Change SEO at a glance: E-commerce winner in visibility- news and advice portals have lost

SEO analysis 2024: E-commerce benefits, news portals lose massive

The year 2024 marked a decisive turning point in the SEO landscape. While e-commerce companies benefited from Google's algorithmic changes, many news and advice portals suffered dramatic losses in visibility. The analysis of the Sistrix data shows clear winners and losers, as well as the driving factors behind these developments.

Suitable for:

• How Google updates change the publisher and publishers worldwide-so specialized content dominate Google search

E-commerce as the winner of the Google Serp changes

Industry trends in comparison

• E-commerce dominates visibility
• 15 of the 100 largest visibility winners 2024 were online shops, including Amazon as the second strongest domain in the German Google results.
• Global platforms such as eBay classified ads and pinterest increased their visibility through migrations .Com domains and mobile optimizations.

News portals in free fall

• 45 of the 100 largest SEO losers were publisher, including Web.de (-57%visibility), FOCUS.de (-46%) and Stern.de (-50%).
• Main reasons: Google snippets, AI-based search assistants and new SERP features displaced classic news sites from the top results.

Why e-commerce flourishes: bowl factors of success

1. Mobile-first optimization

• Over 60% of Google request was made in 2024 Mobil, which preferred mobile-optimized pages with fast loading times (Core Web Vitals).
• Example: treats. Me increased its visibility by 761% through mobile -friendly recipe pages with video integration.

2. Specialization and thematic authority

• Google rewards specialized shops with high thematic relevance. Examples:
• Deliciency Schmecker.me (kitchen recipes) overtook generalists through targeted content optimization.
• KleinerseBeben.de dominated the used market through targeted categorization.
• Global marketplaces such as Amazon received advantages from brand autority and AI-based product recommendations.

3. AI integration and data-driven SEO

• AI tools optimized keyword analysis and personalized product recommendations.
• Amazon used Brand Analytics to operate search intentions more precisely.
• Automated product descriptions increased the relevance and conversion rate.

Challenges for e-commerce

Despite the positive development, there are risks:

• Increasing competitive pressure: Google Ads requires higher budgets to prevail against competitors.
• AI search services: Searchgpt & Co. reduce organic traffic classic product searches.
• SERP reduction: featured snippets and Google shopping boxes 78% of the clicks in the first viewport.

The big losers: why publishers, travel and fashion are under pressure

1. Publishing industry: news and advice portals in the crisis

Why you lose:

• Featured snippets and knowledge panels displace classic news links.
• AI search assistants such as perplexity and search gut absorb traffic.
• Mobile-First indexing reduces click rates to extensive texts.

Examples:

• Web.de: -57% Visibility
• FOCUS.de: -46%
• Stern.de: -50%

2. Travel industry: bankruptcies and failed migrations

Problems:

• FTI Touristik's bankruptcy led to complete SEO venability deletion.
• Interchalet.de lost his rankings by moving to interhome.de.
• Adlermode.com lost massive visibility after migration to Adler.de.

3. Retail and fashion: Risks from domain removal

• Weltbild.de (-98%) after migration on thalia.de almost invisible.
• Adler Mode lost valuable rankings through unstructured domain change.
• Knowledge: Unplanned domain redesigns damage the long-term SEO performance in the long term.

4. Affiliate marketing: Stricter Google guidelines meet voucher portals

Festom of crisis:

• FOCUS.de vouchers: Despite successful subdomain, the main domainability sank.
• Helpster.de (-98%) fell through Google's "Helpul Content Update".
• New Google Policy: The “Site Reputation Abuse” Directive (May 2024) punished third-party content.

Long -term risks and developments

1. AI search services displace classic Google searches

• Tools like Searchgpt reduce organic traffic through directly delivered answers.
• Publishers are fighting for relevance in a world in which readers click their pages less and less.

2. The dominance of video content

• 62% of the "How-to" search ends on YouTube.
• Publishers have to switch to video formats to secure reach.

3. Specialization trend displaces generalists

• Subject -specific platforms such as transfermarkt.de or chefkoch.de displace broadly positioned magazines.
• Google prefers experts with high content.

Outlook 2025: How companies have to react

• SEO and SEA merge: organic reach alone is no longer enough. Companies must integrate paid strategies.
• AI-supported keyword research becomes standard: Personalized content based on user data increases visibility.
• Video content and augmented reality prevail: Interactive product representations increase the conversion rate.

Sistrix chefination chief Oliver Papke: "Global players like Amazon set the standard-if you want to keep up, you need technical excellence and thematic depth".

While the e-commerce sector is growing, traditional industries have to adapt. If you want to survive in the long term, you need a strategy that integrates technological change, specialization and multimodal content.

At a time when a company's digital presence determines its success, the challenge is how to make this presence authentic, individual and far-reaching. Xpert.Digital offers an innovative solution that positions itself as an intersection between an industry hub, a blog and a brand ambassador. It combines the advantages of communication and sales channels in a single platform and enables publication in 18 different languages. The cooperation with partner portals and the possibility of publishing articles on Google News and a press distribution list with around 8,000 journalists and readers maximize the reach and visibility of the content. This represents an essential factor in external sales & marketing (SMarketing).

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E-Commerce vs. Publisher: The winners and losers of SEO in 2024

Search engine optimization (SEO) proved to be a dynamic and decisive field for companies and online presences of all kinds in 2024. While the digital landscape continues to develop, certain industries have emerged as winners, while others were confronted with considerable challenges. A detailed analysis of SEO performance in 2024, based on data from Sistrix and other sources, shows a clear picture: E-commerce websites have recorded an above-average positive development of their visibility compared to other industries, while publishers and news portals have massive losses had to accept.

E-commerce triumphs: an ascent in visibility

The data show that e-commerce pages experienced a remarkable rise in organic visibility in 2024. This is due to a combination of algorithmic changes, strategic advantages and proactive adaptation to the changing requirements of the search engines. Of the 100 largest visibility winners of the year, 15 online shops were proof of the effectiveness of their SEO strategies.

Amazon, one of the most visible domains in the German Google results, is a prime example of the success of e-commerce in the SEO area. The company has consolidated its position through continuous optimization, a wide range of products and a strong brand authority. Other global marketplaces such as eBay classifieds and Pinterest have also recorded significant growth. These growth are partly due to successful migrations .Com domains and consistent mobile optimization, which underlines the importance of these factors for SEO success.

Mobile First optimization: a decisive factor

One of the key factors for the success of e-commerce websites in 2024 was the mobile-first optimization. Over 60% of Google request were mobile, which means that space-saving SERP formats and mobile phone websites had a clear advantage. Online shops that invested in responsive designs and fast loading times (Core Web Vitals) were able to significantly improve their visibility.

A concrete example is delicacious. Due to the implementation of mobile -friendly recipe pages with video integration, delicacies can increase its visibility by an impressive 761%. This example illustrates how important it is to focus on mobile user experience.

Specialization and globalization: a recipe for success

Another trend that emerged in 2024 is the prioritization of topic -focused domains by Google. Generalists were able to outperform niche shops that concentrate on a specific topic or a certain product category. Deliciency Schmecker.me (kitchen recipes) and classified ads (used market) are examples of websites that have benefited from this development.

At the same time, global brands like Amazon continued to dominate the market through its brand auto and AI-based product lists. These brands have the resources and the know-how to continuously optimize their SEO strategies and adapt to the changing requirements of the search engines.

AI integration: a competitive advantage

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in SEO strategies proved to be a decisive competitive advantage in 2024. Tools for keyword analysis and personalized product recommendations significantly improve organic visibility. Amazon used Brand Analytics to use search intentions more precisely and offer its customers more relevant products.

AI-supported tools enable companies to analyze large amounts of data, recognize trends and adapt their SEO strategies accordingly. By automating certain tasks and the provision of valuable insights into the user behavior, AI tools can significantly increase the efficiency and effectiveness of SEO campaigns.

Challenges for e-commerce: competitive pressure and AI search services

Despite the positive development, there are also challenges for e-commerce in the SEO area. Competition pressure is enormous and paid advertisements (SEA) require higher budgets because Google AdS campaigns are increasingly competitive.

Another risk is AI search services such as Searchgpt, which could steep away the traffic of classic product searches. These tools offer users a direct and personalized search experience, which could threaten the organic visibility of e-commerce websites in the long term.

In addition, featured snippets and Google shopping boxes take up a considerable part of the clicks in the first viewport of the search results page (SERP). This means that e-commerce websites have to act even more creatively and strategy in order to emphasize in the search results and to attract users' attention.

Outlook 2025: Hybridization of SEO and SEA

For 2025, the trend towards hybridization of SEO and SEA is expected. E-commerce websites have to combine AI-based keyword research with high-quality product data in order to maximize your visibility.

Video content (e.g. 3D product views) and augmented reality (AR) are expected to gain in importance in order to bind mobile users and offer them inevitable shopping experience. By integrating these technologies, e-commerce websites can improve their conversion rates and stand out from the competition.

According to Oliver Papke, chief analyst at Sistrix, the brand authority remains crucial: "Global players like Amazon set the standard-if you want to keep up, you need technical excellence and thematic depth." This means that e-commerce websites in building a strong brand, this means The provision of high -quality content and the optimization of your technical infrastructure must invest in order to be able to compete.

Publishing house in the crisis: massive break -ins at news and advice

In contrast to the success of e-commerce, the publishing house, in particular news and advice portals, recorded the greatest visibility losses in Google search results in 2024. This is due to a combination of factors, including the dominance of Google's own content in the SERPS, the rise of AI search services and the effects of the mobile-land index.

45 of the 100 largest SEO losers were publisher like Web.de (-57%visibility), Stern.de (-50%) and FOCUS.de (-46%). These figures illustrate the extent of the challenges with which the publishing house is faced in the SEO area.

Google-Serp dominance: an insurmountable hurdle?

One main reason for the losses of the publisher is the increasing dominance of Google's own content in the SERPS. Featured snippets, knowledge panels and social media displaced publisher links from the first viewport, which led to a decline in organic clicks.

Google has increasingly integrated its own content and functions into the SERPs in recent years in order to offer users faster and more extensive searchers of view. However, this has caused publisher to have less space to emerge in the search results and to direct traffic to their websites.

AI tools: A threat to classic advisors

The rise of AI search services such as perplexity, Claude and Searchgpt is another threat to the publisher.

AI search services are able to answer complex questions, to summarize information from various sources and to provide users a tailor-made answer. This makes you an attractive alternative to traditional search engines, especially for users who need quick and precise information.

Mobile-First index: Space-saving response formats

Google's mobile-first index has also contributed to the losses of the publisher. Space-saving response formats reduced the chances of clicking on publisher pages, since users could find the information required directly in the SERPS without having to visit the publisher website.

Google has introduced the mobile-first index to take into account the growing importance of mobile search queries. Websites that are not optimized for mobile devices are disadvantaged in the ranking, which can lead to a decline in visibility and traffic.

Travel industry: bankruptcies and failed migrations

The travel industry also had to deal with considerable challenges in 2024. Insolvency and failed domain migrations led to considerable losses in organic visibility.

A sad example is FTI Touristik, which lost all visibility through bankruptcy. Domain migrations can also lead to significant losses, as the examples of interchalet.de (move to interhome.de) and Adlermode.com (migration to Adler.de).

Fall-down domain migrations can lead to organic traffic losses, since search engines may have difficulty identifying the new structure of the website and adapting the rankings accordingly. It is therefore crucial to carefully plan and carry out domain migrations in order to avoid negative effects on SEO performance.

Retail and fashion: domain removal as a risk

In the retail trade and in the fashion industry, domain removal is also a significant risk. Weltbild.de (move to thalia.de) recorded a loss of visibility of -98%, and Adler Mode also suffered a decline after the migration on Adler.de.

These examples make it clear that unstructured domain changes can endanger SEO performance. It is important to carefully plan and carry out domain migrations to ensure that search engines recognize the new structure of the website and adapt the rankings accordingly.

Affiliate marketing: Spam policies meet voucher portals

Affiliate marketing also had to deal with challenges in 2024. The Site Reputation Abuse-Policy from Google (May 2024) met commercial third-party content, especially voucher portals.

FOCUS.de vouchers, despite subdomain success, recorded a decline in the main domestic visibility, and Helpster.de suffered a loss of -98% according to the Helpful Content Update.

Google has introduced the Site Reputation Abuse-Policy to punish websites that publish inferior or misleading content to improve its rankings. This has particularly affected affiliate marketing websites, which are often dependent on the publication of vouchers and offers from other companies.

Long-term risks for industries: AI search services, video dominance and specialization trend

There are several long-term risks for different industries in the SEO area for the future. AI search services such as Searchgpt could further reduce organic traffic, while video dominance (62% of the "How-to" search ends in YouTube tutorials) threatens the traditional text content.

In addition, the specialization trend could lead to topic -specific domains (e.g. transfer market) of generalists. This means that companies have to concentrate on a specific topic or a certain product category in order to be able to compete in the competition.

According to Oliver Papke from Sistrix, "hardly any room left on the first search results" for publishers. While e-commerce and niche sites win, traditional industries have to counteract specialized content, technical optimization and multimedia strategies.

Adaptation is the key to success

The SEO landscape changed significantly in 2024, and companies have to adapt to be able to exist in the competition. E-commerce websites have benefited from mobile-first optimization, specialization and AI integration, while publishers had to deal with challenges such as the dominance of Google's own content and the rise of AI search services.

In the future, it is crucial that companies invest in technical optimization, high -quality content and multimedia strategies to improve their visibility and achieve their target group. The hybridization of SEO and SEA, the integration of video content and augmented reality as well as the concentration on specialization and brand authority will be important success factors.

Only those who adapt to the changing requirements of the search engines and develop innovative strategies will be able to compete and achieve their goals. The SEO landscape is dynamic and requires continuous adaptation and optimization to be successful.

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