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So, you're stating that Gartner saying that search engine volume will drop 25% is doing more harm to the SEO community than Google updates, but why would that be the case if they're speaking the truth? You also share some data, citing the 5 trillion searches study from Sparktoro, but another study - https://sparktoro.com/blog/2024-zero-click-search-study-for-every-1000-us-google-searches-only-374-clicks-go-to-the-open-web-in-the-eu-its-360/ states that nearly 60% of searches end up as Zero Click. So even if the number of searches on Google is increasing, is that changing the ratio of zero clicks vs actual traffic to websites? I'm not sure if a study has been done (or an updated study) to connect those dots. Then was also saw ads appearing in AI Overviews - https://seranking.com/blog/ai-overviews-2024-recap-research/ even though there's no clear data on how many clicks are being sent to websites via AI overviews. Looks to me that the long-term game of Google is to essentially create a walled garden where we have AI-generated content with paid ads. Google is already testing ads in AI mode - https://searchengineland.com/google-ads-ai-mode-453114 Also wanted to point out that if Google is adding ads in AI overviews, they have click data that shows clicks, they are just not releasing to the public yet. There's no way they would go all in on this if it hurts their bottom line. This is what I'm seeing, and it's hard to unsee. I don't want this reality to take place, as an SEO myself. Convince me otherwise.
That's one of the reasons I don't call myself an SEO anymore.
Yeah, unfortunately, we got that point, Kevin.
Frankly, I disagree. It looks to me that the endgame for Google is to create a walled garden.
Parth, what part do you disagree with specifically?
So, you're stating that Gartner saying that search engine volume will drop 25% is doing more harm to the SEO community than Google updates, but why would that be the case if they're speaking the truth? You also share some data, citing the 5 trillion searches study from Sparktoro, but another study - https://sparktoro.com/blog/2024-zero-click-search-study-for-every-1000-us-google-searches-only-374-clicks-go-to-the-open-web-in-the-eu-its-360/ states that nearly 60% of searches end up as Zero Click. So even if the number of searches on Google is increasing, is that changing the ratio of zero clicks vs actual traffic to websites? I'm not sure if a study has been done (or an updated study) to connect those dots. Then was also saw ads appearing in AI Overviews - https://seranking.com/blog/ai-overviews-2024-recap-research/ even though there's no clear data on how many clicks are being sent to websites via AI overviews. Looks to me that the long-term game of Google is to essentially create a walled garden where we have AI-generated content with paid ads. Google is already testing ads in AI mode - https://searchengineland.com/google-ads-ai-mode-453114 Also wanted to point out that if Google is adding ads in AI overviews, they have click data that shows clicks, they are just not releasing to the public yet. There's no way they would go all in on this if it hurts their bottom line. This is what I'm seeing, and it's hard to unsee. I don't want this reality to take place, as an SEO myself. Convince me otherwise.