Google is losing its status as a verb
On the other hand, a smart marketer can build a product or service that’s worth searching for. Not the generic term, but to find you, the thing you built, the specific. When you do that, Google’s on your side. They actually want you to be found when someone searches for you.
Seth Godin • This Is Marketing: You Can't Be Seen Until You Learn to See
In 2020, nearly 2/3rds of queries on Google ended on Google itself i.e., without clicking on an external link (organic or ad). This highlights how over time Google is increasingly showing the results for common queries inline (in its knowledge graph) rather than directing traffic to websites.
Tanay Jaipuria • Disrupting Google Search
“Most of the web has become too inauthentic to trust,” Brereton argued, therefore “we resort to using Google, and appending the word ‘reddit’ to the end of our queries.” Brereton cited Google Trends data that show that people are searching the word reddit on Google more than ever before.
Charlie Warzel • Is Google Dying? Or Did the Web Grow Up?
"A survey carried out by Morgan Stanley in March this year found that 61% of US consumers said they visited Google sites first when researching a product online, up from 57% in November."
Lara O'Reilly • Inside Google's fierce Goliath-versus-Goliath fight against Amazon for shopping dollars
While it could be said that ours is a Golden Age of Questioning—with all the online resources now available for getting instant answers, it’s reasonable to assume people are asking more questions than ever before—that distinction would be based purely on volume, not necessarily on the quality or thoughtfulness of the questions being asked. Indeed,
... See moreWarren Berger • A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas
A big component of the surprising durability of Google's growth is that the use cases for search keep broadening. Search used to be more about finding reference information, but over time turned into a way to take specific actions (search queries including the phrase "near me" are up 100x in relative terms over the last decade—the feedback loop bet... See more