I'm not sure it is clickbait. Previously, typing things into Google would result in a list of webpages that matched the phrase you typed in, with various ambiguity around that to allow for flexibility.
Now it doesn't do that, by default. Yeah, there's button to do it, so it's not like anybody can't access the results anymore. But certainly from the perspective of the first experience, this is a huge change.
Assuming whatever A/B-style test is currently running is "successful", it would be reasonable to assume that this feature would be rolled out to other queries where Google assumes users want an answer to a specific question. That's something that could have a significant impact on the web generally, given Google's dominant position.
Now it doesn't do that, by default. Yeah, there's button to do it, so it's not like anybody can't access the results anymore. But certainly from the perspective of the first experience, this is a huge change.
Assuming whatever A/B-style test is currently running is "successful", it would be reasonable to assume that this feature would be rolled out to other queries where Google assumes users want an answer to a specific question. That's something that could have a significant impact on the web generally, given Google's dominant position.