Google is making a major change to its Google Search results, eliminating continuous scrolling in favor of old-style page-based results.
According to Search Engine Land, Google first debuted continuous scroll on the desktop in December 2022, although it had existed on mobile search since October 2021. The company is dumping the feature in favor of the traditional “Next” button at the bottom of the search results.
The company told the outlet that performance was a major factor in the decision, as the older page-based style allows the company to return results faster. It also saves resources by not pre-loading results the user may never scroll down and see.
As the outlet points out, the change could have a significant impact on search engine rankings and websites, as being on the second, third, or lower pages could result in a major drop in traffic. At the same time, the majority of search engines one the market use page-based results, so Google will once again be more in-line with the rest of the industry.
The company is making the change effective today, June 25.