UK CMA orders Google to explain how search results are ranked

Plus, Google is ordered to provide data portability to some third-party services.

Source:
Search Engine Land

Daily Search Forum Recap: June 17, 2026

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

We are seeing heated Google Search ranking volatility continue into this week…

Source:
Search Engine Roundtable

CMA Tells Google To Share How Search Results Are Ranked & Data Portability

The Competition and Markets Authority in the UK has told Google it must be transparent on how it ranks search results in Google and it must enable users to port its data to other third-party search services. I can’t imagine Google will ever share its full secret sauce on how it ranks its search results, and it is not the first time some political body has asked Google to do so, and it won’t be the last.

Source:
Search Engine Roundtable

Google Search Ranking Volatility Continues Into June 15th – 17th

I’ve been watching the chatter in the SEO industry, and honestly, it hasn’t calmed down much since my last report for the period of June 8-12. The Google search results seem more heated today, and there appears to be an unconfirmed Google search ranking update underway.

Source:
Search Engine Roundtable

Zero-Click Searches: Highest in the UK, Lowest in Germany, and France has the Most Efficient Searchers – SparkToro

Last week, we published data in concert with Similarweb showing the latest rates of Google’s Zero-Click Searches in the United States. As promised, we’re

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SparkToro

How to design AI agent loops: schedules, goals, and subagents in Claude Code and Codex

Watch now | 🎙️Every loop type explained: heartbeats, crons, goals, and subagents. Plus two live Claude Code and Codex builds that run autonomously so you never manually babysit a PR again

Source:
Lenny’s Newsletter

Meta adds expanded analytics and AI restyle options to Edits

The standalone video editing app will get comparative data features, opacity controls for stickers and text and new audience insight options.

Source:
Social Media Today – Latest News

11 Ways to Automate SEO with Agent A

11 ways to automate SEO with Agent A, from weekly site-audit PRs to monthly traffic reports. Each comes with a starter prompt to build it yourself.

Source:
General SEO – SEO Blog by Ahrefs

Bing Webmaster Tools Adds Intents, Topics, Citation Share, Compare To AI Reporting

Bing Webmaster Tools is rolling out a preview release of those new AI reporting features demonstrated at SEO Week in late April. These include Intents, Topics, Citation Share, and Compare within the AI reporting section.

Source:
Search Engine Roundtable

Pinterest launches AI-powered ad and shopping tools

The platform unveiled a business assistant for marketers and an Ask Pinterest app to help shoppers with the discovery process.

Source:
Social Media Today – Latest News

AI search adoption rises as consumer trust declines: Study

Survey data from 1,008 consumers and 150 marketers reveals how AI is reshaping search visibility, brand trust, GEO, and content strategy.

Source:
Search Engine Land

7 AI search shifts you can’t afford to ignore

Why Claude and ChatGPT surface different sources, how ChatGPT ads work, and what new AI search data means for visibility.

Source:
Search Engine Land

80% of ChatGPT product recommendations change when search is enabled: Study

Turning on search cut recommendation overlap to 19.8%, reshuffling product picks across 20,000 ChatGPT responses.

Source:
Search Engine Land

Topics matter for third-party authority signals

AI doesn’t rely on the same publishers for every query. Here’s how to find the voices shaping answers in your space and earn your place.

Source:
Search Engine Land

Reddit study highlights user purchase behavior

The research, created in partnership with WPP, examined how people on the platform gain insights into brands and make buying decisions.

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Social Media Today – Latest News

What replaces the ultimate guide in AI search

Long-form content alone no longer guarantees visibility. Learn the principles behind content AI systems retrieve and cite.

Source:
Search Engine Land

LinkedIn adds more digital skills visibility

Users can now include verifiable skills on the profiles from more than a dozen platforms including Hubspot, Fiverr and Beehiv.

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Social Media Today – Latest News

Meta updates its livestream shopping tools

The company is adding companies to its affiliate marketing program, working with more live commerce platforms and expanding live video ads.

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Social Media Today – Latest News

Meta expands live shopping ads and virtual card checkout to drive more purchases

Meta’s new shopping features aim to reduce purchase friction and help advertisers convert product discovery moments into sales.

Source:
Search Engine Land

LinkedIn adds GIF support

The update allows users to add moving animations directly to posts instead of having to convert them from other file formats.

Source:
Social Media Today – Latest News

AI referrals to travel sites surge 194% as engagement rises: Adobe

AI-referred travelers spend 70% longer on sites, engage 21% more, and bounce 41% less as the conversion gap continues to narrow.

Source:
Search Engine Land

Google Ads to automatically classify conversion-based customer lists

Advertisers are now required to give Google’s automated systems clearer signals about where audiences sit in the customer journey.

Source:
Search Engine Land

Google Ads Security Tasks Summary Tab

Google added a new summary tab to the access and security section that shows the security tasks you completed and what tasks you have not completed. Google continues to add more and more security features to the Google Ads advertiser platform in the wake of more and more security threats, including hijacking Google Ads accounts.

Source:
Search Engine Roundtable

Google Ads Updates Its Campaign Status User Interface

Google is rolling out a new look and feel for the Google Ads campaign status notifications and icons. The new statuses are no longer highlighted fully, instead they are just outlined in various colors. It makes it a bit less extreme to look at, and I am not sure if that is a good or bad change.

Source:
Search Engine Roundtable