Paid advertisements are receiving a larger share of clicks on Google search results than unpaid search results, a new study finds.

The research, which was conducted by SEOFOMO founder Aleyda Solis, analyzed changes in search behavior between January 2025 and January 2026 across certain search verticals in the United States.

It examined search results across several popular online categories in the United States, including headphones, jeans, greeting cards, and online games. It also compared how clicks were distributed among different types of search results, such as organic search, advertisements, and AI–generated summaries.

Based on the research findings, the international search marketing specialist titled the study “Search Isn’t Just Turning to AI, It’s Being Re-Monetized: Text Ads Are Taking a Bigger Share of Google Search Result Page Clicks (Data)”.

The data shows that the share of clicks going to classic organic search results fell across every category analyzed during the one-year period.

The findings further suggest that search pages are becoming more commercially oriented, based on the consistent increase in paid click share across the categories analyzed.

Text-based advertisements showed the strongest growth. In some product-related searches, text ads and product listing ads together now account for about one-third of total clicks from search pages.

The research also found that AI-generated summaries and overview features are appearing more frequently in search results. However, it  indicates that the expansion of paid advertising spaces had a clearer measurable impact on click distribution than AI features alone.

Meanwhile, the drop in organic clicks does not indicate reduced organic visibility, but a higher likelihood of users choosing paid ads when both appear on the page.

Top Recommendations for Brands

• Businesses should not treat the decline in organic search clicks as a problem caused only by artificial intelligence features in search results.

• Companies need to closely monitor how search results are structured within their industry, because the mix of advertisements, organic results , and other search elements differs across verticals.

• Brands should expand their visibility beyond their own websites by maintaining a stronger presence on platforms such as video and social discussion spaces.

• Brands should also reassess paid search strategies as competition for search page visibility continues to grow.