Google’s SAFE paper does not explain the September Search spam update
Google’s SAFE paper studies coordinated synthetic-video channel abuse. It does not connect the system to Search ranking or the active September spam rollout.
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SEO
Crawling, content, and measurement
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Platform changes, retrieval behavior, source attribution, and measurement without unsupported promises.
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Perplexity Photon Speeds Retrieval but Does Not Explain Citations
Perplexity’s Photon infrastructure and Fast Search mode change retrieval speed and cost. Neither explains which sources become citations, so a paired benchmark is still required.
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Google Search Console adds multimodal web reporting.
Google now separates image-involved web searches in Search Console. Here is what the new filter measures, why queries are absent, and how to compare it with Image search and AI impressions.
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Google begins September spam update with global rollout
Google says its September 2026 spam update is rolling out globally and across all languages. The rollout may take up to two weeks; Google has not identified a specific target.
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CITECHOICE Study: More Citation Credit, Uncertain First-Citation Gains
A controlled AI-search replay found more citation markers for structured source text, but no clear gain in whether a source was cited at all. Here is what publishers should measure.
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ChatGPT and Gemini Shared No Source Domains in 76.7% of Product Checks
A product-advice preprint found no shared displayed source domains in 76.7% of matched ChatGPT and Gemini checks. What the test means for AI visibility audits.
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WordPress 7.1.2 Fixes a Critical Page-Template Vulnerability
WordPress 7.1.2 patches CVE-2026-87902, a critical local file inclusion issue that can lead to code execution under specific theme and server conditions.
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Google Says Text Added With CSS Content May Not Be Indexed.
Google clarified that text inserted with the CSS content property sits outside the DOM and may not be indexed, so meaningful copy belongs in semantic HTML.
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ChatGPT Could Join UK Search Choice Screens Under New Attribution Rules
A CMA proposal could let general-purpose AI assistants qualify for UK search choice screens if they meet search, safety and source-attribution requirements.
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