SEO in 2024: How AI and Google Redefined the Rules

The world of SEO turned upside down in 2024. Go-to strategies like evergreen content and hub-and-spoke keyword mapping became less effective thanks to Google’s AI Overviews and other rich results (or additional information deployed on the search engine results page). 

But was it really the year of disruption — or the year of innovation? Saying adieu to old tactics opens up the freedom to welcome new, exciting strategies that capitalize on 2024’s key changes and more effectively promote your brand.

Here’s what happened in SEO in 2024, and how your brand can respond. 

The Advent of AI Overviews 

At Masthead, we’ve been forecasting the potential impact of AI Overviews (formerly called the “Search Generative Experience”) since mid-2023. The much-anticipated feature finally launched in May 2024, and has had — as expected — a pretty dramatic impact on search results. 

Thanks to AI Overviews, SEOs and content marketers need to answer this question for every piece of web content targeting organic traffic: Why would someone click if Google already answered their query? 

Across brands and industries, we’ve seen a dramatic decline in organic traffic. You might be “winning search” (ranking in positions #1–#3), but if no one is clicking organic results, that may not translate to organic traffic. The growth of AI Overviews and rich results — all designed to keep searchers on Google — has eaten away at the Old Faithful of content marketing: evergreen content. 

So how do you adjust? For many brands, this means returning to the drawing board. What are the ultimate conversion goals of your content? Who are your ideal customers, and what actionable keywords are they searching? (Actionable meaning they’re looking for more than quick-hit information, they want to take the next step.) That information can help you develop a ground-up strategy designed to rebuild lost traffic. 

Google Punishes Affiliate Parasite SEO

Parasite SEO isn’t a new concept. In short, “parasite SEO” is a technique where marketers publish content on established, high-authority websites. This technique can rank content quickly, and is often used by black-hat (unethical) SEOs posting sponsored content. But it’s not always a black-hat technique. Writing high-quality, expert-informed posts for established websites can be a great way to direct traffic to your own site and provide relevant information to the reader. 

In 2024, Google expanded its definition of parasite SEO to target affiliate content verticals for brands like CNN and Forbes. “Affiliate content” utilizes product reviews, round-ups, and best-ofs to encourage readers to click on an affiliate link to a retailer like Amazon, which kicks back a small portion of the purchase price to the publisher. Wirecutter is one of the best-known creators of affiliate content (some say it invented the genre!), and it continues to rank by enforcing high quality standards on its content.

However, the success of Wirecutter spurred an explosion of affiliate content across the web — most of which was not high-quality, existing less to guide the reader than to earn that sweet, sweet affiliate cash. 

Over the past few years, Google has worked hard to remove these spammy websites from results for affiliate queries (like “best toaster”). However, in 2024, Google turned its eye on publishers like CNN Underscored and Forbes Advisor, affiliate content verticals located on established domain names. Many of these websites utilized third-party companies to develop their content — which Google considers parasite SEO. In November, these websites were effectively removed from Google.

If you’re developing affiliate content, we have a few recommendations to pass scrutiny:

• Focus on affiliate content that is closely tied to your brand. For instance, a home brand may want to write about linens or vacuum cleaners — not motor oil.

• Ensure that all products are rigorously tested and your rationale for choosing the best is made clear. Otherwise, Google may view the article as a mediocre ploy for affiliate revenue.

• Utilize alternate marketing mediums. Changes to Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs) make affiliate SEO much more difficult, even for legit publishers. Google strongly pushes Google Shopping results and uses rich results to answer key searcher questions. We recommend alternate marketing strategies, like email or paid search, to complement organic traffic.

Google’s Leaked Algorithm

In May, a lot of SEOs (yours truly included) felt validated when the ranking factors used for Google’s algorithms were leaked. And while it would have been wonderful if the leak exposed some true trade secrets, it simply backed up what we’ve been thinking for years: Google uses all sorts of data to rank pages, not just backlinks, site speed, and on-page signals. 

For example: Google pays attention to your users’ experiences. Measurements like badClicks and goodClicks likely evaluate how long searchers spend on your site. Do they click straight back to their Google search? Well, that’s probably a bad click. And somewhat surprisingly, Google may use data directly from Chrome to evaluate and rank websites — even if the Chrome users didn’t arrive at your site via organic search! 

One last interesting tidbit: One ranking factor is called titlematchScore. This theoretically evaluates how well a page’s title matches the actual content. Yes, Google still rewrites meta titles all the time — but this indicates that it’s still essential to have smart, well-written meta titles and meta descriptions that accurately describe the content within.

The takeaway: High-quality, expert-informed content is still important, as is an excellent site experience. If users are overwhelmed by ads or turned off by a bloated and dated layout, they may return to their search results — and Google may downgrade your site accordingly. 

The TL;DR

2024 has been a wild year for SEO, with a few ups… and frankly, mostly downs. But with those downs come new opportunities to reinvigorate your content strategy, going back to the content that suits your brand best — with less focus on rote, evergreen articles that can be (frankly) a bit boring. Bring in your brand experts, think seriously about your ideal customers and their voice, and let creativity and innovation take center stage.