Articles citing change to search are so commonplace that the title “change is coming” is akin to crying wolf. Readers are on to the gimmick that has been used to attract attention as a flashy native ad or generate clicks on an article’s title.
Yet we now have both data and real-marketplace examples demonstrating that change really is coming. At LSA16, MindMeld shared data that was corroborated by eMarketer about the incredible growth of voice search. Yet eMarketer’s take was that the numbers were still insignificant. Timothy Tuttle of MindMeld felt otherwise – that the rate of growth was impressive enough to indicate real change.
I tend to agree with Timothy. He shared at LSA16 that the volume of voice search was essentially nothing until 2015. Then in one year, the number of searches conducted by voice grew to 10% of global search volume. That’s 50 billion searches. Every month. And apparently growing fast.
Search has remained listing based since the inception of the Yellow Pages. The format of a directory listing based on a heading or keyword survived even advances in digital and mobile technologies. Search engines, review sites, map listings, and even social media have largely returned results that are categorized and presented in some form of a list. Some might put a pretty bow on it or include some nice pictures. But the format itself has not seen a lot of innovation.
Technologies like voice search are, however, testing these boundaries. Much longer, natural language queries are performed in voice search, unlike keyword searches in traditional search boxes rendering traditional emphasis on keywords like “plumber” or “restaurant” less important.
Other technologies like Virtual Reality, the Internet of Things, Connected Cars and other technologies will accelerate in adoption and be real opportunities for marketers. And other ideas that buck the listing model will prove more helpful to both advertisers and consumers – Thumbtack’s $1 billion in annual sales by professionals on its site with zero sales force is proof of that change.
Check out more details and more insights in my Search Engine Land column, “Search Disruption is Coming! and 9 other expert insights from LSA16”.
