Organic search clicks are declining in a big way – and it’s not just Google’s AI Overview.
- The average share of organic clicks has dropped significantly for headphones, jeans, greeting cards, and online gaming inquiries in the US, new data for the same web comparing January 2025 to January 2026.
- The most successful: text ads.
Why do we care. You don’t just compete AI Overview. It competes with Google’s aggressive expansion of paid search houses. In all specific areas analyzed, text ads received more click share than any other measurable area. In the product categories, paid listings now capture nearly one-third of all clicks. As a result, several brands lose organic visibility and increase their paid investment.
In numbers. Across all four verticals, text ads have shown consistent, measurable gains in click share.
- Classic organic has lost 11 to 23 percent of click share year over year.
- Text ads scored 7 to 13 in all cases.
- Paid click sharing is doubled for major product categories.
- AI overview SERP presence increased ~10 to ~30 percentage points, depending on the vertical.
Classic organic is down everywhere. The traditional year-over-year share of organic clicks declined across all four verticals. Headphones saw the biggest drop. Even online sports – historically organic-heavy – lost double digits. With two verticals (headphones, jeans), total clicks also decreased.
- Headphones: Down from 73% to 50%
- Jeans: Down from 73% to 56%
- Greeting Cards: Reduced from 88% to 75%
- Online games: Decreased from 95% to 84%
Text ads are the biggest winners. Text ads gained share in all directs; no other place shows this level of consistent growth:
- Headphones: Increases from 3% to 16%
- Online games: From 3% to 13%
- Jeans: From 7% to 16%
- Greeting cards: From 9% to 16%
In product categories, PLAs include switching:
- Headphones: Up from 16% to 36%
- Jeans: From 18% to 34%
- Greeting cards: From 10% to 19%
The overview of AI has risen unevenly. The presence of Google AI Overviews has expanded significantly, but varies by vertical:
- Headphones: 2.28% → 32.76%
- Online games: 0.38% → 29.80%
- Greeting cards: 0.94% → 21.97%
- Jeans: 2.28% → 12.06%
Zero-click searches are high – and very stable. Outside of online games, click-through rates haven’t changed much:
- Headphones: 63% (flat)
- Jeans: Down from 65% to 61%
- Online games: From 43% to 50%
- Greeting cards: From 51% to 53%
Brands that lose organic traffic buy it back. For headphones:
- Amazon increased paid clicks by 35% while losing organic volume.
- Walmart almost 6x’d paid clicks.
- Bose increased its payout to 49%.
For jeans:
- Gap grew paid clicks by 137% to become the top paid player.
- True Religion entered the top paid category without a top 10 organic presence.
For online games:
- CrazyGames paid clicks four times while organic declined.
- Arkadium came in paid after losing 68% of organic clicks.
The result? We are seeing a self-reinforcing cycle, according to the study’s author, Aleyda Solis:
- The organic share is decreasing.
- Competition is intensifying.
- Many brands are increasing their paid budgets.
- Paid sites capture more clicks.
About the data. This analysis used the same web data to examine the SERP structure and click distribution of the top 5,000 US queries on headphones, jeans, and online games, and the top 956 queries on greeting cards and ecards. Comparing January 2025 to January 2026, it tracks how clicks have changed for classic organic results, organic SERP features, text ads, PLAs, zero-click searches, and AI Overview.
Lesson. Search Isn’t Just Turning to AI, It’s Remonetizing: Text Ads Take Big Share of Google SERP Clicks (Data)
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