We all know that ranking on search engines is important for so many reasons. One, the internet is something everyone uses day-to-day. Two, considering the previously mentioned point, this is how you’d get a load of organic traffic. Three, organic traffic is better than paid traffic. Google stands as the colossus of search engines. However, a ton of people seem to be upset with the current shift from Google’s previous operations to now being more focused on profit over user satisfaction. Today, we’ll dive into the details of Google’s new shift, specifically the customer journey and how it ties to trends emerging such as a challenge from social media channels for local SEO, etc.
Purchase is the end goal. To get to this end goal, companies invest a ton of money and resources into identifying and building a customer journey. They optimize the journey to enhance the profits by guiding potential customers through the buyer journey. Google has been observed, a lot more recently due to their changes to certain aspects of digital marketing, to adjust their search algorithms in a manner that maximizes their profit margins rather than providing the most helpful or relevant content.
When users search for information, such as the best restaurant in town, the expectation is to find content that directly addresses their query. A normal, more traditional outcome would have been that users would be directed to a restaurant blog or something similar. However, a different shift is taking place: more people are getting pushed to sites/forums such as Reddit. This plays into Google’s strategy, making it the middle-man for every purchase.
There’s some sort of systematic approach where converting content types have been de-indexed in the SERPs. You’ve probably read on Reddit or Twitter or even LinkedIn about why this is an issue and how many people have lost traffic to their sites based on this change. On the flip side of it all, non-converting pages like Reddit are being boosted. This push then turns traffic into more of a product and boosts the advertising profits for Google.
The issue with this new shift is that businesses that traditionally relied on direct traffic from Google now find themselves at a dramatic disadvantage, necessitated to invest in stupid Google ads just as a viable means to reach potential customers. A monopolistic tendency…
Another piece of a ridiculous puzzle is the fact that there also happens to be a flip side to this all: Google’s losing its grip on the local search among younger generations. SOCi recently highlighted Instagram and TikTok have overtaken Google in preference for local searches among younger demographics, with 67% and 62% of Gen Z users favoring them, respectively.
The preferences of Gen Z shows a broader challenge for Google. As these platforms become more integrated into the daily lives of younger users, Google's once unassailable dominance in search faces real competition. This competition not only highlights the changing landscape of digital information consumption but also raises questions about the sustainability of Google's profit-driven strategies in the face of evolving user behaviors and preferences.
A ton of websites have been un-indexed, we’ve seen this and a ton of people have said it’s the beginning of Google’s shift toward maximizing profits through customer journey optimization. As Google manipulates SERPs to benefit the ad revenue they drive, the quality and relevance of search results may suffer. In the local space, we’ve already seen Gen Z preferring to use social media when compared to Google. On the flip side of it, this should be the wake up call anyone would need to make sure they aren’t too dependent on one traffic source…