Google's UK Decline, AI Trust Issues & Growth Strategies for 2025
SEO TL;DR #50 🥳 02/12/2024
Happy Cyber Monday! I hope Black Friday has been kind to your wallet, and a special shout out to my email and PPC brethren, who’ve worked tirelessly this weekend and can’t wait to start on Christmas promos 😰
If you’re in the giving spirit, please share this edition with a friend, and as I thank you, I’ll review your website and send you three suggestions/issues which can help improve your SEO.
AI
Google Search Decline in the UK and AI Trust Issues
The latest Ofcom report shows that Search engines are still widely used; 90% of UK online adults visited at least one of the top ten highest-reaching search engines in May 2024.
Google Search remained the highest-reaching search engine, with 83% of UK online adults visiting it in May 2024, down from 86% in May 2023.
Microsoft’s Bing was the next highest-reaching, at 39% in May 2024, down from 46% in May 2023.
ChatGPT was the most popular generative AI tool, with 37% of British online 8-15s and 33% of UK internet users aged 16+ saying they had used it in the past year.
Over half (54%) of British online 8-15s and 41% of UK online aged 16+ users said they had used a generative AI tool in the past year.
UK online males aged 16+ were more likely than females to have used a generative AI tool in the past year (50% vs 33%).
Only 18% of those aged 16+ said they thought the information from generative AI was reliable, while 33% of 8-15s said they were confident in the information they got from these tools.
I’ve focussed on SEO and AI, but there are some interesting stats in the survey, from social media usage to dating services - read the report.
AI
Generative AI in Retail: Customer Optimism Meets Trust Challenges
Sticking with AI, a survey by Bain & Company found that retailers are embracing generative AI for personalisation and deal-finding tools, but trust issues remain.
Generative AI is transforming the retail experience with tools like AI-generated review summaries, conversational shopping assistants, and personalised recommendations. While customers are warming to the possibilities, trust and usability remain key.
In a survey of 700 online shoppers:
71% of shoppers are unaware they’ve used generative AI in online shopping.
50% see generative AI’s potential as significant or transformative.
41% are comfortable using generative AI from trusted brands.
57% say obvious errors negatively affect their experience.
56% highlight inaccurate product information as a major concern.
💡Takeaway: By prioritising customer needs over shiny AI tech, generative AI can add genuine value while maintaining trust and usability.
Complement existing shopping habits: Avoid creating tools that compete with well-established methods. Generative AI should reduce friction without confusing users. (Amazon’s AI review summaries, for example).
Go beyond chatbots: Integrate AI to enhance various stages of the shopping journey, like decision-making with product comparisons or AI-curated reviews.
Focus on data value exchange: Customers are willing to share personal data for meaningful customisation. Use behavioural insights to guide discovery, not just product recommendations.
Reimagine customer service: Use AI to personalise pre and post-purchase support.
Content SEO
Google’s Penalty Warning: Don’t Move Penalised Content
Brought to my attention by Glenn Gabe, Google has warned against moving content flagged by its site reputation abuse policy.
For those trying to circumvent those manual actions by moving that content to another directory that's NOT impacted by the manual action, just realize that Google has clearly documented their view of 'policy circumvention'. It's right in their spam policy documentation.
"Google's actions could include, "restricting or removing eligibility for some of our search features (for example, Top Stories, Discover) and taking broader action in Google Search (for example, removing more sections of a site from Search results)."
Search Trends
Is Google Personalising Search Results More?
In a post on Search Engine Roundtable, it seems the SEO community speculates that Google’s search results may have become more personalised following the November 2024 core update. Observations from SEOs suggest significant ranking differences when users are logged in versus logged out.
Some SEOs report heightened customisation, with results showing domains visited previously ranking differently for similar queries.
Before the update, the average absolute position change was 1.08 across tracked queries. After the update, this jumped to 2.82, suggesting greater variability in rankings.
Elements like video boxes or X results appear differently depending on the user’s logged-in state.
💡Takeaway: Google says that personalisation in search is “light” and primarily based on location or recent queries. If, however, Google is increasing personalisation, this puts a greater focus on aligning user intent and behaviour with the search results.
To stay competitive, analyse the queries driving traffic to your site and ensure content meets the specific needs of your target audience.
If personalised results are largely driven by location, as Google states, then you should ensure you’re prioritising local relevance and optimising for geographic signals:
Create content that addresses region-specific needs, trends, or concerns.
Use local keywords naturally, such as city names or colloquial terms, within your content and metadata.
Ensure your GBP is updated with accurate address, contact info, and categories.
Use schema markup to signal local relevance (e.g., Local Business Structured Data).
Highlight location-specific offerings like “local pickup” or “nearby services.”
In either case, you should aim to encourage repeat visits to your site to counter Google’s tendency to want to keep traffic on their platform. Retargeting campaigns, email newsletters, and a solid social presence can keep audiences engaged.
Technical SEO
New Search Console Recommendations
Google started rolling out Search Console recommendations in August, and they’re now live for everyone.
“Note that you'll see them only if we have a recommendation available for your website” - Google Search Central
I’ve come across some genuinely helpful recommendations, but there are some false alarms. The example above looked like a big potential issue with rich results, but it was picking up on a redundant bit of code in this case. Nice that it was flagged though, so we could omit that to remove any doubt.
Reporting Review Manipulation in Google Maps
Google Maps now lets users report businesses engaging in unethical review practices, such as offering incentives for reviews, which is against Google’s policies.
You can use this form to flag misconduct. Let’s hope the spammers don’t abuse this to try and reduce the visibility of legitimate local businesses 😬
SEO Strategies for Growth in 2025
In this blog, Stephanie Briggs shares five ideas to add to your 2025 roadmap - a recap of her recent Brighton SEO session.
Dedicated Pages for Search Goals: If you want to rank, you need pages for those terms. Start by prioritising high-value facets based on search volume.
Leverage Topical Authority: Identify your strongest topics using breadcrumb and keyword analysis. Lean into areas where your site already performs well to maximise growth.
Word Count Analysis: Review content lengths per template and correlate with traffic. Adjust for optimisation where clear patterns emerge.
Internal Linking Boost: Refine information architecture—revamping menus, categories, and in-page links can drive significant traffic.
Align Content with Intent: Content revisions matching Google’s format expectations (e.g., tables, visuals) can lead to quick traffic gains.
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🙇♂️ Thanks for reading this week’s edition, and remember, for Cyber Monday, if you refer just one friend to my Newsletter, I’ll send across three technical issues or opportunities to help increase your organic traffic