Their success is not directly from SEO but SEO amplified their word-of-mouth. They have also acquired brands that has helped but never ever forget - a killer solution to a killing pain point is what sets you up for success!

> more than 75 people are listed as working at Canva (part time or full time) with SEO in their title or job description

That seems like a lot of people just for SEO but it appears to be working for them, especially for backlinks.

I know of a company with a team of 10 just managing Google shopping ads. Their entire SEO/SEM team is probably 60+. And they are only doing a million a day in sales. At Canva's size I think 75 is small.

Interesting. Now that this info is published, Search Engines can use it to downrank all this organized SEO manipulation.

No they won't. Canva produced canonical, valuable content and made it easier to be found. That's exactly what search engines want you to do.