Google’s Universal Search

After years of me bombarding them with reasons why they should get the internet, my parents finally buckled under the pressure and ‘went online’ 2 weeks ago.

After muddling aimlessly through their first online searches, they grew increasingly frustrated with the results they were given by Google, simply because they were not familiar with the concept of Universal Search. So, this weekend, they enlisted my help with teaching them the ways of the world, that being the world of SERP’s.

What is Universal Search?

As a marketer, I use Google almost every day, and  take for granted the functionality of Universal Search. Gone are the olden days when Google’s SERPS were just a list of ten blue links, and meta descriptions. Let me explain more…

In May of 2007, Google launched its Universal Search system that forever changed the way websites would be ranked in search engines. By optimising the various forms of content, websites are able to ‘own’ more of the overall SERP’s, thereby increasing their share of traffic for that particular search.

As a result, users now have the ability to sift through a diverse set of web content such as video, images, news, shopping, feeds, book recommendations, twitter and blog feeds and much more. These can be accessed within the main Google SERP’s page or by using the Google menu bar which has tabs for each of the verticals (see below)

How can Universal Search benefit you?

Google’s Universal Search has now been in existence for almost 3 years, yet most businesses do not take full advantage of the opportunities it presents to get products and services in front of a wider, more diverse audience.

It’s about shelf space and the user experience. Ultimately, the more spots you take up in the search results, the less likely it is that one of your competitors is occupying that space.

But, it’s important to remember that it is not quantity, but quality that counts. The algorithm needs to recongise what type of content a user is looking for based on their search term. Bombarding someone with videos, shopping and news results simply won’t cut it unless it is relevant to them.

For instance, someone looking for a restaurant location might find a map result more useful than going through the restaurant’s whole site to find the information they need. Similarly, someone wanting cinema times in their area will get the information they require via Google’s cinema listing feature than by going to each individual cinema website.

How are other search engines encompassing Universal Search?

Yahoo! Search has been offering a “blended search” experience for several years. This continues to integrate videos and photos directly in search results in the same way as Google does.

Bing on the other hand calls their output ‘verticalisation’. The concept is exactly the same as Google and Yahoo but more recently they have added another niche vertical to its listings, that is ‘recipes’. Aimed at budding Jamie Olivers, their new recipe result pull together data from various recipe sites and provides the searcher the option to display and filter recipe results via the recipe-specific interface shown below.

What does the future hold for Universal Search?

The message travelling throughout the search community is to adapt, or die. More and more people, like my parents, are learning to make full use of universal search to help them find content relevant to them. This gives them a richer user experience, which is something we can all cash in on.