news Over 50% of searches on Google result in zero clicks

[equity78]

A report by Rand Fishkin was published yesterday that now 50% of Google searches end without a click, or what's known as Zero click searches. A zero-click search results in the answer being displayed directly at the top of a Google search result. The person initiating the search gets their answer and does not need to click any links to move further to another website. SearchEngineLand.com … [Read more...]

 

[TCK]

This is extremely bad news. For example, if you search for health wellness and disease conditions the google snippets are very well targeted and informative and may have both the top plus a large chunk of the right side of page occupied with it going into great detail with graphics too.

For most people there's now little if any need to go down and click on search results. It is having a huge impact on traffic, probably making website development of minisites and mid-size sites sadly a thing of the past and seriously harming sales and the domaining business in general.

Google is trying to get people to stay on their site(s) instead of going to links in the organic results. Whether you are searching for "top sci fi movies" or some product, Google is competing with sites in their organic search results.

Google is giving a snippet of the most authoritative websites on a certain subject in most part because of the food of all the cut and past and duplicate websites that might be providing false, inadequate, or misleading info on important and serious subjects such as when people search for info on diseases and their symptoms. As far as the general public is concerned that's a good thing. IMO

ALL the results in the top 3-10 SERPs are unique authoritative content. Any cut-and-paste duplicate content sites are buried deep in the SERPs if they are even indexed. On the first page, Google is competing with authoritative unique-content sites that invested a lot of resources for the privilege of being ranked at the top.

 

[oldtimer]

Google is competing with authoritative unique-content sites that invested a lot of resources for the privilege of being ranked at the top.

Why would they want to do that, those authoritative websites are what gives Google credibility. IMO

 

[TCK]

Why would they want to do that, those authoritative websites are what gives Google credibility. IMO

Exactly. The only possible reason is revenue. They don't get anything from organic search results. And maybe revenue from traditional sponsored "ad" clicks is down, so they are trying to get people to stay longer on Google and get more clicks on ads.

 

[KTC]

Why would they want to do that, those authoritative websites are what gives Google credibility. IMO

Because Google wants to keep the traffic and lead those people further down the funnel for their own conversions. Their own conversions being leading those searchers for products like businesses that list on Google Ads or some of those deals they have in the travel niche, etc. It's the same thing, except they are still taking someone's information for their own benefit and not for the webmaster themselves.

 

[KTC]

Exactly. The only possible reason is revenue. They don't get anything from organic search results. And maybe revenue from traditional sponsored "ad" clicks is down, so they are trying to get people to stay longer on Google and get more clicks on ads.

Beat me to it by seconds.

 

[TCK]

Beat me to it by seconds.

LOL.

 

[TCK]

Just to give you a personal example. I am searching right now for certain Shell commands on G. It gives me the answer copied from the first search result right on G's first page above any organic results. So I don't even have to go to the site to get the answer. Sure it is more convenient for me since I am saved an extra click. But it is cheating the site in the first result out of organic traffic.

And who knows. If I went to that site, maybe some other content would catch my attention and I would continue browsing it. But by giving me the answer lifted from that site on the SERP itself, G discourages me from browsing it.

 

[namemarket]

....it is cheating the site in the first result out of organic traffic. And who knows. If I went to that site, maybe some other content would catch my attention and I would continue browsing it. But by giving me the answer lifted from that site on the SERP itself, G discourages me from browsing it.

yea, it's a huge negative to the domain industry and I am sure it will get worse as Google expands the snippets to support even more phrases and keywords. A good reason to not build websites anymore if you are doing it mostly for traffic, marketing or ppc. If this continues even more the number of domainers will likely decline.

 

[frank-germany]

Just to give you a personal example. I am searching right now for certain Shell commands on G. It gives me the answer copied from the first search result right on G's first page above any organic results. So I don't even have to go to the site to get the answer. Sure it is more convenient for me since I am saved an extra click. But it is cheating the site in the first result out of organic traffic.

And who knows. If I went to that site, maybe some other content would catch my attention and I would continue browsing it. But by giving me the answer lifted from that site on the SERP itself, G discourages me from browsing it.

exactly

now they are
do no evil
no more

 

[oldtimer]

exactly

now they are
do no evil
no more

The question is whether the general public is happy to see these snippets or not, I personally never leave after just reading the snippets, I like to see what other sources have to say about the subject too. IMO

 

[Joe Styler]

This is nothing new for google.

If I want to convert miles to km I just punch in 12km to miles into the search bar.

The answer comes up, same with math, currency, temperature etc etc.

Type in a medical condition and snippets tell you almost as much as the links.

So yes, search is functioning as google intended, virtually no clicks necessary, everything stays on google.

Just type in your business name without the .com. the results will tell you more about the business than the website. On the right side you see reviews, posts, map etc.

I remember reading an article years ago where google stated they wanted the vast majority of information to come up from the first time you hit enter.

It's working exactly as designed.

Kinda. No Clicks = no money for Google. They get most of their money from ads. You can no click search
"How does Google get most of their money" So at some point they want you to click.

 

[MapleDots]

Kinda. No Clicks = no money for Google. They get most of their money from ads. You can no click search
"How does Google get most of their money" So at some point they want you to click.

They don't get money unless you click an ad, so look at it this way....

Scenario #1

You type in your search and google serves you the proper #1 website and you click it.
No money for google.
Why?
Because you did not even look at the ads.

Scenario #2

You type in your search query and google does all the work, they show you full answers to questions, math problems, currency exchange rates, conversions, etc.

You are now fully engaged on the search page and are actively seeing content mixed with ads. The odds are much greater you will click an ad as opposed to a website in scenario #2.

I mean really... why else would google be doing this if not to keep you engaged on the search page as long as possible.

These type of results work by asking for currency exchanges, temperatures, speeds etc.

Why not just click you trough to a website that does conversions?

Because they want to keep you on the search page longer so you will see the ads and click on them.

Clicking search results gets google no money, only clicking the ads does so these new types of interactions on the search pages are a big plus for google and a pain in the arse for website owners.

 

[TCK]

Because they want to keep you on the search page longer so you will see the ads and click on them.

Clicking search results gets google no money, only clicking the ads does so these new types of interactions on the search pages are a big plus for google and a pain in the arse for website owners.

Precisely. They have added pages for shopping, travel, financial, etc. that compete with websites in the organic results that may be affiliate sites or selling competing products or information.

And where does G get the data to populate those pages? From content creators whose websites they index. So if you create a content-intensive website, you are actually giving G free content to use how they please to keep visitors on their platform and generate more ad revenue for themselves.

 

[BrandEntrance.com]

This is nothing new for google.

If I want to convert miles to km I just punch in 12km to miles into the search bar.

The answer comes up, same with math, currency, temperature etc etc.

Type in a medical condition and snippets tell you almost as much as the links.

So yes, search is functioning as google intended, virtually no clicks necessary, everything stays on google.

Just type in your business name without the .com. the results will tell you more about the business than the website. On the right side you see reviews, posts, map etc.

I remember reading an article years ago where google stated they wanted the vast majority of information to come up from the first time you hit enter.

It's working exactly as designed.

Great summary. You even answered the question like google would. I also see a direct correlation between domains that were registered a long time ago being dropped and the result of entering the terms like you described.

Some are still viable where a more in depth article answer is needed.

 

[BrandEntrance.com]

This is extremely bad news. For example, if you search for health wellness and disease conditions the google snippets are very well targeted and informative and may have both the top plus a large chunk of the right side of page occupied with it going into great detail with graphics too.

For most people there's now little if any need to go down and click on search results. It is having a huge impact on traffic, probably making website development of minisites and mid-size sites sadly a thing of the past and seriously harming sales and the domaining business in general.

Google wants to get rid of URLs. I wonder what they are planning.

 

[MapleDots]

Google wants to get rid of URLs. I wonder what they are planning.

Voice, I addressed that in a number of topics, I will dig this up.

Go to business name

No url bar, no url, no address, just the business name. With ai going all to voice it is coming. Your little Google screen in the kitchen. Just say go to namrpros. Will not show address just site, eventually making premium domains redundant.

Now before someone says email... That is gone too with the new messenger coming. All attached to phone number and voice. No fraud or click bait.

I have close connections at Google in my hometown. We make Gmail here, it is known that some form of advanced messenger will eventually replace email.

 

[TCK]

Google wants to get rid of URLs. I wonder what they are planning.

One way they can do this, and are doing it, is via the Chrome browser and any browser that has G set as the default search engine. People type words and phrases into the address bar and are taken directly to G's SERP #1.

There also seems to be some movement within G sphere to align mobile apps with Web-based apps and this may involve how the .app TLD is utilized. This is pure speculation, but G seems to have clear long-term plans for that extension which includes the Android OS. There is a reason why G offers free SSL with each .app domain, and forces you to use it as a prerequisite to that domain resolving.

G wants to create an ecosystem that will make people stay within its confines and not use external URLs. Facebook is doing the same thing. All FB pages are on the single FB domain. It's an ecosystem. G tried to do it FB's way with G Plus, but that didn't work. So they are taking a different route.

Just noticed that @MapleDots posted a reply as I write this.

Before we say that domain name's days are numbered, I think there will always be a market for privacy concerned individuals that will not want their private data shared on monopolized ecosystems operated by a few multi billion dollar monolithic companies.

There will always be room for new ventures to enter the market and create their own ecosystems. They will need a unique domain to do that.

Finally, brands will always want their own domains. If you stay totally within the G or FB ecosystems, you lose brand equity as you give it away to those companies.

Domains will always be necessary for companies. What @MapleDots mentions regarding email and voice search, etc., relates to the average consumer.

 

[BrandEntrance.com]

G wants to create an ecosystem that will make people stay within its confines and not use external URLs. Facebook is doing the same thing. All FB pages are on the single FB domain. It's an ecosystem. G tried to do it FB's way with G Plus, but that didn't work. So they are taking a different route.

Micro$oft are doing the same thing in Win10 with that awful s-mode. Trying to herd everyone into their store with their apps, not allowing any other download locations, forcing people to surf with Edge and use Bing, and they were even going to charge $50 to be able to turn it off but it's free because I think that would have been the end of them. The EU would have fined the crap out of them if they did that.

 

[Anne L.]

so Googles own result?
ah didn't notice ...

so where is the link to the website where they take the info from?

Google ... interface also acts as a calculator, currency converter, dictionary, weather reporter and so on. https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=XzQ4uZAklEsC&pg=PA151&lpg=PA151&dq=zero-click+searches+calculator+currency+converter+dictionary+google+where+is+this+from&source=bl&ots=3AlS1a6AG0&sig=ACfU3U0uPJ44cMcx5tIoHmuK5-98t2BUgw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjbvNC5xYjkAhXJP3AKHUplCFEQ6AEwC3oECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=zero-click searches calculator currency converter dictionary google where is this from&f=false




As Rand Fishkin, founder of SparkToro, explains, it’s possible that “Google’s websites are ranking exclusively because they’re the best result

A staggering 94% of all searches happen on a Google property.

https://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-strategy/news-roundup-16-august-2019/




Rand Fishkin: Maybe Google’s websites are ranking exclusively because they’re the best result

https://sparktoro.com/blog/less-than-half-of-google-searches-now-result-in-a-click/

 

[oldtimer]

So in the near future when you tell your AI assistant to show you the best bicycles that are for sale, is your AI going to go to one of the search engines to find the best bicycles or is it going to sift through all the Zettabytes of information in the World (independent of any search engines) to find the best bikes. If every AI is going to be its own search engine, then the whole concept of search has to be reexamined specially if all the AIs can communicate with each other as part of a Universal network.. IMO

 

[Steven McEvoy]

this is straight BS! Google wants to control your website ranking and yet prevent people from coming on to your website.... Businesses and Content Creators rely on traffic for an income...

 

[Mister Funsky]

Google wants to get rid of URLs. I wonder what they are planning

Just because giggle wants it doesn't mean it will come to fruition.

There will come a time if they continue on their desire to dominate _______ (fill in blank) there will be a forced breakup...think ma bell, etc. or a significant competitor(s) will come along.

It may take a few years for a forced breakup or for another search solution to gain ground but loss of market share is inevitable for them. The novelty of 'speaking' your search will be a flash in the pan as the sheeple eventually realize their super cool devices are constantly listening and/or watching them 24/7 and what this REALLY means.

btw, regardless of how or where one chooses to search, a quality domain name will always be a necessary part of any successful business.

 

[BrandEntrance.com]

Just because giggle wants it doesn't mean it will come to fruition.

There will come a time if they continue on their desire to dominate _______ (fill in blank) there will be a forced breakup...think ma bell, etc. or a significant competitor(s) will come along.

Ma Bell probably didn't work with major security agencies.

 

[TCK]

The novelty of 'speaking' your search will be a flash in the pan as the sheeple eventually realize their super cool devices are constantly listening and/or watching them 24/7 and what this REALLY means.

Remember the story of Alexa sending a private conversation between a couple to a friend because it confused a phrase for a command?

https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-alexa-records-private-conversation-2018-5

That’s creepy. FB, G, and A already store way too much personal data via Web searches, browsing, likes, follows, posts and purchases, etc. Why give them even more access to our personal life through devices. And will you use voice search when you are out in public?

 

[Mister Funsky]

Ma Bell probably didn't work with major security agencies

You wanna bet? I will give you 100 to 1 odds (min bet amount 10,000).