SODP Dispatch - 31 July 2025

A Publisher’s Engagement Playbook!

🚀 We’ve launched the first industry research report in partnership with Glide Publishing Platform!

Join global publishing leaders, product owners, data strategists, and tech innovators to benchmark how your team personalizes, engages, and grows using first-party data.

🔍️ What’s in it for you?

• Benchmark CDP Engagement, Adoption & Performance

• Discover Emerging Personalization Trends

• Access Actionable Best Practices

• Learn From Real-World Challenges & Wins

Whether you're using behavioural signals, AI-powered tools, or topic-based tagging, your insights matter. Help shape a report that reflects what’s really driving results across the industry.

👉️ Take the survey now! We need 300 respondents, and the survey closes in a week. Be the first to receive exclusive insights.

Can Academics Use AI to Write Journal Papers? What the Guidelines Say

By Sumaya Laher

Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to “intelligent machines and algorithms that can reason and adapt based on sets of rules and environments which mimic human intelligence”. This field is evolving rapidly and the education sector, for one, is abuzz with discussion on AI use for writing.

This matters not just for academics, but for anyone relying on trustworthy information, from journalists and policymakers to educators and the public. Ensuring transparency in how AI is used protects the credibility of all published knowledge.

In education and research, AI can generate text, improve writing style, and even analyse data. It saves time and resources by allowing quick summarising of work, language editing and reference checking. It also holds potential for enhancing scholarly work and even inspiring new ideas.

Equally AI is able to generate entire pieces of work. Sometimes it’s difficult to distinguish original work written by an individual and work generated by AI.

This is a serious concern in the academic world – for universities, researchers, lecturers and students. Some uses of AI are seen as acceptable and others are not (or not yet).

As editor and editorial board member of several journals, and in my capacity as a researcher and professor of psychology, I have grappled with what counts as acceptable use of AI in academic writing. I looked to various published guidelines:

the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), a UK nonprofit organisation which provides expert guidance, education and training in academic publishing Sage Publishing, a US academic publishing company the American Psychological Association, an organisation representing psychology academics, professionals and students the Academy of Science of South Africa, through its South African Journal of Science platform. The guidelines are unanimous that AI tools cannot be listed as co-authors or take responsibility for the content. Authors remain fully responsible for verifying the accuracy, ethical use and integrity of all AI-influenced content. Routine assistance does not need citation, but any substantive AI-generated content must be clearly referenced.

🚀 Google Search Central APAC 2025

Following the latest updates from Google, here is a comprehensive breakdown of Google's new Search Central Indexing changes and insights from the event. This provides an in-depth look at their recent indexing advancements and how they impact SEO strategies for 2025. Whether you're a publisher or just interested in the latest SEO trends, this is your guide to understanding what's coming next. See more ▸

🔍 Phuket SEO Summit 2025

Whether you're a marketer, entrepreneur, or digital innovator, the Phuket SEO Summit 2025 is your chance to level up your SEO game. Gain exclusive access to workshops that will help you reskill, rethink, and redefine what’s possible for your business. Beyond the sessions, immerse yourself in VIP masterminds on a private beach, explore tailored collaboration opportunities, and network at unforgettable events, including a vibrant party. Don't miss the chance to learn from the best and future-proof your SEO strategy in this rapidly evolving digital landscape. See more ▸

By Vahe Arabian

🔍 Social search is the new SEO

Search is no longer limited to blue links and 10-result pages. Platforms driven by social discovery now influence how users search, what they find, and how they consume it.

With 46% of Gen Z users starting their searches on TikTok or Instagram (Reuters Institute, 2025), social platforms are no longer just “engagement” channels. They’re shaping search intent and results, particularly for product reviews, local tips, and tutorials. Publishers and content creators must rethink how their content appears in search-driven social feeds and how social can drive broader SEO outcomes.

Social search blends traditional search behaviour with in-platform discovery. When users search inside apps, they don’t just find hashtags; they find snackable videos, UGC-style tutorials, and long-form summaries that resolve intent without leaving the app.

This matters because:

• Google is testing deeper integrations of short-form videos and UGC.

• Visual-first queries are rising across verticals like “how to” guides and brand comparisons.

• Social content is now indexed not just by platforms but increasingly by search engines like Google.

Here’s how publishers can start leveraging social search for SEO:

1. Create search-driven social content: Use keyword and content research to build short-form, video-first assets that resolve queries, like 60–90s “how to” clips with text overlays and trending audio.

2. Optimise your profiles: Ensure bios and handles are keyword-aligned with your publishing identity. Both crawlers and social platforms use these fields for discoverability.

3. Repurpose with search in mind: Break evergreen content into Reels, carousels, or Stories that visually explain key points. Link back for deeper context or conversion.

4. Monitor what’s ranking in social SERPs: Track what formats and phrases rank in-app. Align your editorial calendar to reflect the visual formats and terms performing well.

5. Track performance with attribution models: Use UTM links to monitor referral traffic from social content that ranks in search, especially important as zero-click behaviour increases.

6. Map keywords to hashtags: Treat hashtags like keywords: For example, #BudgetTravelAus might outperform traditional SEO terms in social discovery.

Publishers optimising for social search saw a 38% lift in referral traffic (Backlinko, 2024).

Here are the key takeaways:

• Social platforms are functioning as search engines. Content must be optimised accordingly.

• Visual-first, algorithm-friendly content should be embedded in SEO workflows.

• Treat short-form social content as high-value entry points, not as distractions.

This shift isn’t temporary; it’s a fundamental change. The opportunity lies in making your content modular, searchable, and native to how your audience consumes information today.

Google says it will sign EU’s AI code of practice | TechCrunch

Google has confirmed it will sign the European Union’s general purpose AI code of practice, a voluntary framework that aims to help AI developers implement processes and systems to comply with the bloc’s AI Act. Notably, Meta earlier this month said it would not sign the code, calling the EU’s implementation of its AI legislation “overreach” and stating that Europe was “heading down the wrong path on AI.”
Read more ▸

Customer centricity? Purpose? Bravery? Brands urged to walk the talk as PM takes teen social media ban to UN, platforms fear ‘global contagion’, scramble for worldwide age checks | Mi3

After bundling YouTube into the social media ban for teens, PM Albanese is set to roadshow the legislation to global heads of state at the UN General Assembly in New York. Nova’s planning to cover the event broadcasting live from Andy Lee’s A-lister backed Old Mates bar. The question is whether more than a handful of brands will actually back the ban, and a campaign by 36 Months to tackle the systemic issues facing kids in an algorithmically-dominated world.
Read more ▸

AI isn’t the enemy: How bloggers can thrive in a generative search world | Seach Engine Land

If you’re a blogger feeling SEO fatigue in 2025, you aren’t alone. Between the March and June core updates and noticeable SERP changes, many bloggers have found themselves pushed further down the search results or out of them altogether. Most are still trying to make sense of what changed, only to be met with even more disruptive news. It’s easy to feel like Google has moved on and left creators behind. But here’s the new reality: the way people search, find, and consume content has changed. Read more ▸

B2B Marketing Is Starting to Look a Lot Like B2C (And It’s Working) | SEJ

B2B marketers are taking a page from the B2C playbook and seeing real results. According to LinkedIn’s B2B Marketing Benchmark Report, strategies once considered too informal for business audiences, like short-form video and influencer collabs, are now central to building trust and driving growth. The study, based on responses from 1,500 senior marketers across six countries, found that 94% believe trust is the key to success in B2B. Read more ▸

Solstice Media acquires Australian Traveller Media | Mumbrella

Solstice Media has continued its run of acquisitions, this time purchasing a majority shareholding in Australian Traveller Media, the publisher of Australian Traveller and International Traveller magazines and digital assets. The deal, for an undisclosed sum, gives Solstice Media an immediate 80% stake in the company, with the remaining 20% to be purchased over time. Solstice Media said Australian Traveller Media will continue to operate as a separate business. Read more ▸

Google Expands AI Mode in Search: What Site Owners and SEOs Should Know | Search Engine World

Google just rolled out a batch of updates to experimental AI Mode in Search designed with education in mind. While the announcement was framed as a user-focused feature expansion, it carries real implications for site owners, SEOs, and small businesses that rely on organic visibility. What’s New in AI Mode? Google’s AI Mode, still labeled under Search Labs – that’s weird? Read more ▸