The phenomenon of “search engine results page (SERP) bounces” occurs when Google users return to the initial results page after clicking on a first link in order to click on another result. If a website or page has an abnormally high SERP bounce rate, it can signal to Google that the content is not meeting users’ expectations, which could lead to a drop in the search results for that specific query. For example, if the first position has a higher bounce rate than the second position, Google might consider the latter more relevant and promote it to the top of the results.

A high SERP bounce rate can therefore negatively impact a page’s ranking on Google. To detect these bounces, websites can analyze visits involving only one page view. It is important to monitor this phenomenon to optimize content relevance and improve the user experience.