Google gave an all-access pass via-YouTube to check out their annual Google I/O keynote. It’s a massive 3.5 hours on the future of search from Google’s perspective. (Great photo moments from the keynote are found here - thanks ReadWrite.) I’ve plucked out three search-related takeaways for upcoming products and services that Google announced during the keynote.
Answer, Converse, Anticipate: The Future of Search at Google
Google has come right out and said it – they’re working on search beyond keywords. The mantra pushing them forward: Answer, Converse, Anticipate.
Knowledge Graph is the initial technology that is propelling them toward this vision. The ultimate goal of the Knowledge Graph is to understand unique entities as well as the connections and relationships that exist between them.
An example they gave to show off this technology – a simple web query asking for the population of India.
Not only will Google answer your question without having to leave Google. They now also anticipate your next question and provide extra information within the context of the initial question. For the query regarding the population of India, Google also shows the population of China and the US, along with a trend-line comparing the three countries.
In terms of conversing, Google’s ultimate goal is to have searchers ask Google questions just like one would ask a friend. Their voice recognition and natural voice understanding features have been pushed across all devices through Chrome. This is all done through what Google calls, “no interface”, meaning Google can be activated through voice only – with the command “OK Google…” Ask your question, and Google will speak the answer back to you.
If you ask a follow-up question, Google is able to answer with the context of the previous question in mind. The demo Google gave of this was a woman planning a day trip to Santa Cruz. First she asks Google – “Ok Google, show me things to do in Santa Cruz.” Google recognizes her query and pulls up search results associated with Santa Cruz.
She is slightly worried about the drive time for the trip, so for a follow-up question she asks, “OK Google, how far is it from here?”
Google responds “The drive from your location to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is 73 miles.” This is a pretty amazing response to a query that uses no identifying location for “it” and “here”.
Google Wallet to Battle Mobile Purchase Abandonment
Mobile abandonment rate on purchases is around 97%. The average check-out process is 21 steps on your phone. These are staggering metrics, and obviously, there’s a lot of room for improvement. Google’s looking to standardize check-outs across all devices. Through Google Wallet and Chrome, they’ve cut the number of steps down to three. Google will sync all purchasing info between your devices so that when you go to check-out you simply press checkout, review billing and shipping, and then hit submit.
Google+ Experience Upgraded
Google+ just got a nice upgrade across all devices. You’ll now see a multi-column layout, allowing for increased visibility with your content. Along with design changes, Google has also rolled out a number of new features and components for Google+. They’ll choose your best photos out of large sets by eliminating those that are blurry, duplicates or poorly exposed. They are now able to dynamically recognize your location based on landmarks, as well as pinpoint the individuals that are in the photos with you if they are within one of your Google+ Circles.
Overall, the keynote was an impressive showcase of the Google feature and service roadmap. Larry Page made it very clear in his closing remarks that they are definitely “just getting started.”
If you’d like to discuss how your business aligns with the future of search, please contact our Webtrends Performance Marketing team by emailing Ryan Humm at Ryan.Humm@webtrends.com.