Google: If CTR Drove Search Rankings, The Results Would All Be Clickbait

Nov 5, 2021 - 7:41 am 8 by

Google Ctr Rankings

Google is constantly, for years and years, saying it does not use click through rate (CTR) for search ranking purposes. John Mueller of Google was asked this again and he said "if CTR were what drove search rankings, the results would be all click-bait." He said he does not see Google using CTR as a ranking signal, he said "I don't see that happening."

John said on Twitter the other day "If CTR were what drove search rankings, the results would be all click-bait. I don't see that happening."

Here are those tweets:

Yes, Google wants the title links in the search results to be representative of what the content is about but it does not want the titles to be used in a way where people would drive clicks above and beyond so that it influences rankings.

Forum discussion at Twitter.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
- YouTube
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: May 8, 2025

May 8, 2025 - 10:00 am
Google Updates

Google Search Ranking Volatility Spiked Thursday - May 8th

May 8, 2025 - 7:51 am
Google Ads

Google Ads Launches New Charts: Bar, Column and Time-Series

May 8, 2025 - 7:41 am
Google Maps

Google Tests Read Reviews Button & Appointment Tags On Local Listings

May 8, 2025 - 7:31 am
Google

Apple Says Google Searches Down On Safari & Google Says Searches Are Up

May 8, 2025 - 7:21 am
Google

Google Tests Alignment Changes To Search Result Snippets

May 8, 2025 - 7:11 am
Previous Story: Google Hiring A Spam Fighter For Search