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: June 23, 2025

Jun 23, 2025 - 10:00 am
Google

Google Questions AI Overview Click Studies & Says Web Is Thriving

Jun 23, 2025 - 7:51 am
Google

Google Touts Its Index Freshness As A Win For Google AI

Jun 23, 2025 - 7:41 am
Google Ads

Google Ads Tests Compact Segment Dropdown Menu

Jun 23, 2025 - 7:31 am
Google Ads

Google Merchant Center Product Status Changes History Report Returning

Jun 23, 2025 - 7:21 am
Bing Search

Bing Search Tests Updated Image Carousel With More Images

Jun 23, 2025 - 7:11 am
Previous Story: Google Hiring A Spam Fighter For Search