SEARCH
Last month I looked at the overall penetration of universal search - in this post I’ll break down the various types of universal results.
In January, I examined search results during a single week on Google. During that time, 17% of all results were universal search results, and 58% of those who searched Google saw a universal result at least one time. By a large margin, most saw video and news, followed by images and maps/stocks/weather. Maps constitute the majority of that final bucket with stocks and weather in the low single digits.
The “multiple” column indicates that 15% of the audience was exposed to two or more different types of universal results on one results page. This figure may not rapidly increase if search engines move slowly so as to maintain an optimal consumer experience. However, if it does increase one can imagine a truly multi-media experience on the search engine results page.
Looking at the share of universal search results by type, video and news clearly dominate. Is this driven by consumers? By marketers? It's actually largely driven by a combination of consumers and Google itself. Video results on Google are mostly links to YouTube, where Google has a tremendous inventory and knowledge of the content and a huge base of consumer usage. However, as marketers create more relevant material, that new content will likely start to surface on the results page and change this dynamic.
Next: Click Performance for Universal Search Results
Comments (2)
Are Universal search results more "informational" by definition and thus more likely to yield a video or news result than a navigational or transactional search query would?
Posted by Tim Cohn | April 30, 2008 10:22 PM
Posted on April 30, 2008 22:22
It's a good point and I've discussed this with several folks in the industry. It's fair to suggest that "informational" queries (e.g. weather, maps, stock quotes) are the best early candidates for Universal, and we are seeing that in the data. That said - it's inevitable that universal will increasingly impact commercial queries. For example, a consumer who searches for the latest blockbuster movie (a highly commercial query) is probably best served with a video of the trailer and a map of show times and theaters linked to their zip code right on the result page. No click required! There are plenty of other examples I could give, but the point is that universal is going to increasingly impact the commercial world of search.
Posted by James Lamberti | May 1, 2008 1:51 PM
Posted on May 1, 2008 13:51