Google is continuing its push to provide mobile users with a more streamlined experience, with the rollout of ‘continuous scroll’, more typically referred to as infinite scroll, the feature negates the need to hit the “more results” button at the bottom of the page.
The update is already visible on most mobile searches conducted in the US in English, and is set to become a standard global feature soon enough.
Continuous scroll basically means that the next set of results appears when you reach the bottom of the page. The user can then continue scrolling down, until they find the result they want.
Though technically a minor tweak to the presentation of search results, Google believes it will be beneficial for mobile users.
“With this update, people can now seamlessly do this, browsing through many different results, before needing to click the “See more” button,” Google said in its announcement.
“You can often find what you’re looking for in first few results, sometimes you want to keep looking.”
Google also confirmed that its own take on a continuous scroll will be anything but infinite. Instead, the mobile user will be able to scroll through a maximum of “up to four pages of search results”, before facing the taxing task of having to click to see more.
Why Continuous Scroll Matters
What is most interesting about this particular date is how it is not actually new at all. The same continuous scroll feature has been tested by Google on several occasions, starting from as far back as 2011.
The “More results” button was introduced in 2018, which is too much of a burden for mobile users to deal with in this modern day.
As for why it matters, the continuous scroll feature could to some extent work in favour of SEOs. Traditionally, the likelihood of someone looking beyond the first page of the search results has always been minimal. Technically speaking, the first page on Google has now increased in size by 400%.
This subsequently means that those who appear on pages two, three and even four could be in with a shot at attracting clicks; certainly more so than if they were floating around on page four with a conventional desktop search.
It remains to be seen whether the continuous scroll feature has any real impact, positive or negative. Though it will be interesting to see if and to what extent it influences the behaviours and decisions of mobile device users.