How can smaller news and entertainment creators compete with giant publishers? Should creators chase breaking news, or focus on evergreen content? And what actually wins in today’s SEO and discovery ecosystem?

These are the questions facing creators like Jamie Broadnax of Black Girl Nerds and entertainment creators everywhere. With massive publishers dominating the space, how can high-quality independent sites break through? 

Raptive’s SEO expert Eddie Mercado joins the pod to help us unpack why search is especially stacked against entertainment creators, and what they can do to win anyway. Eddie breaks down where Google traffic really comes from in 2026, and how to use your niche as a competitive advantage.

You’ll learn:

• Where creators should focus for traffic: Google Search, Google News or Google Discover?
• Should creators push for breaking news vs. evergreen content?
• Why niche beats scale, and how to use yours as your superpower

00:00 Introduction: The challenge facing entertainment sites

00:44 Meet the Expert: Eddie Mercado

01:26 Icebreaker: Why Eddie’s favorite TV show is a discoverability winner

02:31 Jamie’s question: Help!

07:01 Understanding Google Discover

08:39 Challenges unique to entertainment sites

10:37 Timely vs. evergreen content strategies

13:56 Why knowing your niche matters

15:57 Optimizing content for Google Search, News and Discover