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 Search Console performance reports may be off again. A teen SEO wants to save his family business, but Google thinks it might be too late. Google is testing white background colors for AI Overview citations. Bing is testing AI-based shopping tab recommendations. Bing is also testing larger product ad formats.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google Search Console Performance Report Impressions Spiking???
  Google Search Console's performance report may have some sort of bug or tracking issue. When you set some filters, you may see a huge spike in impressions start to show up in the report.
• Google Chimes In On Teen SEO Wants To Save Family Spain Vacation Rental
  Google's John Mueller chimed in on Reddit when a teenager of a family vacation rental business said he was trying to save his family business through SEO after being burned by previous SEOs. In short, it seems the family has a vacation rental in Spain, and business is significantly down due to the loss of Google traffic.
• Is Google Ditching Blue Background For AI Citations?
  New test places AI Overview citations on a white background without throwing any shade behind it.
• Bing Shopping Tests AI-Based Recommendations
  Bing is testing a new AI-based recommendations section in the Shopping Tab. Bing adds this block to the top of the results, and shows AI-citations at the top right.
• Bing Gives Product Ads Some Cushion
  Bing spotted testing more listings in the sponsored product section at the top of its results.

Other Great Search Threads:

• AdSense Updates for 2026 This week I had the monthly internal meeting with the #AdSense forum managers, and they presented the updates coming this year for the program. For now, I can only share what's already active for most publishers, Bruno Ramos Lara on X
• Did you know you can start partnering with YouTube creators for your performance campaigns right in Google Ads? This week, I've been in NYC for the YouTube Newfronts and sat down IRL(!) with Melissa Nikolic whose teams are building t, AdsLiaison on X
• Google now places a call to action button for posts shown in Google Discover from X, 'View on X", Radu Oncescu on X

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Heidi Sturrock shares how a costly mistake became a competitive advantage
• Google brings its Veo video generation model to Google Ads globally
• YouTube test replaces video titles with AI summaries
• The latest jobs in search marketing
• Stop chasing Reddit and Wikipedia: What actually drives AI recommendations
• ChatGPT hits $100 million in ad revenue and is opening self-serve access in April
• ChatGPT ads are showing up '" a lot
• How SEO maturity unlocked a 133x ROAS in medical device marketing
• AI-forward campaigns are a B2B growth gold mine '" if you're patient
• Google released v23.2 of the Google Ads API

Other Great Search Stories:

AI & LLMs

• OpenAI upgrades Codex to automate your workflows - and compete better with Claude Code, ZDNET
• AI overly affirms users asking for personal advice, Stanford Report
• llms.txt Was Step One. Here's the Architecture That Comes Next, Duane Forrester Decodes

Analytics

• Tracking Telephone and Email Clicks in GA4, KRM Digital Marketing
• The GA4 Audit That Used to Take 4 Hours Now Takes 4 Minutes With AI & Claude, MeasureU
• Google Tag Manager Constant Variable, KRM Digital Marketing

Industry & Business

• Apple hires Google exec to lead AI marketing, Axios
• Google's Real Time Ad Bidding Settlement Gets Final Court Nod, Bloomberg

Links & Content Marketing

• How to Find Content Ideas with Semrush, Semrush
• Measuring Content Marketing: Let the AI Agents Listen, Content Marketing Institute

SEO

• This Test Revealed an Unexpected SEO Signal Hiding in Plain Sight, Search Pilot
• Why Google's New "Google-Agent" is the Biggest Mindset Shift in SEO History, Marie Haynes
• How Google Click Signals Drive SEO Rankings and AI Answers, Zyppy Marketing
• How to Build SEO Habits that Deliver Consistent Results, Women in Tech SEO
• March 2026 Core Update: Radar, Visibility Analysis and Background, SISTRIX

PPC

• Ads Advisor AI Agent Promoted Via Email, PPC News Feed
• Increase in Batch Job Service Request Size, Google Ads Developer Blog
• New Google Ad Manager API read-only scope, Google Ads Developer Blog
• Five Ways To Boost Campaigns With Google Ads Advisors, PPC News Feed

Other Search

• TurboQuant has the potential to fundamentally change how Search (and AI) works, Marie Haynes
• Meta to Launch New AI Glasses Aimed at Prescription Wearers, Bloomberg
• How Many Google Searches Are There Per Day? Feb 2026, Exploding Topics

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, add as a preferred source on Google and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or just contact us the old fashion way.

Google Search Console's performance report may have some sort of bug or tracking issue. When you set some filters, you may see a huge spike in impressions start to show up in the report.

This may be similar to that num 100 spike we saw last year.

Brodie Clark was the first to post about this and wrote on X - he said, "there is something bizarre going on with Google Search Console data right now." He said this happens when he filters by the merchant listing filter, "using the 'merchant listings' search appearance filter, which has historically been independent of the influence of rank trackers (because of an impression being recorded only after a grid result is selected), is now a mess," he wrote.

Here is his screenshot:

Brodie added that this is across several large-scale eCommerce sites, "CTR data is no longer accurate for desktop, with there now being many queries appearing that are clearly related to tools, with significant increases in impressions from this past week in particular."

I am not sure how widespread this is, if it is limited to just the merchant listing filter or not...

Here is his post:

Heads-up: there is something bizarre going on with Google Search Console data right now.

Similar to the changes that came to light after the disabling of &num=100, impressions are again skyrocketing for specific surfaces on desktop.

For example, using the 'merchant listings''... pic.twitter.com/1uYaHiW7rh

'" Brodie Clark (@brodieseo) March 30, 2026

Forum discussion at X.

Google's John Mueller chimed in on Reddit when a teenager of a family vacation rental business said he was trying to save his family business through SEO after being burned by previous SEOs. In short, it seems the family has a vacation rental in Spain, and business is significantly down due to the loss of Google traffic.

The teenager asked a number of very specific SEO questions and added, "I am really lost and dont know how to proceed, and I CANT AFFORD to FAIL HERE."

The problem is, those specific SEO questions most likely won't make any difference. John Mueller from Google chimed in and wrote:

SEO is not magic:

Fundamentally, I think you need to keep in mind that any website with magical SEO won't necessarily rank highly in search results quickly, or necessarily drive clients to a business. If there were such a thing as making a website with perfect SEO that drives all the clients to one business, everyone here would be retired and living in ... idk, Spain :).

Competition is rough:

The online market for vacation rentals it hard, there's very strong competition from large aggregators, not just in terms of ranking, but also in terms of brand recognition. This is not to say that you can't get 40-50% more traffic from search (it really depends on the situation of the site), but this is (usually!) not a matter of just putting some meta-tags on a SEO optimized page that comes out of ChatGpt, targeting "house", "surroundings", "family vacation", etc. (Aside, keep in mind that many GenAI-made sites end up with JS frameworks that are traditionally more complex for SEO.)

And his advice:

My recommendation would be to find some more experienced folks who have time & interest in helping you check out the overall situation (what's the real headroom vs what has just changed in today's world? what's a realistic timeline - in the best/worst cases?), and help you to figure out a reasonable plan of attack. I don't think this is something that random reddit comments can solve (unless ... your site is actively blocking search engines, which it doesn't sound like it is). Ultimately, there's no guarantee that doing SEO well can solve this, so IMO it makes sense to go at this in a thoughtful & realistic way -- and perhaps, spend enough time working out alternative approaches.

You can scan through the thread and see John chime in more based on some advice around migrating stuff, which he thinks might be a bad idea.

These posts are always heartbreaking to read...

Forum discussion at Reddit.

Shockwaves were sent through the SEO industry as a new test spotted AI Overview citations with a white background, not a blue one.

Spotted by Sachin Patel on X, the citations still appear to the right of the results, but in his example are on a non-shaded background. Here are some of his screenshots:

White:

Blue:

Google is changing the color design of the AI Overview link cards. Previously, they had a blue background; now they appear with a white background @brodieseo @rustybrick @gaganghotra_ pic.twitter.com/6Z3y9U1gGT

'" Sachin Patel (@SachuPatel53124) March 27, 2026

I still see the shady AI Overviews personally:

I personally like the blue shade, it makes the citations feel more noticeable, so I can then not click on them.

Glenn Gabe and Brodie Clark also spotted these:

Oh, and the new formatting being tested for citations is also present in AI Mode. Again, the links definitely pop more... pic.twitter.com/7P8mLXxVJ2

'" Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) March 27, 2026

Google is now testing out white citation cards within AI overviews instead of the standard blue cards on desktop.

The change now draws more attention toward the in-answer bubble links that rolled out last month, which remain in blue with this experiment.

This was first'... pic.twitter.com/kbPuHTvylP

'" SERP Alert '¡ï' (@SERPalerts) March 29, 2026

Here is another:

@rustybrick did you see the Ai overview card became small? Is it new? pic.twitter.com/RfHLNK38mr

— ylsSEO (@seoyls) March 27, 2026

Forum discussion over in the shade.

Bing is testing a new AI-based recommendations section in the Shopping Tab. Bing adds this block to the top of the results, and shows AI-citations at the top right.

This was spotted by Sachin Patel who posted about it on X - here is one of his screenshots:

Here are some more:

Bing has introduced AI-based recommendations in the Shopping tab. @rustybrick @glenngabe pic.twitter.com/G6dslww3xk

'" Sachin Patel (@SachuPatel53124) March 13, 2026

I cannot seem to replicate this.

Forum discussion at X.

In his quest for the best cushions on earth, Sachin Patel has spotted another change to Bing's shopping SERP.

In this test, there is a huge section of sponsored products in a double-rowed carousel along with some cards from individual websites (organic).

As you can see in the images from Sachin's X account, the sponsored section is pretty enormous:

Bing Test: Increased the number of products added to the shopping cart through ads. @rustybrick @MordyOberstein pic.twitter.com/ru5fxJnASF

'" Sachin Patel (@SachuPatel53124) March 27, 2026

I both don't use Bing much, nor shop for cushions, so take my results with a grain of salt, as here is what I see:

I guess Sachin's format is just way better than the one I get.

Forum discussion in the comfy corner.

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 released the March 2026 core update this morning. Google Search Live is now global. Google Merchant Center to highlight vehicle ads data quality issues. Google Ads expands loyalty program. Google Ads PMax has new exclusions and reporting. Bing is testing rounded corners on short videos. And I posted the SEO video recap.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google March 2026 Core Update Is Rolling Out - First Core Update Of Year
  Google officially announced the rollout of the March 2026 core update early Friday morning at around 5:14 ET. This core update is expected to take up to 2 weeks to roll out. Google said this is a regular update designed to better surface relevant, satisfying content for searchers from all types of sites.
• Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google March 2026 Core & Spam Update, AI-Generated Title Links, Bing AI Reports Update & Much More
  This week we covered the release of the Google March 2026 core update that rolled out this morning and will take about two weeks to finish. We also covered Google March 2026 spam update that launched on March 24th and finished 19.5 hours later on March 25th...
• Google Search Live Goes Global
  Google announced Search Live has launched globally, for all languages and locations where AI Mode is available. Google said this is possible by its "new audio and voice model, Gemini 3.1 Flash Live, which delivers even more natural and intuitive conversations."
• Google Merchant Center Will Highlight Vehicle Ads Data Quality Issues
  Google announced that it will begin to highlight data quality account issues related to Vehicle ads within Google Merchant Center. This will begin in mid-April 2026.
• Google Ads Expanding Loyalty Program
  Google Ads and Merchant Center is expanding the Loyalty program features to highlight key perks, expand local and regional visibility, expand internationally and within AI Mode and Gemini.
• Google Ads PMax Audience Exclusions & New Reporting
  Google announced several new steering updates for Google Ads Performance Max including first-party audience exclusions, budget reporting, full audience reporting and network segmentation in placement reporting.
• Bing Testing Rounded Corners On Short Videos
  Microsoft Bing is testing using rounded corners on short videos and normal videos within the Bing search results interface. Bing used to show these as squared-off edges.

Other Great Search Threads:

• Google is sending out an email titled "Updates to how we verify your business details" to contact business owners. Issue: This is the same exact way scammers contact biz owners, Len on X
• Google is now nudging advertisers to apply seasonal themes (like Easter) directly inside asset groups., Arpan Banerjee on LinkedIn
• If you're still keeping an eye on ranking factors, remember that patience is at the top of the list., Marinella Himari on Bluesky

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Google adds seasonal creative theming to PMax asset groups
• If your local rankings are off, your map pin may be the reason
• Google March 2026 core update rolling out now
• Google Search Live expands globally where AI Mode is available
• Google PMax gets new exclusions, expanded reporting features
• Automated traffic is growing 8x faster than human traffic: Report
• Google-Agent user agent identifies AI agent traffic in server logs
• SMX Now: Learn how brands must adapt for AI-driven search
• The parts of Performance Max you can actually control
• Report: Clickout Media turned news sites into AI gambling hubs
• How to use first-party data to find high-impact content ideas
• Google updates structured data for forum and Q&A content
• How GSC's branded query filter changes SEO reporting and analysis
• LinkedIn Ads on a budget: How one playbook drove sub-$10 CPL

Other Great Search Stories:

AI & LLMs

• Beyond the Spreadsheet: Omnimedia Content Audits for the AI Era, iPullRank
• What AI Writing Tools Get Wrong (And The Stack I Use Instead), Ahrefs
• Where do Americans look first for breaking news information?, Pew Research Center
• 4 Prompt Tracking Mistakes — Whiteboard Friday, Moz

Industry & Business

• EU backs nude app ban and delays to landmark AI rules, The Verge
• OpenAI Surpasses $100 Million Annualized Revenue From Ads Pilot, The Information
• Publishers lose Google case, for now, The Seattle Times

Links & Content Marketing

• Content Health Gains Importance in AI World, Content Marketing Institute

Local & Maps

• Whitespark's Guide to Unstructured Citations for AI Visibility, Whitespark

SEO

• The Google Helpful Content Update And Its Relevance in 2026, Hobo
• An Ecommerce SEO Audit You Can Run Using Only Google, Intergrowth
• What is a Query Fan-Out and How Does it Work?, Foundation Inc

PPC

• Support Updates Available Via Whatsapp, PPC News Feed
• Google Ads Rolls Out Passkey Security for Account Access, PPC News Feed
• Upcoming Improvements to Offline Conversion Imports, Google Ads Developer Blog
• Veo Video Generation Now Available in Google Ads, PPC News Feed
• Data Manager Adds ActiveCampaign Integration, PPC News Feed
• Google Pickup Later Ads: Expand Local Reach Easily, Optmyzr
• I Asked ChatGPT 500 Questions. Here Are the Ads I Saw Most Often, Wired
• Themed Asset Cloning for Performance Max, PPC News Feed

Search Features

• Apple Plans to Open Up Siri to Rival AI Assistants Beyond ChatGPT in iOS 27, Bloomberg
• Gemini now lets you import chats and memory from other AI apps, 9to5Google
• Google Web Guide: What It Is, How It Works, and What It Means for SEO, Ahrefs
• How to switch to Gemini: Import your chats and data from other AI apps, Google Blog

Other Search

• Transform your headphones into a live personal translator on iOS., Google Blog

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, add as a preferred source on Google and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or just contact us the old fashion way.

This week we covered the release of the Google March 2026 core update that rolled out this morning and will take about two weeks to finish. We also covered Google March 2026 spam update that launched on March 24th and finished 19.5 hours later on March 25th. We also covered Google's confirmation of using AI to generate title links in search results. Bing Webmaster Tools AI performance report added grounding queries on the page level. Google Search Live went global. Google is testing pushing web guide with larger promotion. Google is testing a huge block of citation at the bottom of the AI Overviews. Google AI Mode changes some of the links to overlay cards, hurting clicks. The first ChatGPT ads share little information with advertisers. Google added sponsored stores to AI Mode results. Google Ads PMAX added audience exclusions and new reporting. Google Ads API version 23.2 is out. Google Merchant Center requires you gray out your buy now button for out of stock products. Bing is testing a new AI Image search. Google is testing a feature to reply to local reviews using AI. Google Business Profiles performance metrics shows offer data. And local ads are coming to Apple Maps soon. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

SPONSOR: This week's video recap is sponsored by Duda, the Professional Website Builder You Can Call Your Own.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or your favorite podcast player to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed For the original iTunes version, click here.

Search Topics of Discussion:

• 0:00 - Introduction
• 0:54 - Google March 2026 Core Update Is Rolling Out - First Core Update Of Year
• 2:05 - Google March 2026 Spam Update Unleashed (& Finished)
• 2:57 - Google Using AI to Create Title Links on SERP
• 3:22 - Bing Webmaster Tools AI Performance Reports Add Grounding Queries To Pages
• 4:05 - Google Search Live Goes Global
• 4:31 - Google Tests "Skip Digging, Start Guided Research" Driving Users to Web Guide-like Results
• 4:44 - Google Tests Huge Block of Citations at Bottom of AI Overviews
• 5:02 - Google AI Mode Tests Changing Some Links To Overlay Cards - Reducing Clicks
• 5:42 - First ChatGPT Ads Share Little Data To Advertisers
• 6:08 - Sponsored Stores Spotted in AI Mode As Google Expands Ads Across AI Surfaces
• 6:20 - Google Ads PMax Audience Exclusions & New Reporting
• 6:52 - Google Ads API Version 23.2 Now Available
• 7:00 - Google Merchant Center: Out-of-Stock Products Need Grayed Out Buy Button
• 7:22 - Microsoft Bing Tests New AI Image Search
• 7:45 - Google Tests Reply To Reviews With Al
• 8:03 - Google Business Profile Performance Metrics Offer Data Added To Help Doc
• 8:37 - Local Ads Coming To Apple Maps
• 9:02 - Conclusion

Please do subscribe on YouTube or subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

Google announced Search Live has launched globally, for all languages and locations where AI Mode is available. Google said this is possible by its "new audio and voice model, Gemini 3.1 Flash Live, which delivers even more natural and intuitive conversations."

With this expansion, people in more than 200 countries & territories can have real-time conversations with Search in AI Mode, using both voice and camera.

Google also added, "The new model is also inherently multilingual, which means that people around the world can now speak with Search in their preferred language."

To go Live with Search, simply open the Google app on Android or iOS and tap the Live icon under the Search bar. From there, you can ask your question out loud to get a helpful audio response, then continue the conversation with follow-up questions or dive deeper with helpful web links.

Here is Rajan Patel from Google talking about it:

Search Live is going global! ð Starting today, people around the world can have conversations with Search using their voice and camera. And thanks to Gemini 3.1 Flash Live, it's faster, more natural, and fully multilingual.

It's my favorite way to use AI Mode - and a total'... pic.twitter.com/0rbI9IxMGL

— Rajan Patel (@rajanpatel) March 26, 2026

Forum discussion at X.

Google announced that it will begin to highlight data quality account issues related to Vehicle ads within Google Merchant Center. This will begin in mid-April 2026.

Google said this is "to make sure your vehicles comply with Google's Vehicle ads data quality requirements, we evaluate both the submitted vehicle data and the associated website content for every vehicle uploaded to your account."

Vehicles will be disapproved if the vehicle data across your data source and landing page doesn't match. In the Merchant Center account issues page, Google will display what the issue is and how to fix it. To maintain listing approval, please monitor and resolve all warnings on the account issues page of your Merchant Center.

Here are some examples of data quality issues:

Vehicle availability mismatch:

Your vehicle's availability must be highlighted or visible on your vehicle description page.

Learn How to fix: Vehicle availability mismatch.

Vehicle condition mismatch:

The condition[condition]attribute in your data must match the condition on your vehicle description page.

Learn How to fix: Vehicle condition mismatch.

Vehicle price mismatch:

The price[price]attribute value provided in your product data and the corresponding values on your vehicle description page must match.

Learn How to fix: Vehicle price mismatch.

Vehicle mileage mismatch:

The vehicle mileage on your vehicle data and your vehicle descriptions must match.

Learn How to fix: Vehicle mileage mismatch.

Mismatched vehicle information:

The vehicle identification number (VIN), brand or model on your vehicle data and your vehicle description pages must match.

Learn How to fix: Vehicle Mismatch.

Vehicle landing page error:

The link_template, link, or ads_redirect attributes must have the correct and expected URL values for your vehicle landing pages.

Learn How to fix: Landing page error.

Forum discussion at X.

Google Ads and Merchant Center is expanding the Loyalty program features to highlight key perks, expand local and regional visibility, expand internationally and within AI Mode and Gemini.

Google wrote, "We are now expanding Loyalty program features to help you build stronger customer relationships and drive long-term growth. By integrating your loyalty benefits directly into your product listings, you can reward existing members and encourage new shoppers to join your program."

Here is what is new:

• Highlight key perks: Showcase member pricing to display exclusive discounts and member shipping to feature special delivery options directly on your listings.
• Expanded local and regional visibility: Loyalty annotations are now available for local inventory ads and regional Shopping ads, allowing you to promote in-store or region- specific member benefits.
• International expansion: Loyalty features have expanded to 14 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.
• AI-First shopping surfaces: Loyalty benefits are also showcased to shoppers on Google's AI-first surfaces, such as AI Mode and Gemini.

I spotted this via Arpan on LinkedIn who wrote, "more clicks, more loyalty is Google's 20% boost."

Forum discussion at LinkedIn.

Google officially announced the rollout of the March 2026 core update early Friday morning at around 5:14 ET. This core update is expected to take up to 2 weeks to roll out. Google said this "is a regular update designed to better surface relevant, satisfying content for searchers from all types of sites."

This is the first core update from Google in 2026, but we did recently have the March 2026 spam update earlier this week and then last month the February 2026 Discover core update.

Often these updates take longer than the time mentioned, so don't be surprised if it goes past two weeks.

Google March 2026 Core Update Quick Facts

Here are the most important things that we know right now in short form:

• Name: Google March 2026 Broad Core Update
• Launched: March 27, 2026 at around 5:14 am ET
• Rollout: Will take up to two weeks to roll out
• Targets: It looks at all types of content
• Penalty: It is not a penalty, it promotes or rewards great web pages
• Global: This is a global update impacting all regions, in all languages.
• Impact: The normal core update - updating some of the "core systems". Google said this March update is a "regular update."
• Discover: Core updates impact Google Discover and other features, also feature snippets and more.
• Recover: If you were hit by this, then you will need to look at your content and see if you can do better with Google's core update advice.
• Refreshes: Google will do periodic refreshes to this algorithm but may not communicate those updates in the future. Maybe this is what we saw the past couple of weeks or all those unconfirmed Google updates.

Google March 2026 Core Update Details

Google said this update will take about three weeks to roll out and "is a regular update designed to better surface relevant, satisfying content for searchers from all types of sites."

That is all we know right now but we will be tracking it.

Previous Broad Core Updates

Here is a list of the most recent core updates we've seen since Google started to confirm them. Previously, we nicknamed them Phantom updates or unconfirmed updates.

• December 2025 Core Update: December 11, 2025 through December 29, 2025
• June 2025 Core Update: June 30, 2025 through July 17, 2025
• March 2025 Core Update: March 13, 2025 through March 27, 2025
• December 2024 Core Update: December 12, 2024 through December 18, 2024
• November 2024 Core update: November 11, 2024 through December 5, 2024
• August 2024 Core Update : August 15, 2024 through September 3, 2024
• March 2024 Core Update : March 5, 2024 through April 19, 2024
• November 2023 Core Update : November 2, 2023 through November 28, 2023
• October 2023 Core Update: October 5, 2023 through October 19, 2023
• August 2023 Core Update: August 22, 2023 through September 7, 2023
• March 2023 Core Update: March 15, 2023 through March 28, 2023
• September 2022 Core Update: September 12, 2022 through September 26, 2022
• May 2022 Core Update: May 25, 2022 through June 9, 2022
• November 2021 Core Update: November 17, 2021 through November 30, 2021
• July 2021 Core Update: July 1, 2021 through July 12, 2021
• June 2021 Core Update: June 2, 2021 through June 12, 2021
• December 2020 Core Update: December 3, 2020 through December 16, 2020
• May 2020 Core Update: May 4, 2020 through May 18, 2020
• January 2020 Core Update: January 13, 2020 through mostly January 17, 2020
• September 2019 Core Update: September 24, 2019
• Google June 2019 Core Update: June 3, 2019 through June 8, 2019

Previous Helpful Content Update Impact

Here is the list of the previous Google helpful content updates:

• Septemebr 14, 2023 - September 2023 Google helpful content update - completing on Septmeber 28, 2023
• December 5, 2022 - December 2022 Google helpful content update, completing on January 12, 2023
• August 25, 2022 - August 2022 (original) Google helpful content update, completing on September 9, 2022

Google Tracking Tools On March 2026 Core Update

Here are what the tools are showing the day after the Google March 2026 Core Update was announced:

Semrush:

Wincher:

Advanced Web Rankings:

Zutrix:

Accuranker:

Sistrix:

Mangools:

SimilarWeb:

Wiredboard's Aggregator of Tools - this report shows the aggregate of the tools above and plots them on one chart:

Mozcast:

Data For SEO:

Algoroo:

SERPstat:

SEO Chatter on the March 2026 Core Update

It was just announced, so I will add more to this as the day goes on. Here are some of the chatter from this morning and WebmasterWorld and on this site:

They're really getting on my nerves. Guys, we've got a core update.

Yesterday I was right about Core Update. So it's here.

Looks to be a 'normal' core update with a 2 week completion date this time.

Whoa, here we go! I said this could be coming the other day! The March 2026 core update is now rolling out (on the heels of the Spam Update). https://t.co/pFaicyvLyj

'" Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) March 27, 2026

@rustybrick can we call these the 'combo updates'?! ð'

'" Aleyda Solis ðï' (@aleyda) March 27, 2026

One is about spam, one is not about spam. If with some experience, you're not sure whether your site is spam or not, it's unfortunately probably spam. (That said, I can't imagine your sites are :-).)

— John Mueller (@johnmu.com) March 27, 2026 at 8:05 AM

Forum discussion at LinkedIn, X and WebmasterWorld.

Google announced several new steering updates for Google Ads Performance Max including first-party audience exclusions, budget reporting, full audience reporting and network segmentation in placement reporting.

Google calls this, "Precision steering for your target audience" with the new "First-party audience exclusions." This enables advertisers to exclude specific customer lists from your Performance Max campaigns, and target the right customers for your business goals. For example, this can help your budget focus on acquiring new customers rather than re-engaging those who have already converted.

Also, there are new insight reports available.

(1) Budget reporting: Access the budget report directly within Performance Max to project your end-of-month spend. Use this to understand how shifting your daily budget impacts your performance.

(2) Network segmentation in placement reporting: We are rolling out the ability to segment placement reports by network. This allows you to identify where your ads have served, giving you the visibility needed to help ensure brand safety. To make it easier to find the placement report, you can now access it in the 'When and where ads showed' tab.

(3) Full audience reporting: New upgrades provide detailed performance breakdowns for different audience demographics and segments, including age range and gender.

Forum discussion at X.

Microsoft Bing is testing using rounded corners on short videos and normal videos within the Bing search results interface. Bing used to show these as squared-off edges.

This was spotted by Shameem Adhikarath who posted some screenshots on X - here is one of those screenshots:

Here are the before and after:

Bing short video with new rounded corner design. @rustybrick https://t.co/C1oZjiPXYw pic.twitter.com/8TxDYewk8d

'" Shameem Adhikarath (@shemiadhikarath) March 24, 2026

Forum discussion at X.

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.

The Google March 2026 spam update was the fastest rolling out update, starting and finishing within 24 hours. Google Ads API version 23.2 is now out. Google is testing large block citations beneath the AI Overview. Google Merchant Center requires out of stock pages to have grayed out buy now buttons. Google expanded Shopping Ads to more regions. Google AI Mode has sponsored stores ads.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google March 2026 Spam Update Unleashed (& Finished)
  Google has released the March 2026 spam update on March 24, 2026 at around 3:20 pm ET. This update applies globally and to all languages and will take a few days (not weeks) to complete. And completed at 10:40 am ET today, March 25th.
• Google Merchant Center: Out-of-Stock Products Need Grayed Out Buy Button
  Google Merchant Center updated its landing page requirements to say that products that are out of stock, those pages must have a grayed out add to cart/buy button on that page.
• Google Ads API Version 23.2 Now Available
  Google Ads has released a minor version update to the Google Ads API. We are now up to version 23.2. 23.2 adds VideoEnhancement resource, updates to HotelSettingInfo, and so many other updates.
• Sponsored Stores Spotted in AI Mode As Google Expands Ads Across AI Surfaces
  Google is continuing to expand ads across AI Mode and now there's another type of ad unit for retailers to play with. We know that AI Mode is the future of Search and that means Google will need to continue innovating on the advertising front...
• Google Tests Huge Block of Citations at Bottom of AI Overviews
  Google is running a test (or a bug) that shows a massive box of citations (massive in size, not in number of citations) at the bottom of AI Overviews.
• Google To Update Shopping Ads Political Content Policy On April 16
  Google announced it will be updating its Shopping Ads political content policy on April 16, 2026. Google said the update is to "implement additional restrictions on some political content."
• Google To Expand Shopping Ads To 15 New European Markets
  Google is reportedly expanding Shopping Ads eligibility to 15 additional European markets. This is a two phase roll out over the coming months...

Other Great Search Threads:

• There is another disturbance in the SEO Force. Google is active again and Q1 has been super volatile. Remember, Google can push what they call 'smaller core updates' outside of broad core updates. And those can still have a big impa, Glenn Gabe on X
• The goal isn't just more leads; it's better business outcomes. If you're managing lead gen campaigns, the latest episode of Ads Decoded is for you. We're diving deep into mastering lead quality in Google Ads. Key themes: Map, AdsLiaison on X
• When [Sundar] Pichai says he's taking a decade-long view of where the technology is going, it's not just a platitude. That universal assistant he wrote about in that 2016 shareholder letter? Google is on the cusp of creat, News from Google on X

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Why CPC keeps rising '" and what to do
• How to write for AI search: A playbook for machine-readable content
• Google March 2026 spam update done rolling out
• How to optimize influencer content for search everywhere
• How schema markup fits into AI search '" without the hype
• TikTok ad creative has a shorter shelf life. Here's how to keep up

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

• Best practices for Ads and Analytics Advisor, Google Blog

Industry & Business

• Apple Can 'Distill' Google's Big Gemini Model, The Information
• Meta and YouTube Found Negligent in Landmark Social Media Addiction Trial, New York Times
• The Inside Story of the Greatest Deal Google Ever Made: Buying DeepMind, Wall Street Journal
• Google top India counsel quits in latest departure amid regulatory hurdles, sources say, Reuters

Links & Content Marketing

• The New Rules of Measuring and Proving Content ROI, Content Marketing Institute

Local & Maps

• Apple Maps may soon copy one of Google Maps' more annoying features, Android Central

SEO

• How to Leverage SEO to Manage Your Brand's Reputation, Digitaloft
• March 2026 Spam Update: Visibility Data, Analysis, and Background (Updating), SISTRIX
• Marketers allocate growing shares of search spending to GEO, Digiday
• The SEO parasites buying, exploiting and ultimately killing online newsbrands, Press Gazette
• The March 2026 spam update, fast, targeted, and probably not finished, Dan Taylor SEO

PPC

• 3 Tips for Better Visuals in Looker Studio for PPC Practitioners, JumpFly Digital Marketing Blog
• Best practices for Ads and Analytics Advisor, Google Blog
• PMax Performance Dropped After a tROAS Change? 6 Steps to Troubleshoot Before You Panic, ZATO PPC Marketing
• Yahoo Wants to Turn Your Inbox and Search History Into an Advertiser's Dream, AdWeek

Search Features

• Large pastes are now handled as attachments, ChatGPT Release Notes

Other Search

• New Research: Influence Happens Everywhere, an analysis of the 5,000 most-visited sites on the mobile and desktop web, SparkToro
• TurboQuant: Redefining AI efficiency with extreme compression, Google Research Blog

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, add as a preferred source on Google and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or just contact us the old fashion way.

Google is testing a new way of showing citations in AI Overviews. Honestly, this feels like a throwback to the days of 'SGE.'

Spotted by Sachin Patel on X, the format has ginormous link cards at the bottom of the AI summary:

Google AI Overview is now showing a new type of link cards @rustybrick @brodieseo @gaganghotra_ @glenngabe pic.twitter.com/puJnYWEgqf

'" Sachin Patel (@SachuPatel53124) March 24, 2026

It's just a giant blue card broken up like a merged cell in a table that includes a thumbnail of no apparent value, the site name, favicon, description, and title.

Again, here's how the citations normally appear on the right side of the output:

It sort of feels like something just went wrong here, and the proportionally sized blue box got shoved under the output. Maybe it's a bug?

Barry previously reported on a test that shows a very similar format but in normal proportions back in 2025.

There is no way that this test gets rolled out. This thing is ugly. I guess maybe it's more noticeable, so maybe more clicks. All the more reason this test never gets rolled out.

Forum discussion rolling out.

Google Ads has released a minor version update to the Google Ads API. We are now up to version 23.2. 23.2 adds VideoEnhancement resource, updates to HotelSettingInfo, and so many other updates. Google wrote, Today, we're announcing the v23.2 release of the Google Ads API. To use the new v23.2 features, you must upgrade your client libraries and client code. All the updated client libraries and code examples have been published."

Before this release was version v23.1 in February>a and then 23 at the end of January, then version 22 on October 15, 2025, then version 21 on August 6, 2025 , then 20 on June 5, 2025, 19.1 in April 2025, then 19 in February 2025, then version 18 in October 2024. Before that was 17.1 in August 2024 and then before that was version 17.0 in June 2024 and then before that was version 16.1 and then Version 16 in February 2024. Before that was version 15 back in October 2023. Then before that was version 14.1 which was released in August. Version 13.1 preceded this new version, which was released in April 2023. Version 12.0 was released in October 2022, Version 11.0 of the Google Ads API was released in June, and version 11.1 was in August. Also Version 10.1 was released on April 27, 2022 and version 10.0 was released on February 9, 2022. And Google has sunset the AdWords API on April 27th which will completely stop working at the end of July.

Here is a screenshot of the release notes:

Forum disucssion at X.

Google is continuing to expand ads across AI Mode and now there's another type of ad unit for retailers to play with. We know that AI Mode is the future of Search and that means Google will need to continue innovating on the advertising front. In January, Google announced "new tech and tools" for retailers which included agentic commerce and direct offers for retailers. But I just spotted "Sponsored Stores" when performing an ecommerce search and that's the first time I have seen that in AI Mode.

Once I performed the search and clicked a product in the answer within AI Mode, ecommerce information was populated in the right sidebar (like it normally is). But, when scrolling through the information, I spotted "Sponsored Stores". This is a great, and easy, way for Google to generate ad revenue within AI Mode. We know a ton of people search for shopping-related information and giving retailers the ability to sponsor their store is a no-brainer in my opinion.

You can see a screenshot below of what this looks like:

And here is my tweet about this, which also contains information about "Quick results from the web", which I also found interesting. Google provided two quick links out to gap.com for the shopping query before the answer was provided in AI Mode. "Quick results" is not necessarily new, but it was interesting to see that above the answer. Note, those are organic links and not ads.

More ads in AI Mode -> Two interesting AI mode findings this morning. First, a "Sponsored stores" link when clicking a product in AI Mode. More monetization options for Google there.

Second, AI Mode provided "Quick results from the web" at the top of the response (driving me'... pic.twitter.com/grEnmxu3gk

'" Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) March 25, 2026

Again, it will be interesting to see how Google innovates on the ad side when it comes to AI surfaces like AI Mode. Sponsored Stores is another option for retailers. Keep your eyes peeled for the new ad unit when using AI Mode.

GG

Google announced it will be updating its Shopping Ads political content policy on April 16, 2026. Google said the update is to "implement additional restrictions on some political content."

Several countries are impacted, including the United States. This policy update will only apply to Shopping ads. Merchants running Shopping ads featuring some political content in the following countries will require merchants to verify their Google Ads account as an election advertiser:

• Argentina
• Australia
• Chile
• Israel
• Mexico
• New Zealand
• South Africa
• United Kingdom
• United States

Google said it will also prohibit some Shopping Ads featuring political content in India.

You can find the updated policy language here explaining which types of content will require election ads verification. You can apply for election ads verification here.

Forum discussion at X.

Google Merchant Center updated its landing page requirements to say that products that are out of stock, those pages must have a grayed out add to cart/buy button on that page.

The document says, "For 'out of stock' items, the 'Buy' button must be greyed out on your product landing page." Here is that section:

Make sure availability matches your product data, and that products can successfully be added to a cart and delivered to a customer. For example, if a product is out of stock on your landing page, then update the availability [availability] attribute in your product data to match. That way, users won't try to purchase a product that you don't have in stock. For 'out of stock' items, the 'Buy' button must be greyed out on your product landing page.

This change was spotted by Emmanuel Flossie who wrote, "Hiding the button is not allowed. Leaving it fully clickable is not allowed. What you need to do now is disable the button."

Here is his video explaining this:

Forum discussion at LinkedIn.