Paid search click share doubles as organic clicks fall: Study

Natural search clicks are shrinking throughout main verticals — and it’s not simply due to Google’s AI Overviews.

• Basic natural click on share fell sharply throughout headphones, denims, greeting playing cards, and on-line video games queries within the U.S., new Similarweb information evaluating January 2025 to January 2026 reveals.
• The largest winner: textual content adverts.

Why we care. You aren’t simply competing with AI Overviews. You’re competing with Google’s aggressive growth of paid search actual property. Throughout each vertical analyzed, textual content adverts gained extra click on share than another measurable floor. In product classes, paid listings now seize roughly one-third of all clicks. In consequence, a number of manufacturers which can be dropping natural visibility are growing their paid funding.

By the numbers. Throughout 4 verticals, textual content adverts confirmed essentially the most constant, measurable click-share good points.

• Basic natural misplaced 11 to 23 proportion factors of click on share yr over yr.
• Textual content adverts gained 7 to 13 proportion factors in each case.
• Paid click on share doubled in main product classes.
• AI Overviews SERP presence rose ~10 to ~30 proportion factors, relying on the vertical.

Basic natural is down all over the place. Yr-over-year basic natural click on share declined throughout all 4 verticals. Headphones noticed the steepest drop. Even on-line video games — traditionally organic-heavy — misplaced double digits. In two verticals (headphones, denims), complete clicks additionally fell.

• Headphones: Down from 73% to 50%
• Denims: Down from 73% to 56%
• Greeting playing cards: Down from 88% to 75%
• On-line video games: Down from 95% to 84%

Textual content adverts are the largest winner. Textual content adverts gained share in each vertical; no different floor confirmed this degree of constant development:

• Headphones: Up from 3% to 16%
• On-line video games: Up from 3% to 13%
• Denims: Up from 7% to 16%
• Greeting playing cards: Up from 9% to 16%

In product classes, PLAs compounded the shift:

• Headphones: Up from 16% to 36%
• Denims: Up from 18% to 34%
• Greeting playing cards: Up from 10% to 19%

AI Overviews surged inconsistently. The presence of Google AI Overviews expanded sharply, however diverse by vertical:

• Headphones: 2.28% → 32.76%
• On-line video games: 0.38% → 29.80%
• Greeting playing cards: 0.94% → 21.97%
• Denims: 2.28% → 12.06%

Zero-click searches are excessive — and largely secure. Apart from on-line video games, zero-click charges didn’t change dramatically:

• Headphones: 63% (flat)
• Denims: Down from 65% to 61%
• On-line video games: Up from 43% to 50%
• Greeting playing cards: Up from 51% to 53%

Manufacturers dropping natural visitors are shopping for it again. In headphones:

• Amazon elevated paid clicks 35% whereas dropping natural quantity.
• Walmart almost 6x’d paid clicks.
• Bose boosted paid 49%.

In denims:

• Hole grew paid clicks 137% to turn out to be the highest paid participant.
• True Faith entered the paid prime tier with out top-10 natural presence.

In on-line video games:

• CrazyGames quadrupled paid clicks whereas natural declined.
• Arkadium entered paid after dropping 68% of natural clicks.

The end result? We’re seeing a self-reinforcing cycle, based on the examine’s creator, Aleyda Solis:

• Natural share declines.
• Competitors intensifies.
• Extra manufacturers enhance paid budgets.
• Paid surfaces seize extra clicks.

In regards to the information. This evaluation used Similarweb information to look at SERP composition and click on distribution for the highest 5,000 U.S. queries in headphones, denims, and on-line video games, and the highest 956 queries in greeting playing cards and ecards. It compares January 2025 to January 2026, monitoring how clicks shifted throughout basic natural outcomes, natural SERP options, textual content adverts, PLAs, zero-click searches, and AI Overviews.

The examine. Search Isn’t Just Turning to AI, it’s being Re-Monetized: Text Ads Are Taking a Bigger Share of Google SERP Clicks (Data)