Google Confirms JPEG XL Rejection While Universal Cart Goes Live

Google's Universal Cart is now live in the US, appearing in Search and Gemini starting Friday, October 23, 2026, according to Search Engine Roundtable tracking. The rollout follows the product's demo at Google I/O in May. That confirmed launch anchors a day of mostly unconfirmed tests and one dated policy change.

Here is what the forums reported, and what remains unverified.

Does Google Search support JPEG XL?

No. John Mueller of Google confirmed the limitation on Bluesky. He wrote: "FWIW if you're hoping to get images shown in Google Images & as previews in Discover, etc - JPEG-XL is currently not supported."

This is a direct statement from a Google representative. Publishers who migrated image libraries to JPEG XL should note the caveat: "currently" implies future support, but Google gave no timeline. Sites serving JPEG XL exclusively risk invisibility in Google Images and Discover previews until the format ships. No workaround was offered.

What changed in the AI Overviews citation cards?

Google appears to be testing AI-generated summary snippets inside AI Overview citation cards. The cards on the right or bottom of AI Overviews can now show AI-written descriptions of the cited sources.

Note the wording. This is a test or a gradual rollout observed by users, not an announced feature. Google has not confirmed scope, eligibility criteria or how it selects which publishers receive generated snippets. Publishers cannot opt in or out through any documented setting at this stage.

What is new for Google Business Profiles?

Two separate developments landed in local search.

• New performance reports. Google is testing a completely revamped performance report section within Google Business Profiles. The test includes metrics on engagement, reviews, search trends and audience. It adds top recommendations and a more detailed reviews view. Again, this is a test, not a full launch.
• Google Business Home. Google launched a new home page for Business Profiles, named Google Business Home. It is a beta. Search Engine Roundtable's Barry Schwartz reported receiving an email granting access. Google described it as a beta experience, with no public date for general availability.

Local operators should treat both as experiments. Metrics in a beta report may change before wider release.

What did Google Ads and AdSense change?

Three items, one of them a firm policy change with a date.

• AdSense video policy, October 22. Google updated its AdSense Video inventory restrictions policy and removed the placement requirement and the scroll-to-sticky requirement. Google deleted this sentence from the policy: "For In-stream or Accompanying Content placements that transition to a sticky placement, the video player must start in the main content and only transition as a user scrolls the video player off the page."
• Scrolling marquee ad test. Google Ads is testing a scrolling marquee on some sponsored results in Search. One variant loads reviews, ratings, visit counts and a visit-site link. Another underlines the domain name in the ad snippet.
• Sourced videos toggle. Google Ads added a "Sourced videos" on/off toggle to the asset optimization section. The setting uses Google AI to identify relevant videos from approved sources and add them to campaigns automatically.

The AdSense change is the only confirmed, dated policy shift among the three. Advertisers reviewing the marquee and toggle features should verify them inside their own accounts, since tests rarely reach all accounts.

What else surfaced in the forums?

Several smaller items drew attention across X, Reddit and search communities.

• Google changed documentation for Discover feed tailoring. The title "Get started with Tailor your feed in Google Discover" is now "Add topics to your Discover feed using your own words." The term "Tailor Your Feed" is no longer used. Damien Andell flagged the change on X.
• Passkeys will soon be required for Merchant Center, per Menachem Ani on X.
• A Reddit user reported Google indexing their site under an FTP subdomain. The developer removed the subdomain from the server, but the URLs still appear in search results.
• PPC consultant Melissa Mackey wrote on X that a Google rep proposed increasing a client's investment by 300 percent overall, and one campaign by 1,900 percent.
• Android Authority reported that Google quietly removed a useful AI Mode feature from Search.

None of these items carries an official Google statement attached to the forum reports. The Merchant Center passkey requirement deserves the closest watch, because it will force an authentication change for every merchant when it lands.

What should site owners monitor next?

Three threads stand out. First, the JPEG XL gap: Mueller's statement sets a clear constraint for image-heavy publishers, and any Google reversal would arrive through documentation, not rumor. Second, the AI Overview citation snippets: if the test expands, publishers will want to know whether Google's generated summaries accurately describe their pages. Third, the ranking volatility. Schwartz noted continued Google search ranking volatility chatter this week, but no official core update. Chatter is a tool-signal observation, not a confirmed algorithm event, and Google has said nothing. Watch Google's status channels for an announcement before attributing traffic shifts to any update.