Casey Newton

Yes, but only in the sense that I thought, well, here is a place where Google's power is increasing. I've been writing about Google for more than 10 years, and I would say the whole time they've been trying to figure out how can we answer more people's questions on what they call the SERP or the Search Engine Results Page. It's an acronym.

And to me, one of the most interesting statistics about Google over the past two decades is the rise of what they call the zero-click search. which is the search that does not result in any outbound traffic to anything. You sort of flash back to the first days of Google.

And to me, one of the most interesting statistics about Google over the past two decades is the rise of what they call the zero-click search. which is the search that does not result in any outbound traffic to anything. You sort of flash back to the first days of Google.

And to me, one of the most interesting statistics about Google over the past two decades is the rise of what they call the zero-click search. which is the search that does not result in any outbound traffic to anything. You sort of flash back to the first days of Google.

I would guess that almost every search resulted in a click to somewhere because Google itself didn't know anything except for maybe where the webpage was that you were looking for. But then you get into the 2010s, and all of a sudden, it's not just answering what time is the Super Bowl, it's pulling snippets out of Wikipedia. It is telling you what movies actors are in.

I would guess that almost every search resulted in a click to somewhere because Google itself didn't know anything except for maybe where the webpage was that you were looking for. But then you get into the 2010s, and all of a sudden, it's not just answering what time is the Super Bowl, it's pulling snippets out of Wikipedia. It is telling you what movies actors are in.

I would guess that almost every search resulted in a click to somewhere because Google itself didn't know anything except for maybe where the webpage was that you were looking for. But then you get into the 2010s, and all of a sudden, it's not just answering what time is the Super Bowl, it's pulling snippets out of Wikipedia. It is telling you what movies actors are in.

It's telling you what movies directors have directed. And all of this is appearing in various little boxes and carousels on top of the classic 10 blue links that have always been the heart of Google.

It's telling you what movies directors have directed. And all of this is appearing in various little boxes and carousels on top of the classic 10 blue links that have always been the heart of Google.

It's telling you what movies directors have directed. And all of this is appearing in various little boxes and carousels on top of the classic 10 blue links that have always been the heart of Google.

And so, yeah, what I noted over the past decade was every year, there's another box, there's another widget, there's another answer, and there's one fewer what time is the Super Bowl bonanza for publishers to count on.

And so, yeah, what I noted over the past decade was every year, there's another box, there's another widget, there's another answer, and there's one fewer what time is the Super Bowl bonanza for publishers to count on.

And so, yeah, what I noted over the past decade was every year, there's another box, there's another widget, there's another answer, and there's one fewer what time is the Super Bowl bonanza for publishers to count on.

Right. And it is a great example because we all ran into it and we were all annoyed by it. And this was just one of many things that Google did to take over the web experience. They also created the Chrome web browser. The Chrome web browser helps to dictate HTML standards, how web pages are built, how browsers interpret them. It's able to exert pressure in that way. So it's not just...

Right. And it is a great example because we all ran into it and we were all annoyed by it. And this was just one of many things that Google did to take over the web experience. They also created the Chrome web browser. The Chrome web browser helps to dictate HTML standards, how web pages are built, how browsers interpret them. It's able to exert pressure in that way. So it's not just...

Right. And it is a great example because we all ran into it and we were all annoyed by it. And this was just one of many things that Google did to take over the web experience. They also created the Chrome web browser. The Chrome web browser helps to dictate HTML standards, how web pages are built, how browsers interpret them. It's able to exert pressure in that way. So it's not just...

Like in what order do links appear on webpages? Like Google is actually dictating the shape of the web itself through all these different things.

Like in what order do links appear on webpages? Like Google is actually dictating the shape of the web itself through all these different things.

Like in what order do links appear on webpages? Like Google is actually dictating the shape of the web itself through all these different things.

Yeah, they built like the greatest highway system that the internet had ever seen. And then over time, it is just shrunk to the size of a parking lot. And anybody who searches it is just like driving around in a circle in the parking lot. And why did that happen?