Google Brings Infinite Scroll To Mobile Search Results: What This Means For Your Business
Team Streams
November 8th, 2021
Team Streams
November 8th, 2021
If you have been Google searching on your mobile over the past week or so, you may have noticed that your search results have changed.
When you land on your search results the page initially appears the same. But then, as you scroll down, you notice that you no longer have the option to click and load more results. Additional results are now loading automatically.
But what do these new mobile search results mean for your business? How will they affect your SEO and any search ads you run? In this blog we will answer those questions and more.
Google announced the launch of infinite scroll on mobile on Oct 14, 2021. This announcement confirms that the changes people are seeing are not simply testing of a new feature, but an update that is here to stay.
If you are not seeing infinite scroll yet on your mobile results, do not worry. Google also mentioned in its announcement that it will be a gradual roll out and will start with most English searches on mobile in the U.S.
If you are advertising with Google text ads, shopping ads, local ads etc. you are probably wondering what these new mobile search results mean for your click-through rate.
If a page is ‘infinite’ what will happen to the ads displayed at the top and bottom of the results?
Google has said that it will be “redistributing the number of text ads that can show between the top and bottom of pages for US-English mobile queries. Now, text ads can show at the top of the second page and beyond, while fewer text ads will show at the bottom of each page.”
Shopping and local ads will remain the same and only text ads will be affected.
Google also said: “We expect clicks, conversions, average CPC, and average CPA to remain flat. Search campaigns may see more impressions from top ads and fewer impressions from bottom ads.”
What does all this mean for your business? Well, you may see some changes in the results you are getting from your mobile search ads. The most important thing is to communicate these new changes in the Google mobile search results to anyone who has a stake in your company's ads.
Now is also a good time to review your PPC ad goals and ensure they stay in alignment with your business objectives. Remember that while this new feature is currently only rolling out for U.S. English language results will be coming to other countries and languages soon (likely throughout 2022) so you have time to prepare.
Congratulations! All your indexed pages now rank on the first page on mobile!
Well, when you hear an SEO say they can get you on the first page of Google, at least you know that means nothing now (not that it meant much before).
Your ranking position will not have changed in mobile results but there may be some advantages for SEO, having an infinite scroll in the results rather than a “load more” button.
Infinite scroll may encourage users to continue scrolling through their results, and look beyond the first URLs listed. It is possible that organic click-through rates and traffic may be impacted. However, this is something that we will have to monitor over time.
At the moment defining the impact that infinite scroll may have on organic traffic would be speculation. As the feature rolls out on more and more results we will learn how users interact with it and if new SEO strategies need to be developed to optimise for Google's new feature.
Infinite scroll is here for mobile search results, and it's likely here to stay. While currently only rolled out for the U.S. English language results will be coming to other countries and languages soon. However, it is not something to get in a panic about. While we can know nothing until we have established data in a few months, it is not unreasonable to speculate that the impact will be minimal for both ads and SEO.
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