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👋 What’s growing: DeepSeek concerns. CNBC reported that the U.S. Navy has warned shipmates against using DeepSeek “in any capacity” due to “potential security and ethical concerns”.

Since then, the Taiwan government has been banned from using the Chinese-developed AI model, and Italy has removed the app from Italian app stores altogether.

Should we be worried about using it?

SEO

Should you cut your site’s “dead weight” content?

SEO experts disagree on the best way to handle old content.

Like so many others, you might have spent years pumping out as much content as possible.

But it could be time to take a look at your old blog posts and cobweb-draped pages. The more low-quality pages you’re clinging onto, the less likely the algorithm will want to rank you.

We know you’re attached to some of your legacy content, but if it’s no longer relevant to your core purpose, it’s not serving you. Sometimes admitting that is the hardest part.

Lots of SEOs find that deleting dead-weight content causes a pretty immediate boost in rankings. Careful though, not all old content is dead weight. Some of it might still be giving your domain authority on certain topics.

Either way, the biggest boosts come when you’ve been publishing for a long time, know exactly what topics you’re trying to re-center around, and delete all content that is not directly contributing to those.

To choose whether to delete, update or leave your content, ask yourself:

• What’s the purpose of the page? Is it achieving it? If not, could it?

• Can you reasonably expect ROI from rewriting or updating it?

• Does it directly support the goal of your website?

If you're unsure about a piece of content, run a Content Audit using Semrush. It’ll show you which pages are underperforming, outdated, or cannibalizing your rankings—so you can decide whether to refresh, redirect, or remove.

Can we be brutally honest?

The reality is that if you have hundreds (or thousands) of pages and posts on your site, it’s not all gonna be directly relevant to your core purpose. 

But exactly what you should do about it is an ongoing debate among the coolest kids in the SEO crowd.

• Keep it lean, optimize often: Some experts frequently update existing content over publishing new stuff. They ruthlessly delete old pages or posts that are no longer relevant, making sure every page is highly optimized.

• Stay fresh, honor the OG: Some focus on staying relevant by publishing new content every day, while letting old content serve as a sort of historical record. The main pages are thoroughly optimized, but consistent, timely updates take center stage.

• Find the balance: Most SEOs balance publishing new posts while updating or deleting anything that loses its relevance. A focus on evergreen content helps make this happen.

All of these strategies rank, but you should pick just one. And stick with it.

Check out your site: Go to Google, type inurl:yourwebsite.com and see how many pages are indexed for your site. It’s probably more than you think.

Better yet, use Semrush’s Crawled Pages report to get a clearer view of how your site is indexed.

Semrush recently audited and improved their blogs, and organic traffic reached an all-time high and continues to grow (source)

DATA POINT

These consumer trends top the lot in 2025

Experts are staying firmly on the beaten track

Grappling with slow budget growth and a need to prove ROI, marketers are investing in performance channels (like social, digital display/video and CTV) over channels that are harder to track.

A Mediaocean study surveyed 700 marketing pros to find out where the focus is in 2025. Here’s what came up:

And they’re putting their money where their mouths are.

68% of marketers say they’re increasing spending on social media. 67% will spend more on digital display/video, and 55% are upping their CTV budgets.

Less trackable platforms like radio, print, TV and OOH/DOOH aren’t getting as much love in 2025.

An honorable shout-out beyond the study

The Mediaocean study seems to skip podcasts. Although it bundles audio in with radio, we think podcasts deserve more. SiriusXM’s 2024 audio report found that more than 75% of Americans now listen to digital audio, with listenership climbing steadily every year.

And a mention for the industry’s golden child

No surprises here: AI is the trend firmly on the radar of most marketers thanks to its ability to bring efficiency to processes.

Is this a sign that more low-quality content is on the horizon, or just the next evolution of things like content mills and DIY amateur entrepreneurs?

CULTURE

Huge predictions that didn’t stand the test of time

Taps crystal ball... “Is this thing on?”

Some guy called Ken Olsen once said there’s no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home.

Actually, he wasn’t just “some guy.” He was a well-known engineer who co-founded Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), a company that created minicomputers.

But he wasn’t the only one who made bold claims that no longer ring true.

1. The world is ending, and ending, and ending

Lots of people thought Y2K meant the end of the world. Many interpreted the Mayan calendar to say 2012 would be our final year. And Sir Isaac Newton predicted a worldwide death in 2020.

Baba Vanga, a mystic and healer, warns that global conflicts and even a war with aliens could trigger an apocalypse this very year.

But don’t worry too much. We’ve survived all apocalypse predictions so far.

2. Robots will steal our jobs

This feels like a modern panic, but job-stealing bots have been a concern since the 1800s. We’re not special.

It’s nice to know the situation (y’know, that impending doom?) has been blown out of proportion. BYU research found that workers who had been replaced by automation think around 47% of jobs have been taken by robots. In reality, it’s about 14%.

3. The internet will never catch on

LOL. 

In a 1995 Newsweek article, American author and hacker-catcher Clifford Stoll claimed the web “won’t be Nirvana.” He called “baloney” on online shopping and working, virtual communities, and interactive learning.

4. The planet will overpopulate and we’ll all starve

Yes, the planet’s getting steadily busier. According to Harvard International Review, 1 billion people lived on earth in 1800, and 3.7 billion in 1970. Worldometer says we’ve now passed the 8 billion mark.

But the UN predicts that the earth’s population will never surpass 12 billion, and economist Julian Simon once said: 

“Whatever the rate of population growth is, historically it has been that the food supply increases at least as fast, if not faster.”

5. What’s the next big fortune-telling fail?

Right now, it’s all about “expert” AI predictions. Some people say it’s a fad. Others think it will leave us all jobless. Others (like the Navy) are concerned about security. 

But let this mini trip through history be a reminder that even the most esteemed experts can’t predict the future. So try not to overthink it.

This week’s issue was written by Amy Hawthorne and edited by Catherine Solbrig.