Journalism's transformation through digitalization in Turkey: Applying search engine optimization to journalism

The development of web technologies has had significant effects on journalism, and journalism practices on the Internet reveal an algorithm-based structure. In this context, search engines, Google in particular, have become one of the most important tools enabling the news to go from the producer to consumer. A contemporary style of journalism has emerged in which the news published on the web is optimized for Google, and this type of journalism can be expressed as search engine optimization (SEO) journalism. While SEO journalism on one hand embodies important practices that shape journalism in the digital age, it has been the subject of important discussions on the other. These discussions focus on how producing news by focusing on algorithms contradicts the professional principles of journalism. This study aims to examine the structure of journalism as shaped by search engine algorithms. The study takes within its scope and consideration the frequency with which news sites in Turkey are visited. The article conducts qualitative research by determining an appropriate sample from among the most visited news sites and examines the problems with SEO journalism based on the findings obtained from in-depth interviews with the SEO managers of these news sites.