About this episode
The episode discusses the relevance of websites in 2026 amidst evolving web technologies.
In this episode of Search Off the Record, Martin and Gary from the Google Search Relations team tackle a deceptively simple question: do you still need a website in 2026? Starting from the recurring industry claim that "the web is dead," they explore how the web has evolved through the rise of apps, AI chatbots, and social platforms, and why the answer almost always ends up being "it depends." Tune in for an engaging discussion on how websites remain relevant and what it means for content creation and discovery. Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr103-transcript Listen to more Search Off the Record → https://goo.gle/sotr-yt Subscribe to Google Search Channel → https://goo.gle/SearchCentral Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast #SEO #GoogleSearch Speakers: Martin Splitt, Gary Illyes
People in this episode
Host: Martin Splitt
Guest: Gary Illyes
Topics covered
- website relevance
- web evolution
- content creation
- AI chatbots
- social platforms
Keywords
- website
- 2026
- web evolution
- AI chatbots
- social platforms
- content creation
- SEO
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Google
More episodes of Search Off the Record
- How AI Is Changing Google Search and SEO - transcript · May 1, 2026
- How AI Is Changing Google Search and SEO · May 1, 2026 · 33 min
- Analysing Robots.txt at scale with HTTP Archive and BigQuery - transcript · April 23, 2026
- Analysing Robots.txt at scale with HTTP Archive and BigQuery · April 23, 2026 · 28 min
- Are websites getting "fat"? Page weight, HTML size & Googlebot limits explained - transcript · March 30, 2026
- Are websites getting "fat"? Page weight, HTML size & Googlebot limits explained · March 30, 2026 · 32 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Search Off the Record podcast page.