Do You Still Need a Website in 2026?

[music]
Hello and welcome to a new episode of
Surge Off the Record. I have no idea
what episode is this or what number it
is, but I'm sure it's going to be great
because I'm joined by my teammate
Martin, who is on the same team as me,
obviously. We are from search relations
and we tend to talk a lot about search
and search related technologies.
Martin Gary, hello.
>> Thank you. I didn't have to prompt you
to say hello. How are you? [laughter]
>> I'm doing fine. How are you? Had a good
start to the new year?
>> Yeah, I broke my arm.
>> Good job.
>> Thank you.
>> That's an achievement. Yes.
>> Groundbreaking, so to speak. You
probably slipped on the snow or
something. No, the ground is still
intact. [laughter]
My arm isn't, but it's fine.
>> Arm breaking.
>> Yeah, I was wondering, Martin, we go to
the office every now and then, and when
we chat during lunch and coffee breaks
and every now and then it comes up,
>> what?
>> Actually, this is a recurring topic. It
comes up that you might not need
websites anymore.
>> Oh. Oh, that one. Oh, god. Mhm.
>> But it's not a new thing.
>> No. as in it it comes up every not every
year but every two years or every 3
years someone will mention that you
don't even need a website anymore and
I'm wondering whether you still need a
website in 2026
>> H
>> and uh I thought we should chat about
that
okay I yeah I've I've had these
conversations before as well we had
these conversations together and I think
it's a good time to to think about it
out loud. Basically, that's what this
podcast is for anyway. So,
>> yeah.
>> Okay. All right. Good topic.
>> I think we might even have an episode
about this, like a previous episode. Not
sure. We have to look it up. And if we
do, then we are going to link to it in
the description of the podcast. But I
think the starting point to this
discussion is always the question
whether the web is dead. H this has been
declared so many times. I think when the
iPhone came out and apps happened then
people were like oh the web is dead and
>> right
>> it periodically comes up again and again
I think. Yeah. So is it dead? Is it a
zombie? What is happening?
>> Have you read the dark press theory of
the web?
>> Is it that like it's basically bots
talking to bots or something?
>> Yeah, something like that. And to some
extent that's true and with AI probably
it's even more true because now agents
are talking to websites who might also
have some agents doing stuff. So we
might end up in this really peculiar
loop. But to me the web is not dead.
Like I still go to the websites that I
used to go and I still consume content
and buy stuff from online retailers
and I go on social media and every now
and then I would watch a video from
Blackpink doing dance moves or whatnot.
So to me the web is not dead in the
sense that people claim it to be dead.
Does that make sense?
>> That makes sense. Yeah.
>> So what do you think? I think this is
interesting. I had a conversation years
ago in a previous job with my manager
back then where he was trying to
convince me that apps are the new web.
And he's like, oh, you know, the web
isn't dead. It's just not websites
anymore. And I said, um, interesting
interesting point, but I'm skeptical.
And I think this happened again when we
got voice assistants. They're like,
well, the web isn't dead, but people are
interacting with it not through a visual
interface, but through a speech
interface. Yeah.
>> And I think we're now in the third wave
of that where it's chat bots and LLMs
and stuff. But fundamentally, these get
their information from websites. So hm
the other thing is what is a website
might have changed and might continue to
change because I know that some quote
unquote mobile apps have been basically
just wrappers around the website. So you
are using the website without
necessarily knowing that you are just
using the website in a package.
>> Yeah. And I think it is dead in a way
that not as many people are using
personal websites and personal blogs and
their personal spaces online as a way to
express themselves or offer them their
services or their products. I think that
has shifted and we are seeing that in
various platforms and also in the way
that people are using I would call them
agents or proxies whatever you want to
call them like through something but I
don't think it's dead as in like we have
moved on to something else I think the
web is still alive and kicking it just
has changed and it will continue to
change
>> yeah you mentioned the LLMs and the AI
chatbots and whatnots
>> do you think those are just a different
interface to access content on the web
or is it more than that?
>> I think at least at this moment it is
just that. What I'm not so sure is if
that evolves because basically what we
have right now all the knowledge and all
the information that you get from an LLM
is mostly trained on web data. I guess
also books and stuff but it's like the
large breath of the yeah
>> of the information is web content. What
I'm not so sure is if the information it
will be fed through conversations with
users is going to flow back into web
content or if it's going to be locked up
in the models and if it's going to be
locked up in the models then that's
unfortunate because then I could see
that diverging from the web but then we
also have to think that not everyone
will have access or want to have access
to LLMs. That is true. Or AI chat bots.
And then for those you would still need
to have some interface where they can
get their content from. So a website or
a social network or something where they
can acquire the content that they need
for news or for whatever. No.
>> True, true, true. And the other thing I
believe is that the easiest way to share
information with a larger group of
people is not through a chatbot because
that would need them to ask the right
questions and even then it's kind of
non-deterministic. So you might get
something completely different or
slightly different uh or it might not
make the point you wanted to make. So, I
think people will probably learn
something or synthesize something inside
a chatbot, but then probably put it out
as a website or a book or whatever, but
they will put it out into some sort of
quick reference format and that might
just be a website.
>> Yeah, that's also an interesting point
that you made that the exploration part.
If you think about the large social
networks and also search engines, they
tend to invent a way to discover content
in a different way in a more exploratory
way instead of prompting the thing to
give you something. Like if you think
about Google discover, it's not you
don't prompt it to give you content. It
tries to figure out what you would like
to see like topic categories and then it
would give you basically results to
websites that talk about those topics.
If you look on Tik Tok, they also have
an exploration feed where stuff that you
might like or that is popular, I don't
know how that works. So basically these
big platforms tend to give people a way
to discover new stuff
>> that is not necessarily something that
they prompted for.
>> I mean I I see that in my own usage. Um
when I want to learn something new I
don't even know where to go. So things
that I have some understanding of. I
don't know like if I want to learn a new
web standard that has just come to the
browsers. I don't know uh view
transitions or something then I know
what I want and what I specifically look
for. So I just go to a website where I
have a high chance of finding the
information I'm looking for. CSS tricks
or MDN or whatever. It doesn't matter.
But then you have things where you have
like no idea. I recently through a
conversation with Lizzie from our team
discovered rizo printing and I'm like
what what is I don't even know I don't
even know where to start. I don't know
where to go. I don't know where to like
find information. And then I
>> what is it?
>> It's it's a it's a weird way of like
it's not weird. It's a specific way of
printing that is relatively cheap and
has these very poppy colors.
>> And um it's it's an interesting
technique. I will have to learn how to
do that. I have still no idea how to do
that. But but print on paper or
>> Yeah, you print on paper.
>> Or textile? I think you can also print
on textiles, but it's like an analog
printing technique, which is
interesting. Anyway, and I didn't know
where to start. And so I went to Google
and I searched for it and I got an AI
overview that had like a few terminology
bits and pieces and a few pointers and
I'm like, oo. So I basically like
started from there and then clicked
through a bunch of things to discover
stuff that was guided by AI effectively
and I'm like huh that was nice and I
have been quite skeptic about AI and the
the chatbot kind of interaction model
but that worked surprisingly well
>> right
>> so yeah but in in the end I landed on
huh websites
>> yeah and I imagine that with websites
you also have more freedom to do what
you wish to do, right?
>> Yeah.
>> Like you choose the way you monetize the
stuff. Yeah.
>> Um like you can have affiliate links or
whatever.
>> You have ads. You can post perhaps more
stuff there because platforms usually
try to regulate what kind of content can
go on their
>> Mhm.
>> in the feed. And if that's preventing
you from doing something, then you might
want the website. I guess yeah
>> services you cannot do services on most
platforms.
>> That's true. Or at least you have to
give a cut to the platform which you
might not want to do for whatever
reason.
>> Well, I'm thinking about services like a
calculator.
>> Ah, okay. I know you true. At least not
on the platforms that we use. I don't
know how that works with like these
funky app platforms in in Asian
countries. Like I know China has a few
platforms that have basically like apps
inside them and I'm not sure if they are
like centrally created or if you
>> No, you still have to create the thing.
>> Yeah. Like in a in a weird HTML like
thing,
but I think it's closer to web
components.
>> Mhm.
>> And then you create the thing, you host
it somewhere and then you package it as
an app. Going back to that point, it was
also interesting that I I was writing a
simulation game. Basically, you are this
kind of person and then you have to
achieve something by buying stuff and
setting up stuff and whatever. If you
ever played the game uplink, it's
something similar.
>> And then I prompted Gemini asking if I
actually wanted to finish this game. I
don't because it's too much hassle and
you have to deal with people which is
not something that I want. [laughter]
But if I wanted to package this game up
and put it on app store, what would I
do? Because it's a TypeScript game, so
there's just HTML and some funky
JavaScript like thing that is packaged
into basically a website, right? Y
>> and if I wanted this on app store, then
what would I do? And well, you can just
make it a PWA.
And technically, that would work. Like
it's likely that the people who are
approving the apps wouldn't like it very
much because they need to conform to
some design specifications that they
have for apps on on App Store. But
technically, it could be just an HTML
packaged into an app.
>> True. True. So yeah,
>> and there are like a few solutions for
this. This used to be called Phone Gap
and I think then it was called Cordova
or the other way around and then uh
>> Oh yeah,
>> I think you can probably use something
like electron or I don't know how to do
it these days, but there are ways to
kind of package web content into an app
and it's it's still relatively popular
to do that because it's cheaper and
easier. Do you think if you have a
website, you might appear more
legitimate to your users?
>> That's a tricky one. So, I think so, but
you can also build websites in a way
that make you less
>> sure
>> less trustworthy.
But if you have like a reasonable
website that looks good enough and has a
reasonable domain name, then I think it
gives your business or your
representation a bit more
trustworthiness. Yeah, I would say so.
>> So, are you suggesting that spammy.com
is not a good domain name?
>> No, I mean that's quite concise and fits
the brand. I think that's a great domain
name.
>> Thank you. What I don't think is a great
domain, main is like jonesbcue
andfootmassage.com. That's like
that's weird. And especially if that's a
website about like I don't know a
shipping business or something.
I can get 50% behind that though.
[laughter]
>> Okay. Well, is it the foot massage or
the barbecue? I I don't want to answer
that [laughter] but uh and then if you
have a website then I guess you also
have more freedom with what you do with
the content in the sense that
>> like for example if you want to have a
sweep stake or something like that like
a promotion then you would advertise
that promotion probably on your social
network and then people would sign up
not on the social network because
typically social networks don't provide
that functionality. Maybe they should I
don't know.
>> Yeah. and you own the house. Yeah. Like
they they can't take it away from you.
The people who are coming to your
website for something specifically I
recently started actually while I know
reading a printed magazine and I'm
really happy that they have a website as
well where you can get the issues as
PDFs as well and I just go there to find
news and articles and interesting
stories,
>> right?
>> And the algorithm doesn't hide it from
me. I know that I haven't seen a few
people I actually care about on
Instagram, on the other social networks
because algorithms decided, oh, there's
not as much interaction, but sometimes
I'm not in it for interaction. Sometimes
I just want to look at your pictures or
know where you are in the world
traveling right now or your thoughts or
whatever, but then the algorithm is
like, "No, no, no. Let me show you this
guy who's speaking about some big
political issue right now." uh because
people will be clicking like and
>> comment on it and whatnot. And on a
website that doesn't happen. On a
website you get to decide which content
goes where and how visible something is.
Like you can pick your featured
articles, you can pick your featured
products, whatever. You make the
decisions, not someone else makes them
for you. I think that's an important
point.
>> Sure. But then social networks are
really good at uh broadcasting stuff.
>> That's true. That is true. Like going
back to my sweepstake stuff.
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So for reach and
visibility it makes sense. But then
eventually you want to have an audience
that you connect with directly I guess
which might be tricky though. But then
so let's say that I have a Facebook
account like a Facebook business
account.
>> Mhm.
>> And I put up everyday stuff there
related to the business. And I don't
actually have a website. I want to have
a sweep stake. So, I create a Microsoft
Office form
>> where people can sign up for my
newsletter or stuff
>> or the sweepstake and then I don't
actually need the website.
>> That's true. I guess it depends on on
what you're doing. I know that I have a
few community groups in WhatsApp for
instance because that's where the people
I want to reach are and I can reach them
reliably through there. I could set up a
website but I never even considered
because why to do what?
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Basically what we are
saying is it depends.
>> Yeah. Oh god. Yes. [laughter]
That took us a that was a really long-
winded way of going it depends.
>> [laughter]
>> I just remembered that we ran a user
study in Indonesia I think 2015 2016 and
many people were using social networks
as their business platform like they
didn't have website whatsoever and that
made me think that they do run
successful businesses like they had
incredible sales incredible user
journeys and retention
>> and then it made me think quite a bit
about whether you need a website. But
then if you think about it, at least
back then there was not such great reach
in search engines for social networks.
um like social networks were not
optimized for search and that didn't
bother people because they were still
getting the traffic that they needed
through Facebook, through WhatsApp,
through whatever basically just through
their business feed or business pages
that they had. Mhm.
>> But then social networks also started
optimizing for search basically doing
their SEO stuff
>> and they started gaining visibility in
search. So perhaps that divide like
regional divide is not that relevant
anymore. Maybe the other thing is these
social shops on social platforms are
effectively websites. Oh yeah, I can use
a browser to access them. I don't need
one, but I can use them. And I think the
dichotomy that you say like, oh, it's a
social network shop or a website is
blurred there because I mean like my
Instagram profile is a website
>> if I want it or not. It is hidden behind
a login. I think now I I believe you
need to like have an account. But the
thing that I really find interesting is
also the the barrier of entry, right? So
if you know your all your audience, all
the people who want to buy from your
shop are on Facebook.
>> Yeah.
>> Then what's the point of not making it
on Facebook? Like you could create an an
Etsy shop, but what for? All my
customers are on Facebook to begin with.
But if you are new into the market,
let's say like I start a new social
network for people who like to collect
HTTP status codes like Pokémon, I don't
know. Yeah. then I have to make a very
strong appealing argument for you to
download my app, I believe.
>> Yeah.
>> And if I make it an Android app, then
you'll be like, "Well, screw you cuz I
have an iPhone." And I'm like, "Oh, but
if I give you a link, there's a high
chance that you click on it, I guess."
>> Well, if you can sell it.
>> Yeah. Okay, fair enough. [laughter]
So, [snorts] I need a distribution
medium to bring the link to you. But
once you have a web address and I I say
like, "This is a really cool game. I
think you would like that. Then there's
a very low barrier of entry and even if
I make you sign up, I think it feels
like creating an account on a website is
a low commitment.
>> Yeah.
>> Versus putting another app on my phone
and creating an account.
>> Yep.
So I think the web isn't dead because it
is quite a low barrier way of
disseminating information and doing
whatever you want to do on your website.
But I don't think the the web
exclusively works without some measure
of distribution network where your
audience is. I'm going to challenge you
on that because some of the most popular
games that happened the past five years
don't have a website. And the way they
grab users or scoop up users is through
traditional marketing.
>> Oo,
>> which is basically just running ads.
>> Huh, interesting.
>> And they are or some of them are
billiondollar businesses. Like for
example, that that Robert the King game.
Why have I never heard of that?
>> I I don't remember what the name is
called, but uh there's a king in there
and the king is called Robert. I don't
know why I remember that. And then it's
basically Candy Crush style game where
you have to make a set somehow and then
Robert is saved or something like that.
>> Oh, those Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I've seen
an ad for that. That's true. Okay. Mhm.
Yeah.
>> And that is at least a multi-million
dollar business. bananas.
>> And the way they do it is they don't
have a website or if they have they have
it for the terms of service or something
like that.
>> And it is a highly addictive game. They
don't need a website essentially. I
imagine that if they wanted to, they
could put the terms of service within
the app.
>> Mhm.
>> Or the privacy policy or something like
that. So yeah, I think it goes back to
the it depends like what are you doing
and why are you doing it because it
might be that whatever you are trying to
achieve doesn't really need a website
and with some traditional marketing you
can achieve anything that you like with
that particular niche. But then for
other things, you might need, I don't
know, a 24-hour salesperson, as in your
website that guides people through, I
don't know, a checkout process or
something.
>> So, what are we saying? We are saying it
depends.
>> It I think it depends. I think a website
is fundamentally it ends up being a tool
and you have to decide if you need it or
don't. But I think if you want to make
information available to as many people
as possible or make your services
available or visible to as many people
as possible, I guess a website still is
the way to go in 2026. It's my opinion.
What if we break it down? So from data
sovereignty perspective, you are
probably better off with a website.
>> Mhm. Because on your website, you can do
whatever you like in the limits of
whatever your hoster allows, but it's
that's usually wider than whatever
social networks allow. Right.
>> True. Yeah.
>> You have control over monetization on
your website. You can do affiliate
links, you can do ads, you can do sweep
stakes, you can do whatever. Well,
actually, sweep stakes are not
monetization anyway. Wow, I suck at
this.
>> [laughter]
>> Then if you have a service then you
might need a website right?
>> Yeah I would say so
>> because uh content you can just put up
in a LinkedIn post or a Facebook post
probably not Instagram. Well it depends
on the content. If it's a picture, then
sure, or video. But then if you want
long form content that you know is not
going to be bothered by some moderators,
which goes back to the data sovereignty
point, then you would put it up on your
website.
>> Mhm.
>> Right.
>> Mhm.
>> But then if you're a service, you
probably cannot put it on a social media
platform because, well, they just don't
support, I don't know, calculators or uh
>> Yeah. HTTP status code collector game.
[laughter]
Got to catch them all.
>> Got to catch them all. I don't know
where I stand on legitimacy test.
>> Honestly, I don't know either because
I'd rather have a nicely curated social
media presence that exudes
trustworthiness than a website that is
not well done. M yeah, I guess. But then
it can act as a home base for you.
>> Yeah. Or like a link tree kind of thing
is fine. That's better than an
illegitimate looking website without
HTTPS that produces a warning in the
browser when I open it. So yeah, I don't
know. I I think with with Linkree, you
have to curate it well because honestly,
I can't recall a single linkree site. I
can recall
some of the creators that I followed
that are using Linkree as their home
base. Yeah. Oh,
>> okay.
>> But that's okay. That's fine.
>> I'm old. That's why that's [laughter]
that's blame my age. And then with a
website, you can probably guide easier
users to do conversions.
>> Mhm.
>> So, we are not saying that you should
definitely have a website. Think about
what you're trying to get across and
what's the best way to get it in front
of the people you want to get in touch
with. And I think a website can still be
that but doesn't have to be. There's
other options as well.
>> Yeah. Okay, cool. I think that's a good
conclusion. And I think my take is that
you do whatever you like that
accomplishes the thing that you need.
>> Yeah, I think that's a good take.
Basically, if you need a website, do a
website. If you can achieve whatever you
need with a social network, do a social
network.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah,
>> that's it.
>> I think that's fine.
>> Okay, cool.
>> Good talk.
>> Good talking to you, Gary.
>> Yeah. Are you off to lunch now?
>> I'm off to lunch now.
>> Okay.
>> I don't know what I'll have for lunch,
but I'm off to lunch now.
>> Are you ordering in some food?
>> No, I have some food at home,
surprisingly. Oh, that you ordered?
>> No, I bought in a supermarket and I will
have to prepare.
>> Oh, so you didn't use any service?
>> No, not this time.
>> You didn't use any service? Okay, fine.
>> I did use a website to find the opening
hours [laughter]
>> for your kitchen.
>> No, for the supermarket.
>> Oh, really?
>> Yeah.
>> Why do I know that my preferred Cope and
Miko are all open until 9:00 on
weekdays? I didn't know if they were
open like the special holidays. Ah,
okay. Fair enough. Fine. Fine. All
right. And then I think I'm going to let
you go.
>> Okay. Bye.
>> And don't go too far because uh we might
record a second episode just because I
have more ideas. How about that? And for
you listener, I hope you were having fun
and thank you for joining us. Please
like and subscribe. And if you see
Martin on the internet, say hi to him.
Not to me. Not to me. Goodbye.
>> We've been having fun with these podcast
episodes. I hope you, the listener, have
found them both entertaining and
insightful, too. Feel free to drop us a
note on Twitter at Google searchc or
chat with us at one of the next events
we go to if you have any thoughts. And
of course, don't forget to like and
subscribe. Thank you and goodbye.
[music]