{ "version": "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1.1", "title": "SEO Madman", "home_page_url": "https://seomadman.com", "feed_url": "https://seomadman.com/feed.json", "description": "Technical SEO news, original research, studies and free tools for search and AI answer engines, by Adam Hafez.", "language": "en", "authors": [ { "name": "Adam Hafez", "url": "https://seomadman.com/authors/adam-hafez" } ], "items": [ { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-ugc-fresh-data-program", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-ugc-fresh-data-program", "title": "Google adds UGC Fresh Data Program for large platforms", "summary": "Google's UGC Fresh Data Program lets approved platforms push user-generated content to Search outside crawling and the Indexing API.", "content_text": "Google has added a Search Central page for the UGC Fresh Data Program, a dedicated pipeline where approved platforms send user-generated content and interaction signals to Google, separate from the Indexing API and normal crawling. Participation is limited to large, public, moderated platforms, and Google does not guarantee that content will appear in Search.\n\n- Google's new documentation describes a dedicated data ingestion pipeline through which approved platforms send user-generated content and interaction signals to Google.\n- Google says the program is independent of the Google Indexing API and of traditional organic crawling for general web content.\n- Eligibility covers content focus, volume and audience, public accessibility, technical readiness, moderation and freshness, so most sites do not qualify.\n- Applying means submitting a form, Google promises a response within 6 to 8 weeks, and acceptance is not guaranteed.\n- Google states that the program does not guarantee that content will appear in Search, and it does not change how ordinary sites are crawled.", "date_published": "2026-10-08T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-08T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "indexing", "technical-seo" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/manual-action-requests-rise-reports", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/manual-action-requests-rise-reports", "title": "SEOs report more manual actions as Google stays silent", "summary": "Marie Haynes and Daniel Foley Carter say manual action cases are rising. It is anecdotal, with no Google data, and the spam update finished the same day.", "content_text": "Two SEO consultants, Marie Haynes and Daniel Foley Carter, say they are seeing more Google manual actions, mainly for thin content, pure spam and scaled content. Search Engine Roundtable reported it on 8 October 2026. These are anecdotes from consultants, Google has published no data or statement, and the reports do not show why.\n\n- Marie Haynes said on X on 7 October 2026 that she has had a big increase in requests for help with manual actions, mostly thin content, pure spam and scaled content.\n- She told Search Engine Roundtable the volume went from essentially no requests to several per week, which is not nearly the pre-Penguin level.\n- Daniel Foley Carter posted that he is also seeing more manual actions, and Barry Schwartz found more forum complaints but not a big spike.\n- Google has published no count of manual actions and has made no statement, so the reports are anecdotes and say nothing about cause.\n- A manual action is issued by a human reviewer, shows in the Search Console Manual actions report and message center, and is lifted only after a reconsideration request.", "date_published": "2026-10-08T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-08T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "core-updates", "search-console" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/merchant-center-frequent-changes-disapproval", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/merchant-center-frequent-changes-disapproval", "title": "Merchant Center may disapprove products that change often", "summary": "Google's Merchant Center help page now warns that products whose price or stock changes more than daily may be disapproved instead of auto-updated.", "content_text": "Google's Merchant Center Help page on automatic updates now warns that automations may not work for products whose price or availability changes often, for example more than once per day. A product with a detected mismatch may be disapproved instead of updated, and Google may stop updates when total mismatches grow too large.\n\n- Google's help page says automations may not work for products with frequent price or availability changes, giving more than once per day as an example.\n- The page adds that a product may be disapproved instead of updated on a detected mismatch, and that updates may stop if total mismatches become too large.\n- The 17 March 2026 archived copy of the page does not contain these sentences, so they are new since then.\n- Hana Kobzova of PPC News Feed dates the revision to 27 September 2026, while the help page itself shows no revision date.\n- The page does not give a mismatch threshold or say how a disapproval clears, and it still tells merchants to keep providing accurate product data frequently.", "date_published": "2026-10-08T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-08T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "ecommerce-seo" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/september-2026-spam-update-completed", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/september-2026-spam-update-completed", "title": "The September 2026 spam update finished after 13 days", "summary": "Google's September 2026 spam update finished on 8 October after 13 days and 16 hours, the longest of its 2026 spam updates. What it means for your data.", "content_text": "Google's September 2026 spam update finished rolling out on 8 October 2026, after 13 days and 16 hours, according to the Search Status Dashboard. That is the longest of the four spam updates Google ran this year, against 19 hours 30 minutes to 2 days 16 hours for the other three. Google has not said what this one targeted.\n\n- The Search Status Dashboard shows the September 2026 spam update beginning on 24 September at 09:15 PDT and ending on 8 October at 01:00 PDT.\n- Its 13 days and 16 hours compare with 19 hours and 30 minutes in March, 2 days and 1 hour in June, and 2 days and 16 hours in August.\n- Google said at launch that the rollout might take up to two weeks, and it used nearly all of that time.\n- Neither the dashboard nor Google's spam updates page says what this update addressed or why it ran longer than the earlier ones.\n- With the rollout complete, 24 September to 8 October is a fixed window for comparing Search Console data, and a dip inside it is not proof the update caused it.", "date_published": "2026-10-08T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-08T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "core-updates" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-local-panel-whatsapp-button", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-local-panel-whatsapp-button", "title": "Google's local panel now shows a WhatsApp button", "summary": "Google is showing a WhatsApp button in local panel results, beside or instead of chat. Google has made no statement and no rollout detail exists.", "content_text": "Google is showing a WhatsApp button in local panel results in Search, in place of chat or beside the call, directions, website and share buttons. Sachin Patel spotted it and Barry Schwartz replicated it, so it may be rolling out. Google has made no statement about it, and rollout details are unknown.\n\n- Google is showing a WhatsApp button in local panel results, in place of chat or in addition to the other action buttons.\n- Sachin Patel posted the sighting on X and at Search Engine Watch, and Barry Schwartz replicated it, so it may be rolled out fully.\n- Schwartz recalls Google asking businesses for WhatsApp numbers a couple of years ago, and adding numbers itself for some a few months ago.\n- Google has made no statement about this display, and the sources give no rollout details.\n- Google's help page says chat options are available in select regions only, and that a profile with both WhatsApp and text message shows only the text message option.", "date_published": "2026-10-07T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-07T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "local-seo", "serp-features" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-synthid-detector-opens-to-public", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-synthid-detector-opens-to-public", "title": "Google opens its SynthID detector to everyone", "summary": "Google's SynthID Detector is now open to anyone, globally in English. It checks images, video and audio for watermarks, and nothing ties it to rankings.", "content_text": "Google opened its SynthID Detector to everyone on 7 October 2026, available globally in English. It checks image, video and audio files for SynthID watermarks from Google and partners including OpenAI, NVIDIA and Kakao. It is not a general AI detector, and neither Google's post nor Search Engine Journal ties it to rankings.\n\n- Google opened SynthID Detector to anyone on 7 October 2026, globally in English, after an early version last year for media professionals.\n- The tool checks image, video and audio files for SynthID watermarks from Google and partners including OpenAI, NVIDIA and Kakao, with Apple listed as coming soon.\n- Search Engine Journal reports the site says it is not a general AI detector, so a file with no watermark may still have been made with AI.\n- A positive result reads made or edited with Google AI, so a touched-up photo and one created from scratch can get the same label.\n- Neither Google's post nor the report links the detector to Google Search rankings, and the post lists no text files among the supported formats.", "date_published": "2026-10-07T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-07T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "ai-search", "content-strategy" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/healthcare-review-snippets-drop-schema-app", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/healthcare-review-snippets-drop-schema-app", "title": "Healthcare review snippets have dropped, Schema App reports", "summary": "Schema App says review snippets fell for its healthcare customers since late May. Google has announced no change and its docs do not mention healthcare.", "content_text": "Schema App says its healthcare customers lost Review Snippet visibility in Google Search, with a drop since late May and another in early August for some. Search Engine Roundtable reports Google seems to no longer show review rich results for healthcare pages. Google has announced no change, and its review snippet documentation does not mention healthcare.\n\n- Schema App says healthcare customers saw Review Snippet visibility fall since late May, with another drop in early August for some organizations.\n- Schema App tested aggregateRating connections, alternative property paths and multi-typing healthcare entities with Product, and none restored the rich result.\n- Search Engine Roundtable reports on 7 October 2026 that Google seems to no longer show review rich results for healthcare pages.\n- Google has not announced a change, and neither its review snippet documentation nor its documentation updates log mentions healthcare.\n- Schema App says the pages it analyzed remain eligible and it has not tied the decline to a drop in overall organic traffic.", "date_published": "2026-10-07T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-07T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "structured-data", "serp-features" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/merchant-center-ucp-integration-hub", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/merchant-center-ucp-integration-hub", "title": "Merchant Center adds a UCP integration hub for US merchants", "summary": "Google's Merchant Center is rolling out a UCP integration hub in the US, with checkout buttons for AI Mode and Gemini behind an interest form.", "content_text": "Google Merchant Center is gradually rolling out a UCP integration hub in the US, where merchants onboard to the Universal Commerce Protocol program. Per Google's help page, UCP lets a store add a checkout button to eligible products in AI Mode and Gemini. Merchants must finish the technical work and submit an interest form first.\n\n- Google's help page says the Merchant Center UCP integration hub is rolling out gradually in the US, with Australia and Canada to follow next year.\n- Per the help page, UCP is an open standard for agentic commerce, and integrating it lets a merchant add a checkout button on eligible product listings in AI Mode and on Gemini.\n- Merchants must complete the technical implementation in the UCP developer guide and fill out an interest form before they can be selected for onboarding.\n- The hub lets merchants pick UCP capabilities, which the help page lists as cart transfer to the merchant site, native checkout on Google and identity linking.\n- Merchants who sell through a third-party platform are told to ask that provider about its UCP plans rather than onboard on their own.", "date_published": "2026-10-07T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-07T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "ecommerce-seo", "ai-search" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/chatgpt-product-result-labels-test", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/chatgpt-product-result-labels-test", "title": "ChatGPT tests green and gray labels on product results", "summary": "OpenAI is testing labels such as best all-rounder and best for beginners on ChatGPT product results, in green and gray. OpenAI has not commented.", "content_text": "ChatGPT is testing labels on its product results that describe each product, such as best all-rounder, best for beginners and best cushioning. Brodie Clark spotted a green label for the best all-rounder and gray labels for other criteria. OpenAI has made no statement and the sources give no rollout details, so this is an observed test.\n\n- ChatGPT is testing labels appended to product results that add information about the product, such as best all-rounder, best for beginners and best cushioning.\n- The test shows a green label for the best all-rounder product and gray labels for the best product on other criteria.\n- Brodie Clark spotted it and posted about it on X and in his notes, and SERP Alerts posted it too.\n- OpenAI has made no statement and the sources give no rollout information, so this is an observed test and not a launch.", "date_published": "2026-10-06T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-06T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "ai-search", "ecommerce-seo" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-maps-policy-merchants-listings-posts", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-maps-policy-merchants-listings-posts", "title": "Google Maps policy now limits promotions and pricing in listings", "summary": "Google expanded the advertising and solicitation rules for Maps and Business Profiles: no time-bound promotions, pricing or calls-to-action in the listing.", "content_text": "Google expanded the advertising and solicitation section of its Maps and Business Profile content policy. A new rule for merchants bars time-bound promotions, pricing and direct calls-to-action from the listing itself, and bars unrelated emails, phone numbers and links from posts. Offers and updates that may read as promotional are otherwise allowed in posts.\n\n- Google's policy now says contributions to Maps should reflect genuine experiences or define a business's permanent identity, not advertising or solicitation.\n- In the listing, promotional or commercial content with time-bound promotions, pricing or direct calls-to-action is not allowed.\n- In posts, email addresses, phone numbers, social media links and links to other websites unrelated to your business are not allowed.\n- Offers and updates that may be seen as promotional are otherwise permitted in posts, so posts remain the place for them.\n- Search Engine Roundtable credits Hiroko Imai with spotting the change and sharing before and after screenshots on LinkedIn.", "date_published": "2026-10-06T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-06T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "local-seo" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/mueller-large-product-aggregator-indexing", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/mueller-large-product-aggregator-indexing", "title": "Mueller: why a large aggregator is crawled but barely indexed", "summary": "John Mueller told a site owner that URLs indexed from a large product aggregator redirect to the homepage, and that such sites are hard to justify.", "content_text": "John Mueller told a site owner that a large product aggregator is hard to make and maintain well, and that many of the site's indexed URLs redirect to the homepage. Search Engine Roundtable reports the asker said Googlebot crawled the site 1.17M times in a few weeks while Search Console showed only 4 indexed URLs.\n\n- Mueller said many of the asker's indexed URLs redirect to the homepage, which he called a big technical issue still to resolve.\n- He described a large product aggregator as not trivial to make and maintain well, because it ends up with a ton of URLs of apparently programmatic content.\n- He said convincing search engines and users that such a site is worthwhile will be hard.\n- Heavy crawling is not evidence of indexing, since the asker saw a spike in crawl activity while the page indexing report listed only four indexed pages.\n- The wording below is as Search Engine Roundtable quotes it, because we could not open Mueller's Bluesky post.", "date_published": "2026-10-06T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-06T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "indexing", "technical-seo" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/mueller-sitemaps-ai-crawlers-couldnt-fetch", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/mueller-sitemaps-ai-crawlers-couldnt-fetch", "title": "Mueller: AI crawlers read sitemaps, Couldn't fetch explained", "summary": "Google's John Mueller says AI crawlers can't submit sitemaps and that Couldn't fetch on a valid sitemap often comes down to host load or crawl demand.", "content_text": "Google's John Mueller says AI training crawlers usually offer no way to submit a sitemap, so a default name like sitemap.xml or an RSS feed is how they find a site, according to Search Engine Journal. He also said a valid sitemap can show Couldn't fetch in Search Console because of host load or low crawl demand.\n\n- Mueller said AI training crawlers usually have no console to submit a sitemap, so sites that want them to find content should keep sitemap.xml as the name or publish RSS feeds.\n- Mueller said he has seen an AI crawler fetch his sitemap and RSS files in his server logs, but he did not name the crawlers or say what they do with the files.\n- A private sitemap with an unusual name, left out of robots.txt and submitted to Google directly stays hidden from other systems, and Bing would need its own submission.\n- Search Console can report Couldn't fetch for a valid, public sitemap, and Mueller gave two causes, which are Google's host load and crawl demand tied to perceived site quality.\n- Search Engine Journal notes both causes sit outside the sitemap file, so a clean validation does not rule the error out.", "date_published": "2026-10-06T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-06T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "indexing", "technical-seo" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/openai-eu-chatgpt-text-watermark", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/openai-eu-chatgpt-text-watermark", "title": "OpenAI will watermark ChatGPT text in the EU", "summary": "OpenAI adds an invisible watermark to ChatGPT and Codex text in the EU, with an API opt-in worldwide. Edits weaken it, and Google does not use it.", "content_text": "OpenAI will add an invisible watermark to qualifying ChatGPT and Codex text in the EU over the coming weeks, according to Search Engine Journal. API users worldwide can opt in. Editing weakens the signal, the detector is limited to approved researchers, and nothing in the report links it to Google rankings.\n\n- OpenAI will watermark qualifying ChatGPT and Codex text in the EU over the coming weeks across all plans, while API users worldwide can opt in on select models, off by default.\n- In OpenAI's own tests on 400-token English passages, swapping 25% of the words for synonyms cut detection from about 92% to 17%.\n- At launch the detector is open only to approved researchers and expert organizations, so ordinary publishers cannot scan their own pages.\n- Neither the report nor OpenAI's update says the watermark is a Google signal, and Google's published guidance on AI content is that quality matters.\n- The update does not say which models the API opt-in covers or whether EU ChatGPT users can turn the watermark off.", "date_published": "2026-10-06T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-06T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "ai-search", "content-strategy" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/search-console-ai-control-child-property-override", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/search-console-ai-control-child-property-override", "title": "Search Console flags child property AI control overrides", "summary": "Google's help page now says top-level domain owners see a notice on the Search generative AI control page when a child property overrides the parent.", "content_text": "Google added a line to the Search generative AI control help page saying owners of a top-level domain property will see a notification on that page when one of their child properties overrides the parent setting. Search Engine Roundtable spotted the change, and had no screenshot of the notification itself.\n\n- Google's help page now says owners of the top-level domain property see a notification on the Search generative AI control page when a child property overrides the parent setting.\n- A property inherits its control from its closest parent that has stopped inheriting, and falls back to the top-level domain property when none has.\n- Inherit control from parent is the default for any property that has a parent, and any child owner can override it at any time.\n- The control covers AI Overviews, AI Mode and generative AI features in Discover, and Google says it does not affect AI training or ranking in other parts of Search.\n- Google says an exclusion generally takes a few days to apply, and Search Engine Roundtable had no screenshot of what the new notification looks like.", "date_published": "2026-10-06T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-06T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "search-console", "ai-search" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/search-console-multi-country-filter", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/search-console-multi-country-filter", "title": "Search Console now groups multiple countries in one filter", "summary": "Search Console's performance report now lets you tick several countries and see their combined Google Search traffic, per two trade outlets.", "content_text": "Google has updated the Search Console performance report so you can select several countries in the country filter and view their combined Google Search traffic. Search Engine Roundtable and Search Engine Journal both report the change, quoting Google's LinkedIn announcement, which we could not open ourselves. Search Engine Journal says device filters changed too.\n\n- The performance report's country filter now accepts several countries at once and shows their combined Google Search traffic.\n- Search Engine Roundtable's example ticks the United States and Canada, then clicks update to group them.\n- Search Engine Journal reports that the update covers device filters as well as countries.\n- Google's LinkedIn post could not be opened by us, so its wording here is as quoted by Search Engine Roundtable.\n- Search Engine Roundtable adds that it would like the same click data in the AI performance reports.", "date_published": "2026-10-06T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-06T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "search-console", "analytics" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-spam-updates-ai-scaled-content-deep-dive", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-spam-updates-ai-scaled-content-deep-dive", "title": "Google ties more spam updates to a flood of new content", "summary": "At Search Central Live, Google said spam updates target much new content, AI helps catch it, and scaled content now worries it more than link spam.", "content_text": "Google speakers at Search Central Live Deep Dive in Barcelona said a high percentage of content is spam, that spam updates target it, and that there have been more of them because there is more new content. Per a ROAST recap, Google uses AI to catch more spam, and Gary Illyes called scaled content a bigger problem than link spam.\n\n- Per the ROAST recap, Google said a high percentage of content is spam, that spam updates target it, and that there is more new content, hence more updates.\n- The recap says the spam team now uses AI to help catch more spam, and Google's own spam page describes machine learning and large language models in its spam-fighting systems.\n- Gary Illyes said Google filters out 40 billion spam pages a day, a figure Google words as found, not removed, and Search Engine Roundtable notes is not new.\n- Core updates target content at page level, not domain level, so some pages rise while others fall, and Illyes called scaled content a bigger problem than link spam.\n- Google's quality guidance, as recapped, defines quality through effort, originality, talent or skill and accuracy, and says low quality content can be written by a human or by AI.", "date_published": "2026-10-05T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-05T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "core-updates", "content-strategy" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/search-console-dark-mode-slide-was-a-joke", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/search-console-dark-mode-slide-was-a-joke", "title": "Search Console dark mode was a joke, per John Mueller", "summary": "A dark mode mock-up shown at Search Central Live in Barcelona was first reported as coming, then described as a joke. Here is what each source says.", "content_text": "Google is not building dark mode for Search Console, according to an update to Search Engine Roundtable's report. The site first said Google would soon support it after a Barcelona conference slide, then added that John Mueller confirmed the slide was a joke. A conference recap calls it a mock-up. No release date was given.\n\n- Search Engine Roundtable first reported that Google will soon support dark mode in Search Console, based on slides from the Search Central Live Deep Dive Europe event in Barcelona.\n- The same article later added an update saying the slide was a joke and that Google is not working on dark mode for Search Console.\n- Search Engine Roundtable says John Mueller confirmed it was a joke, so the report no longer supports a dark mode launch.\n- ROAST's recap of the same session describes a mock-up shown at the end that \"isn't real\", and gives no date.\n- The session also covered Groups, AI-powered configuration and Generative AI reporting, where the team gave no dates for more AI search data.", "date_published": "2026-10-05T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-05T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "search-console" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/reports/google-crawling-indexing-serving-timelines-2026", "url": "https://seomadman.com/reports/google-crawling-indexing-serving-timelines-2026", "title": "How long Google takes to crawl, index and update results", "summary": "All 23 typical and slowest times Gary Illyes showed at Search Central Live Barcelona, as recapped by ROAST, plus caveats and Google's own docs.", "content_text": "Google's Gary Illyes showed typical and slowest times for 23 crawling, indexing and serving processes at Search Central Live Deep Dive in Barcelona on 2 October 2026. Per the ROAST recap, a typical site move takes 1-3 months, a title update 1-2 days and core update recovery 3-6 months. The figures are Google's internal analysis, not published documentation.\n\n- Per the ROAST recap, Gary Illyes showed a typical and a slowest time for 23 processes across crawling, indexing and serving, based on Google's internal analysis.\n- The recap lists a typical site move at 1-3 months and core update recovery at 3-6 months, with slowest cases of 6 months to 1 year or more.\n- Five of the 23 slowest times include the word never, and three of those add quality in brackets, so a fast technical fix cannot rescue a page Google does not value.\n- Search Engine Journal notes that typical is undefined and that sample size and measurement period are not reported, so the figures are ranges, not deadlines.\n- Illyes cautioned that the processes are linked, so a delay in crawling carries into indexing and serving.", "date_published": "2026-10-05T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-05T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "reports", "indexing", "technical-seo" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/tools/rss-feed-validator", "url": "https://seomadman.com/tools/rss-feed-validator", "title": "RSS feed validator: check RSS 2.0 and Atom feeds", "summary": "RSS feed validator: paste feed XML to check RSS 2.0 and Atom 1.0 for parse errors, required elements, dates, guids, enclosures and URLs. Runs in-browser.", "content_text": "This RSS feed validator parses pasted feed XML in your browser, detects RSS 2.0, Atom 1.0 or neither, and reports parse errors first. It then checks the required channel and feed elements, item and entry rules, RFC 822 and RFC 3339 dates, duplicate guids and ids, enclosures, and relative URLs.\n\n- This tool parses XML in the browser with DOMParser, detects RSS 2.0 or Atom 1.0 from the root element, and reports real parse errors first.\n- An RSS 2.0 channel needs a title, a link and a description, and every item needs a title or a description, per the RSS 2.0 specification.\n- An Atom feed and each of its entries need exactly one id, title and updated, and an entry without content needs an alternate link, per RFC 4287.\n- Google accepts RSS 2.0 and Atom 1.0 feeds as sitemaps, and says such a feed only provides information on recent URLs.\n- This validator checks structure only, so a clean pass does not confirm the listed pages exist, load or can be indexed.", "date_published": "2026-10-04T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-04T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "tools", "technical-seo", "indexing" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/tools/utm-link-builder", "url": "https://seomadman.com/tools/utm-link-builder", "title": "UTM link builder", "summary": "UTM link builder: add utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign to any URL, keep its query string and fragment, and copy the link. Free, in your browser.", "content_text": "This UTM link builder adds campaign parameters to a URL so Google Analytics can tell where visits come from. Source, medium and campaign name are required, term and content are optional. It keeps any existing query string, replaces a utm_ parameter of the same name, leaves the fragment last, and lowercases values by default because Analytics is case sensitive.\n\n- Google Analytics Help says to always use utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign.\n- utm_term and utm_content are optional, and utm_content is for telling similar links in the same ad apart.\n- Analytics is case sensitive, so utm_source=google and utm_source=Google are different values.\n- Google's own best practice is to use lowercase as a standard practice.\n- Parameters follow the base URL after a question mark and are separated from each other with an ampersand.", "date_published": "2026-10-03T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-03T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "tools", "analytics" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/bing-recommended-by-products-test", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/bing-recommended-by-products-test", "title": "Bing tests a Recommended by label on product results", "summary": "Bing is testing a Recommended by section that names a company beside product thumbnails, with no link to it. Microsoft has not commented.", "content_text": "Bing is testing a section labeled Recommended by, followed by a company name, above product thumbnails that link to retailers. Sachin Patel spotted it, and Barry Schwartz replicated it in some browsers. There is no way to verify the recommendation, and Microsoft has not commented or shared any rollout plans.\n\n- Bing is testing a Recommended by section that names the company making the recommendations.\n- The product thumbnails link to various retailers, not to the recommender, and no source of the recommendation was seen.\n- Sachin Patel posted the sighting on X and at Search Engine Watch, and Barry Schwartz replicated it in some browsers.\n- Microsoft has made no statement and the source gives no rollout information, so this is an observed test.", "date_published": "2026-10-02T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-02T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "serp-features", "ecommerce-seo" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-discover-eligibility-gate-deep-dive", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-discover-eligibility-gate-deep-dive", "title": "Google Discover eligibility gate: what Google's analyst said", "summary": "Google's Discover trust and safety analyst described a three-way eligibility gate and image rules at Search Central Live Barcelona, per a ROAST recap.", "content_text": "Google's Discover trust and safety analyst, Eric Murillo, said Discover runs on the normal Google index stack with no special bot, according to a ROAST recap. Content is checked for violations, then judged on E-E-A-T, and only safe, trusted content becomes eligible. Large images then drive performance. These are the recap author's notes, not Google's slides.\n\n- Per the recap, Eric Murillo said there is no special Discover bot and everything runs on the normal Google index stack.\n- Every piece of content goes through an eligibility gate that filters violations, filters low quality judged on E-E-A-T, and passes safe, trusted content as Discover eligible.\n- The recap's image advice is 1,200px wide or more, 300,000 or more total pixels, 16:9 and max-image-preview:large, which matches Google's Discover help page.\n- Murillo reportedly said AI slop is increasing and that user feedback is what new spam filters are built from.\n- A manual action against your site shows in Search Console, as both the recap and Google's Discover help page say.", "date_published": "2026-10-02T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-02T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "serp-features", "content-strategy" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-fake-author-profiles-warning", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-fake-author-profiles-warning", "title": "Google warns against fake author profiles in its guidance", "summary": "Google's helpful content page now calls fabricated creator profiles deception: AI headshots, made-up names and false credentials.", "content_text": "Google's helpful content page now warns against deceptive authorship information. In the version dated 1 October 2026, it calls fabricated creator profiles, such as AI-generated headshots, made-up names or false credentials, a form of deception. It says deception makes a page untrustworthy to users and to Google's automated quality systems.\n\n- The new paragraph sits in the \"Who (created the content)\" section, right after the advice to add accurate authorship information such as bylines.\n- Google names AI-generated headshots, made-up names and false credentials as examples of fabricated creator profiles.\n- Google says any form of deception makes a page untrustworthy to both users and its automated quality systems, and is a signal of a low-quality page.\n- Search Engine Journal reports that the rater guidelines already treat fake profiles as deception, and that the paragraph does not say how automated systems detect them.", "date_published": "2026-10-02T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-02T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "content-strategy", "core-updates" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-helpful-content-main-content-section", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-helpful-content-main-content-section", "title": "Google adds a main content section to its helpful content page", "summary": "Google's people-first content page now defines main content and lists four attributes raters assess: effort, originality, talent or skill, and accuracy.", "content_text": "Google's helpful content page now has a Main content section, reported on 2 October 2026. It defines main content as any part of a page that directly helps it achieve its purpose, and lists four attributes raters assess: effort, originality, talent or skill, and accuracy. Google repeats that rater data is not used directly in ranking.\n\n- The page now says one of the most critical factors in assessing page quality is the quality of the main content, beyond E-E-A-T.\n- Google defines main content as any part of the page that directly helps it achieve its purpose, from text and media to calculators, reviews and headings.\n- Raters are trained to assess four attributes of main content: effort, originality, talent or skill, and accuracy.\n- Google says crediting other sources does not replace original effort, and names generating pages from feeds or bulk unsupervised generative AI text as little to no effort.\n- The page still says raters do not control rankings, rater data is not used directly in ranking algorithms, and E-E-A-T is not a specific ranking factor.", "date_published": "2026-10-02T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-02T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "content-strategy", "core-updates" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-query-understanding-synonyms-fan-out-deep-dive", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-query-understanding-synonyms-fan-out-deep-dive", "title": "How Google turns a query into results, per a Barcelona recap", "summary": "A ROAST recap of Mueller and Illyes in Barcelona: synonym expansion, AI fan-out queries missing from Search Console, and retrieval before ranking.", "content_text": "At Google's Search Central Live Deep Dive in Barcelona, John Mueller and Gary Illyes described how a query becomes results, according to a ROAST attendee recap. Synonym expansion works like an OR search, AI search adds LLM fan-out queries that return to the search engine, and retrieval comes before ranking.\n\n- Per the recap, Mueller called synonym expansion a very important ranking system that works much like searching with the OR operator.\n- In AI search, an LLM creates fan-out queries that go back to the search engine, and the results ground the answer.\n- The recap says Google's fan-out queries do not appear in Search Console because they do not come from users.\n- Illyes described retrieval as happening before ranking, with language and country as important signals and quality deciding the final result.\n- The recap says rich results are generally driven by structured data, while AI results do not need structured data.", "date_published": "2026-10-02T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-02T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "ai-search", "content-strategy" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/shopify-auto-enrols-stores-in-new-ai-shopping-channels", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/shopify-auto-enrols-stores-in-new-ai-shopping-channels", "title": "Shopify auto-enrols stores in new AI shopping channels", "summary": "Shopify's Agentic setting shares eligible stores' products with AI chat apps by default, and in-chat checkout can bypass your own tracking code.", "content_text": "Shopify enrols eligible stores in every new AI shopping channel by default, according to a Search Engine Journal column that quotes Shopify's documentation. Products flow to chat apps through Shopify Catalog, direct checkout is on for qualifying stores, and in-chat purchases can bypass a store's own analytics and ad pixels.\n\n- The Allow Shopify to manage for me setting stays on unless a merchant turns it off, and it covers products, direct checkout and new channels.\n- Most AI chat apps read products from Shopify Catalog, while Google reads them from Google Merchant Center.\n- When a customer pays inside Google, Copilot or Meta checkout, Shopify says your analytics and ad pixels do not run, though the order still appears in Shopify.\n- Hiding one product from AI channels means marking it unlisted, which also removes it from sitemaps, Google and online store search.\n- The column reports no channel charges a fee beyond payment processing today, but Meta expects to take a small cut of Muse transactions.", "date_published": "2026-10-02T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-02T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "ecommerce-seo", "ai-search" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/ai-contribution-pilot-publisher-payments", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/ai-contribution-pilot-publisher-payments", "title": "Google's AI contribution pilot pays about 100 publishers, report says", "summary": "The Information reports Google pays about 100 publishers in its AI contribution pilot, with payments for several smaller sites under 0.1% of ad revenue.", "content_text": "Google is paying about 100 digital publishers in its AI contribution pilot, according to The Information. For several small and midsize sites, the payments come to less than one-tenth of 1% of their ad revenue. Amounts vary widely, and participants say they do not know how Google calculates them. Google has not published the figures.\n\n- The Information reports that Google is paying about 100 digital publishers in its AI contribution pilot, which covers AI Overviews, AI Mode and the Gemini app.\n- For several small to midsize sites, payments amount to less than one-tenth of 1% of ad revenue, according to people familiar with the payouts.\n- Reported amounts range from under $1,000 over several months for smaller sites to more than $1 million a year for one early participant.\n- Participants told The Information they do not know how Google calculates payouts, and that monthly amounts change without explanation.\n- Google's own help text, as reproduced by Search Engine Roundtable, says content earns only when it contributes significantly to generating an AI response.", "date_published": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "ai-search", "content-strategy" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/ai-mode-monitoring-rolls-out-globally", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/ai-mode-monitoring-rolls-out-globally", "title": "Google rolls out AI Mode monitoring to everyone worldwide", "summary": "Google is rolling out AI Mode monitoring to all users globally, after Ultra and Pro subscribers. It watches sites, forums, social posts and Shopping Graph.", "content_text": "Google is rolling out information monitoring in AI Mode to everyone globally, after Ultra and Pro subscribers had it first. Users tell AI Mode what to watch, and Search keeps checking sites, forums, social posts, real-time data and the Shopping Graph. Robby Stein announced it on 28 September 2026 and said it reaches the Google app first.\n\n- Robby Stein, Google's VP of Product for Search, announced on 28 September 2026 that AI Mode monitoring is rolling out to everyone globally.\n- Ultra and Pro subscribers had the monitoring capability before this wider rollout.\n- Search checks changing information on sites, forums and social posts, real-time data sources and the Shopping Graph of 60B+ products.\n- AI Mode can also suggest monitoring tasks while a person searches, and Stein's examples include new restaurants, local holiday activities, back-in-stock and price drops.\n- Stein said the rollout is under way and may not be visible yet, and that users should look in the Google app.", "date_published": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "ai-search" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/bing-images-editable-labels-test", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/bing-images-editable-labels-test", "title": "Bing tests editable labels on images in search results", "summary": "Bing is testing an Editable label and an edit icon on images in Bing Search that open its AI image creation tool. Microsoft has not commented.", "content_text": "Bing is testing editable labels on images in Bing Search, in two forms: the word Editable written on the image, and an edit icon that shows a Customize label on hover. Clicking the pencil icon opens Bing's image creation tool. Sachin Patel and Khushal Bherwani spotted them, and Microsoft has not commented.\n\n- Bing is testing two ways to flag images that can be edited with its AI image feature, an Editable label and a customize button.\n- Sachin Patel spotted the Editable label written on the image itself, and Khushal Bherwani spotted the customizable button variation.\n- Barry Schwartz replicated a version with only the edit icon, which shows Customize on hover and opens Bing's image creation tool when the pencil is clicked.\n- The source mentions no Microsoft statement and no rollout scope, so this is an observed test.", "date_published": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "serp-features" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/bing-product-feature-labels-test", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/bing-product-feature-labels-test", "title": "Bing tests product feature labels on product listings", "summary": "Bing is testing short feature labels such as lightweight and performs well on product grid listings, shown as a hover overlay. Microsoft has not commented.", "content_text": "Bing is testing product feature labels on product listings in its search results. The labels are short phrases such as great for, effective, performs well and lightweight, and they show as an overlay when a user hovers over the product grid. Khushal Bherwani spotted it on X. Microsoft has not commented, and the scope is unknown.\n\n- Bing is testing short feature labels on product listings, with phrases such as great for, effective, performs well and lightweight.\n- Khushal Bherwani said the key feature label appears as an overlay while hovering over the product grid.\n- Barry Schwartz says he does not track Bing results as closely as Google, so the test may not be entirely new.\n- The source mentions no Microsoft statement and gives no rollout scope, so this is an observed test.", "date_published": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "serp-features", "ecommerce-seo" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/chatgpt-virtual-try-on-favorites-shopping", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/chatgpt-virtual-try-on-favorites-shopping", "title": "ChatGPT adds virtual try-on and Favorites for shopping", "summary": "OpenAI launched virtual try-on for clothing and accessories and a Favorites library in ChatGPT on mobile and web, announced on October 1, 2026.", "content_text": "OpenAI launched virtual try-on and Favorites in ChatGPT on October 1, 2026, on mobile and web. A \"Try on\" button appears on product listings for clothes and accessories, and a selfie generates the result with ChatGPT Images. Favorites saves products and try-on images to a Library. For merchants, the button sits on the listing itself.\n\n- OpenAI announced on October 1, 2026 the global launch of virtual try-on for clothing and accessories and of Favorites in ChatGPT on mobile and web.\n- A \"Try on\" button appears on product listings for clothes and accessories, and users take or upload a selfie to generate the result with ChatGPT Images.\n- Favorites saves products to a Library alongside try-on images, and folders can organize them.\n- OpenAI said the features use the newly launched ChatGPT Images 2.5 model.\n- OpenAI has not said how listings are sourced or ranked, so product data and images are the only levers merchants can reason about.", "date_published": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "ai-search", "ecommerce-seo" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/cloudflare-monetization-gateway-pay-per-use-beta", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/cloudflare-monetization-gateway-pay-per-use-beta", "title": "Cloudflare moves Monetization Gateway and Pay Per Use into beta", "summary": "Cloudflare put two AI payment products into beta on 30 September 2026: per-request charges for agents, and monthly payouts to publishers for reported use.", "content_text": "Cloudflare put two AI payment products into beta on 30 September 2026. Monetization Gateway lets sellers charge AI agents per request to an API, tool, dataset or site, in a closed beta for US-based sellers and buyers. Pay Per Use pays publishers when an AI company reports using their content, at a price the AI company sets.\n\n- Monetization Gateway is in closed beta for sellers and buyers based in the United States, and charges agents per request using the HTTP 402 status code and the x402 protocol.\n- Sellers write rules that set the domain, URL, price and audience, and payments settle in USDC on the Base blockchain through Coinbase's x402 Facilitator.\n- In Pay Per Use, each AI company defines the use it will pay for and sets a price, and publishers choose which offers to accept.\n- Pay Per Use depends on buyers reporting each use themselves, and Cloudflare checks only that every reported use maps to an enrolled publisher.\n- Neither Cloudflare post names the AI companies buying through Pay Per Use or reports payout figures.", "date_published": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "ai-search", "content-strategy" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/ga-app-conversions-cross-channel-reports", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/ga-app-conversions-cross-channel-reports", "title": "Google Analytics adds app conversions to cross-channel reports", "summary": "Google Analytics now supports app conversions in its performance, attribution analysis and attribution models reports. Not every property has it yet.", "content_text": "Google Analytics now includes app conversions in its cross-channel conversion reports, as announced in its release notes on 29 September 2026. Performance, attribution analysis and attribution models support them, and their attribution settings can be set separately. The feature is not on every property yet, and cross-channel budgeting still covers web only.\n\n- App conversions are now fully supported in the Conversion performance, attribution analysis and attribution models reports.\n- Attribution settings for app conversions can now be adjusted independently of web conversions.\n- Google says the feature may not be available to every property and that the team is working to expand it.\n- Cross-channel budgeting features currently support web conversions only.\n- App conversions always use Google paid channels, because the Paid and organic channels setting applies only to web conversions.", "date_published": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "analytics" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/gbp-misuse-of-support-channels-policy", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/gbp-misuse-of-support-channels-policy", "title": "Google Business Profile policy adds a misuse of support channels rule", "summary": "Google added a Misuse of support channels section to its Business Profile policies: repeated unfounded complaints can be rejected without assessment.", "content_text": "Google added a Misuse of support channels section to its Business Profile third-party policies page. It asks all Business Profile users to use support responsibly and warns that repeated unfounded submissions can result in rejection of all further complaints without assessment. Compared with a March 2026 archive copy, this section is the only substantive change.\n\n- Google's Business Profile third-party policies page now has a Misuse of support channels section.\n- The section names two examples of unfounded complaints, false or misleading reports and reports made in bad faith.\n- Google warns that repeated unfounded submissions can result in rejection of all further complaints without assessment.\n- The rule sits on a page about agencies and other third parties, but its text addresses all Google Business Profile users.\n- Compared with the Internet Archive copy of 10 March 2026, this new section is the only substantive change on the page.", "date_published": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "local-seo" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-ads-business-name-destination-domain-mismatch", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-ads-business-name-destination-domain-mismatch", "title": "Google Ads allows business name mismatch with domain", "summary": "Google Ads updated its business name requirements policy, permitting name differences from destination domains for verified brands while barring resellers.", "content_text": "Google Ads updated its Business name requirements policy to permit advertisers to use a business name that differs from their destination domain. The exception requires verified brand identity, a confirmed direct relationship with the domain owner, and direct product offerings, while explicitly barring affiliates, resellers, and secondary ticket brokers.\n\n- Google Ads introduced a narrow exception allowing business names to differ from the ad's destination domain name.\n- Qualifying advertisers must satisfy three conditions covering brand accuracy, verified domain relationship, and direct offerings.\n- Third-party resellers, independent booking intermediaries, and affiliate partners are explicitly prohibited from using the exemption.\n- The update resolves automated disapprovals previously triggered for franchisees, multi-brand companies, and corporate subsidiaries.\n- The revised policy takes effect on 16 October 2026 following notification in Google Advertising Policies Help.", "date_published": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "technical-seo", "content-strategy" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-ai-content-guidance-factcheck-critical", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-ai-content-guidance-factcheck-critical", "title": "Google says fact-checking AI content is critical before publishing", "summary": "Google updated its generative AI content guide on 1 October 2026: manually fact-check and review AI output, including titles, alt text and structured data.", "content_text": "Google now says it is critical to manually fact-check and review all AI-generated content before publishing. The 1 October 2026 update to its generative AI content guide brings in material from the Search Quality Raters guidelines. The review also covers titles, meta descriptions, structured data and image alt text.\n\n- Google's generative AI content guide now says it is critical to manually fact-check and review all AI-generated content for accuracy and trustworthiness before publishing.\n- The review also applies to metadata such as title elements, meta description elements, structured data and image alt text, which can appear in Search results.\n- Using generative AI to produce many pages without adding value for users may violate the scaled content abuse spam policy.\n- Google's documentation updates page says the change brings the guide in line with what Google presents at its developer events.", "date_published": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-02T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "ai-search", "content-strategy" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-ai-overviews-citation-cards-loading-tests", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-ai-overviews-citation-cards-loading-tests", "title": "Google tests AI Overview citations at the bottom and a loading button", "summary": "Google is testing AI Overview citation cards below the answer instead of on the right, and a loading state in place of Show more. Neither is confirmed.", "content_text": "Google is running two separate AI Overviews interface tests. In one, citation cards sit at the bottom of the answer on desktop, with the right-side citation bar removed. In the other, the Show more button is replaced by a Loading button. Search Engine Roundtable reports both from user screenshots, and neither report mentions a Google confirmation.\n\n- Glenn Gabe reported a desktop AI Overviews test where citations are stacked at the bottom of the answer and the right-side citation bar is gone.\n- Search Engine Roundtable says Google tested bottom citation cards before, in September 2025 and in March 2026.\n- A second test replaces the Show more button under AI Overviews with a Loading button, spotted by Sachin Patel and Khushal Bherwani.\n- Barry Schwartz could not reproduce the loading button, and the source mentions no Google confirmation of either test.", "date_published": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "ai-search", "serp-features" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-ai-overviews-large-brand-queries", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-ai-overviews-large-brand-queries", "title": "Google AI Overviews now show for many large brand queries", "summary": "Chris Long found AI Overviews on 93% of about 100 large brand queries he tested. Most sit mid-page, and Google and news sites are exceptions.", "content_text": "Google is showing AI Overviews for many large brand name queries. Chris Long said 93% of the brands he tested returned one, and Barry Schwartz saw the same on his own checks, apart from Google itself and news publications. Most appear lower on the page, not at the top. DemandSphere says branded AI Overviews tripled in September.\n\n- Chris Long posted on X that 93% of the brands he tested, including Reddit, Salesforce, Amazon and Adobe, now show AI Overviews.\n- Barry Schwartz says the sample is only about 100 brands, but his own checks agreed, except for Google's own name and news publications.\n- Most examples place the AI Overview below the main company result or lower on the page, and Adobe is one that shows it at the top.\n- DemandSphere said AI Overviews on branded queries tripled in September, and Search Engine Roundtable published that data as an update.", "date_published": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "ai-search", "serp-features" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-analytics-outage-restored", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-analytics-outage-restored", "title": "Google Analytics outage on 29 September 2026 is resolved", "summary": "Google confirmed a Google Analytics issue at 8:57 pm ET on 29 September and marked it resolved under an hour later. Google gave no cause.", "content_text": "Google Analytics had an outage on 29 September 2026 that Google has now resolved. Google's status dashboard logged the first report at 12:57 AM UTC on 30 September, said service was restored for some users two minutes later, and marked the issue resolved at 1:44 AM UTC. Google has given no cause.\n\n- Google's status dashboard logged \"an issue with Google Analytics\" at 12:57 AM UTC on 30 September 2026, which is 8:57 pm ET on 29 September.\n- Two minutes later Google said service had been restored for some users and expected a resolution for all users in the near future.\n- At 1:44 AM UTC Google wrote that the problem had been resolved, 47 minutes after the first update.\n- Search Engine Roundtable described the problem as Google Analytics not loading, while Google's posts do not describe the symptom or give a cause.\n- Google's updates do not say whether data collection or reporting was affected, so check your own reports for gaps around that window.", "date_published": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "analytics" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-appeals-dma-search-data-sharing", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-appeals-dma-search-data-sharing", "title": "Google appeals the EU order to share search data with rivals", "summary": "Google appealed two EU Digital Markets Act decisions on 29 September 2026. Nick Fox says Europe's Search is degraded and spam checks were pulled back.", "content_text": "Google appealed two European Commission DMA decisions at the EU General Court, one requiring it to share search data with rivals and one on Android. Google says the data order lacks sufficient anonymization. Nick Fox, who runs Search, says Europe's Search is degraded and that Google pulled back spam protections there.\n\n- Google said on 29 September 2026 that it is appealing the Commission's decisions on search data sharing and on Android at the EU General Court.\n- The Commission page says Google must share anonymised ranking, query, click and view data with eligible search engines on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.\n- Search Engine Roundtable reports a January 2027 deadline for sharing search data and a July 2027 deadline for the Android changes.\n- Nick Fox said Google had to remove features in Europe and pull back spam protections, so European users see lower-quality results.\n- Fox said people still click through to the web a lot, and that Google sends billions of clicks to it from Search and from its AI experiences.", "date_published": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "serp-features", "ai-search" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-local-panel-two-rows-mobile-buttons", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-local-panel-two-rows-mobile-buttons", "title": "Google tests two rows of buttons in the mobile local panel", "summary": "Google is testing two rows of action buttons in the mobile local panel, after earlier tests of a scrollable row and a numbered show more button.", "content_text": "Google is testing two rows of action buttons in the local panel on mobile search. Khushal Bherwani spotted it and posted a screenshot on X, and Search Engine Roundtable reported it. Google has tested a scrollable row and a numbered show more button before. The source mentions no Google confirmation, so it is an unconfirmed test.\n\n- Google is testing two rows of action buttons in the local panel within mobile search.\n- Khushal Bherwani posted a screenshot of the layout on X, and Search Engine Roundtable reported it on 29 September 2026.\n- Earlier tests showed a scrollable carousel of buttons and, in April 2026, a numbered show more button that hid some actions.\n- The source mentions no Google confirmation, rollout scope or timeline, so this is an observed test and not an announced change.", "date_published": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "local-seo", "serp-features" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-maps-service-area-pins-ocean-bug", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-maps-service-area-pins-ocean-bug", "title": "Google Maps bug puts some business pins in the ocean", "summary": "A reported Business Profile bug puts map pins in the ocean for some service area businesses that hide their address. Google has not commented.", "content_text": "A new Google Business Profile bug is reportedly placing map pins in the middle of the ocean for some service area businesses that do not show their address publicly. Dipa Gandhi reported it on LinkedIn and others confirmed it. Search Engine Roundtable says it is unclear whether Google is aware of the bug.\n\n- Dipa Gandhi reported on LinkedIn that some service area business profiles show a pin in the middle of the ocean.\n- Search Engine Roundtable says it affects service area businesses that do not list their address publicly.\n- Gandhi said Google Maps still shows the correct service area, and the profile shows the misplaced pin.\n- A few others confirmed the bug in the LinkedIn comments, and the source says it is unclear whether Google is aware of it.", "date_published": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "local-seo" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-maps-sign-in-required-all-reviews", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-maps-sign-in-required-all-reviews", "title": "Google Maps now asks you to sign in to read all reviews", "summary": "Google Maps now asks for a Google account to read all reviews, sort them or leave one. Search Engine Roundtable guesses it aims at scrapers.", "content_text": "Google Maps now requires signing in to a Google account to see all the reviews on a Business Profile listing, sort them and leave a review, Search Engine Roundtable reported. Google's prompt says sign-in lets you read and search every review and photo. Google has not stated a reason, and the source only guesses it is about scrapers.\n\n- Search Engine Roundtable reports that Google Maps now requires a Google account sign-in to see all reviews on a Business Profile listing.\n- The same sign-in is required to sort the reviews and to leave a review, among other actions.\n- Google's prompt says signing in lets you read and search through every review and photo, save places and get travel times.\n- Search Engine Roundtable guesses the change is meant to stop bots, scrapers and AI platforms, but Google has not said so.\n- Several people spotted it, including Syed Amir on X and Michael B. Snow and Jean-Sébastien Girard on LinkedIn.", "date_published": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "local-seo" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-september-2026-spam-update-weekend-impact", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-september-2026-spam-update-weekend-impact", "title": "September 2026 spam update: tools show a heavy weekend", "summary": "Rank tools showed heavy movement from 25 to 27 September 2026, days into the spam update's rollout. Google's dashboard still shows no completion entry.", "content_text": "Search Engine Roundtable reported that third-party volatility tools showed heavy movement from Friday 25 September to Sunday 27 September 2026, during the September 2026 spam update. Google's dashboard says the rollout may take up to two weeks and still shows no completion entry. What the update targets is not confirmed.\n\n- Search Engine Roundtable says rank-volatility tools showed heavy movement from 25 to 27 September 2026, with the biggest spike on Saturday.\n- These are third-party tool readings and practitioner observations, not figures from Google.\n- Glenn Gabe and Lily Ray reported drops on templated, programmatic and AI-generated pages, which are their observations and not a Google statement.\n- Google's status dashboard shows the update released on 24 September 2026 at 09:15 Pacific time and says the rollout may take up to two weeks.\n- The dashboard showed no completion entry when we checked on 1 October 2026, so the update is still rolling out.", "date_published": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "core-updates" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-sponsored-products-grid-test", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-sponsored-products-grid-test", "title": "Google tests sponsored products styled like the organic grid", "summary": "Google is testing a sponsored products block laid out like the free product grid, with a small title as the main label. Google has not confirmed the test.", "content_text": "Google is testing a sponsored products block that looks like the organic product grid in search results, not a carousel across the top or a column on the right. Brodie Clark spotted it on X and said the sponsored label is too faint and blends in. Google has not commented, and the test's reach is unknown.\n\n- Google is testing a sponsored products grid that copies the layout of the free product listings grid.\n- Search Engine Roundtable says the usual format is a carousel across the top or a block on the right, and the test replaces both.\n- Brodie Clark said the only label is a sponsored products title that he thinks is not clearly enough disclosed.\n- The source mentions no Google confirmation, no rollout scope and no click data, so this is an observed test.", "date_published": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "serp-features", "ecommerce-seo" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-web-search-service-api-docs-removed", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/google-web-search-service-api-docs-removed", "title": "Google removes Web Search Service API documentation", "summary": "Google's partner-only Web Search Service API docs were refreshed in September and now return a 404. An archived copy shows them. Google has not commented.", "content_text": "Google removed its Web Search Service API documentation, and the overview page now returns a 404. The service lets approved partners retrieve Google Search results as JSON, and Search Engine Journal covered the pages on 11 September 2026. An archived copy from 20 September still shows them. Neither source reports a Google statement.\n\n- The Web Search Service API overview page on developers.google.com now returns a 404 with no redirect.\n- The archived copy, captured on 20 September 2026, says the API lets programmatic partners retrieve Google Search results in JSON through REST or gRPC requests.\n- Search Engine Journal reported on 11 September that every request needs a client ID tied to a partner agreement, plus a Google Cloud project and API key.\n- Neither Search Engine Roundtable nor Search Engine Journal reports a Google statement about why the pages were published or pulled.\n- The Custom Search JSON API still ends on 1 January 2027, and the removal leaves Google's full-web path for existing users undocumented.", "date_published": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "technical-seo" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/merchant-center-api-help-page-rewrite", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/merchant-center-api-help-page-rewrite", "title": "Google rewrites its Merchant Center API help page", "summary": "The help page is now Google Merchant Center API, with setup steps, benefits and a note that Content API for Shopping is deprecated. We compared versions.", "content_text": "Google rewrote the Merchant Center help page for its API, renaming it from API access to Merchant Center to Google Merchant Center API. Compared with a 14 June 2026 archived copy, the new page adds benefits, setup and authentication steps, and says Merchant API replaces the Content API for Shopping, which it calls deprecated. It gives no shutdown date.\n\n- The page was renamed from \"API access to Merchant Center\" to \"Google Merchant Center API\", and its body was largely rewritten.\n- The archived 14 June 2026 version never mentioned Content API for Shopping; the new page does, and says that API is now deprecated.\n- New setup steps require a Merchant Center account, a Google Cloud project, and at least one user registered with the API developer role.\n- The page lists API-only features, naming Google Product Studio for AI-powered imagery and direct account notifications.\n- The API diagnostics section is unchanged in substance, and the new page states no sunset date for Content API for Shopping.", "date_published": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "ecommerce-seo" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/openai-licensing-deals-citation-premium", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/openai-licensing-deals-citation-premium", "title": "Publishers with OpenAI deals get 48% more ChatGPT citations", "summary": "A study joining licensing-deal records to 129.3 million AI citations finds a ChatGPT premium for OpenAI partners, but no matching edge on Google.", "content_text": "Otterly.AI and Press Ranger cross-referenced 129.3 million AI citations across seven platforms against confirmed publisher licensing deals for June 2026. Publishers with an OpenAI deal averaged 10.2 citations per cited page on ChatGPT versus 6.9 for unlicensed publishers, a 48% premium. Google and Perplexity showed no matching home-platform advantage, and the authors call the pattern an association, not a cause.\n\n- Publishers with an OpenAI licensing deal averaged 10.2 ChatGPT citations per cited page versus 6.9 for publishers with no deal, a 48% premium.\n- Publishers licensed only with OpenAI saw a 112% premium on ChatGPT specifically, the largest gap the study reports for any single platform pairing.\n- Microsoft Copilot showed an 85% premium for Microsoft-licensed publishers, the largest on the platform chart, but the authors say it is not a Microsoft effect.\n- Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode and Gemini each cited Google-licensed publishers slightly less than unlicensed publishers.\n- Perplexity showed parity between its own licensees and unlicensed publishers, with no home-platform citation advantage.", "date_published": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "ai-search" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/penske-ai-overviews-lawsuit-dismissed", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/penske-ai-overviews-lawsuit-dismissed", "title": "Court dismisses Penske's AI Overviews lawsuit against Google", "summary": "A court dismissed Penske Media's AI Overviews suit because it pleaded no actual agreement with Google. It did not rule on AI Overviews themselves.", "content_text": "A court dismissed Penske Media's lawsuit over Google's AI Overviews, finding the publisher did not plead any actual agreement with Google to sell it traffic in exchange for content, according to Search Engine Roundtable. The ruling rejects one antitrust theory. It does not decide whether AI Overviews are lawful.\n\n- The court dismissed Penske Media's suit because the publisher pleaded no actual agreement to trade traffic for content, Search Engine Roundtable reports.\n- Judge Amit P. Mehta wrote that \"an expectation is not an agreement\", rejecting the reciprocal-dealing theory.\n- The court held that automated crawling and expected referral traffic reflect general search engine functionality, not an enforceable or coercive bargain.\n- The court also said it does not treat the alleged harms lightly, so the dismissal is not a finding that publishers are unharmed.\n- Nothing in the reported ruling changes the controls publishers have over how their content appears in Google Search.", "date_published": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "ai-search" ] }, { "id": "https://seomadman.com/news/search-profiles-follow-button-desktop-removed", "url": "https://seomadman.com/news/search-profiles-follow-button-desktop-removed", "title": "Google removes the Search profile Follow button on desktop", "summary": "Google appears to have dropped the Follow button for Search profiles on desktop results, though it stays on mobile. It reportedly returned days later.", "content_text": "Google appears to have removed the Follow button for Search profiles from desktop search results, while it stays on mobile knowledge panels. Damien Andell spotted it on 25 September 2026, and Search Engine Roundtable confirmed it. A later post by Andell says the button is back. Google has made no statement.\n\n- Damien Andell reported on 25 September 2026 that the Follow button for Search profiles was gone from desktop results but still on mobile knowledge panels.\n- Barry Schwartz tested it on Lily Ray's results and saw a Search profile button on desktop but no Follow button.\n- A follow-up post by Andell on 29 September says the button is back, and that it was missing on Chrome, signed in or not, for several days.\n- Google has not commented, so it is unknown whether this was a test, a bug or a deliberate change.\n- Google's launch post says people follow sources from a profile so they are more likely to see that content on Discover.", "date_published": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "date_modified": "2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "news", "serp-features", "content-strategy" ] } ] }