"Search" as we know it - Is it on its way out?
There's Apple's Siri and Google's voice search and Cortana and ...
Try searching for Firefox or Chrome in Windows 10, and the results suggest you use Microsoft's Edge instead
Mobile is now the #1 preferred method to access the internet
Searching for anything on an Apple watch doesn't return 10 results (or if it does, you can't see them all.. and scrolling to the bottom of the page on a desktop is certainlyl not the same as scrolling to the #10 result on a watch)
Videos and webinars are being pushed more and more as "the way customers would rather interact".
"Search" is changing in a big way, and I'll admit I'm worried about where this is all going. Should we be focusing as much on ranking on Google's page 1, or should we be focusing on learning how to build and monetize apps?
Gotta know.. because the older I get, the slower I learn!
Well, not really but...
_Kae
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Good post Kae and definitely food for thought. I think with the billions of serches Google gets it will still be around for a long time to come. Perhaps we all have to strive to get our search keywords ranking within the top ten so it will be visible on all devices!
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I hear what you are saying, but at the end of the day the internet is about content and information. Whether you search through an app or desktop or voice or typing, the result of your search is still only as good as the content you find. Siri, Google voice, Cortana are an interface, but they all search the same content. The good ole trusty WWW.
Yes, you're right - it is all about content and information. The problem (imho) is this: if you don't have access to insider information on upcoming and unreleased products, the only really "original" text content anyone could post about would have to be in the form of opinion sharing. "They" say there isn't a single story Hollywood can come up with that hasn't already somehow been told - I suspect the same applies online.
There really isn't much out there that's "unique" or "original" anymore.. Its been what, 30 years or so now since the internet became 'mainstream'.. And its been at least almost that long since affiliate marketing was first introduced. I remember when MOST people clicked on banner ads, only because they were so new -- now, most people are well aware of the affiliate marketing model, and many actively look for ways to avoid buying a product that will pay you a commission.
("you" doesn't mean YOU!!!)
I don't just don't want to be 10 years late getting into "the new thing".. I'm watching apps take over, and I really do wonder if I am focusing on the right long-term strategy...
When I realized Siri was answering questions without posting URLs back at me, I wondered what this meant.... There was no need for me to log into a website or read anyone's content -- Siri just seemed to have scraped a lot of it, and was giving me what information I needed.
The system is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. However, it just seems obvious to me that all of them -- Google, Microsoft, Apple, etc -- have been perfecting ways to make user experience better than ever, and that includes scraping content and offering up answers/solutions that don't require the user to spend "precious minutes" reading. At what point does uploading new (albeit "unique" content) stop being relevant?
The world is an evolving place and nothing stays the same for more than a few days. The idea is to be giving your customer the bast info in your niche that you can so that yours is looked at over someone elses. That is a challenge but that is what we are here for, to rise to that. Yes many people might be looking at Siri, Google Voice or whatever, but I'd say most aren't. If you are seriously researching something you want to read many different opinions and sources. If you are just trying to find a popular local restaurant, fine. I know that will change in time, but until these methods can provide a realistic full representation of what is on the net, then they are not going to be very effective.
There are hundreds of thousand of new net users coming on all the time. They don't now about ad banners yet and online money making options. They are researching the net for the first time, from Lubumbashi to Lilongwe, from Baton Rouge to Ljubljana.