2) I am not clear what the Page views to websites chart is referring to? Is it websites that were clicked to from a SERP with or without an AIO?
3) Should we not expect to see (much) longer visits on Google when an AIO appears if the user is genuinely engaging with it? ie it takes a while to read an AIO as opposed to the time it takes to scan the SEEP and click (or not) from a traditional SERP
4) Wondering the impact on pages per session on Google considering that they dropped infinite scroll around 2024?
1/ I don't have the exact number of detected AIOs over the time frame. You're right that this could influence the numbers. However, we looked at a sample of non-AIO and AIO keywords and compared the results to account for that. The analysis comes out next week :).
2/ Correct, it's website pageviews from users who clicked through when an AIO was present.
3/ Depends! In some cases, it does take a while. In other cases, you get your answer relatively fast. I'm working on some research (comes out May 12th) that actually looked at that :).
4/ I thought that, too. But the data doesn't show a big drop or spike around that time.
What about search session/journey behavior? For each session in Google search results total (initial search + follow on searches or clicks that stay on Google), is a user MORE likely to click to a website since AI Overviews? Less likely?
Great research data on how AIO is impacting user behavior. The pattern of shorter visits combined with more frequent returns to Google makes sense intuitively.
I wonder if those shorter visits are also leading to more queries per user over time?
The idea that AI Overviews might be helping shorten the buying cycle is compelling, particularly by potentially simplifying the "messy middle" and driving more vertical commerce embeds.. eventually over time.
This shift seems great for users but definitely raises the stakes for businesses. It's becoming even harder to stand out, similar to what's happened with ecommerce queries, where an increase in Product Free Listing SERPs means that having the best price and best service ultimately wins.
I'd be especially interested to see the data for Google's most lucrative, high-CPC, high-intent queries across different verticals. How is user behavior shifting there? How are the SERPs evolving?
As far as I remember, shorter visits don't lead to more queries because users refine them less (often). They get the answer they're looking for faster.
And yeah, there is a trade-off for businesses / web traffic.
Thank you! You're raising an important point. This could be good for users because they spend less time searching and more time finding - and not clicking through. So, could be better for user engagement but certainly not for the web.
Fascinating stuff once again!
Already read this twice over.
Few questions:
1) Does the data show you the growth of AIO over the timeframe? ie the different tools give a wildly different % at any given time. SW itself puts the number at just over 20% according to a recent LI post - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/darrell-mordecai-6a401316_youre-not-imagining-it-your-organic-traffic-activity-7320429444924354562-8b3d
2) I am not clear what the Page views to websites chart is referring to? Is it websites that were clicked to from a SERP with or without an AIO?
3) Should we not expect to see (much) longer visits on Google when an AIO appears if the user is genuinely engaging with it? ie it takes a while to read an AIO as opposed to the time it takes to scan the SEEP and click (or not) from a traditional SERP
4) Wondering the impact on pages per session on Google considering that they dropped infinite scroll around 2024?
Looking forward to part 2
Thank you, Yaacov!
1/ I don't have the exact number of detected AIOs over the time frame. You're right that this could influence the numbers. However, we looked at a sample of non-AIO and AIO keywords and compared the results to account for that. The analysis comes out next week :).
2/ Correct, it's website pageviews from users who clicked through when an AIO was present.
3/ Depends! In some cases, it does take a while. In other cases, you get your answer relatively fast. I'm working on some research (comes out May 12th) that actually looked at that :).
4/ I thought that, too. But the data doesn't show a big drop or spike around that time.
Cheers!
Excellent study here, thank you Kevin!
What about search session/journey behavior? For each session in Google search results total (initial search + follow on searches or clicks that stay on Google), is a user MORE likely to click to a website since AI Overviews? Less likely?
That's part 2 :)
Awesome, bring it!!
Great research data on how AIO is impacting user behavior. The pattern of shorter visits combined with more frequent returns to Google makes sense intuitively.
I wonder if those shorter visits are also leading to more queries per user over time?
The idea that AI Overviews might be helping shorten the buying cycle is compelling, particularly by potentially simplifying the "messy middle" and driving more vertical commerce embeds.. eventually over time.
This shift seems great for users but definitely raises the stakes for businesses. It's becoming even harder to stand out, similar to what's happened with ecommerce queries, where an increase in Product Free Listing SERPs means that having the best price and best service ultimately wins.
I'd be especially interested to see the data for Google's most lucrative, high-CPC, high-intent queries across different verticals. How is user behavior shifting there? How are the SERPs evolving?
Thanks!
As far as I remember, shorter visits don't lead to more queries because users refine them less (often). They get the answer they're looking for faster.
And yeah, there is a trade-off for businesses / web traffic.
"Time-on-site metrics are flat or declining across markets."
"Pages-per-visit initially dropped after AIOs launched."
Aren't each of these good from a user's point of view? We want to go to Google.com, get our answer, and do it with as few clicks as possible.
I rarely leave the first SERP page because the answer is near the top or in one of the PAA options.
I realize you weren't asking whether these were good or bad for users, but trying to verify Google's claims about AIOs.
Keep up the good work!
Thank you! You're raising an important point. This could be good for users because they spend less time searching and more time finding - and not clicking through. So, could be better for user engagement but certainly not for the web.