Co-founder of Google, Larry Page, famously said, “We want to get you out of Google and to the right place as fast as possible.”
But that was back in 2004 — when things were simpler. Today, search technologies have become more advanced, and Google now provides answers within its search result pages.
As a result, you’re more likely to see Google products ahead of organic results. At least, that’s what a recent report suggests.
In its recent study, The Markup analyzed over 15,000 recent popular queries on Google and made an interesting discovery. It turns out that 41 percent of the first entries on mobile SERP contains Google properties.
These include what the search giant calls “direct answers.” The direct answers consist of information from other sources that the search engine adds, sometimes without the publishers’ knowledge or consent.
The report reads:
When we examined the top 15 percent of the page, the equivalent of the first screen on an iPhone X, that figure jumped to 63 percent. For one in five searches in our sample, links to external websites did not appear on the first screen.”
There’s more!
Google Products Dominate “Myocardial Infarction” Search
The report wanted to show how Google has piled its product at the top of the first page of the search result on mobile devices. So, it considered a searching trend for “myocardial infarction.”
As it turns out, the first four results on the page were Google’s property. These include:
- Google’s dictionary definition
- “People also ask” box for expanding answers without leaving search result.
- A knowledge panel which contains abridged encyclopedia entry
- A “related condition” carousel that leads to Google searches for other diseases
According to The Markup’s report, these four Google products appeared before search results from authority sites. These include WebMD, Havard University, and Medscape.
“In fact, a user would have to scroll nearly halfway down the page—about 42 percent—before reaching the first “organic” result in that search,” the report reads.
The numbers raise some concern that Google is favoring its service ahead of competitors. And that’s hardly surprising.
For years, regulators have fined Google for breaching antitrust laws.
In 2017, the search giant was fined a hefty sum of €2.42 billion fine for favoring its comparison shopping service. Google was again fined $5.1 billion in 2018 for using Android to push other Google products.
Last year, the European Union penalized Google for the illegal misuse of market dominance.
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