Google Search Traffic to Open Web Drops to 23%, Data Shows

For every 1,000 Google searches conducted in the United States, just 232 clicks now reach the open web, according to new data from SparkToro, based on Similarweb’s clickstream panel. The report, authored by SparkToro co-founder Rand Fishkin, reveals that 68% of U.S. searches from January through April ended without any click at all. This marks a sharp decline from SparkToro’s 2024 report, which recorded 360 open-web clicks per 1,000 searches using Datos data.

The data breaks down post-search behavior into three categories: 39% of searches result in no further action, 29% lead to a new query in Google’s search bar, and 32% produce a click. Among those clicks, 66% go to pages on the open web, while 27% land on Alphabet-owned properties like YouTube, Maps, and AI Mode. The remaining 6% go to paid ads.

Compared to 2024, the share of searches generating at least one click fell from 41% to 32%, a 9.51-point drop representing a 22% decline , the largest shift among tracked metrics. Meanwhile, searches that lead to another search rose by 7 points over the same period. Fishkin attributes much of this acceleration to AI Overviews, citing Ahrefs data showing click-through rates drop nearly 60% when an AI Overview appears, now present on over 20% of searches. This trend aligns with Ahrefs’ separate traffic tracker, which recorded an 8-point decline in Google’s share of traffic to third-party sites between June 2025 and May 2026.

Paid clicks now account for 6% of all clicks, up from just 1% in 2024. Fishkin cautions, however, that the 2024 panel from Datos had a higher-than-average share of users running ad blockers, which likely suppressed the true paid click figure. The apparent jump may be inflated.

Google has repeatedly argued that AI features are not draining useful traffic. VP of Search Liz Reid has stated that organic click volume remains “relatively stable” and that AI Overviews mostly eliminate “bounce clicks” , visits where users grab a fact and leave. Google has not published supporting data. SparkToro’s data tracks clicks per search, while Reid’s comments address total click volume, which could hold steady if query growth offsets a falling click rate. Whether total volume is stable is something only Google can verify, and it hasn’t.

The analysis uses Similarweb’s U. S. desktop and mobile panel from January to April, weighted as two-thirds mobile, one-third desktop. Fishkin notes that zero-click behavior in the Google mobile app is likely higher than in browsers, but searches there are not included. The cross-year comparison mixes data from Jumpshot (2016, 2019), Datos (2024), and Similarweb (2026), which Fishkin calls “a bit of apples and oranges.” For transparency, SparkToro sells audience research software, and Fishkin is publishing a book on zero-click marketing with co-author Amanda Natividad.

This report signals that traffic forecasts built on older click rates need revisiting. The 232-per-1,000 figure provides a concrete benchmark for those conversations. Fishkin writes that SEO matters as much as ever, but “it just won’t earn you traffic the way it once did.” He points instead to areas where SEO still thrives: branded searches, local businesses, and high-intent transactional queries, a distinction he credits to Cyrus Shepard’s analysis.

Looking ahead, AI Mode is the variable to watch. It accounted for only 0.34% of searches in this dataset, but Google reports usage has surpassed 1 billion monthly users, with queries more than doubling each quarter. SparkToro will publish zero-click figures for Europe, the UK, and Canada in the coming days, and Fishkin plans to repeat this analysis within 6 to 12 months.