I was testing some searches on Google's mobile search results this morning and for some queries I was able to bring back the "next" button at the bottom of the search results. Google replaced the "next" button on mobile search with a "more results" button back in April. But I can still consistently get the next button for specific types of queries.
When you get a set of search results for someone or some thing that triggers a knowledge panel with tabs, Google will keep the tabs to the top of the page as you scroll. In that case where the knowledge card/panel tabs are stuck to the top of the search results page on mobile, Google will show the "next" button at the bottom instead of the "more results" button.
One example is when you search for [neil young] - it shows tabs in the knowledge panel and thus at the footer will show a "next" button. But if you search for [sergey brin] you do not get the sticky tabs in the knowledge panel and thus see the "more results" button.
Here are screen shots:
vs:
Now, I can replicate this on a bunch of queries - I am not sure how much of an impact this has on SEOs or searchers but I found it interesting, nevertheless.
Forum discussion at Twitter.
