Google Search
News on Google Search features, ads and documentation that shape how Google’s AI describes and links to sites and brands.
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Google opens a preview platform for brands to plug their apps into Search and Gemini
Google’s Connected Apps Platform preview lets developers submit apps for Search and the Gemini app, with traffic, latency and error tracking. Access is phased, and Google has not said how connected apps are surfaced.
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Google expands ads in AI Mode to Australia and nine other countries, and adds ads on follow-up questions in the US
Google says it is scaling ads in AI Mode to 10 more countries, including Australia, and launching multiturn ads on follow-up questions in the US. It says sponsored and organic click-through rates are similar but gives no figures.
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AI crawler directory: who crawls your site for AI, and how to control it
Who runs each AI crawler, what it is for and whether robots.txt controls it, taken only from the operators’ own documentation. Unverified bots are listed separately.
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What Google actually says about AI Overviews and AI Mode
Google’s own documentation, quoted and dated: who is eligible, how query fan-out works, what Search Console now reports and which controls exist. Where Google is silent, we say so.
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Google says robots.txt governs crawling, not use, and lists its AI Search controls
A Google video and a documentation update on Oct. 21 separate controlling crawling from controlling use in AI Overviews and AI Mode. A standardized robots.txt rule for AI-use preferences is still only an IETF draft.
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Google Search ads now carry AI-written review summaries that are positive only
A Google Ads help page says AI-generated review summaries in Search ads are positive only, cannot be edited by advertisers, and appear when Google predicts they will improve ad performance.
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Google says AI Mode and AI Overviews will show links higher, but gives no placement or click data
Google says inline links will sit higher in AI responses and is testing a section for official websites. It gave no figures on link placement or clicks, so site owners have little to test the claim against.