As technology evolves, so does the way people find and connect with the things that matter to them. Google remains King (for now at least) but alarmingly for our Sovereign, parts of its ream are under siege. It’s crucial that brands keep up with what’s happening across the search kingdom and form strong alliances with these ‘invaders’ – in these complex times, backing one horse is not an option.
The defragmentation of search
For the best part of the last 20 years, when consumers have needed to find something on the internet, they have turned to Google – treasuring its ability to sort and order the entire web’s content, providing the most relevant results.
But, thanks to a combination of technology advances and changes in user behaviour (driven by a desire for more exact search results) – the landscape is changing. Google originally got ahead of other search engines due to the quality of the results it provided, but now other platforms provide better results and user experiences for specific types of search intent.
Let’s consider 4 areas of search where traditional Google search is no longer superior.
1. TRANSACTIONAL SEARCH
Amazon has overtaken Google as the place people start when searching for a product to buy online. In 2016, 52% of people said they started by searching for products on Amazon, versus 26% of people who started out on a search engine.
2. FUNCTIONAL SEARCH
There’s an endless amount of mind-boggling stats around YouTube usage, here are two:
- Monthly desktop visits are 5.3% higher on YouTube.com than Google.com according to SimilarWeb
- Average YouTube mobile session is 40 minutes
Google CEO Sundar Pichai speculated as to why this was; “People turn to YouTube when they want to research, buy or fix a product. Mobile watch time for apparel videos has doubled this year and videos about toys have also doubled.”
YouTube is the perfect vehicle for all of the functional ‘how to’-style content that brands are creating in order to reach consumers.
3. INFORMATIONAL SEARCH
Google has confirmed that 20% of search queries on its app and Android devices are voice searches. Meanwhile, a recent study predicted that by 2019, 20% of all smartphone interactions will take place via virtual personal assistants like Siri, Google Assistant, Alexa and Cortana. Of these, only Google Assistant takes its results from Google, with the other three using Bing.
4. NAVIGATIONAL SEARCH
Google search interest in ‘near me’ has increased 34X since 2011 as consumers turn to search in their I-want-to-go micro-moments. Search engines and VPAs prioritise local results as they recognise a significant number of searches contain local intent, and as such, it is important to ensure location data is accurate.
Discover our SEO key advices here for these 4 areas of search!
What next?
We have seen that search behaviour has fragmented onto various platforms, and as a result, SEO strategy is moving away from a one-dimensional approach (which was sufficient for Google) to a new multi-touchpoint one. As technology and consumer behaviour moves on, this is a trend that will only grow – and we’ll have to evolve our SEO approach on an ongoing basis as new search touchpoints emerge.
For more information, contact our local search expert Benjamin Bonnet.
The Internet of Things will also play its part. In a world in which your fridge can tell you that you’re nearly out of milk, you can ask your car for local restaurant recommendations and walk into a shopping centre and have a virtual personal assistant direct you to the best deals, brands will need to ensure that they are present and stand out when consumers subliminally or consciously desire something that they as a brand can fulfil.
Discover our strategy & consultancy services to know more about The Internet of Things.