Every year optimising for search gets that little bit harder as Google continues to innovate to stay ahead of the competition. The flavour of search for 2009 was dominated by universal search and leveraging social media sites to build real link authority. But what will be important in 2010 and what will search marketers need to focus their energy on?
- Mobile Search;
Mobile search is going to be big as mobile internet usage continues to grow significantly in Australia. Google is powering ahead with mobile innovation and not just on the traditional search side. Sensor rich technology has driven Google to extend search beyond text to allow consumers to search by voice, location and sight! Over the past 12 months voice search has been introduced on many more devices and as android take up grows, voice based search will increase in importance. By leveraging a mobile camera Google has also launched Google Goggles – which is its point / click and search feature. Location based search services are also increasing in nature with Google set to answer questions like “what is there to do around here?” in many different ways.
- Social Search;
Its started and it’s just the beginning. Google and Bing for that matter have begun integrating social media results into standard search. Whilst at this stage it is largely Twitter search results that we are seeing, both are working towards the integration of other social results. In addition Google in particular are also adding “social” as one of their new search navigation items increasing the prominence of social searching. Add to this the integration of content shared from friends through social network profiles and the importance of a social media strategy may finally hit home to many organisations. Search is no longer about one’s own site and marketers will need to grapple with how to leverage this to their advantage. Building strategies around latest news / topical issues will be the key to succeeding in this area.
- Personalised Search;
In the stable for a while, Google has taken the next steps towards providing more personalised results. Initially Google only served personalised results when a user was logged in, however Google has now rolled out personalisation to all users based on cookies. Holding 180 days of search history, Google will begin to serve users results based on their previous interaction which means that engagement will need to be high on the agenda for search marketers. For many years search marketers have favoured rankings over user experience but search marketers will need to become much more in-tune with what consumers want and need.
- Local Search;
It is not a very well known fact that Google is testing a new interface. Whilst on the surface the changes are subtle there is one potential big change on the way which sees a much more prominent Google map to showcase local search results. With this change other SERPs will really lose visibility and extra emphasis will need to be placed on dominating this local search space – For more analysis on the impact of Google interface changes view this article.
- Vertical Search;
In the local market, Google in 2009 made significant inroads within the real estate classifieds market in Oz. Globally Bing has also announced that it will concentrate on certain verticals to more effectively assist consumers to find the type of information they are looking for. In 2010/11 my personal view is Google will expand in this area but in what sectors? Finance will be one area of focus as they have begun to move into this category overseas, possibly car classifieds by combining their map technology and also the shopping vertical – once eCommerce takes off in Australia. Vertical search will bring about change in Google functionality and filtering options. This will in-turn increase the importance of diversifying the type of content available within your site to support all parts of the decision process.
Want to know more about search predictions in 2010? Check out what some of the UKs leading experts have to say on the topic.
What other major factors do you think will impact search in 2010? Share your thoughts below.
Written By: Teresa Sperti
Search trends 2010.
I’d agree that the development of Mobile, Social, Local and Personalised search will continue to drive innovation.
But the most interesting innovations will come in combining these searches into ‘augmented reality’ platforms.
Basically, you can think of it this way – you point your mobile device’s camera at an object, landmark or place and it delivers search information based on your physical location that is tailored to your preferences.
Augmented reality will be more than just about geo-tagging; it will be a search experience.
The way I see it, ‘augmented reality’ is very much part of the future of search. It’s why I feel the true value of Mobile, Social, Local and Personalised search is in more than their individual utility – it’s in their nexus.
This is the future.
Cheers
Ravi Prasad.