SEO News January 2025

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31 January 2025

SEO News January 2025d-tags
What's been going on in the SEO world in January?

3min.

Comments:0

31 January 2025

In SEO news for January 2025, let’s start with Twitter/X to end with a bit of controversy around link building (yes, yes, again!).

The time for Twitter’s migration to X.com has arrived!

There’s a lot of talk about how easy it is to mess up a migration, right? And how parties should apply themselves to it…. right?

After 1.5 years since Twitter’s rebranding and more than half a year since the X.com domain was made available, the migration process has picked up pace – in December 2024. Data from Ahrefs shows that as a result of the domain change:

  • twitter.com lost about 400 million hits from Google,
  • x.com gained 300 million hits in that time.

This means that about 100 million organic visits “disappeared,” accounting for 13-14% of “Twixer’s” traffic in November. Even the largest platforms are not immune to the consequences of domain changes, and the migration may be more difficult than anticipated.

Source: Ahrefs

Google removes breadcrumbs from search results on mobile

Google has significantly changed how search results are displayed on mobile devices. Starting in January, breadcrumbs, which are navigation paths indicating the hierarchy of a page, will no longer be visible in mobile search results in all languages and regions where Google search is available.

The company explains the decision because the element is not so useful for mobile users – it is often cut off on smaller screens, thus losing its informative function.

The change will not extend to computer searches – there, the breadcrumbs will remain as visible as before.

Source: https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2025/01/simplifying-breadcrumbs

Developments in AI tools is going to affect advertising systems

New AI tools, such as Operator from OpenAI and systems from Anthropic, could completely change the way online advertising works. Why?

  • More site traffic – AI bots don’t just scan text; they load entire pages like real users. The result? Visitor statistics can shoot up.
  • Hosting costs up – more bots mean more data consumption, especially for sites with rich multimedia. Providers like Cloudflare and Akamai can make a nice profit on this.
  • Ads are losing ground – AI is not clicking on ads, so the increase in impressions could disrupt quality algorithms and monetization models.

It remains to be seen how quickly the industry will adapt to this new reality.

Source: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/thomasgrange_youve-probably-seen-the-launch-of-operator-activity-7288845045800042496-rr3S/

DeepSeek made a revolution among AI users – and fell prey to hackers

Not long ago, it made a lot of noise that the DeepSeek AI team had found a way to reduce the cost of training AI models radically – instead of “more power,” they bet on smarter optimization. 8-bit calculations instead of 32-bit reduced memory usage by 75%, and analyzing whole phrases instead of single words increased performance by 90%. In addition, only the necessary parameters are activated: the model uses only part of its power. And the results?

  • The cost of training dropped from $100 million to $5 million,
  • AI can be run on gaming GPUs,
  • API costs dropped by 95%.

Later, a publicly accessible DeepSeek database was discovered, allowing full access to the company’s internal data without any safeguards. The database, hosted at oauth2callback.deepseek.com:9000 and dev.deepseek.com:9000, was open and unsecured, which meant the possibility of complete control over the data and potential privilege escalation in the DeepSeek system.

What was leaked?

  • More than a million lines of logs, including user chat history,
  • Backend data and sensitive operational information,
  • API secrets that could allow further attacks.

This severe vulnerability raises questions about the security of the company’s infrastructure and the protection of user data.

Source:

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/psmol_w-ostatnim-czasie-zrobi%C5%82em-g%C5%82%C4%99bok[…]e-p%C3%B3%C5%82-amatorski-activity-7289536788413472768-4LbX/

https://www.wiz.io/blog/wiz-research-uncovers-exposed-deepseek-database-leak

So what’s it going to be like with the link building?

A new study of 1 million search results pages suggests that links are becoming less important in SEO. Patrick Stox analyzed historical changes (how the role of links has evolved over time), segmentation by search intent (local, branded, general) and the impact of links on both high and low search volumes. The conclusion is that links are still important, but Stox suggests that the impact is less than it once was, especially when it comes to local and branded queries. Is this really the case? Some suggest that such a study indicates that the opposite is true, while others point to an increase in the importance of links due to a decrease in the entry threshold for content creation. Does this mean the end of link building? As you can see: rather not, but SEOs must adapt – it’s just worth monitoring your results.

Source: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/patrickstox_google-says-links-matter-lesswe-looked-activity-7290776372594012160-NOTa/

Author
Aleksandra Drewniak - Content Specialist
Author
Ola Drewniak

Content Specialist

An editor by profession. She has been working in marketing for the past 5 years — first in the social media teams of Krakow publishing houses, then in SEO and copywriting, until she finally decided to excel in content marketing and combine her organizational skills with her extraordinary linguistic sense of style. She works on content projects at Delante, conducting content audits, arranging content plans, and creating content for the most demanding clients. Privately, a cat behaviorist, future dog trainer, and a lover of tattoos and RPG games.

Author
Aleksandra Drewniak - Content Specialist
Author
Ola Drewniak

Content Specialist

An editor by profession. She has been working in marketing for the past 5 years — first in the social media teams of Krakow publishing houses, then in SEO and copywriting, until she finally decided to excel in content marketing and combine her organizational skills with her extraordinary linguistic sense of style. She works on content projects at Delante, conducting content audits, arranging content plans, and creating content for the most demanding clients. Privately, a cat behaviorist, future dog trainer, and a lover of tattoos and RPG games.