🚀 Jon Hogg

Liz Reid from Google says that AI in Search is driving more queries and higher quality clicks 🤔 Here's the reality👇 * She says: the "dramatic" traffic decline reported is due to "third party reports" based on "flawed methodologies, isolated examples, or traffic changes that occurred prior to the roll out of AI features in Search." This is simply wrong. There are plenty of first-party GSC and Analytics data showing the decrease in organic search traffic directly correlated with the inclusion of AI Overviews. Heck! The Crocodile like graph has been even addressed directly by the Google Search Relations team showcasing GSC data 😂 * But here's the key, she also says: "While overall traffic to sites is relatively stable, the web is vast, and user trends are shifting traffic to different sites, resulting in decreased traffic to some sites and increased traffic to others. People are increasingly seeking out and clicking on sites with forums, videos, podcasts, and posts where they can hear authentic voices and first-hand perspectives." So if we read between lines, this might explain the high level claim that: "AI search hasn't hurt the traffic sent to sites" simply because the traffic sent by Google hasn't decreased at an *overall* basis, but to *which* sites this traffic is what has actually changed, *and* of course, the sites benefited are the big UGC platforms she talks about aka Reddit and YouTube (which is also Google), which have continued to grow despite AIO's and showcased more via other search features. * Additionally she mentions that: "As a search company, we care passionately — perhaps more than any other company — about the health of the web ecosystem. We continue to send billions of clicks to websites every day and believe that Search’s value exchange with the web remains strong." Sorry, but if most of the sites that have ultimately increased in clicks/traffic despite AI Overviews are mainly the biggest platforms on the Web -owned by big corp's- (that Google has partnerships with as well, like Reddit) and Google's own ones (like YouTube), rather than independent sites offering information, products and services, owned by small or medium sized businesses it *does* hurt the health of the Web ecosystem. It's sad how they try to manipulate our perception of what's happening using half-baked half-truths. Liz: Please, try to do better; we know better than that. PS: Why don't you give us the filters/segments for the data directly in GSC and GA? It's time to take the necessary steps for transparency here. Thanks! Link to the article: blog.google/products/search/…