July 2026 Google Webmaster Report: Google Spam Update, SEO, Search Console, AI & More – Search Engine Roundtable

Here is the monthly Google Webmaster report, where I summarize the major organic Google Search news and SEO topics from the past month. The big news was the Google June 2026 spam update, which took only two days to roll out and felt like it started earlier and was substantial. There were a few other unconfirmed Google search ranking updates in the past month.
Google’s Head of Search, Liz Reid, said it was great content to shine in Google Search. Google’s search team spoke about chunking, site signals, content, paywalls, AI clicks and more. Google also updated its help documents on SEO advice from third-party tools and others. Google said LLMS.txt files won’t help or hurt you in Google Search.
Google Search Console expanded access to the AI performance reports and posted a deep dive help document on AI controls. Google also fixed the link report bugs in Search Console but had other outages with other reports this month. We are also expecting a new platform property tooltip feature from Search Console.
Google launched Search Profiles and was quick to give us analytics for that. Google is testing a lot of new user interfaces and search features, including updates to Google Business Profiles.
The CMA ordered Google to share how its rankings work and there is an updated zero click report.
If you missed last month, you can read the June 2026 Google Webmaster Report.
Here are the bigger stories from the past month:
Google Updates & Spam Update:

• Google June 2026 Spam Update Has Been Released
• Google June 2026 Spam Update Has Finished Rolling Out
• Google Search Ranking Update Hits Friday June 19th Impacting Black Hats?
• Google Search Ranking Volatility Continues Into This Week
• Google Search Ranking Volatility This Week: June 8-12
• Google Search Ranking Volatility This Weekend – Around June 6th

Google SEO:

• Google’s Head Of Search – Liz Reid: We Want Great Content To Shine
• Google Speaks On Chunking, Site Signals, Content, Paywalls & AI Clicks
• New Google Document On Third-Party SEO Tools, Services & Advice
• Google Updates Its Hiring An SEO Doc Warning On SEO Tools & AI Optimization
• Google: LLMS.txt Files Won’t Help Or Hurt Your Search Rankings
• Google: HTML The Standard For SEO, Not Markdown Files
• Google: For Site Moves, Add All Domain Variants To Change Of Address Tool
• Google: Site Move Outcomes Impossible To Fully Know Ahead Of Time
• Google: No Practical SEO Difference By Going With Folder For US Site
• Google Creates Subscription Linking For News Publishers
• Google Sends Searchers To Site-Hosted AMP Pages Instead Of Cached Page

Google Search Console:

• Google Search Console AI Performance Report Rolling Out To More
• Google: When AI Performance Reports Count Impressions
• Google’s Deep Dive On Google Search Generative AI Controls
• Google Search Console Link Report Finally Fixed & Updated
• Google Search Console Page Indexing Report Delayed By Two Weeks Again
• Google Search Console Has First Generative AI Reporting Bug On June 24
• New Google Search Console Tool/Report: Platform Property Tooltips

Google User Interface & Search Features:

• Google Search Profiles: Publisher Profile Pages Officially Live
• Google Search Profiles Insights & Analytics
• Google AI Mode Improves Links For Recipes, Again
• Google AI Overviews Tests Button To Go To Only Web Results
• Google Begins Rollout Of Top Stories Carousel In AI Overviews
• Google AI Mode Tests Citation Counts & Favicons Under Results
• Google AI Mode Ask Anything Box With Autocomplete
• Google Search Rolls Out Information Agents In AI Mode For A Fee
• Fraudulent DMCA Takedowns Wreak Havoc In Google Search

Google Business Profiles & Local:

• Gemini Can Help With Your Google Business Profiles
• Coming Soon: Connecting Google Business Profile To Google Analytics
• Google Business Profiles Adds Message Button With AI Agent
• Google Dialog: Does This Business Offer Rewards In Exchange For Reviews
• Google Business Profiles New Collected Info Actions
• Google Maps: Hot Pink Live Time Alerts

Business & Industry:

• CMA: Google Must Share How Search Results Are Ranked & Data Portability
• Report: Google Zero Click Searches To Open Web Fall To 27.6%

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
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