The State of Search: How Organic and Paid Search Are Evolving in 2025 The State of Search: How Organic and Paid Search Are Evolving in 2025

Search marketing has entered a transformative era in 2025, driven by the integration of AI, the rise of voice-based interactions, and evolving advertising formats. For marketers, staying ahead means understanding how these developments are influencing both organic and paid search. As the digital landscape continues to change, businesses must adapt their strategies to ensure visibility, engagement, and ROI. This article takes a look at the current state of search and offers practical insights into adapting content and paid campaigns for future success.

The Rise of AI-Powered Search

AI is redefining how users interact with search engines, as platforms embed large language models (LLMs) into their core algorithms, enabling more conversational and context-aware search experiences. In early 2025, Google rolled out its Search Generative Experience (SGE), which leverages generative AI to produce detailed summaries in response to complex questions.

This shift is changing how users consume information. Rather than scrolling through multiple results, users often find what they need directly in the AI-generated snippets. For organic search, this means fewer clicks to websites unless content is optimised for inclusion in these AI summaries. Structured data, clear headings, and high-authority content are now more critical than ever for visibility.

For paid search, AI integration is also altering ad placements. Google’s Performance Max campaigns now rely heavily on machine learning to target intent rather than specific keywords, making ad creative and targeting precision a focal point.

Key Takeaway:

Marketers must structure content to appear within AI-generated answers and focus paid campaigns on intent-based targeting.

Voice Search and Conversational Queries

Voice search continues to gain traction, with adoption fuelled by smart devices and improved speech recognition accuracy.

Voice queries differ from traditional text searches as they tend to be longer and more conversational. This requires content strategies that anticipate natural language questions. Tools like AnswerThePublic and Google’s “People Also Ask” feature are useful for identifying voice-friendly search terms.

On the paid side of things, ad platforms are starting to support voice-specific formats. Amazon and Google have introduced audio ads triggered by voice commands, which are particularly useful when integrated with product-based queries and shopping assistants.

Key Takeaway:

Marketers should optimise their efforts with long-tail, question-based keywords in both content and paid campaigns to capture voice-driven traffic.

Changing Formats in Paid Advertising

Paid search advertising is no longer confined to text ads at the top of a search engine results page (SERP). In 2025, ad formats are increasingly interactive and visual, designed to capture user attention in a more immersive way.

Google has expanded its Visual Search Ads, allowing advertisers to serve image-rich content in response to visual and product-focused queries. Similarly, YouTube Shorts has become a prominent space for paid search strategies, with video-based search results and shopping integrations leading to higher engagement.

Programmatic advertising has also matured, enabling better cross-platform targeting. Advertisers can now target users not only based on keyword intent but also on browsing patterns, engagement history, and predicted behaviours through AI-powered algorithms.

Key Takeaway:

Marketers should diversify ad formats by investing in visuals and video and make use of programmatic tools to personalise and target their efforts more effectively.

Evolving User Behaviour and SERP Features

Today’s searchers are more discerning and expect fast, personalised results. With AI-enhanced features, SERPs are now highly dynamic, often containing AI summaries, perspectives from forums or social media, and interactive tools like calculators or product filters.

For organic search, this fragmentation of attention means that traditional links are competing with a wider array of features. Zero-click searches are rising, so content must serve value instantly, whether in the meta description, a featured snippet, or embedded media.

In paid search, this dynamic SERP means there’s more competition for fewer visible ad spots. Bidding strategies now need to factor in both context and intent, and responsive search ads (RSAs) are being continuously tested and tweaked by AI systems to achieve better alignment with user needs.

Key Takeaway:

Marketers need to understand the composition of modern SERPs and optimise their efforts for visibility across all available features, organic and paid.

The Implications for Content Strategy

Content in 2025 must serve dual roles: satisfying both algorithmic preferences and user intent. This requires a strategic blend of evergreen content, timely updates, and topic clusters that build authority.

AI-generated summaries in SERPs favour content that answers questions directly and is backed by credible sources. Marketers should prioritise E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) in their content production and use schema markup to highlight key information.

Additionally, multimedia content such as videos, infographics, and audio, are more likely to be serviced across different platforms and search formats. Repurposing core content across multiple channels can extend reach and improve ROI.

Key Takeaway:

Marketers should build content hubs with a mix of formats and undertake SEO best practices to maximise reach across evolving SERPs.

The State of Search in 2025

Search in 2025 is more astute, more visual, and increasingly dominated by AI-driven experiences. For those involved in marketing, this transformation brings a mix of challenges and opportunities. Understanding the nuances of AI integration, voice search, changing ad formats, and shifting user behaviours is essential to remaining competitive.

To succeed in this landscape, brands must adapt their organic and paid search strategies, focusing on intent, delivering immediate value, and diversifying formats. The future of search is dynamic, and those who embrace this change will stand out in a crowded digital marketplace.