According to new research published by SEMRush, a significant percentage of users are not satisfied with the results they get when they search on Google. The research indicates that many users need to refine their queries in order to find what they're looking for.
This level of dissatisfaction may explain why a tweet comparing Google to a dying mall resonated with thousands of people. The tweet, which went viral, highlights how unsatisfied many users are with Google's search results.
SEMRush's research shows that almost 30% of users are either refining or extending their searches in some way. This suggests that many users are not able to find what they're looking for on Google using their initial search query.
A tweet went viral in October, receiving over 60,000 likes and over 7,000 retweets, that noted it is difficult to find things on Google. What was noticeable about the tweet was that many of the responses noted that Google had difficulty understanding search queries, requiring users to redo their queries with advanced search operators like quotation marks. One person tweeted that they should try using quotation marks. But the person who started the discussion rightly noted that users shouldn’t have to resort to advanced search operators in order to force Google to find what they are searching for.
On October 25, 2022, someone tweeted that all they want is for Google to find what they are searching for. This person is not the only one; many people have noticed that Google often changes the query and searches for something different than what was originally typed in. For example, Sarah Carling tweeted a screenshot of a search for how many calories are in a bottle of wine. Google changed the query and searched for how many calories are in a glass of wine instead.
LINK TO TWEET: https://twitter.com/SarahCarling/status/1579870639581954049?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw
SEMrush recently conducted research on user search behavior. They found that a majority of users search with multiple keywords, often in long keyword phrases. The research also showed that many users make multiple queries for the same search.
These findings indicate that searchers are having difficulty finding what they're looking for. This is likely due to the increased amount of content that is available online. With so much information available, it can be hard to find exactly what you're looking for.
Google is aware of this issue and is working to improve their search algorithm to provide more relevant results. In the meantime, users can try using longer keyword phrases to increase the chances of finding the desired information.
SEMRush recently discovered that more than half of desktop users who perform two searches in a row, do so with keyword phrases that are similar by 60% or more keywords. This data could be interpreted as evidence that users experience difficulty finding what they’re searching for. The number of searches with similar keywords is lower for mobile search users, 38.9%, but that’s still a significant amount of searches that have to be reformulated, nearly 40%.
Many in the Twitter discussion were clearly dissatisfied with Google search. Some in the search marketing community expressed the opinion that users may have forgotten how bad search engines used to be.
A recent study found that people have to search with the word "reddit" in order to find meaningful results on Google, implying that the search engine is not returning satisfactory results. This could be due to a problem with the content that Google prefers to show, such as commercial review sites over forum communities. An answer on Reddit is more useful than all the images, videos and content sites Google shows in the search results.
Advanced search engines like Google can find answers to complex queries - but this same capability also causes Google anguish among users. A recent study by SEMRush found that over 70,000 people on Twitter agreed that Google was like a dying mall.
The study analyzed over 100 million organic search sessions in the United States to understand how many searches resulted in a user clicking on an organic result versus how many searches did not result in a click (aka “zero-click searches”). They found that 51.8% of all searches on Google in the United States ended without a click (hence the term “zero-click searches”).
Why is this happening? The study posits that as Google continues to get better at understanding searcher intent and providing answers directly on the SERP, people are less likely to click through to a website. This is especially true for informational queries where Google is able to provide a direct answer.
So what does this mean for SEOs and website owners? The study recommends that SEOs and website owners focus on creating content that targets featured snippets and voice search results, as these are opportunities to earn clicks from searchers who might not otherwise click through to your website.