If Google Were a Ship, it Would be the Titanic (With Some Lawyers Onboard) in the Hours Before it Struck an Iceberg

“If Google were a ship, it would be the Titanic in the hours before it struck an iceberg—riding high, supposedly unsinkable, and about to encounter a force of nature that could make its name synonymous with catastrophe.”

This from the Wall Street Journal’s Christopher Mims who sees Google’s search engine and search business as under siege.

• People are increasingly getting answers from artificial intelligence.
• Younger generations are using other platforms to gather information.
• The results delivered by Google’s search engine are deteriorating as the web is flooded with AI-generated content. 

Together, Mims sees these forces as possibly leading to long-term decline in Google search traffic.

What’s this have to do with lawyers and law firms?

Unfortunately, a lot.

Small and medium-sized law firms focused on SEO-driven content marketing depend heavily on Google for their marketing success. Less people searching on Google, less business.

Large law firms are also going to see a slide in traffic.

Many track their Google traffic closely—perhaps more than they should—in that most of their business comes from reputation, word of mouth, referrals and relationships.

As Google’s search traffic declines, these firms may need to reconsider how they allocate resources for how they measure the effectiveness of online business development and marketing.

Lawyers have been relying on Google for over two decades as a means to generate business. Things may be about to change.