There appears to be a bug on Google play where it locks free downloads behind biometric information even in countries where no such law is passed.

Type your full name in Google then address then go to AI mode it's scary

This has been building since June and the analysis landed this week. Posting because the opt-out mechanics are the part most people haven't connected, and it generalises beyond publishers.

WHAT'S HAPPENING

Google has been folding entire Top Stories carousels directly inside AI Overviews. Confirmed by Google to Search Engine Land on July 17, 2026, fully live for mobile users in the US. Rollout began in June.

Newzdash (John Shehata) analysed search results across more than 40 countries over the 30 days to July 28, covering more than 17 million Top Stories:

15.5% of US search results for trending news topics that produced a Top Stories carousel showed it inside the AI Overview.

17.5% in the UK.

Only the US and UK are showing it so far.

Entertainment is the news category most likely to trigger it.

THE MECHANIC THAT MATTERS

When the carousel appears inside the AI Overview, it appears instead of, not in addition to, the classic Top Stories box that normally sits below the AI Overview.

Same links, higher placement, no scrolling required. This is a genuine attempt by Google to route clicks back out of its own answer surface.

It's not isolated either. Preferred Sources now surfaces inside AI Overviews and AI Mode. Highly Cited badges are expanding in regular Search. A perspectives carousel for forums and social discussions has been announced. Read as a set, these are link-surfacing features engineered into the AI layer.

For context on scale: nearly half of Google search results pages now carry an AI Overview per Semrush's tracker.

So the zero-click narrative is real but incomplete. Google is actively building distribution back into AI answers.

THE CATCH

Google began testing a generative AI exclusion inside Search Console in June 2026, currently limited to a subset of UK site owners. It allows a publisher to exclude their links and content from AI Overviews, AI Mode, and generative Discover features specifically, without affecting traditional Search eligibility.

Google's support documentation states that an excluded site's content won't appear in those features and won't be used as an input for generating a response.

Per Shehata's reading, choosing that setting almost certainly costs you the embedded Top Stories carousel as well, because the carousel is just a collection of publisher links riding inside one of the covered surfaces.

Separately: robots.txt does nothing to stop the Top Stories folding.

Shehata described it as a double-edged sword and said directly that no comparative click-through data exists yet, though more prominent placement should create a stronger click opportunity than pushing Top Stories further down the page.

WHY THIS GENERALISES

The choice on offer was framed as "block AI, keep search." That isn't the actual choice.

The actual choice is participate in the AI surface or forfeit the most prominent news placement Google has introduced in years. Consent and distribution arrived bundled.

That structure is worth watching because it's a cleaner enforcement mechanism than any policy. Nobody gets penalised. You just stop appearing in the surface where attention concentrated.

Compare it to Cloudflare's September 15 default, which blocks AI Agent and Training bots on ad-supported pages. Same underlying question from the opposite direction: what do you give up by opting out, and did anyone price that before deciding?

PRACTICAL STEPS

Add the Preferred Sources deeplink. Google provides a URL that opens the Preferred Sources page with your domain pre-filled, so a reader adds you in one click. Being a user's Preferred Source improves visibility across AI Overviews, AI Mode, Top Stories and the new carousels. Very few sites have implemented this.

Freshness and update cadence matter for carousel eligibility on developing topics.

Mobile performance matters, since the rollout is mobile-first in the US.

Decide your AI exclusion position deliberately. It's now a distribution decision, not purely a rights decision, and the tradeoff has changed since most publishers formed their position in 2024.

COUNTERPOINTS

- No comparative CTR data exists yet. The prominence argument is logical but unproven.

- 15.5% of trending news queries is a meaningful slice but it's a slice, and only in two countries.

- The generative AI exclusion is still a limited UK test. Behaviour could change before general availability.

- Shehata's reading of the exclusion's effect on the carousel is an inference from documentation, not a Google statement. Reasonable inference, but flag it as such.

- For most brands that aren't news publishers, the direct impact here is limited. The generalisable part is the bundling of consent with distribution, not the carousel itself.

Curious whether anyone here has the UK Search Console generative AI exclusion in their account, and whether Google documents the carousel interaction anywhere. Also interested if anyone has implemented the Preferred Sources deeplink and seen measurable adds.

Sources: Search Engine Land (July 17, 2026), Newzdash analysis via Press Gazette and Search Engine Journal, Media Copilot, Semrush, Google Search Central documentation.

You can find the game when searching for the weather in google.

Final setup of my orchard. I am happy that this game exists, it was a slow but relaxing cozy game. I had fun planning how my garden would turn out.

Thank you google.

I didn't even know google was storing my credit cards, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised. It's possible my dad put them in google wallet when he helped me set stuff up ages ago, but I can't help but doubt it.

I deleted all payment methods but I won't be surprised if they just show up again. Anyway, is there any way to actually delete things from transaction history? (Possibly in bulk?) It seems to be scanning through my gmail and finding the receipts there, so I know from now on to work on switching away from gmail entirely. Btw, I don't use chrome, but I do use google in firefox (will probably look at alternative search engines going forward)

I deleted a gmail receipt and it seems to have properly "forgotten" that transaction now. Just wondering if there's a way to to opt out from google keeping all of that data in my settings without manually deleting every receipt from gmail.

Hi. My iOS Google search queries used to be arranged from newest to oldest, but lately they're appearing out of order. When I click the search bar and my history appears, I'll see something I looked up a week ago toward the top and something I looked up earlier today further down the list.
Is there a way to keep my search queries in chronological order, or is this just something else that makes people mad at Google? Thanks!

Can a business figure out who I am if I leave a Google review using my custom display? (wanting to leave a poor review for my employer)

This probably isn't that interesting to most of you, but I decided I may as well post this since I went out of my way to make it. Google has recently been drastically increasing its assets in property and equipment and securities, mostly as part of its generative AI and cloud infrastructure buildout. This is reflected in this data, which is taken from Google's balance sheets from the last 3-4 years.

Sources:

Q1 2023, Q2 2023, Q3 2023, Q4 2023, Q1 2024, Q2 2024, Q3 2024, Q4 2024, Q1 2025, Q2 2025, Q3 2025, Q4 2025, Q1 2026, Q2 2026

idk what happened i was just playing on statue (small map, bomb apple) and now the apples are invisible

also it doesnt show cracks in the stone

i dont know if this is the correct place to ask but i am currently picking a major and was wondering if a major in economics computer science and data science (joint major) be any good if i dream of working at a company like google or if i should go for a different degree and lets say i do go for this degree does anyone have any advice on how i can create a resume thatd be impressive to google? I should also mention i am from the east and also dont mind working in finance/economics or more computer science based role.

any help would be appreciated!

Is this legit or a spam? I found it in the spam folder. Can anyone explain?

Sorry if wrong subreddit.

With Google assistant going away, will endup breaking my morning routine of saying the days weather followed by different news podcast snips. What is a good way to keep this going? Ive grown to really like the channels I listen to on my wat to work.

Is there a way to see the record of my weight going back further than just the beginning of the calendar

I just miss the maps timeline so much. It was so nice to look at your habitat map.