mobile search results, including a vertical list format with a left-side accent line.

Bing is testing an editable icon on search images that lets users modify them using Bing's AI image editing feature.

Microsoft is testing renaming Bing's Copilot search tab to AI Mode, aligning its naming with Google's terminology.

Bing is testing a new sitelinks interface variant that displays link descriptions when users hover over individual sitelinks.

Google has removed the Follow button from desktop search results while keeping it on mobile.

Google marked its 28th birthday with an interactive doodle that launches an AI Mode trivia quiz about the company's history.