In the current phase of digital communication, brands are under pressure to prove they are real, relevant and trustworthy. Banner ads, classic advertorials and obvious paid campaigns still exist, but their impact is weaker than before. More and more, serious companies are shifting their focus toward unlabeled news publications as a way to earn visibility instead of buying it.

Farshid Parsa, Editor-in-Chief of Kholaseh Agency, describes this shift as a structural change in public relations, not just a new technique. Speaking on behalf of the agency’s editorial and strategy teams, he argues that when a brand story appears as part of a normal article, inside the editorial flow of a reputable outlet, it sends a completely different signal compared with a page that carries a “Sponsored” label.

He believes that this model aligns much better with how modern audiences read, how journalists work and how search engines evaluate authority. Rather than pushing self-promotional copy, the goal is to create genuine news value and let editors decide whether a story deserves a place on their site. Within that mindset, unlabeled news publications become a central asset in any long-term PR and SEO strategy.

What exactly are unlabeled editorials?

For Parsa, the definition is simple. When a story runs in the news or analysis section of a site, without an advertising tag, and the narrative is written in journalistic style, it belongs to the category of unlabeled news publications. The article may still highlight a company, founder or product, but the framing is informational rather than transactional.

Instead of pushing discount codes or sales slogans, these pieces explain a market shift, unpack a trend or share insight from subject-matter experts. The brand has a presence in the story, yet the centre of gravity is the topic itself. That difference in tone and intent is what makes this format so powerful for international positioning.

Parsa notes that this approach respects the intelligence of the reader. People can recognise when a site is simply renting out space versus when an editor has decided that a story contributes to the broader conversation. Audiences reward that respect with more careful reading, more shares and a higher willingness to click through to the brand’s properties.

Why audiences respond differently to unlabeled coverage

Users are exposed to promotional messages all day, across every platform. Over time, they develop a strong filter for anything that looks like an ad. Parsa sees this every day in analytics: sponsored items tend to generate short sessions and quick bounces, while neutral reporting keeps readers on the page much longer.

Unlabeled news publications work with this reality instead of fighting it. Because the content is presented as a piece of reporting or analysis, people show up with a different mindset. They come to learn something, not to be sold to. When the brand appears in that context as a credible voice, the association that forms in the reader’s mind is one of expertise rather than aggression.

This effect is especially important for sectors where risk and trust matter, such as fintech, health, cybersecurity, blockchain or enterprise software. In those areas, a quote inside a solid article on a respected site can do more for perception than a dozen banner campaigns.

The SEO dimension: signals that algorithms actually value

From an SEO point of view, Parsa underlines that not all backlinks are created equal. Search engines now look at the entire environment around a link: the genre of the page, the depth of the content, the history of the domain and the way users interact with the article. Thin, repetitive or obviously paid posts tend to perform poorly when Panda-style quality filters and core updates roll through.

By contrast, editorial features that meet real journalistic standards are exactly the kind of documents modern algorithms are trained to reward. They include unique wording, original angles, named sources and context that matters. When a brand earns a link from that type of page, it sends a strong E-E-A-T signal: real experience, real expertise, genuine authority and a higher degree of trustworthiness.

Parsa notes that at Kholaseh Agency, campaigns built around unlabeled editorials are explicitly designed to feed these signals. Because unlabeled news publications usually live in the core news index of a site, they are also more likely to appear in Google News, Top Stories units and long-tail search results. That combination of visibility, click-through and engagement creates a feedback loop that RankBrain and related systems can easily interpret as “this content is actually helping users”. For SEO teams, planning unlabeled news publications alongside technical and on-page optimisation has quietly become a decisive advantage in competitive niches.

Building global authority through independent coverage

One reason international brands are paying closer attention to this model is its effect on cross-border reputation. When a company from one region wants to expand into the US, UK or EU, it needs more than local social proof. It needs evidence that neutral third parties consider its work notable enough to be covered.

Here again, unlabeled news publications play a critical role. A cluster of independent articles about a product launch, funding round or technology innovation demonstrates that multiple editors, in different markets, have judged the story to be worth their time. That pattern is difficult to fake and very easy for both humans and machines to verify.

Parsa has seen this directly with clients in finance, crypto, SaaS and e-commerce. In campaign after campaign, neutral editorials on established sites have helped brands unlock better investor conversations, stronger partnership opportunities and smoother verification processes on major platforms.

How brands can qualify for genuine editorial interest

Of course, this kind of coverage is not something that can be bought with a rate card. It has to be earned. Parsa outlines a few principles that raise the odds of success.

First, there must be a real story. A minor website update or generic product pitch will not convince any serious editor. Launches, market data, regulatory milestones, research results, meaningful partnerships and clear inflection points in a company’s journey all have better potential.

Second, the narrative must be shaped in a way that respects journalistic logic. That means a strong hook, clear facts, multiple angles and quotes that add insight rather than empty praise. Kholaseh Agency often helps clients translate raw corporate messaging into something that reads like a useful briefing for the outlet’s audience.

Third, timing matters. Aligning a pitch with wider trends—policy changes, industry shocks, emerging technologies—gives editors a reason to see the brand as part of a bigger picture, not just a lone voice looking for attention.

Sponsored content versus editorial presence: two different tools

Parsa does not argue that paid placements should disappear. In his words, sponsored campaigns are still effective when a brand needs guaranteed reach during a specific window, such as a major launch, an event or a seasonal promotion. They allow precise targeting and predictable volume.

What he emphasises is that the two approaches serve different strategic goals. Sponsored formats are about controlled exposure. Unlabeled news publications are about long-term credibility. Treating them as interchangeable leads to disappointment; designing a plan where each has a defined role produces far better outcomes.

In practice, many of the most successful campaigns he has observed use paid media to amplify or echo stories that already have editorial backing. When a user spots a familiar name in an ad after previously encountering it inside a serious article, the probability of a positive response rises sharply.

Ethical lines and the importance of transparency

Any discussion about this topic has to address ethics. If brands try to disguise pure advertising as neutral reporting, they damage trust for everyone involved. Parsa is clear that high-quality unlabeled coverage must still respect core journalistic values: accuracy, relevance, honest sourcing and clear separation from fabricated claims.

Responsible agencies help clients craft stories that stand on their own, even if the brand were removed from a paragraph. They also work with outlets that have editorial guidelines and are willing to push back on weak or exaggerated material. In the long run, this discipline protects both the publication’s reputation and the client’s standing in the market.

A strategic asset for the next wave of digital PR

As algorithms become more sophisticated and audiences more selective, the bar for meaningful visibility keeps rising. Quick tricks and low-quality content farms no longer survive core quality updates. What continues to perform is exactly what readers have valued all along: clear reporting, relevant insight and narratives that add something new.

Within this landscape, unlabeled news publications give brands a way to align their communication with the direction of the web instead of fighting against it. They generate stronger trust with users, richer signals for search engines and more persuasive proof of significance for platforms that decide who deserves a verified, notable or authoritative status. In practice, this can also support processes such as blue-tick checks on major social networks; Parsa points to resources like Kholaseh’s own analysis of Instagram verification, available via the agency’s in-depth guide to the Instagram blue tick, as an example of how editorial thinking and platform policy can be connected.

For organisations that think beyond the next campaign and focus on building a durable international reputation, Parsa’s message on behalf of Kholaseh Agency is straightforward. Invest in stories that real editors want to tell, and the compound effect of those stories will carry further than any single ad buy. In the architecture of modern PR, unlabeled news publications are no longer a side tactic—they are the foundation that everything else can safely stand on.

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