Daily Search Forum Recap: September 18, 2025

09/18/25
Source: Search Engine Roundtable by barry@rustybrick.com (Barry Schwartz). Read the original article

TL;DR Summary of Daily Search Forum Recap: Key Google Updates and Insights

Today’s search forums highlighted several important Google updates, including Google’s confirmation that the Search Console impressions dip reflects real impressions. Google briefly posted, then closed, a job for an anti-scraper engineering analyst. New AI features like the “Ask about any item” dialog overlay were introduced. Additionally, Google officially launched the Discover follow feature and re-announced its top quality store website badges to boost shopper confidence online.

Optimixed’s Overview: Latest Google Search Console Changes and Emerging Features to Watch

Insights Into Google Search Console Impressions and Job Postings

John Mueller from Google addressed the recent impressions dip in the Search Console, clarifying that the drop represents real impressions rather than a reporting error. This shift followed Google’s removal of the 100 results per page feature, which disrupted many third-party SEO tools.

Separately, Google’s brief posting of a Senior Engineering Analyst, Search, Anti-Scraper role attracted significant interest but was closed within a week, suggesting internal strategic shifts in combating content scraping.

Advancements in Google AI and Store Features

  • Google AI Mode now includes a new dialog overlay titled “Ask about any item”, enhancing product and local result comparisons via interactive AI-driven questions.
  • The store widget, which allows embedding Google Store ratings on websites, was re-announced to encourage higher shopper trust, though it has existed since at least last year.

Official Updates to Google Discover and Content Integration

Google has formally rolled out the Discover follow feature, enabling users to follow topics more easily within the feed. Furthermore, Google confirmed increased inclusion of creator content from platforms like X, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts, enriching the Discover experience with diverse media.

Additional Search Industry Observations

  • Ongoing sitelinks testing shows possible new behaviors, such as indented sitelinks pointing to subdomains.
  • Crawling activity is fluctuating for some sites due to recent Google fixes affecting drops earlier this year.
  • Important updates on EU political ad verification processes and upcoming browser support for Core Web Vitals metrics like LCP and INP are being tracked.

These developments collectively highlight Google’s continuous efforts to refine search quality, combat web scraping, and integrate AI-powered user experiences across its platforms.