Industry News

Google is now testing a new accommodations carousel in the search results for hotel-related queries. The new accommodations carousel shows up under the hotel pack.

Microsoft is testing a new Copilot answer interface and layout in the Bing Search results. Instead of the grid/block design, Microsoft is testing a more bullet point design, and when you hover over each answer, you get the sources overlay.

Google is once again showing a local pack in the AI Overviews, formerly known as SGE (Search Generative Experience). Google removed the local pack from those AI Overviews back in September 2023 after having a 5 pack during the early months of SGE. Now, I am seeing them return.

I was all in on Reddit for a few years, but that stopped after the Apollo app got nerfed. I think I need to invest some curation time in the site again—this is a lovely essay:

The only two questions that people ever really ask on Reddit, if you think about it, are these: Am I alone? Am I okay? And after all these years, in subreddit after subreddit, no matter what the topic at hand is, the same answers keep coming: You aren’t alone. And you might not be okay. But we’re here.

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.

Google says hotlinking protection is fine for search engines...

Google's John Mueller said that implementing hotlink protections with carve-outs for search engines are fine. He added that this is not really a thing sites do that much these days, stating it was a thing in 2010's or so but not now.

Google Merchant Center has apparently added the ability to dispute and/or request a review in bulk. This does not work for all notices but it works for some and it can save you a lot of time, if the same disapproval is issued across a number of products or issues.

Microsoft Advertising is reportedly testing a new reporting template design, which is refreshed and looks new to look at. The new design is under the reporting and then templates section of the Microsoft Advertising console.

Microsoft is testing placing a new tag on some sponsored ads within the Bing Search results. This tag is in blue and says "Local Business," which I guess helps promote local businesses near you.

Earlier this year, we spotted a new type of Google Ads campaign option named Search Max. Well, now it was spotted again, the configuration and set up of Search Max with a beta label on it.