Google to End Continuous Scroll in Search Results

Google has announced the discontinuation of its continuous scroll feature in search results, reverting to the traditional pagination system. This change will first take effect on desktop search results starting today, with the mobile version following in the coming months.

Timeline of Continuous Scroll

• Mobile Launch: October 2021
• Desktop Launch: December 2022

Despite the initial enthusiasm, the continuous scroll feature, which automatically loaded more search results as users scrolled past the first page, lasted only a year and a half on desktop before Google decided to revert to the classic pagination format.

Reason for the Change According to a Google spokesperson, the decision to discontinue continuous scroll is driven by a desire to enhance the speed and efficiency of serving search results. The spokesperson noted that automatically loading additional results did not significantly increase user satisfaction. Instead, users will now see the "Next" button at the bottom of desktop search results and the "More results" button on mobile.

Implications for Users This change aims to improve the overall user experience by allowing users to explicitly request more results, thereby potentially reducing unnecessary data load and speeding up the search process.

Google's return to pagination is intended to streamline the search experience, focusing on delivering faster results and catering to user preferences for more controlled search navigation.