Google Updates Favicon Rules and Adds Fan POV Button in Search

Google now requires that Googlebot can follow redirects from a site's homepage to its favicon file — that's the confirmed headline from October 28's search forum activity, straight from updated official documentation. The doc also states plainly that these URLs must not be blocked by robots.txt or any other means. If your favicon sits behind a redirect chain your robots.txt disallows, Google Search may simply stop showing it.

What changed in the favicon documentation?

The updated guidance adds a specific crawl requirement. Googlebot must be able to travel from the homepage to the page that specifies the favicon. Any robots.txt block along that path breaks the chain. This is a confirmed documentation change, not a speculative ranking signal. Site owners should audit homepage redirects and robots.txt rules this week. The takeaway: your favicon is only as reachable as the path leading to it.

What's new in Google Ads?

The "All conversions" tab is now fully live within the Goals and Conversions section. Advertisers no longer need to click "View all conversion actions" to see everything in one place. It's a small interface change that saves one click per session.

Separately, Google is testing an Apple Messages button on sponsored search results. Message assets have run on Google search ads for years, but forum watchers say they've never seen an Apple-specific Messages button before. This is a test, not a confirmed launch — it may never roll out broadly.

What is Google doing with Business Profiles?

Two developments here, both confirmed by emails and reports Google sent to businesses:

• Google is automatically adding Facebook (Meta) Messenger M.me links to Google Business Profiles. Businesses are being notified by email. Forum observers say they haven't seen Google add m.me links before, so this appears to be a first.
• Google is asking some businesses to provide their EIN — Employer Identification Number — plus a link to their privacy policy when updating parts of their profile.

The EIN request suggests tighter verification of business identity. The m.me links suggest Google is willing to hand off messaging traffic to a rival platform, which is unusual. Takeaway: local businesses should check their profiles now, because Google is adding links they didn't request.

What interface tests are running?

Google Image Search is testing a new position for the Save button. Hover over an image and a "Save" button may appear directly, instead of requiring a click to open the preview window first.

Bing is testing a scan-to-call QR code in the desktop local pack. Click a phone icon and you get a QR code plus the written-out number. Google tested the same pattern back in 2023, so Microsoft is following a known playbook.

The more interesting test is "Fan POV." Search for [world series] and Google may show a blue button with a baseball emoji and the words "Fan POV." Clicking it opens a dialog box with customizable dropdowns, then drops you into AI Mode for expanded results. It's an interactive bridge from standard search into AI Mode, and it's currently limited to sports queries.

What else is worth watching?

Google is hiring machine learning engineers for Google Discover at all levels, with three LinkedIn postings covering sequence models built on long activity histories, generative retrieval using Semantic IDs, next-generation large-scale pre-ranking, and interest clustering. Hiring at all levels signals real investment in Discover's recommendation stack.

Elsewhere in the ecosystem: Apple released iOS 27.2 with new Siri AI languages; Google DeepMind announced Genie 4, a real-time interactive world-simulation model; OpenAI, a longtime Nvidia customer, plans to buy Google's AI chips; and Anthropic's cash and investments total $131.7 billion, per CNBC.

What should you monitor next?

Watch whether the Apple Messages ad button and the Fan POV button move beyond testing, and whether Google's EIN collection expands from a subset of businesses to all Business Profile updates — each would mark a meaningful shift in how advertisers and local merchants interact with Google's systems.