In most cases, only one result will be displayed. The distinction between #SEO and #PPC will gradually disappear.
For approximately 60% of queries, the search engine will correctly identify the user’s intent and immediately:
* Open a single result when it is confident that this result provides the best answer.
* Display a unified set of data that answers the entire query directly within the search interface, with only a small attribution link to the original data source.
* Display a transactional service interface. For shopping queries, this will include the product name, images, specifications, reviews and a “Buy now” button. Payment will be processed through Google Pay, and Google will simply ask whether the product should be delivered to the user’s saved home address or somewhere else.
For approximately 20% of queries, the search engine will ask the user to refine or expand the query using predefined options. It will request a preferred direction, suggest relevant topics and progressively narrow the search space. The objective will be to accelerate the user’s path to the best possible result through guided navigation and the gradual delivery of information.
For the remaining queries, or when the first two approaches fail to satisfy the user, the search engine will provide the traditional search experience with a larger number of results, ranked using machine-learning models.
Purchases and similar actions will be completed through voice interfaces as well as directly from visual SERPs. Most simple websites whose primary purpose is to communicate a single piece of information will disappear, because Google will answer these queries directly without sending users to the source website.
Google will distribute advertising placements throughout this interface and will pay publishers for selected functionality and data, potentially through paywall-based access models. Users will no longer need to visit individual websites, as content will be presented within a universal interface — think of AMP, but applied at a much broader level.
Service providers, on the other hand, will pay for the integration of their services, such as e-commerce functionality, directly into the SERP. Google will then take a percentage of each completed transaction.
Will this mean the end of SEO specialists?
In my view, probably not. However, fewer specialists will be required, particularly in roles focused on less qualified or highly repetitive work. In this respect, I agree with Markéta and her view that PPC is likely to follow a similar development.
What is particularly interesting is that this could also mark the end of the golden age of independent e-commerce websites. In the Czech market, this development could have a significant impact on a large number of businesses and professionals.
The important point is that such a vision would probably take five to ten years to materialise. Even then, it would only happen if society allowed this level of platform consolidation and if major global crises did not fragment markets, technologies and societies into smaller, less connected ecosystems.
How do you see the future of search?
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