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.

We saw another surge of movement from the September 2023 Google helpful content update. Google Search Console reporting is delayed again. Google Ads to suspend advertisers over non-fulfillment issues. Bing offers new ways to block your content from Bing Chat. Microsoft Advertising to add Copilot to help create ads, launches new Bing Chat exclusive ad formats and more.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

Google Helpful Content Update’s Last Surge Of Ranking Fluctuations?
Over the past couple of days, I’ve seen more chatter of ranking movement for those SEOs initially impacted by the September 2023 helpful content update. I wonder if this is the last push, the last surge, of this helpful content update before Google says this update is done rolling out.
Google Fixing Delayed Search Console Indexing, Enhancements & Experience Reports
Google has confirmed it is working on fixing the delayed Google Search Console reports. Many are delayed a couple of weeks when normally those reports are updated daily or within a few days of the current date. John Mueller from Google said on X, “Yes, we’re aware and working on it (and sometimes things are just a bit slow). I don’t have an ETA at the moment though.”
Google Ads May Suspend Advertisers Over Non-Fulfillment Issues
Google Ads will update ads policies to suspend advertisers over non-fulfillment and non-delivery of products or services due to a lack of qualifications.
Bing Offers Methods To Block Bing Chat From Using Your Content
Bing decided not to wait for the alternative approach to a robots.txt method for blocking AI tools from using your content and decided to go with what is out there now, meta tag approaches. Bing will continue to work with the rest of the AI community to come up with solutions but for now, since Bing Chat is out there, Bing is offering site owners these options.
Microsoft Advertising Copilot To Create Ads and New Compare & Decide Bing Chat Ads
At the Microsoft AI event last Thursday, Microsoft also announced new AI-based ad features in the upcoming months. This includes Copilot, which will help you create ads in Microsoft Advertising, and a new ad format exclusive to the Bing Chat interface named compare and decide ads.

The Ultimate Cookie Recipe At The GooglePlex
Google has something called The Ultimate Cookie Recipe class and here are some photos of that event that I found on Instagram.

Other Great Search Threads:

If you don’t listen to your users, they won’t be your users for much longer. *You* should listen to your users too, and adjust as needed., John Mueller on X
Let’s be honest, much of the pull of “niche sites” is to put in minimal effort and get maximal money out. It’s easy to get distracted by money, and minimal research does not make a site authoritative & trustworthy. Of course, there are great “niche” sites, John Mueller on X
SEOs are absolutely not the archenemy of Google, the largest part of the SEO community does fantastic work that helps legitimate businesses to grow in a complex, modern environment., John Mueller on X
We use GPT-4 to bucketize the feedbacks and take actions, so please keep writing!, Mikhail Parakhin on X
I need some searches that demonstrate what you are saying. Actual queries. For example, were you ranking well for a particular query before the latest update and aren’t doing as well and think the content above isn’t as good? What’s that query?, Google SearchLiaison on X
Need to identify content using ::before and ::after CSS pseudo-elements on your pages? Try out this simple bookmarklet! It highlights this content in red, in line with Google’s indexing guidelines., Natzir on X
Surely nobody would create a script to drop links & comments into niche forums. That seems absurd. Right?, John Mueller on X
Alexa, Siri and the other bots hanging out in the server break room again, Elle Cordova on X

Search Engine Land Stories:

Google search antitrust trial updates: Everything you need to know (so far)
Microsoft signs deal to serve sponsored links in Snapchat’s My AI
Links are not a top 3 Google Search ranking factor, says Gary Illyes
ChatGPT rolls out voice and image prompts
Measuring and optimizing for Google Core Web Vitals: A technical SEO guide
Mapping the customer journey for SEO and marketing success
Former Googler: Google ‘using clicks in rankings’
5 outdated marketing KPIs to toss and what to reference instead

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

Google Analytics for Marketing, Measure Minds Group
Separating fact from fiction: How real are the problems with GA4?, MarTech
Why digital attribution isn’t (and never was) a silver bullet, Hallam

Industry & Business

Celebrating 15 Years of DuckDuckGo, Spread Privacy
Key takeaways from the DoJ’s battle with Google that advertisers really should know, Digiday
Apple won’t make a Google search rival, says Eddy Cue, AppleInsider
Google Trial Spills Details on Search Engine’s Deals With Apple, Samsung, Wall Street Journal
Google’s Myth Of Losing Social Capital In Hybrid Work, Allwork.Space

Links & Content Marketing

Ep 129: High Impact Content Marketing in the Age of AI, Near Media
Out of Content Ideas? Try Borrowing One or Two, Content Marketing Institute

Local & Maps

Google Antitrust Trial: Google Lost Map Traffic with Apple’s iPhone Switch, Bloomberg
How to use offline Apple Maps in iOS 17, Geeky Gadgets
Woman Climbs Airport Fence, Claims She Was Just Following Google Maps, AutoEvolution

Mobile & Voice

Google, Microsoft, and Amazon are pushing their latest AI assistants, ready or not, Vox
How to drop the “Hey” from “Hey Siri” on iPhone, Tom’s Guide
The Pixel Watch 2 should have on-device Assistant, like the Apple Watch 9, Android Authority
Wear OS: The 10 most annoying problems with simple solutions, Android Police

SEO

8 Enterprise SEO Challenges and How to Solve Them, Conductor
The Impact Of The September 2023 Helpful Content Update On Travel Blogs, Dan Taylor
What is Off-Page SEO? The Definitive Guide from the Experts, SEO Testing
Crawl Budget: What Is It and Does It Affect SEO?, Semrush
How To Find Lower-Quality Content Being Excluded From Indexing Using Bing’s XML Sitemap Coverage Report (and Its “Content Quality” Flag, GSQI
The September helpful content update: Why you were affected and what you can do, Marie Haynes
Why Hiring an SEO Consultant is a Smart Investment, Semrush
What are healthy SEO growth rates?, Kevin Indig
Why Specific Is Terrific When It Comes to SEO, JumpFly

PPC

Microsoft Advertising partners with Snap to power Sponsored Links within Snapchat’s My AI chatbot, Microsoft Advertising
What Is Keyword Intent & How to Align Keywords with User Needs, Semrush

Search Features

ChatGPT can now see, hear, and speak, OpenAI
The upcoming Microsoft Bing Chat “No Search” feature will now be a plugin, Neowin

Other Search

Bard’s Google Workspace integrations fall short of its potential, BGR

Feedback:

Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.