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.
They show whatever they want to show. For example see https://www.google.com/search?q=matemathica If you search for "matemathica" they will show the results of "mathematica" instead, and offer to search for the original word. Sometimes they mix the results of the original word and the autocorrected version. Sometimes they show the results of the original and offer to show the results of the autocorrection.
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.