Google’s Impact on Your Business

Google’s SGE impact on your business

On May 14, 2024, Google launched Search Generative Experience (SGE). This will have a negative effect on your company’s website ranking and site visitors. Have I gotten your attention yet?

You are most likely asking yourself, “What is SGE?” Let me explain. Google’s SGE is a new form of search using AI. Instead of Google delivering a list of websites that address the user’s needs, the AI answers the search request on its own. It’s a two-way communication – much like ChatGPT. SGE delivers a summation as a response combining input from several sources. So, if the user is satisfied with Google’s AI response, he or she won’t search any further, nor visit any websites for real subject matter experts. In other words, the search ends before the user can dive any deeper. Are you getting the point now? This means most websites’ rankings will drop – possibly even drastically drop.

Additionally, Google has admitted their AI can make mistakes. Here are just a few:

1. It may misinterpret its findings based on language differences, which can deliver an inaccurate answer.
2. In Google’s attempt to provide quality data, the AI may only provide a narrow response, which can appear biased. Yes, it will provide you content that the AI feels is more accurate based on its analysis of online content. But based on whose opinion? It seems it wants to do the thinking for you.
3. Another problem is Google’s SGE may appear to contradict other search results. Instead of you seeing individual responses, the AI consolidates information from many sources and gives a summation of those combined responses. Again, this does not allow the searcher to draw their own conclusion.

So how will online users find your website? You will have to pay. Pay Google, that is. Today, Google’s search revenue is near $46 billion. That is up 14% from Q1 2023. That is no coincidence.

SEO experts have found it will decrease organic visibility, which will lower organic traffic, conversions, and revenue. Some experts are estimating up to a 60% decrease in organic traffic. According to SEO.com, websites ranking #1 may decrease organic visibility so significantly that it often requires scrolling halfway down the search results to view the first organic listing

In a recent study by BrightEdge, published on the Search Engine Land website, they found that SGE was having an extreme impact on healthcare queries and a high impact on ecommerce, B2B tech, insurance, and education. Here were the industries in the study where search visibility was reduced by percentage on search queries:

Healthcare: 76%  

Ecommerce: 49%

B2B Tech: 48%

Insurance: 45%

Education: 44%

Restaurants: 36%

Entertainment: 36%

Travel: 30%

Finance: 17%

SGE is a “fundamental shift” that will impact all companies – and their bottom line, according to Jim Yu, BrightEdge co-founder and executive chairman. “Marketers will have less of a say in the customer journey. Google will have the ultimate opinion on the quality and relevancy of your brand. This will have a massive impact on all types of marketers in every kind of industry,” Yu said.

At Agency Creative, we don’t just depend on Google Search to build awareness. We rely on many other proven and reliable tools to gain awareness for your brand. We take more of an omnichannel approach to acquiring new clients and integrating online and offline tactics beyond Google search. Not to mention, we use excellent AI partners of our own that can counter this trend by maintaining privacy while increasing your visibility. While Google may have the final call on search, don’t let Google be the final call on your visibility. For alternative strategies, please reach out to us. We’d love to help.