Desktop clickthrough rates at Google's top organic positions fell by a combined 5.27 percentage points in Q2, while mobile CTRs at the same spots grew by 6.59 points, according to Advanced Web Ranking's CTR report for Q2 2026.

The figures mark a reversal from Q1, when desktop rates were improving and mobile CTR declined at the top. The report covers average international click-through rates by position from April to June, compared with January to March. AWR cautions that the figures add together changes from several positions and don't reflect any single site's change.

The split holds across query types. For single-word queries, desktop CTR at position one dipped by 4.15 points while mobile increased by 7.42 points. All top 20 desktop branded query CTRs dropped between 1.47 and 3.08 points each, yet mobile position one rose 1.40 points. Informational, commercial, and location queries followed the same pattern: desktop down, mobile up.

Industry results mostly matched. Arts & Entertainment bucked the trend, gaining 2.40 points at desktop position one. Law, Government, & Politics gained at desktop positions two and three and posted the largest single-position increase among industries, with mobile position one up 17.31 points. The largest single-position drop was 13.31 points, at desktop position one in Style & Fashion.

AI Overviews compress CTR

The Q2 report also examines how CTR varies with the presence of an AI Overview, using U.S. data only. On desktop, the combined CTR for positions one and two was 29.05% on results pages without an AI Overview and 10.04% on pages that included one. That 19.01-point gap was 6.03 points larger than in Q1. On mobile, position one earned a 35.95% CTR without an AI Overview and 8.51% with one.

AWR's monthly figures add nuance the quarterly numbers hide: U.S. desktop position one on AI Overview pages sat at a 1.96% CTR in April and climbed to 10.23% by June.

A measurement break sits inside the data

The quarter-over-quarter comparison crosses the end of a Google Search Console logging error. Google's Search Console help page states the error caused impressions to be reported inaccurately from May 13, 2025, to April 27, 2026. The issue affected CTR and average position but did not impact the number of clicks. AWR notes that its free CTR tool uses Search Console data, and the Q2 report credits its tables to that tool.

That timeline means all Q1 data fell within the error range, while most Q2 data came after the fix. Because CTR divides clicks by impressions, the figures depend on impressions Google says were misreported. The report does not specify whether the numbers were updated after the error was fixed.

Marketers comparing their own Search Console data should treat April 27 as a possible measurement break rather than evidence of changed user behavior. One quarter is not enough to predict CTR by device with confidence.

AWR says its Q3 report, covering July to September, will determine whether the Q2 device split is "a permanent trend or a temporary seasonal spike." Because Q3 falls entirely after Google's correction, it should offer the first clean read — though analysts comparing it with Q2 should remember that most of April's data still includes the error period.