I have previously outlined the fundamentals of Google algorithm updates 2025 (for a detailed breakdown, you can read the article SEO strategy Guide: Why Your SEO Isn’t Working). However, this piece will focus on its shocking and devastating consequences. The update has been catastrophic for many creators, with high-quality, content-driven sites being virtually erased from search results. This begs the question: what is behind Google’s decision to take such a flawed and radical step?
The Algorithm’s Key Pillars and Its Problematic Aspects
In this article, we will focus less on the technical details of the algorithm and more on the problems it has created and the flawed logic at its core. Let’s examine the topic under four main headings:
- AI-Powered Content Evaluation
- Focus on High-Quality and Authoritative Content
- Mobile-First Indexing
- User Experience Signals and Core Web Vitals
1. AI-Powered Content Evaluation: A System Closed to Innovation?
By its nature, artificial intelligence is a tool that processes, summarizes, and presents existing information. However, it is still in its early stages when it comes to generating new knowledge and understanding the quality of information. When you present valuable, original information that has not been widely discussed before, AI has the potential to label it as “unreliable” simply because it cannot find it in its existing, “memorized” data pool.
This system behaves like a student with high verbal intelligence but who is closed off to innovation; it treats memorized information as absolute truth and considers any new idea added on top to be incorrect. If the evaluation were left to old-fashioned human likes and shares instead of AI, the risk of manipulation by bot accounts and organized spam groups would arise.
Unfortunately, the current update plays right into the hands of those who “profit from the industry,” such as SEO tools, ad agencies, and social media bot services. Wasn’t the primary reason for the decline in content quality these very artificial methods? As a user today, why can’t I find the information I’m looking for as easily as I used to? The situation is far more dire than it first appears.
2. Focus on High-Quality and Authoritative Content: An Ideal That Remains on Paper
In theory, Google’s goal of focusing on concepts like “expertise” and “authoritativeness” looks excellent. It is particularly welcome that senseless, SEO-driven texts on sites offering small tools will be filtered out. In practice, however, Google offers no clear roadmap on how these concepts will be measured, essentially telling creators to “figure it out for yourselves.”
The result is clear: researching an important topic on Google has become increasingly difficult. This gap has begun to be filled by AI search engines like Perplexity AI, even though their reliability is not yet fully proven. The new algorithm, which Google introduced as a solution to this trend, has only deepened the problems instead of solving them. We now face the risk that less reliable information will rank higher simply because it fits certain patterns.
3. Mobile-First Indexing: Now a Standard
Today, there are almost no sites that are not mobile-friendly. The importance of traffic from mobile devices is well-known, and sites are making the necessary investments to provide this experience. While this point confirms the importance Google places on the mobile experience, it is no longer a revolutionary development for the industry.
4. User Experience Signals and Core Web Vitals: How Real Is the Impact?
The goal is for a site to load smoothly in under 3 seconds. However, the impact of these metrics on rankings is not as absolute as one might think. In our analyses, we have seen competing sites in top positions for our target search terms with loading speeds reaching 7-8 seconds. This makes one question why faster sites, well below the 3-second limit, are left behind. Therefore, it appears that getting bogged down in technical details does not always yield concrete returns.
The Real Purpose of the Algorithm: “Don’t Start a New Site If You Don’t Have a Budget”?
Let’s consider an idea: what if an article were first presented to a pilot audience, and if its quality were deemed low based on their feedback, its ranking would be lowered? This sounds like an idea that could solve many problems. But would this pilot audience have the expertise to evaluate the topic? What measures would be taken against spam sites that gain traffic by constantly churning out new content? Such potential issues show how difficult the idea of a perfect algorithm is.
Where Google seems to be mistaken is in its dream that people naturally and frequently share articles they find useful. I have almost never received a shared article even from my well-read circle of doctors, engineers, and teachers. On social media, for content to reach a wide audience, it generally requires a sponsorship or an advertising budget. The only “natural” scenario left is for a real influencer to stumble upon your article, understand it, like it, and share it.
This brings us to the real conclusion: the point is to force content creators to spend more on advertising and to pay to rise in the algorithms of social media platforms.
Conclusion: An Erosion of Trust and the Future of Google
If this algorithm is not adjusted in favor of users and quality content creators, this could be the beginning of the end for Google. As someone who has tied their entire digital life to Google services for years, seeing that my own analyses cannot reach anyone through Google has made me ask, “How much quality information am I also missing?” This erosion of trust is pushing me and others who think like me towards alternative search engines.
This group, which may seem like a minority today, could create a snowball effect over time. Google’s recent increase in ads to annoying levels, as if it has accepted its failure in the search engine space, also supports this thesis. Perhaps this will be the first and last Google algorithm analysis I ever write.
Sources
https://www.seroundtable.com/june-2025-google-webmaster-report-39519.html
https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history
https://www.quantifimedia.com/what-are-the-june-2025-google-algorithm-updates-and-how-will-they-affect-your-rankings
