Google: Search results are divided into pages again
After several years of endless scrolling, Google Search is returning to listing pages. It starts with the desktop.
Google is switching the search back to paginated results.
(Image: Ascannio/Shutterstock.com)
What's on page 2 of Google Search doesn't exist: an old rule of thumb that has only been of limited relevance over the past year and a half. Since the end of 2022, Google Search no longer displayed pages on the desktop, but simply scrolled continuously downwards - until the end of the search results was reached. Google is now apparently returning to listing pages in the search results.
(Image: heise online)
The company has confirmed this to the specialist magazine Search Engine Land. According to this, Google wants to deliver its search results faster in future instead of loading a lot of results that the user has not even asked for. This is because the search results were automatically reloaded when the user scrolled down a little. Loading additional search results did not lead to "significantly higher satisfaction" among users, said Google Search Engine Land. With paginated search, page 2 is only loaded when a user explicitly clicks on it.
Inconsistent behavior on the desktop
The first step is to switch off continuous search on the desktop. This has apparently already happened in some cases: If you type in a search term via Google.de on the desktop, the search results are sometimes already split across several pages. When searching via the address bar in Firefox or Chrome, however, the previous search page with continuously scrolling results continued to appear in a random sample by heise online. Apparently, the complete changeover will take some time.
Read also
Search deal: US Department of Justice could spoil Google's deal with Apple
Apple Maps: Search can be restricted locally in future
Crawler without limits: Perplexity ignores robots.txt
Perplexity and Telekom: Partnership for lazy people and the future of search
15 percent of hits: Google AI Overview is displayed less and less frequently
According to Search Engine Land, mobile devices will also switch back to paginated search results after the desktop. This should happen in the coming months, reports Search Engine Land. Currently, Google's mobile search automatically loads the search results as usual.
According to Search Engine Land, mobile search was switched to continuous scrolling in October 2021. The desktop site followed in December 2022.
(dahe)