Google’s SVP overseeing search, Prabhakar Raghavan, recently warned employees in an internal memo that the company’s search division is facing a “new operational reality” with fewer resources, according to a CNBC report.
The memo comes amid concerns about softening revenue and user engagement metrics for Google’s main search product. Recent quarters have seen weaker-than-expected growth in search queries and engagement.
The memo raises questions for SEO professionals and website owners about how Google’s changes may affect their strategies and online visibility.
Google memo for employees
At an all-hands meeting last month, Raghavan, who oversees Google’s search, ads, maps and commerce divisions, acknowledged that the industry has changed from the tech giant’s previous dominance.
Raghavan told a gathering of over 25,000 employees:
“I think we can agree that things are not like they were 15-20 years ago, things have changed.”
Raghavan cited increased competition and a more challenging regulatory environment as factors requiring Google’s adaptability without explicitly naming rivals. However, the company is facing increasing pressure from Microsoft and OpenAI in the growing field of generative artificial intelligence.
It continued:
“People come to us because we trust each other. They might have a new gadget that people like to play with, but they still come to Google to verify what they see there because it’s the trusted source and it becomes more critical in this age of generative AI.”
In a move to speed up the company’s responsiveness, Raghavan revealed that he plans to shorten project timelines for his direct reports, stating:
“There is something to be learned from this shorter-wavelength, faster contraction run.”
Google Search: From Ideals to Income Machine?
Some critics argue that Google’s current search struggles stem from misplaced priorities and leadership missteps, not just external market forces.
In one opinion pieceindustry analyst Edward Zitron paints a different picture of what’s affecting Google’s search engine.
He believes the company knowingly downgraded its flagship product to boost revenue under former advertising executive Raghavan.
Citing internal Google emails from 2019, Zitron reports that Raghavan, then head of ads, led an emergency “Code Yellow” mobilization after Search revenue lagged expectations.
In response, Zitron alleges that Google reversed key quality improvements to increase engagement metrics, including improving sites that were previously downgraded for spam tactics.
Zitron wrote:
“The emails … tell a dramatic story of how Google’s finance and advertising teams, led by Raghavan with the blessing of CEO Sundar Pichai, actively worked to make Google worse in order to make more money for the company.”
Zitron describes this change as the abandonment of ethical principles, where the leadership team ignored Google’s original mission to provide superior search results.
He argues that it set the stage for Raghavan’s subsequent promotion to SVP of Search in 2020, over the objections of veteran search chief Ben Gomes, who was reassigned after nearly 20 years improving the product.
Zitron’s report says:
“Gomes, who was a critical part of the original team that made Google Search work … was ousted by a growth-hungry management type headed by Prabhakar Raghavan, a management consultant who carried a engineer’s suit.”
Under Raghavan’s tenure, Zitron claims the search engine has become increasingly “less reliable”, “less transparent” and overrun with low-quality content optimized solely to rank well rather than satisfy user needs.
Google has not directly responded to the allegations in Zitron’s report.
What does this mean for SEO professionals and site owners?
For website owners and SEO professionals who closely follow Google’s every move, the tensions brewing at the company point to the constant challenge of optimizing for Google’s changing search priorities.
Sudden product changes could disrupt current SEO strategies, whether driven by immediate financial goals or a philosophical shift.
Raghavan’s statement about adopting a “new operational reality” with shorter timelines suggests that Google Search may start updating more frequently.
The intense scrutiny on Google highlights the high risk involved in any significant overhaul of its algorithms and ranking systems.
As Google evolves its products, how the company balances innovation with maintaining its standards could shape the future of search.
