I was test-Googling some keywords for a client project when something caught my eye. As I refreshed the page, the right hand column slid down and new ads combining a thumbnail image and a snippet of hyperlinked, keyword-rich text popped up.
Google testing new search results formats
No surprise there. Google has been openly testing new search ad formats for more than a year. Some sponsored e-Commerce site ads now include up to three relevant links. Natural search results have also been evolving. They now frequently integrate video or image thumbnails.
A couple months ago searchers looking for images or videos had to click the relevant link at the top of the page to find what they needed. Now the most relevant video or image results show up integrated into “regular” search results. And if you want to see more, the new colorful menu in the left hand margin makes navigating to additional results more user friendly.
This evolution towards more diversified search results makes a lot of sense. Let’s say you’re interested in learning how to build a paper airplane, wouldn’t a YouTube video of someone making one be more relevant than a static, step-by-step description? After all, if a picture is worth a thousand words, then what is a video worth? Similarly, if you’re looking to buy a raincoat, an ad featuring a local retailer showing an image of a raincoat and including a link to the map of the location is likely to be more relevant than the best text ad.
However, it seems that in recent weeks and months the changes have been coming at a faster rate. I believe that this evolution in Google search is more than reflective of the company’s desire to please users. Yes, there’s no doubt that Google is interested in increasing relevance of search results. It’s good for searchers, and it’s good for Google, since it brings searchers back to its properties. But besides driving greater relevance and achieving ever-closer integration with its YouTube and e-Commerce properties, I believe that what we’re seeing reflects Google’s efforts to maintain its market leadership. Google has been the undisputed leader in the search space since… the beginning of search, but as the story of giants like IBM (defeated by upstart Apple) illustrate, you can’t maintain market share on momentum and hubris alone. And with the anticipated unveiling of the integrated Yahoo-Bing search algorithm expected at year’s end bolstered by the increasing prominence of Facebook as the “4th search engine”, with its search results supplied by Bing, Google may be wisely hedging its bets and investing into a better user experience to maintain its “King of the Hill” status for a while longer.