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| September 26, 2025 | Web Development

What Google Wants Developers to Fix in 2025

A sudden drop in Google rankings can happen overnight. For developers, that risk grows if they ignore the changes Google expects in 2025. With stricter Core Web Vitals, updated WCAG accessibility standards, and the full phase-out of third-party cookies, Google is putting pressure on developers to prioritize site speed, privacy, security, and ethical AI practices.

Here’s what Google wants fixed—and what developers should focus on now.

Google’s Key Priorities for 2025

At Google I/O, the company highlighted several priorities:

  • Performance: Faster, more efficient apps, especially on mobile and Android.
  • Accessibility: Full compliance with WCAG standards to make sites usable for everyone.
  • Privacy: Stronger protections as cookies disappear and regulations tighten.
  • AI integration: Smarter use of models like Gemini, Gemma, and Nano for real-world tasks.
  • Sustainability: Code and systems designed to lower energy use.

Google is also promoting its own ecosystem of tools—Android Studio, Firebase, Vertex AI, and AI Studio—to help developers adapt to these changes.

Why Google Is Emphasizing These Fixes

The pace of AI innovation is driving this urgency. New models like Gemini 2.5 Pro and Gemini 2.5 Flash can process larger workloads at higher speed, setting new expectations for performance.

  • Gemini 2.5 Pro can handle up to 1 million tokens with low latency.
  • Gemini 2.5 Flash prioritizes real-time tasks for apps where speed is critical.
  • Benchmarks from Google I/O 2024 showed 40% faster inference and reduced energy usage on edge devices.

Delaying adoption risks leaving developers—and their users—behind.

Fixing Performance Issues

Google wants developers to address slow, resource-heavy apps. Key fixes include:

  • Using Gemini Code Assist in Android Studio to streamline coding and reduce inefficiencies.
  • Running AI-powered testing in Colab or Vertex AI to detect latency issues in text, image, and video processing.
  • Deploying Gemini Nano for on-device tasks to minimize cloud delays and keep responses instant.

The goal is clear: build apps that are fast, responsive, and efficient across both web and mobile.

Improving Core Web Vitals

Core Web Vitals remain central to rankings. Developers should:

  • Use AI tools like Gemma in AI Studio to analyze load times and predict bottlenecks.
  • Target key metrics: LCP < 2.5s, FID < 100ms, CLS < 0.1.
  • Run Lighthouse and PageSpeed Insights tests iteratively during builds.

Google’s research shows that AI-driven optimization can improve load times by up to 30%. Better vitals not only improve SEO but also keep users from bouncing.

Why Page Speed Matters More Than Ever

In 2025, page speed is non-negotiable. A slow site hurts rankings and conversions. Akamai data shows 40% of users leave if a page takes more than three seconds to load.

Google recommends:

  • Edge caching to cut global delays.
  • Automating performance checks with GitHub Actions.
  • Continuous monitoring with PageSpeed Insights.

According to Forrester, improving site speed by even one second can lift conversion rates by 7%.

Addressing Accessibility Problems

Accessibility is moving from optional to required. Google expects developers to:

  • Design with inclusivity in mind using Compose for Android and web UIs.
  • Support multimodal inputs—text, audio, video, images, and sign language.
  • Test with tools like SignGemma and MedGemma to ensure usability for people with disabilities.

This is both a compliance issue and a user-experience priority. Accessible sites retain more users and avoid legal risk.

Meeting WCAG Standards

Developers can improve compliance by:

  • Running automated scans with Gemma 3n to flag color contrast, alt text, and navigation gaps.
  • Adding real-time accessibility checks during prototyping.
  • Combining AI scans with human testing to catch issues AI may miss.

Meeting WCAG 2.1 AA standards means content is perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust—cornerstones of a modern web experience.

Closing Privacy and Security Gaps

With more data running through cloud-based AI, Google wants stricter privacy safeguards:

  • Encrypting all user data with tools like Vertex AI Confidential Computing.
  • Implementing role-based access to limit exposure.
  • Building clear consent flows into apps.

The aim is to prevent breaches, maintain trust, and stay aligned with GDPR and CCPA.

The End of Third-Party Cookies

By the end of 2024, third-party cookies will be gone. Developers must pivot to alternatives such as:

  • First-party data collection with clear consent.
  • Server-side tracking to limit cross-site exposure.
  • Google’s Privacy Sandbox initiatives, which anonymize targeting.

This shift aligns with global privacy laws and signals a long-term move toward user-controlled data.

AI and Sustainability

Google also wants AI used responsibly—both ethically and sustainably. That means:

  • Writing energy-efficient code and optimizing algorithms.
  • Using AI to streamline processes rather than waste compute cycles.
  • Testing in cloud environments designed to reduce carbon output.

Tools like Gemini Diffusion, Colab, and Jules can automate tasks while lowering energy use.

Best Practices for Ethical AI

Developers are expected to:

  • Audit training data and disclose sources.
  • Mitigate bias in multimodal models.
  • Follow guidelines from the EU AI Act and Google’s own Responsible AI standards.

Ethical design is no longer optional. It protects users, reduces risk, and ensures AI systems are trusted.

What This Means for SEO and UX

All of these changes—performance, accessibility, privacy, sustainability—tie back to SEO and user experience. Faster sites with cleaner interfaces rank higher and convert better.

  • A one-second delay can cut conversions by 7%.
  • Emulator testing and Core Web Vitals optimization can raise SEO scores by 20+.
  • Accessibility fixes improve usability scores by up to 25%.

Google’s message is clear: sites that meet these standards will rise; those that ignore them will fall.

Final Thoughts

In 2025, developers can’t just ship apps and sites that “work.” Google expects them to be fast, secure, accessible, private, and ethical. The fixes required now—better Core Web Vitals, stronger privacy protections, inclusive design, and responsible AI use—are the foundation of the future web.

Failing to adapt could mean lost rankings, lost users, and lost trust. Meeting these expectations means building digital experiences that last.