As Google Premier Partners, Level Agency was able to get the inside scoop on Google’s product roadmap at the global Partner Summit in NYC. Check out our insights on some of the most interesting trends that Google divulged at the Summit:
Users expect search engines to read the context clues.
Queries using “near me” are down while those using “open now” are up 3X. Web users assume that Google knows where they are. This is more evidence that users are now operating under the assumption that Google, thus advertisers, have access to enough personal data to make informed decisions about the content of each ad. They expect all ads they see to be relevant to them by geography.
Speed is critical.
More than 53% of users abandon a page if it doesn’t load within 3 seconds. The average page takes 10 seconds or more to load in the US. Google is offering AMP pages as a solution to load pages instantly, but numerous other options for page speed enhancements exist.
We’re in the age of assistance.
Remember those personal helper robots predicted in 1980s cinema? They have arrived as disembodied voices on non-humanoid devices. Because Siri, Alexa, Cortana, and the decidedly less personified Google Assistant have not yet achieved sentience, we must now take both human searchers and their robot helpers into consideration when creating ads. As Google has not yet introduced a tool to distinguish between humans and their virtual replicants (no instant Voight-Kampff test, if you will) in SERPs, the ads must speak to both human and artificial intelligence. Due to this change in the way that users search, the meaning of search terms is changing. For example, searches for “best…” have traditionally been considered low-consideration and high in the research funnel. However, when these queries are dictated to an assistant, the subsequent behavior of the user indicates that they are much further down the funnel.
Behavioral science fundamentals still matter.
Consumers are more likely to complete an action if it is positioned as already in progress. Example: “Complete Your Registration” has higher CTRs than “Get Started”. Consumers are more motivated to combat a negative than to gain a positive. Positioning consumers as having earned something and prompting them to take action not to lose it is more effective than presenting them the opportunity for gain. Solving a problem is also perceived as a greater motivator than gaining a product or service that addresses a facet of their lives that is not problematic.
