I live inside Search Console, GA4, Ahrefs and SEMrush. Over the past 18 months I've watched organic impressions drop almost universally while average Google search CPCs climb to $5.26—up 12.9% YoY. Then came the bombshell: Google just offered voluntary buy-outs worth at least 14 weeks' pay to staff in its core Search org—a loud signal that the old model is under strain. Even StatCounter now shows Google's global share slipping below 90% for the first time since 2010.