SEARCH
Earlier this year on this blog, I promised to share data about Universal Search. Below is the industry’s first look at the data, shown for the first time publicly at Search Engine Strategies NYC last week on the “Orion Panel” – an exciting session with John Battelle from Federated Media, Lyndsey Menzies of Big Mouth Media, and Jack Menzel from Google.
comScore’s findings are based on Google search queries observed through comScore qSearch during one week in January 2008. During this period we observed over 220 million Google searches containing a universal result, out of 1.2 billion searches overall:
- 17% of the queries had a universal result
- 16% of total Google clicks were sourced from a page where a universal result was present
- 14% of paid clicks were sourced from result pages where a universal result was present
Assuming the pattern of 17% holds, we’re talking about approximately one billion monthly universal search queries on Google alone. This is not an insignificant number and shows that universal / mash-up / blended search results are clearly now in play. It will be interesting to track how this grows (or not) over time.
For the search marketing industry, the shift from 17% total universal search results to 14% paid clicks is a vital stat. In other research situations, a move of 3 percentile points is hardly worth mentioning. In the world of search – where decimal points of change move tens of millions in commerce – it’s a big deal. It means that the presence of a universal results yield fewer clicks and will create more competition among search marketers. However, these changes should improve the referral quality among those consumer that do click.
In my opinion, major search engines like Google are adapting their result page to best meet the needs of the consumer – even if it results in challenges for or criticism from marketers. If the engines lose the consumer, they will lose their business. It will be incumbent upon the marketers to quickly adapt and create videos and images that are relevant to the consumer and make them available to the search engines. Not an easy task given the legal and technical hurdles many major brands face, but those who do it quickly will have a competitive advantage in the search arena.
NEXT: Penetration by type of universal result
Comments (4)
This is great data. I have found this to be very consistent with the results I'm experiencing when doing searches but I've also found that many searches don't have universal results (as your data indicates). I'm wondering are universal results more skewed towards QDF searches (query deserves freshness) or are universal search results being provided for Transactional Searches, Navigational Searches too?
Posted by Daryl Clark | March 30, 2008 12:59 PM
Posted on March 30, 2008 12:59
James,
I enjoyed your talk at SES, and wrote more about the presentation in my MediaPost column yesterday. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts and comments.
http://blogs.mediapost.com/search_insider/?p=761
Thanks,
Rob
Posted by Rob Garner | April 10, 2008 10:16 AM
Posted on April 10, 2008 10:16
Thanks for your comments, Rob. As I mentioned at SES NYC and reiterated in my blog on this topic, the most important customer for all the search engines (not just Google!) is the consumer, not the marketer. Lose the consumer and their queries and you lose your market. The search industry loves to talk to itself, but I don't see enough discussion about why the engines will evolve toward a universal-like experience over time. It's those pesky consumers! They are in control, not us. The reality is that consumer in 2008 has bandwidth, expects a multi-media experience, and instant gratification whenever possible. If the search engines don't respond with an experience that fits that expectation - share declines are inevitable. This is why I often challenge marketers to make adjustments by getting images, videos, maps, etc into the mix with the engines. The text-only life we have led for the past decade no longer fits with consumer expectations of their Internet experience. Marketers who get ahead in this area will enjoy some advantages relative to those who don't. Call me an optimist, but maybe this is an opportunity?
That said - in the case of Google and probably Yahoo! and MSN also - they face a classic market research dilemma. How do you improve the product or service you've been providing in the same basic way for 10 years without disenfranchising the consumer? It’s a challenge marketers and engineers have faced for decades made even more daunting by the ease with which a consumer can "brand switch" in 2 seconds by entering a new URL. I can just hear the user experience people now..."I know I have a better solution or product and my testing proves that..." Unfortunately the process of change is hard for the average consumer. People get comfortable with what they know. Gord Hotchkiss and the folks at Enquiro proved this out in the world of search by comparing the U.S.-centric search experience on Google to the Chinese experience on Baidu using their eye tracking technology. The pages look remarkably different between the two engines and always have, but consumers in these respective countries have been trained on what to expect. This classic research dilemma explains the slow transition we will see from the major engines. They have a lot to lose!
All of this reminds me of an tired cliché that unfortunately fits..."change is hard, but inevitable".
Posted by James Lamberti | April 10, 2008 3:33 PM
Posted on April 10, 2008 15:33
I agree - it is about the consumer and the searcher. There is a certainly a huge opportunity here, and your research underscores an important fact that a whole new crowd has made its way to the "primetime" SERPs via mixed assets. And to this point, where someone gained, someone also lost, and was effectively pushed down or out. This research underscores the importance of remaining fluid in both strategy and execution.
Thanks again for your thoughts - look forward to reading more findings from this research.
Rob
Posted by Rob Garner | April 11, 2008 1:38 PM
Posted on April 11, 2008 13:38