Buckle up, news SEOs! 2024 is shaping up to be a wild ride through the ever-evolving SEO landscape.

As we enter 2024, the world of news SEO is poised for significant disruption driven by developments in artificial intelligence (AI) and shifts in Google's search algorithms. To help publishers navigate this landscape, we surveyed top news SEO experts across the industry to capture their insights and predictions.

In the in-depth article that follows, top News SEO experts weigh in on the key trends, priorities, threats, and challenges that news SEOs will encounter in the coming year. They provide tactical advice in areas ranging from content quality to audience relationships to optimizing for AI.

The overarching theme across 2024 predictions is the need for news SEOs to focus on distinctive, high-quality journalism while demonstrating expertise and flexibility. Mastering the responsible use of AI in content and preparing for further Google algorithm volatility also emerge as critical.

Above all, news SEOs must prioritize building trust and loyalty with their audiences in 2024 as the pace of change accelerates. Read on for a comprehensive overview of expert insights on thriving in the age of news SEO.

Check past years predictions: 2021, 2022, and 2023.

 

Top Predictions for News SEO in 2024 - TL;DR:

Content:

• Quality reigns supreme: Great content that explains things well, breaks stories, and provides evidence will be rewarded. AI-generated content can be helpful, but only if it meets these standards.
• Focus on expertise: Build a strong reputation as a reliable source in your niche. Google values E-E-A-T (Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness).
• New formats: Experiment with video, podcasts, and other formats to reach your audience.
• Establishing niche authority and trust signals helps stand out from AI content clutter

AI:

• Embrace AI, but use it wisely: AI tools can be helpful for optimizing content and workflow, but don't rely solely on them. Maintain a human touch in your content.
• Understand Google Search Generative Experience (SGE): Learn how SGE works and create content that answers questions and complements evergreen explainers.
• Fight AI-generated spam: Google is aware of this issue and might develop new algorithms to combat it. Focus on high-quality content to stay ahead of the curve.

Other trends:

• Direct audience relationships: Build strong connections with your audience through newsletters, social media, and other channels.
• Non-Google platforms: Pay attention to emerging platforms like TikTok and Reddit, and adjust your content strategy accordingly.
• Technical SEO: Focus on speed, indexing, and other technical factors to provide the best user experience.
• Personalization: Google will personalize search results even more. Optimize your content for personalized queries.
• Building reader relationships and subscriptions is crucial as search traffic grows more volatile

Overall:

• 2024 will be a year of change and adaptation for News SEO.
• More Google algorithm shakeups expected as they address AI content issues
• Focus on quality, expertise, and user experience.
• Understand and adapt to AI developments like SGE.
• Build strong relationships with your audience.
• Be prepared for continued volatility in search results.

Challenges:

• Shortage of talent - advanced SEO skills needed to navigate complexity
• Budget limitations hinder ability to experiment and keep up with changes
• Lack of tools specifically for news SEO analysis and optimization
• Over-reliance on volatile search traffic vs. direct audience relationships
• Faith in Google as a consistent traffic source is declining
• Potential traffic threat from new features like SGE if not optimized properly

In summary, the experts emphasize original reporting, audience loyalty, platform flexibility, demonstrated expertise, site performance, and concentrated strategies as news SEO keys in 2024 while noting talent and tools gaps plus traffic volatility threats.

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Here is the full predictions & challenges by the top SEO Experts for News in 2024:

 

 Barry Schwartz

Content is King (and Queen!): Focus on Quality and Expertise

It really is all about the content - content quality. Is your content great? Are you able to explain things to your readers better than others. Are you breaking the story? Are you providing evidence and sources? People need to trust content more online and Google needs to trust that content as well.

• What is the biggest challenge facing News SEOs teams? 
  • Shortage of Talent
• What do you think will be the biggest Changes in Google that News SEOs should pay attention to and prepare for in 2024 for greater News SEO success?
  • I am eager to see how Google continues to handle AI generated news stories in 2024, if policies need to change on Google's end and the publishers end. A lot of news organizations use AI often as part of their strategy. AI will be something to pay attention to in 2024.
• Is Google SGE a threat to publishers traffic? Why?
  • Maybe. I do think Google knows they need to link to publisher content for the ecosystem to continue to work.  But in the short term, there is a lot of concern about how SGE will hurt publishers.
• Should Google Discover be a top priority for News SEOs in 2024? Why?
  • Maybe. You really can't control Discover and there is not much you can do outside of normal SEO that you would do anyway for your news SEO strategy.  If you get getting zero Discover traffic to your news site, then yea, it should be a priority to know why.  But overall, don't get nervous about ups and downs with Discover traffic. 

— Barry Schwartz is the CEO of RustyBrick, founder of Search Engine Roundtable and Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land.

 

 John Shehata

Ride the AI Wave, Embrace Short Videos, and Conquer "Perspectives"

AI Content Flood? Quality Content Still Reigns Supreme: Buckle up for a tsunami of AI-generated content, but fear not! Google's bar for "helpful" content and E-E-A-T (Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) is rising rapidly. Focus on original, high-quality content by authoritative authors to stand out from the automated noise. Google's algorithm updates will reward genuine expertise and punish spammy tactics, so prioritize building genuine trust with your audience.

AI in the Newsroom can be greatly helpful with speeding up the workflow. Focus less on AI_generated Content and more on AI-guided content. 

Forget the SGE Traffic Apocalypse: While Search Generative Experience (SGE) may scare some with its AI summaries, it won't be a universal traffic killer. Its impact will vary based on the content type: For some content types: Especially evergreen explainers, SGE might steal a lot of clicks, but for most: Expect SGE summaries to be small "shrunk" or hidden, not dominating the SERP. As for news, SGE only appears for fresh news where Google confidently grasps the story within hours.

Google Discover will remain a Rollercoaster for many publishers: Google Discover traffic can be unreliable, but understanding Discover entity-based algorithm and tracking specific Discover feeds can help publishers smooth out the ride.

Short Video Explosion: As audience attention spans shrink, short-form video will increasingly dominate SERPs. Embrace it to stay relevant.

Perspectives Power Play: Leverage platforms like Twitter, YouTube, Reddit, and Quora through both your brand and individual writer accounts. Building a strong presence on these "Perspectives" platforms will be crucial for engagement and reaching new audiences.

Overall: 2024 will be about adapting to AI and understanding platforms beyond traditional search. Embrace content diversity, ride the Discover waves, and capitalize on short video trends. And don't underestimate the power of building brand and author presence on "Perspectives" platforms.

• What is the biggest challenge facing News SEOs teams? 
  • Lack of traffic diversification, with the majority of the traffic coming from Google/Google Discover, publishers are in a dangerous situation with every algorithm update. Audience Growth teams should strive in 2024 to diversify their traffic sources and revive Newsletters and direct communications with their audience
• What do you think will be the biggest Changes in Google that News SEOs should pay attention to and prepare for in 2024 for greater News SEO success?
  • Content Helpful Updates and EEAT
• Google SGE a threat to publishers traffic? Why
  • It depends on what type of content and how aggressive Google will push SGE in the SERPs
• Should Google Discover be a top priority for News SEOs in 2024? Why?
  • NO. While Publishers continue to squeeze every traffic they can get from Google Discover, they should always have SEO as the primary strategy.

— John Shehata is is the CEO and founder of NewzDash & GDdash, and the Founder of News & Editorial SEO Summit (NESS).

 

 Steven Wilson-Beales

Back to Basics for News SEO: Prioritization, Trust, and Adaptability

Last year, I predicted that Publishers would spend the impending year forging stronger direct relationships with their audience as traffic from algorithms became less predictable. I wasn't wrong. Ask any Product Owner or Audience Growth Specialist what their priorities are for 2024 and they'll give you a long list from better UX, better first-party data, better marketing campaigns, easier conversion funnels - the list is ever growing.

That's why, next year, effective prioritisation will be a fundamental skill of SEOs. We absolutely know that there's going to be more volatility than ever before but we need to hold steadfast to notion that we're not dealing with absolute chaos - we just need to work harder to find the new logic that Google is rolling out. In doing so, we will restore faith in the idea that search traffic as a valid source of new and loyal readers/subscribers.

The forthcoming Elections won't help this process for News websites as the short-term bump in traffic will delay/obscurate the need for urgent SEO work. So we need to continue to do what we do best - celebrating the success of editorial teams whilst helping them to adjust their output based on the new search landscape.

It might sound a bit boring, but in a world exploding with the possibilities of AI, - I'd wager that a strong 'back to basics' approach to SEO is the way forward, helping publishers plot a new course with confidence.

• What is the biggest challenge facing News SEOs teams? 
  • Lack of faith in Google as a source of traffic.
• What do you think will be the biggest Changes in Google that News SEOs should pay attention to and prepare for in 2024 for greater News SEO success?
  • As above
• Google SGE a threat to publishers traffic? Why
  • Maybe. I think it's too soon to say - the proof is in the pudding..
• Should Google Discover be a top priority for News SEOs in 2024? Why?
  • Maybe. It's 'one' of the top priorities. But teams that get too addicted to Google Discover tend to spend less time focused on Top Stories. It's all or nothing.

— Steven Wilson-Beales is the Head of SEO & Editorial Product at Global.

 

 Tobias Willmann

AI Integration in News SEO: Deepen Expertise, Enhance Content Quality

I think it of course related to AI. The developments in AI in 2023, the implementation ideas for newsrooms and many experiments make me thinks that in 2024 news SEO will be a lot about improving this further and really make AI for SEO part of the processes. I see the AI developments not just as an SEO topic but in general something which will change how news publishers work in 2024.

Related to AI is the quality of content. Now in a time when everyone can with the help of AI put out hundreds of grammatically correct copies of what’s already on the internet, the importance of high quality and unique content is growing.

• What is the biggest challenge facing News SEOs teams? 
  • Advanced SEO Skills
• What do you think will be the biggest Changes in Google that News SEOs should pay attention to and prepare for in 2024 for greater News SEO success?
  • "SGE (Search Generative Experience) will change how search is used in 2024. Google will offer replies like ChatGPT in Google search and have a dialogue with the user. This will take some clicks from us, and it will position others in SGE as references. SGE works different, it’s not just quoting from the first 3 positions. We have to optimize for it separately. What happens to Top Stories and more breaking news stories is something interesting to investigate in 2024. "
• Google SGE a threat to publishers traffic? Why
  • Maybe. It's not clear how it will affect Top Stories. It's highly depending on the publisher if it is a thread. If you have a lot of low quality evergreen stuff with search traffic it probably more a thread than if you are mainly having Discover traffic and have a lot of loyals. 
• Should Google Discover be a top priority for News SEOs in 2024? Why?
  • Yes. It's for most publishers a huge share of SEO. 

— Tobias Willmann is the Head of SEO at Ringier AG / Blick.

 

 Louisa Frahm

Evolving AI Landscape: Explainers, FAQs, and Long-Tail Queries for SGE

The rise of search on non-Google platforms (TikTok, Instagram, Reddit, etc.) caught my attention in 2023 and will continue to be a user experience factor to consider in 2024. For brands with younger target audiences, it will be especially important to monitor breakout topics on these platforms and pinpoint crossover content opportunities. Trends that blast off on social media can often translate over to search-friendly content. It's also helpful to examine why certain audiences may prefer these interfaces to Google, to adjust content strategies accordingly. TikTok and Instagram may draw in certain types of users with their visual aesthetics, emphasis on video results, and personalized answers, while Reddit may cater to fans of user-generated content. News SEOs should find ways to tap into these preferences within their editorial roadmaps.

The ever-evolving AI landscape will undoubtedly impact how we conduct news SEO strategy in 2024. Google's Search Generative Experience burst onto the scene in 2023 and should be factored into 2024 content strategies. With SGE, it will be essential to prioritize explainers and straightforward FAQ pieces that can strengthen E-E-A-T signals for your brand. Publishers should create content that answers questions related to the breaking news cycle and explore complementary evergreen explainers. Zoning in on long-tail queries will be beneficial for short-term and long-term traffic opportunities. In addition to creating new content for SGE, publishers should audit existing utility content to pinpoint low-lift refresh opportunities. To optimize content for SGE, it's helpful to use conversational phrasing in headlines, to consistently connect with readers on a human level.

• What is the biggest challenge facing News SEOs teams? 
  • Low Budget
• What do you think will be the biggest Changes in Google that News SEOs should pay attention to and prepare for in 2024 for greater News SEO success?
  • In 2024, I predict that Google will increase its emphasis on E-E-A-T across all news categories. I think Google will put a particular focus on the latest E-E-A-T addition of Experience, building on its Perspectives feature and showcasing more forums, discussion boards, and user-generated content in search results. Google will expand its AI investment with a cautionary approach. Before its public rollout, SGE (like other AI systems) has already been critiqued for inaccurate results. To prevent further backlash, I suspect that Google will contribute more resources to fact-checking, proper attribution, and other information safeguards across its platforms. It will be essential for publishers to drive home their unique expertise on a regular basis and make it easy for readers to find expert coverage within their site architecture. User experience will become an even more important ranking factor, emphasizing the need for Core Web Vitals work around load time, mobile optimization, etc.
• Google SGE a threat to publishers traffic? Why
  • Maybe. It's difficult to make definitive conclusions on SGE prior to its general public rollout. In its current state, SGE presents certain elements that could threaten publisher traffic. My main concerns are link visibility and inaccurate information within the SGE interface. Currently, publisher links are hidden within "drawers" that many users are likely to skip over (in favor of taking the SGE summary at face value with no need to scroll further). The existing setup is lacking in terms of attribution, and traffic to publisher links could certainly decrease over time. Additionally, SGE has been called out for inaccurate information within its summaries. Publishers already have to fight to earn (and keep) the trust of their readers. Misinformation in the top fold of SERPs could hurt search credibility as a whole, which may also ding publisher traffic over time. If users are dissatisfied with SGE results, they could opt for non-Google search alternatives like TikTok and Reddit more often. Additionally, it's concerning that publishers don't have the option to block their content from SGE without disappearing from traditional Google Search. Though we can't be certain of what SGE's ultimate effects will be, these preliminary concerns should be taken seriously. 
• Should Google Discover be a top priority for News SEOs in 2024? Why?
  • Maybe. With Google's increased emphasis on personalization, I believe that Google Discover will continue to be relevant in 2024 (and beyond). I think that the priority level for Google Discover depends on a publisher's regular subject matter and target audience. Google Discover tends to lean toward lifestyle and entertainment content with an emotional appeal. Hard news brands may connect less with the Google Discover algorithm compared to lighter news brands. Publishers should track how their primary content performs on the platform and make the appropriate editorial investment with that assessment. All publishers should consistently evaluate how their content performs across different platforms to use resources in the most efficient way possible. Additionally, since Google Discover will never feature 100% of a publisher's content, it's important to not put all of your eggs in one basket with the platform. Google Discover offers exciting traffic potential for certain publishers, but (as with all of SEO) there are no guarantees. 

— Louisa Frahm is the SEO Director at ESPN.

 

 Kyle Sutton

Specialization Wins: Be the Authority in Your Niche to Thrive in Top Stories

Continue to specialize in your area(s) of expertise. Don't try to be everything to everyone. I think Google's continued diversification of sources within Top Stories will continue to reward sites with clear focus of authority in a given space.

• What is the biggest challenge facing News SEOs teams? 
  • Shortage of Talent
• What do you think will be the biggest Changes in Google that News SEOs should pay attention to and prepare for in 2024 for greater News SEO success?
  • Given the notable macro changes from recent algorithm rollouts, I think Google is going to place a greater emphasis on user-generated content. There's been a clear rise of dedicated forum results (Reddit, Quora), as well as a Discussion and Forums module in some highly competitive SERPs. I think it behooves publishers to think about how they can leverage their own communities to power this type of user-driven experience (e.g., reviews, feedback, discussion). 
• Google SGE a threat to publishers traffic? Why
  • Maybe. I think this is entirely dependent on how much Google scales SGE-powered answers to SERPs that are traditionally news-driven, and how much users trust those results.
• Should Google Discover be a top priority for News SEOs in 2024? Why?
  • Maybe If Discover continues to drive meaningful traffic and you can observe trends amongst the best-performing stories, it only makes sense to optimize and lean into this strategy.

— Kyle Sutton is the Director of SEO at The Points Guy / Red Ventures.

 

 Alli Berry

Prepare for SGE: Content Strategies in the Age of Generative Search

I think it's impossible for News SEOs not to be focused on AI, and better understanding what Google is doing with SGE. If your publication has an evergreen strategy, I would be de-emphasizing that work if Google SGE continues to expand into more definitional queries. Google is also making changes to some "how-to" beginners guides to try to keep users on the search results and use their guided results as the base for learning instead of sending the searcher to another site to consume an entire guide. Watching how these things rollout in the first half of 2024 should help inform what to do with an evergreen strategy.

I think in regards to timely content, the race to be the first to break a story will be more important than ever. Google seems keen to create their own answers to broad queries, and if the story is already out there, they'll be able to create an AI-generated result with information about the story. I would continue to focus on how to get human elements that can't be AI-generated into news content. Whether it's expert quotes or 1st party data, having a unique angle is going to be key. And anything that builds better EEAT is also going to be key.

I would also be experimenting with new formats for content. Although Google seems to be favoring big brands for written content, they do seem to be diversifying content formats in the SERP. I would definitely be experimenting more with video in 2024 and finding new opportunity queries to gain some traction.

• What is the biggest challenge facing News SEOs teams? 
  • Lack of News SEO Tools
• What do you think will be the biggest Changes in Google that News SEOs should pay attention to and prepare for in 2024 for greater News SEO success?
  • Google SGE is definitely one of the bigger changes that News SEO should be paying attention to. I immediately think of things like covering company earnings reports for financial publishers and how easy it will be for Google to come out with an SGE result and take other publishers out of the picture for something like that. Same with covering things like press conferences or press releases.
  • With every challenge comes great opportunity though. Google is going to need to monetize SGE or they won't stick with. Inevitably, they are going to have to find ways to add links to it. So, I would be paying attention to that and seeing if there are any opportunities for news-related queries to get into. And start reverse engineering how! "
• Google SGE a threat to publishers traffic? Why
  • Yes. See above answers.
• Should Google Discover be a top priority for News SEOs in 2024? Why?
  • Maybe. It's less predictable and reliable than Google, Google News, or Top Stories. Like any good SEO non-answer, it depends on your publication. If you have seen success with Discover, I'd be reverse engineering what is working and why and try to keep creating more of that content. 

— Alli Berry is the SEO Consultant & Fractional SEO Director at Alli Berry Consulting.

 

 Anna Sbuttoni

Premiumization Reigns: Content, Trust, and Service in the Generative Search Era

I predict there will be a more pronounced and clear divide between premium content, and the rest of the internet. The roll out of generative search will force more publishers to evaluate what they really stand for and the content and service that they provide, especially when they start to reconsider their direct relationship with readers. This will have a a big impact both on- and off-platform, and will see more publishers aiming for high-end, added-value content that more clearly shows their experience, expertise, authority and trustworthiness.

• What is the biggest challenge facing News SEOs teams? 
  •  Low Budget
• What do you think will be the biggest Changes in Google that News SEOs should pay attention to and prepare for in 2024 for greater News SEO success?
  •  AI is coming to search, and that's the single biggest change that we will have seen in SEO for a very long time. One thing it will make us refocus on is search intent, and about how our publications can really add value and showcase their expertise and (human) experience even more clearly.
• Google SGE a threat to publishers traffic? Why
  •  Yes. There will be a shift in how publishers answer highly searched queries, and which searches (and intents) they will go after. The introduction of generative search will be a test and learn time for most — and could be a threat to traffic for some.
• Should Google Discover be a top priority for News SEOs in 2024? Why?
  •  No. Google Discover is so boom and bust that it's a big gamble to build your entire strategy around it. The way forward is to diversify traffic sources, and that means considering all our options more carefully.

— Anna Sbuttoni is the Deputy head of audience development at The Times and The Sunday Times.

 

 Barry Adams

Double Down on Journalism: Extract Maximum Optimization from Every Article

I believe publishers need to focus on their strengths and simplify their SEO strategies to a few core pillars. Double down on your journalistic expertise, making sure you extract maximum optimisatiom from every article. Don't try to broaden your news site's scope beyond your specialties in an effort to chase after more clicks. Become a master in your chosen topical domain, and you will be rewarded with rankings and traffic.

• What is the biggest challenge facing News SEOs teams? 
  • Low Budget
• What do you think will be the biggest Changes in Google that News SEOs should pay attention to and prepare for in 2024 for greater News SEO success?
  • I believe the squeeze on traffic from the big tech platforms will continue, which makes it tempting to reach for every more questionable monetisation opportunities. But this is not a wise approach. Third party commercial content that doesn't align with your site's editorial specialities will stop being rewarded. Be careful with affiliate content and commercial content that doesn't fit your brand. Consider monetising your audience more directly, by asking for donations and implementing soft or hard paywalls. This is where specialised reporting will be key. Readers pay for quality, focused content - they won't pay for a generic jack-of-all-trades news site.
• Google SGE a threat to publishers traffic? Why
  • Maybe. SGE could replace evergreen content traffic, which means publishers' traffic could be further undermined (more than Google already does). News reporting cannot be replaced by AI, but non-news content is under threat.
• Should Google Discover be a top priority for News SEOs in 2024? Why?
  • Yes Discover remains a potent traffic source, especially in developing countries where Android is the dominant phone OS. Aligning your content with your readers' interests is a key tactic for Discover success, which once again means you need to be a specialised publisher.

— Barry Adams is the founder of Polemic Digital and the author of SEO For Google News newsletter

 

 Mateusz Mikoś

The Year of AI: Be Prepared, Adapt, and Embrace a Platform-Based Approach

2024 will be the year of AI, so I won't be original here, as essentially 2023 was already such a year. Sometimes I get the impression that we can't wait for Google to launch SGE at full scale, although there is still so much to be done to prepare for this change – many publishers are not even halfway there to face what's coming. Those who based their strategies and actions on the so-called SEO Brand, and improved their technical parameters, will be the beneficiaries in 2024.

For many SEO specialists, it will be a year of challenges, attempts to adapt, and expanding competencies to survive in a dynamically changing environment. Products like Google Discover, News Google, and Google News will continue to play a very important role in the media, but the specialist who will have a broad view of building traffic not only in Google services but also beyond them and will shift their thinking beyond this area to a more platform-based approach will be worth their weight in gold.

2024 will also be an interesting technical year not only because of the INP metric but precisely because of SGE. Driving one's products to the best performance from both the bot's and the user's perspective and achieving the fastest possible indexing time will be the focus of technical SEO departments.

— Mateusz Mikoś is the Head of SEO at Ringier PL.

 

 Lily Ray

Navigating the Spam Tsunami: Quality Content and Personalization in 2024

2023 has been a rough year for SEO, especially toward the end, with so many updates and so much evidence of questionable, even spammy results. 2024 is not expected to be much easier, as Google grapples with an influx of spammy content, often mass-produced using generative AI content tools.

One of the major trends that I expect to see with SEO in 2024 is the integration of personalization and features like Google Discover directly into search (and vice versa.) This means that Google will be able to take into account what users are interested in, such as the entities and brands they follow, and show them more relevant and personalized results. Google is making continuous updates on this front in recent months, which have significantly changed the user interface both in Search and Google Discover.

Another major trend is the rise of AI-generated content and how Google plans to treat this content - even if they started 2023 by suggesting AI-generated content can be OK for SEO. I anticipate that Google might develop new algorithm updates aimed at combating poor-quality content, much of which will likely stem from generative AI tools.

Despite the fact that recent algorithm updates have led to questionable and even spammy results, I don’t think SEOs should use that as an opportunity to delve into spammy or questionable tactics to create content. I believe Google will figure things out and we should expect to see major algorithm updates, similar to the days of Panda and Penguin, to get the search results back on track.

— Lily Ray is Senior Director, SEO & Head of Organic Research at Amsive Digital.

 

 Greg Jarboe

AI Revolution in News SEO: Embrace, Experiment, and Evolve

The biggest trends are AI, AI, and AI. Whether we will tackle them successfully means we need to find answers to the following questions:

• Is AI a threat to journalism? AI is no more of a threat to journalism in the 21st century than the telegraph was a threat to journalism in the 19th century. But the telegraph changed the way journalists wrote stories, from telling chronological narratives to using the inverted pyramid to put the most important information in the lead paragraph. I’ve conducted some experiments and found that a spiral approach, a teaching technique that focuses on the basics of a subject first, and then introduces more details as learning progresses, works better than a chronological narrative, listicle, or Q&A in generating traffic to a landing page. Other journalists should conduct their own experiments to find out what works best for their readers. Now, this may prompt complaints – just like there were complaints about “yellow journalism” in the 1880s, when Joseph Pulitzer cut the price of the New York World to a penny, hired Nelly Bly, and then added bolder headlines, more prominent illustrations, sports pages, women’s sections, advice columns, as well as comic strips. One comic strip featured a street urchin in a yellow shirt, and a hostile critic coined the term “yellow journalism” as a damning label for this kind of high-voltage newspaper. Today, most news media would love it if their text reporters, photographers, videographers, graphic artists, producers, or journalists won a Pulitzer Prize. So, they should adopt AI – where it makes sense. And they won’t know where it makes sense until they conduct lots and lots of experiments.
   
• Does AI-generated content hurt SEO? Well, It depends. As Texas governor Ann Richards said in 1992, “You can put lipstick on a hog and call it Monique, but it's still a pig.” So, if you use AI to generate articles that are “short, unsubstantial, or otherwise lacking in helpful specifics,” then you’ve violated Google’s long-standing advice.

Google recommends asking yourself several questions, including these four:

• Is this content written or reviewed by an expert or enthusiast who demonstrably knows the topic well?
• Does the content provide insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond the obvious?
• After reading our content, will someone leave feeling they’ve learned enough about a topic to help achieve their goal?
• Will someone reading our content leave feeling like they’ve had a satisfying experience?

Gary Illyes of Google’s Search Relations says, “Generative AI tools are not that bad. It’s how it’s used that’s the problem many times. It can be incredibly helpful when, for example, you have writer’s block and are trying to put out a page very fast.”

And as Martin Splitt of Google’s Search Relations team adds, “AI is great for certain things and is rubbish for others. It’s a tool like everything else.”

• What is the best AI video generator? I assume that you’re already using AI image generators. So, in 2024, you should focus on finding an AI video generator to add to your toolkit. I’ve tested several of them … and continue testing new ones. But as I reported in an article entitled, “3 key trends reshaping YouTube marketing today,” which was published in Search Engine Land on Oct 3, 2023, “AI may eventually become Prime Minister, but content is still king.” News sites, magazines and publishers may be looking at which AI tools are reducing the time, training, and expense required for journalists to bring their stories to life. However, audiences are still evaluating the content, not the video production techniques. Up to 60% of audiences agree that they are open to watching content from creators that use AI to generate their content, according to the YouTube Culture and Trends Report 2023. So, if journalists use AI to create original, helpful video content, then it will generate traffic and revenue. But if journalists use AI to generate video content primarily to attract people from search engines, rather than made for humans, humans will skip after watching less than 10 seconds.

 

• What is the biggest challenge facing News SEOs teams? 
  • Advanced SEO Skills
• What do you think will be the biggest Changes in Google that News SEOs should pay attention to and prepare for in 2024 for greater News SEO success?
  • Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE) will be extended across all of Google's news surfaces. So, instead of trying to appear at the top of the SERP, we will need to figure out how to be include in the SGE results that appear before the regular listings.

  Google SGE a threat to publishers traffic? Why

  • Yes. It reduces the need to click on a link to find out the "gist" of the latest breaking news.

  Should Google Discover be a top priority for News SEOs in 2024? Why?

  • Maybe. It works in some categories, but not in others.

— Greg Jarboe is the President and co-founder at SEO-PR.

 

 Richard Nazarewicz

Weather the SEO Hurricane

SEO in 2024 is going to be critical for Publishers more than ever, with so many changes happening so rapidly in the AI, Gemini, and SGE space. This includes ongoing core and routine updates, continuously changing traffic patterns, and the fast pace of news cycles, especially in the US with the presidential election upon us this year.

If you have a team, ensure there are people focused on the core technical, strategic, and news aspects of SEO. If you are the sole resource or are limited, plan for weekly focus time on auditing, analysis, and reporting to ensure that issues and opportunities are identified and shared with product, tech, and stakeholders.

Remember core SEO is still the same and has expanded over the years. The importance of a strong Homepage, a site structure driven by topical content and entities. Ensuring your is content available and linked to from your site somewhere, including within an article where topically relevant. Don’t leave content that could be a great evergreen piece as an orphan. Take a look at your archive, and ensure it is crawlable and indexable, and the same goes for your sitemaps. It is never too late for an audit and some spring cleaning!

Discover will always be volatile but for many, it will still be a large part of their overall traffic. It’s incredibly important to ensure that your organization knows that Discover traffic is algorithmically driven by user interests and Google. If Discover traffic were to appear to be on a downturn, it could bounce back at any time. Keep focused on publishing strong content that your readers are consuming. Watch the data, have tools, and have a strategy in place. Again going back to core SEO, your content has to be discoverable for it to appear in Discover.

Make a goal for you and your team in 2024 to focus on opening up channels of communication and collaboration with the SEO team at the heart of your organization. Clear guidelines on how to engage effectively will become the fabric of success in a faster-paced version of the classic Newsrooms and SEOs via leadership buy-in and Product to Tech sign-off models.

Have a case for why SEO is more relevant now than ever and that we need to get that buy-in and investment to be able to keep our content available, indexable, fast, relevant, and topical. This will need ongoing training for SEO across teams and business units and continued reporting and showcasing to management and senior leadership.

— Richard Nazarewicz is the Global SEO & Discovery Lead at BBC

 

 Christine Liang

Forget Clickbait, Build Brand

There's always been a spotlight on authorship in Search, and 2024 will be no different. We've already seen Google's expansion of the Perspectives block—and their recent support for Profile Page and Discussion Forum structured data. And then there's the prominence of authors and their respective information pulled into the knowledge graph.

I'd expect even greater visibility of authors within Google's different surfaces and features, like new ways of bringing author information into Top Stories, more bylines in Google News, and more options to follow authors and creators in Google Discover. So focus on the following things: doing housekeeping on your authors' digital footprint, optimizing their associating author pages, and testing related markup. 

 

• What is the biggest challenge facing News SEOs teams? 
  • Advanced SEO Skills
• What do you think will be the biggest Changes in Google that News SEOs should pay attention to and prepare for in 2024 for greater News SEO success?
  • This will not shock anyone… Google SGE and Gen AI will be the biggest disruptors in our industry. We all know this. We have some idea of what to expect with SGE being in beta for some time now, but we really don't know for sure what's going to happen once the feature is fully live on Search. How will the wider user base behave? Will video sites get more spotlight? What formats will prevail? One thing's for sure is that there's going to be a whole lotta noise. We'll see ranking fluctuations. We'll see a lot of new competition. We'll see errors.
  • 2024 is also the year we say goodbye to Google's Featured Snippets. Google's SGE is fully replacing them. We know this having seen updated meta tag documentation from Google, allowing site owners to opt out of SGE via the nosnippet tag. This tag was historically used for sitting out of Featured Snippets but not anymore. Google is treating SGE as the new Featured Snippets.
  • Search will continue to morph and evolve in ways we always have to respond to, but we must think about the broader brand ecosystem. The best way to prepare for the sweeping changes related to Google SGE and Gen AI is to double down on building and amplifying your brand across all mediums. We need to go back to the basics of brand building and cultivate your brand wherever your audiences are. Give users a reason to love you, follow you, share you, and seek you out on Search. It's the only way to stay relevant.
• Google SGE a threat to publishers traffic? Why
  • Yes Absolutely. See answer from above.
• Should Google Discover be a top priority for News SEOs in 2024? Why?
  • No As most News SEOs know, the unpredictability of Google Discover visibility and traffic makes optimizing for this surface extremely difficult. We were all hooked on traffic spikes from Google Discover and the reality is we should be thinking about this traffic very differently. The audience motive and engagement levels are nothing like Search. In 2024, Discover should still be part of your SEO strategy but it should be thought of as additive traffic.

— Christine Liang is the Senior Director of SEO at The New York Times.

 

Now it is your turn, what is your News SEO predictions for 2024?