Desktop CTRs on Google SERPs up in Q1 2026

Here's a recent study covering the shift between desktop CTRs and mobile CTRs over the past 4 months: https://www.advancedwebranking.com/blog/ctr-google-2026-q1

Across all searches studied, desktop CTRs were up by over 10% on average, while mobile CTRs were down by 2% on average. This is good news for those targeting 'boomer' niches where buyers are usually on their desktop, or even the millennials that break out their laptops when it actually comes to making a purchase.

Or could it be that bots are changing to emulating desktop environments for data harvesting?

Lots of data to go through in the study.

Interesting. Now that I think about it,when I search on mobile, I do scroll down for a moment first.

Looks like the AI answer boom and hype is calming down and people are coming back to.
Starting to ignore it (or just skimming through it) and scrolling down.
Just like it was with ads and ad blindness that followed up.

Probably combination of resentment for AI and all the viral news about it making mistakes in critical info like health.

-

tiiberius said:

Looks like the AI answer boom and hype is calming down and people are coming back to.
Starting to ignore it (or just skimming through it) and scrolling down.
Just like it was with ads and ad blindness that followed up.

Probably combination of resentment for AI and all the viral news about it making mistakes in critical info like health.

-

Click to expand...

While I don't have exact data to back this, I doubt it is the case. The average user doesn't really care much. The average user is not passionate about stuff, they just want to get an answer quick.

If these trend continues, maybe more data would be available.

HenryObi said:

While I don't have exact data to back this, I doubt it is the case. The average user doesn't really care much. The average user is not passionate about stuff, they just want to get an answer quick.

If these trend continues, maybe more data would be available.

Click to expand...

Isn't this very case study indication of it?

I am observing this in myself actually.
I used to use be satisfied with only AI answer. Now I scroll down for confirmation or different views.