The brutal reality of SEO in 2025

Credit: Frank Noon/Mousetrap media. Carly Steven, global head of SEO at MailOnline, speaking at the Newsrewired conference.

Search engines and audience behaviours are changing so quickly that what worked yesterday might be completely useless today.

Speaking at the Emerging Tech Network event, Carly Steven, global head of SEO at MailOnline said that in two decades she worked in the industry, online publishing has never felt this volatile and disrupted. People are finding and reading news in fundamentally different ways, thanks to artificial intelligence, chatbots, and new search engine features that often prevent readers from clicking through to full articles.

Steven said that Google’s updates to spam policies have been devastating to how publishers generate revenue. SEO strategies like headline writing or linking, which used to help an article rank higher in the search, do not work anymore. On the flip side, this is forcing publishers to be "brutally honest" with themselves about what really is high quality content and what matters to audiences, not just algorithms.

A new approach to audience and content

News organisations are not just sitting back and hoping things will improve. They are getting creative and rethinking everything about how they create and distribute content. The goal has shifted from simply generating website clicks to building meaningful connections with readers.

When it comes to optimising for AI overviews, Steven thinks that the technology is too young and is changing too rapidly to allow publishers to come up with a strategy. Although there are early signs that AI overviews can bring in traffic, this is not significant enough to have high hopes.

Community engagement

Thomas Mackie, head of SEO at The Sun said the publisher used to drive "billions of clicks but it did not capture them at the time". Now the team "are kicking themselves" as the traffic from Google is declining and it is much harder to generate commercial opportunities.

This time, the editorial, commercial and product teams are thinking differently. It is no longer just about publishing articles. Instead, they are creating entire experiences that provide value beyond just news. This means offering things like specialised racing content, betting tips, and community experiences that give readers a reason to keep coming back.

Build or buy?

Technology presents both an opportunity and a challenge. News organisations are constantly trying to decide whether to build their own tools or buy existing solutions. The problem is, said Steven, that technology moves so quickly that by the time a custom solution is developed, it might already be outdated.

She added that with artificial intelligence changing so rapidly, organisations often have no choice but to purchase external solutions rather than trying to build everything themselves. This requires a level of flexibility and strategic thinking that was not necessary just a few years ago.

Collaboration over competition

One of the most interesting developments is that news publishers are starting to seriously collaborate. Instead of viewing each other as competitors, they are sharing insights and creating collective strategies to address industry-wide challenges.

The "Make it Fair" campaign is a perfect example of this new collaborative approach. Publishers are recognising that they are stronger when they work together to address technological and economic challenges.

Value over volume

For those who love in-depth, quality news, these changes might actually be good news. Publishers are realising that success is not about publishing the most articles, but about creating genuinely valuable, high-quality content that serves their audience.

The digital publishing world is not dying, it is evolving. Steven noted that, in today's media landscape, simply maintaining your audience is an achievement. The most successful publishers will be those who can turn uncertainty into an opportunity for growth and innovation.

Emerging Tech Network is a platform created by Andrew Webb at Connectopia to explore the intersection of tech and media.

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