It’s important to read between the lines when people at Google make bold statements
Google’s Head of Search, Elizabeth Reid made some pretty crazy statements when she confirmed that Google is moving further away from the tradition of sending users to websites from search. I don’t think this is any sort of secret, especially with the continual increase of zero-click searches. She also stated the Google Search bar will slowly lose its prominence in the Google Search experience, but she also said that AI is NOT replacing Google Search. Well, not yet at least. Then she stated something that intrigued me “Giving traffic to publisher sites is kind of a necessary evil.”
Why Does That Statement Intrigue Me
Those who’ve worked with me in the past have said that I have an uncanny ability to figure out what Google is doing. But, I think that’s just a result of paying attention to the statements people at Google make. Whether that’s Danny Sullivan and John Mueller (Search Advocates / Relations at Google), or a Google executive – you should be paying attention if you want insights into what direction Google Search is going. So here’s my guess – Google will be making some sort of update to expand Google Discovery. Why? Recently, publishers have been hit hardest by recent Google algorithm updates, and most of the core algorithm updates over the last year, year and a half or so have been centered around content. So that’s my crystal ball.