Should Google Remove the "I'm Feeling Lucky" Button?

If you haven’t been living under a rock for the past ten years chances are you have seen the iconic I’m Feeling Lucky button sitting on the front of Google’s home page.  If you haven’t actually ever clicked the I’m Feeling Lucky button, it does actually have a function.  The purpose of the button is simply to bring you directly to the webpage of the first search result for your search query.  In essence, it’s a shortcut.  For example, if you typed in BestTechie as your search query and hit the button you would be sent directly to BestTechie.net (since it’s the first result for that particular query).

But the question now is does the button provide any real value or is it simply just an iconic button on the home page Internet’s most visited website?  Now that Google has introduced Google Instant, there would appear to be even less of a need for the button, because users are instantly provided with search results while typing in their query.

One might also wonder how much money is lost in advertising revenue due to the button.  If users are using the I’m Feeling Lucky button a lot then it may translate into lost search ad revenue.  At this point, Google hasn’t removed the button nor has anyone reported that they are thinking about removing it.  But at the time where Google is looking to maximize search ad revenue in as many ways as possible, I wouldn’t be surprised if removing the button isn’t something which may be considered.

It’s also worth noting that Google, a company known for its simplicity, especially when it comes to its home page removing an extra (unnecessary?) button would not be unheard of.  Hey, you know what, perhaps Google should just go buttonless and only have a search bar.

What do you think?  Should Google remove the I’m Feeling Lucky button?  Should they go for a buttonless home page?  Leave a comment!