Google will become the journey and destination, keeping users on Google longer.
- Google’s Generative AI updates will surface more information directly on the SERP in new content blocks called Generative AI search results.
- Generative AI search results reduce the CTR to your site, since many users may find the information they need directly on Google’s SERP.
- If more users stay on a Google SERP page, less users will click through to your website.
CNBC writes about this problem in their article Google’s new A.I. search could hurt traffic to websites, publishers worry:
Luther Lowe, a longtime Google critic and chief of public policy at Yelp, said Google’s update is part of a decades-long strategy to keep users on the site for longer, instead of sending them to the sites that originally hosted the information.
“The exclusionary self-preferencing of Google’s ChatGPT clone into search is the final chapter of bloodletting the web,” Lowe told CNBC.
From early designs, it appears the “ten blue links” we’re accustomed to are still there (for now), but they are pushed down below the page or hidden within an accordion menu, making them more difficult to find.
It’s important to note that nothing drastic or sudden will happen. What experts are saying will matter most is high quality content — expert voices and unique delivery will continue to get rewarded — whereas average and below average information will be swallowed by generative AI’s ability to produce more satisfying and accurate results.
That said, the drop will nevertheless be material, and for some companies, it could be deadly.
It’s not accidental that community-led growth is an emerging trend, albeit a quieter one, alongside the explosive rise of generative AI.
As Kipp Bodnar (CMO at Hubspot) and Kieran Flanagan (CMO at Zapier) discussed in their podcast Marketing Against the Grain, community cannot be replaced by AI, as it is deeply embedded in what it means to be human. AI struggles with the infinite nuances of the human experience.
But how does community build pipeline for B2b marketers? How does it even begin to replace organic SEO as an top of funnel channel?
- McKinsey published “A better way to build a brand: The community flywheel” in which it describes (paraphrasing) how a brand with an engaged community can increase sales, reduce costs, and move faster than its competitors.
- Notion surpassed 20 million users using community as its primary growth channel.
At Hopin, we believe community is the future of growth, as do many companies who have already built strong brands with community such as Figma, Hubspot, Salesforce, and our own StreamYard to name a few.
- We’ve designed our suite of products to power the community flywheel by creating Events and Content. Events and content create engagement, conversation, and organic traffic.
- At every stage of the loop, a Hopin product can be used to create a community experience and engage a target audience.