It’s Official: 1st Page of Google to be Replaced Entirely by Paid Results!

Rumours are pouring out of Google HQ that certain highly competitive organic search terms are soon to be phased out on the first page results. Furthermore, come Christmas 2014 there’s a very real possibility of a blanket change to the first page search that will see organic terms being entirely replaced by paid results.


This shocking revelation came after a premature update to SERPs was released in to the wild overnight and quickly withdrawn, a test that should never have hit the public domain.

The paid SERP test was originally sighted on google.com but also filtered through to a select few and highly competitive google.co.uk search terms.

Organic search being phased out

What is unknown at this stage is if this change will impact all search terms and results or if the change is designed to give priority to brands advertising in the ‘hot’ paying seats such as the financial and legal services.

When questioned, our man on the inside at Google was unusually tight lipped, he did however elude to the fact that the *Webspam Team (headed by Matt Cutts) had been pouring over ideas to quench the thirst of spammers guaranteeing ‘page 1 positions’ with a view to “suring-up the top results pages”.

The Webspam team at Google work to unearth and thwart tactics that circumvent Google’s guidelines and best practises, tactics which in turn undermine the quality of search results.

Innovation = paid only

Further interrogation on the dramatic test provoked a universal response of “our mission has always been to deliver relevant quality results to our customers”, a reaction which evaded the bigger question and only served to fuel speculation of an imminent (and very big) change in direction.

Our man continued by saying “we have been working on changes that remove erroneous search results”, and continued “.. combating web spam is resource intensive and so we look at innovating in different areas”. Not exactly a detailed answer, but what of the ‘innovations’ in different areas – a paid only first page result for searchers, perhaps?

SERP no more

Whether or not you agree that paid results equate to innovation, it’s clear Google is looking to improve quality and control over it’s SERPs by introducing a paid-only front page. Anyone thinking otherwise runs the risk of being left out in the cold and it begs the question – what of the SEO industry that’s makes a living striving to populate the top organic search spaces. And perhaps more importantly, what is the fate of those companies unable to afford paid search?

Is this the beginning of the end for organic results, and are we seeing the first strikes to the final nail in the SEO coffin that many experts have been forecasting for some time now?

midasclick.co.uk