X released expanded GitHub code and a new tool letting users check whether their posts have been shadowbanned or restricted, marking another transparency push by the platform.

Google has reduced the minimum follower requirement for Search Profiles from 100,000 to 35,000 on YouTube, Instagram, and X, though TikTok remains at 100,000.

Google has updated its ad policy documentation for YouTube and Discover Feed to improve clarity and readability.

YouTube is expanding its AI chatbot feature to work across desktop, mobile, and TV with contextual response capabilities.

Google is consolidating Travel campaigns into its standard Search campaigns format.

OpenAI is experimenting with AI-generated descriptive headings displayed above ads in ChatGPT responses.

Google is testing a new mobile search layout that displays advertiser names and favicons at the top of sponsored ad groups.

Google will automatically migrate all Travel campaigns to new Search campaigns for Travel starting Q3 2026, though advertisers can transition earlier.

YouTube has doubled the watch-hour threshold for monetization eligibility to 8,000 hours annually or 20 million Shorts views per quarter.

X is discontinuing its revenue-sharing program and rolling out an Original Content Rewards Program that pays creators based on qualified impressions.

LinkedIn is adjusting its feed algorithm to prioritize relevance and rank interactions based on engagement quality rather than volume.

Jeff Dean is leaving Google after 27 years, and Demis Hassabis is stepping down as Google DeepMind CEO to become chair, with Koray Kavukcuoglu assuming many of his responsibilities.

Brands without recognized Knowledge Graph entities risk being treated as generic text strings rather than established authorities in search.

OKF v0.2 now includes trust verification fields—claim origin, expiration, and attribution—though no major AI systems are reading it yet.

Google is testing anchor text links in Ads descriptions, a text disclaimer override for pinned descriptions, and a Handle Swapping feature for Search Profiles.

Google is beta testing Handle Swapping, a feature that lets creators switch their Search Profile handle to any of their linked verified social media accounts.

Search Engine Land reports that Google has published official guidance on how to format and use text disclaimers effectively in Search ads.

Google refreshed its Business Profile help documentation with updated guidance on identifying legitimate versus fraudulent calls and texts via WhatsApp and RCS.

Microsoft confirmed it will add page and query-level filtering to Bing Webmaster Tools reports, closing a gap with Google Search Console's existing capabilities.

Google is testing a sign-in requirement as an alternative to CAPTCHAs to verify human searchers, though the test remains unconfirmed and unreplicable by most users.

LinkedIn saw double-digit member growth in Q2, according to CEO Daniel Shapero's comments amid Microsoft's earnings report.

Microsoft is consolidating its Predictive Matching targeting option into Search Term Matching within AI Max, with no immediate action required from advertisers.

Google updated its review snippets structured data guidelines to explicitly prohibit fake reviews and undisclosed incentivized reviews in markup.

OpenAI expanded ChatGPT Ads Manager with conversion-optimized campaigns, automatic budget pacing, geo-exclusions, and new product ad formats.

Google is testing household income exclusion options in Performance Max campaigns, allowing advertisers to filter users by income bracket at the campaign level.

Google continues rolling out AI features across Merchant Center, adding dashboard summaries, search suggestions, and chat history access.

Google is rolling out expanded AI Max capabilities for Shopping campaigns, including text customizations, URL expansion, and conversion lift estimates.

Google Ads now offers AI-powered conversion measurement recommendations directly in the Conversion Summary dashboard.

Google is overhauling its gambling ads certification process and requirements effective August 26, 2026, requiring new application forms and stricter compliance standards across all gambling verticals.

Google is discontinuing the Related Search ad format for AdSense auto ads effective August 6, 2026, with no action required from publishers.

Google is now notifying users when their reviews don't post and offering an appeals process, rolling out globally this week.

Google has released Ads API v25, a major update bringing new reporting features and goals support across campaigns, planning, conversions, and more.

Business owners report their review replies have vanished from Google Business Profiles, though replies remain visible in incognito mode and the issue appears widespread.

Google Ads now prevents appeals of policy violations older than 6 months, effective July 21, 2026.

Meta is being sued for allegedly using internal AI systems to identify and target specific employees for its 10% layoff.

Bing is testing an expandable sitelinks interface with an "Open" button that toggles a side panel showing domain links, a departure from traditional sitelinks display.

Pangram's research estimates that roughly 2 in 5 LinkedIn posts contain detectable signs of AI authorship.

OpenAI has started displaying two ads from different advertisers in ChatGPT response footers, a shift from the single-advertiser model previously observed.

A TikTok-WARC study finds that AI-driven marketing performs better when informed by cultural insights rather than raw output volume.

Google renamed its NotebookLM user-agent from Google-NotebookLM to Google-GeminiNotebook to align with the product's rebranding to Gemini Notebook.

Google updated its StoreBot crawler troubleshooting documentation with clarifications on accessibility, robots.txt, IP blocking, and reprocessing timelines.

YouTube is testing an analytics-first redesign for Studio and clarifying its Inauthentic Content Policy to crack down on low-quality AI-generated, repetitive, and emotionally manipulative videos.

X is leveraging its Grok AI to detect and remove accounts engaging in engagement bait within its creator revenue program.

Meta rolled out parental alerts when teens discuss self-harm or suicide with its AI chatbot, with plans to expand the feature globally by year-end.

Google has removed the ability to manually add or update products in Manufacturer Center, requiring users to switch to the API or file uploads instead.

Google is consolidating its Shopping ads and free listings policies into one unified document in September 2026, though enforcement rules remain unchanged.

The UK is exploring mandatory default settings that would block teenage social media access after midnight to address youth screen time concerns.

China has enacted new regulations prohibiting users from engaging in romantic or intimate emotional interactions with AI chatbots.