Google began rolling out its November 2026 core update on November 10, and its Search Status Dashboard says it may take up to 2 weeks, putting the latest finish at November 24, three days before Black Friday. PPC Land notes that a full-length rollout means Google's advised week of clean comparison data won't exist until December 1. Google is also expanding AI Mode ads to at least 10 more countries and launching multiturn ads in the U.S., Search Engine Journal reported, while AI Mode results stay blended into campaign totals with no separate CPA or ROAS. Our earlier look at ads moving into AI answers found almost all performance figures for these placements come from the platforms.
The strain on search budgets is visible. Six advertisers and agency executives told The Information they moved Google budgets to Meta, AdExchanger reported, and Pipedrive's CEO tied a restructuring to falling free traffic as small firms ask AI for software, Journal du Net reports. OpenAI is building the alternative: Businesses in ChatGPT, in beta, lets verified businesses claim profiles, add product feeds and see mention and click data, and Search Engine Roundtable reports ChatGPT appears to show ads while generating images.
On agent access, eBay appears to block outside agents such as Meta's Muse, according to The Verge; an eBay spokesperson said it restricts access in certain cases, including unauthorized scraping. Meta, meanwhile, brought Muse to Mexico with 8 brand connectors, including Walmart México, while Amazon and Mercado Libre are absent, Marketing4eCommerce noted. Both sit within the story of retailers picking sides on outside AI shopping agents.
Brands are adjusting too. Mars told Digiday it is mapping its brands' LLM visibility. Amazon Ads pitched outcome-based buying, though Forrester says its long-term sales metric is not causal. Shopify's Campaign Autopilot charges merchants only per sale, a Shopify executive told AdExchanger, and Reddit rolled out AI-organized product reviews to all U.S. users.
Among AI vendors, Anthropic launched workplace apps including Claude Sheets and opened its IPO roadshow at $70–$78 a share, part of the Anthropic IPO story. Google released Gemini 4 Carbon at $2 per million input tokens, a price The Verge reports doubles at the end of November. OpenAI acquired travel agent Odessia, and New York opened registration for frontier AI labs.
The next test is Mexico's Buen Fin, which runs November 13–17, when Muse's connector brands get their first real shopping period; Marketing4eCommerce says no Mexican usage data exists yet. EU sellers should also watch for the Digital Fairness Act draft, which t3n reported the Commission was expected to present Wednesday.