Search Is No Longer Just Google’s Game, as Search Behaviors and Demands Change
Google has been and is still the reigning king of search, with comScore reporting that it claimed 67.5 percent of search queries in the U.S. in February. But with the emergence of mobile and the popularity of standalone sites and apps with specialized search results (e.g., Yelp, Amazon, TripAdvisor), it’s clear that the search game is changing.
The New York Times spotlights this shift in search behaviors and demands in a recent article, which offers examples of when consumers might skip Google in favor of search results from specialty apps, such as Kayak or Weather Underground. “People use YouTube to search for things like how to tie a bow tie, Siri to search on their iPhones, online maps to find local places and Facebook to find things their friends have liked.”
The article notes that searches on traditional services such as Google have declined 3 percent in the second half of 2012, ending a four-year upswing, according to comScore. Meanwhile, searches on topical sites (“vertical search engines”) rose 8 percent during that time.
This trend matters for marketers, who should realize that search-based tactics for reaching people need refreshing. Organic SEO is already taking some lumps thanks to the growing prevalence of encrypted searches, which makes analytics more of an opaque endeavor. Meanwhile, the prevalence of all things social is adding a layer that impacts search and how information is delivered to users.
Local businesses in particular are in an intriguing position amid these changes in search. The bottom line for small-business owners is that they must be active about claiming and maintaining their virtual locations on places like Facebook, Foursquare, Yelp and Google.
The future of search will continue to keep marketers on their toes. For instance, what will proactive “search results” like those offered by Google Now mean for how to optimize sites and reach prospects? We might be headed for a future where searching for answers on desktop or mobile devices will be nearly obsolete.
What then?
