ARTICLES

News and guides

Web and AI news in plain English, for people who commission or run websites and web apps. Every article links to its sources.

Guide2026.10.17
Guide: Google Evaluates Your Mobile Site First - What to Check
Google uses the mobile version of a site's content for indexing and ranking, known as mobile-first indexing. Based on Google Search Central's documentation, here is what to check on a business site.
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AI2026.10.17
Microsoft Launches Copilot for Legal to Help Draft and Review Contracts
On October 15, 2026, Microsoft made more than 20 legal skills in Microsoft Copilot generally available worldwide, helping users draft and review contracts and track deadlines and obligations in Word.
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Web2026.10.16
Google Business Profile adds gluten-free and other dietary labels to menus
Search Engine Roundtable reports that restaurants can now tag menu items in Google Business Profile as gluten-free, dairy-free, halal or kosher. Previously only vegetarian and vegan were offered.
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Web2026.10.16
Google expands links to websites in AI Overviews and AI Mode
On October 15, Google announced several changes to how AI Overviews and AI Mode link to websites, including more links in answers and a test showing official pages for completing tasks at the top.
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Web2026.10.12
Search Console Performance Report Reportedly Running Far Behind
According to Search Engine Roundtable, the Search Console performance report was lagging by dozens of hours as of October 11. No official comment from Google has been confirmed.
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Guide2026.10.12
Guide: How to Reply to Reviews on a Google Business Profile
Based on Google's official help: how to reply to reviews on a Business Profile, how a reply gets published, how to edit or delete it, and how to report inappropriate reviews.
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Guide2026.10.11
How to Read the Search Console Performance Report
The four metrics in Search Console's Performance report (clicks, impressions, CTR, average position), the views you can switch between, and cautions when reading it, per Google's help.
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Web2026.10.10
Google's September 2026 Spam Update Finished Rolling Out on October 8
Google said the spam update that began on September 24 finished rolling out on October 8. Search Engine Roundtable reports it took about two weeks, versus about two days for recent updates.
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AI2026.10.10
ChatGPT Adds Audio File Uploads for Transcription and Summaries
According to ITmedia AI+, ChatGPT now accepts audio file uploads for paid users, with transcription, summaries and questions about the content. The file size limit is 512 MB.
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Web2026.10.08
Google reportedly stops showing review stars for healthcare web pages
Search Engine Roundtable reports that Schema App says star ratings and other review snippets no longer appear for healthcare pages in Google results, even with correct structured data.
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AI2026.10.07
OpenAI to Add Invisible Watermarks to ChatGPT Text in the EU
TechCrunch reports that OpenAI will watermark text generated by ChatGPT and Codex for EU users, in line with EU AI Act transparency rules. API developers can opt in on some models.
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Web2026.10.07
Google Updates Its Crawl Rate Guide to Spell Out Retry-After Use
Google reorganized its guide on reducing crawl rate and added how to send Retry-After with 503 or 429 responses, Search Engine Roundtable reported on October 6.
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Web2026.10.06
Google Shares Rough Timelines for Crawling, Indexing and Serving in Search
Google's Gary Illyes reportedly shared example timings at a European event: discovering a new URL typically takes about 20 hours, and a title change usually shows up in one to two days.
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AI2026.10.06
OpenAI to Test a Visual Ad Format Shown During ChatGPT Image Generation
OpenAI announced an ad format shown while ChatGPT generates images. Testing is reported to start in late October with some US advertisers, with wider measurement integrations.
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AI2026.10.05
Google Pauses Open Source Bug Bounty Over a Surge in AI-Generated Reports
TechCrunch reports Google paused its open source bug bounty program on October 1, citing a surge of invalid AI-generated reports. Restart details are due in Q1 2027.
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Guide2026.10.05
Guide: The Three Factors Behind Google Business Profile Local Rankings
According to Google Business Profile Help, local rankings depend on relevance, distance and prominence. Here is what owners can update themselves, and why rankings cannot be bought.
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Web2026.10.04
Google's September 2026 spam update reportedly hit a second phase on Sept 30
Google began a spam update on September 24. Search Engine Roundtable reports a second phase on Sept 30 to Oct 1 after a first wave on Sept 25-27; the rollout should take about two weeks.
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AI2026.10.04
Apple to tighten macOS Full Disk Access as AI agents raise new risks
Apple says it will tighten how macOS handles Full Disk Access, TechCrunch reported on October 2, citing the risk that AI agents gain broad access to messages, mail and other personal data.
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Web2026.10.02
Google Search Central updates its guidance on generative AI content
On October 1, 2026, Google updated Search Central's guidance on generative AI content, adding information from the Search Quality Rater Guidelines to match what it presented at a developer event.
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AI2026.10.02
Google unveils Gemini 4 Argon, limited at first to trusted cyber defenders
On October 1, 2026, Google announced Gemini 4 Argon, a new model said to excel at finding and fixing software flaws. It starts with trusted cyber defenders; wider availability has no date yet.
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Articles are also published in Japanese for our Japanese readers.

Guide: Google Evaluates Your Mobile Site First - What to Check

Microsoft Launches Copilot for Legal to Help Draft and Review Contracts

Google Business Profile adds gluten-free and other dietary labels to menus

Google expands links to websites in AI Overviews and AI Mode

Search Console Performance Report Reportedly Running Far Behind

Guide: How to Reply to Reviews on a Google Business Profile

How to Read the Search Console Performance Report

Google's September 2026 Spam Update Finished Rolling Out on October 8

ChatGPT Adds Audio File Uploads for Transcription and Summaries

Google reportedly stops showing review stars for healthcare web pages

OpenAI to Add Invisible Watermarks to ChatGPT Text in the EU

Google Updates Its Crawl Rate Guide to Spell Out Retry-After Use

Google Shares Rough Timelines for Crawling, Indexing and Serving in Search

OpenAI to Test a Visual Ad Format Shown During ChatGPT Image Generation

Google Pauses Open Source Bug Bounty Over a Surge in AI-Generated Reports

Guide: The Three Factors Behind Google Business Profile Local Rankings

Google's September 2026 spam update reportedly hit a second phase on Sept 30

Apple to tighten macOS Full Disk Access as AI agents raise new risks

Google Search Central updates its guidance on generative AI content

Google unveils Gemini 4 Argon, limited at first to trusted cyber defenders