With the proliferation of devices has come a host of benefits. But one area is taking a beating in terms of predictable development in the future: search.
“As user engagement migrates to mobile devices, the fate of browser-based search is in question, along with that of search market share leader Google,” notes iReachContent.
Now a new Insight Paper by BIA/Kelsey — “Mobile Local Discovery: The Next Era of Search — explores Google’s multipronged strategy for remaining competitive in the mobile era.
For Google, it has meant developing innovative new products like “Google Now” to designing ways to link content between apps. Most of all, Google wants to improve the search experience on mobile. The search giant would like to bring the same level of interconnectedness to mobile that the company established years ago on the desktop.
“Google is working hard to help define the user experience on mobile devices in the next decade, according to the report,” according to the IAB. “The search giant’s focus on mobile is intended both to defend its $50 billion search business and to increase its share of the $2 trillion in offline commerce that is influenced by mobile.”
In the report are thoughts on Google’s effort to improve the quality of the mobile web by penalizing web pages that are not optimized for mobile. In addition, it looks at the potential impacts of the symbolic “four horsemen” of technology that dominate the main competitive areas defining the industry: Apple (hardware), Amazon (e-commerce), Facebook (social), and Google (search).
“The existence of trillions of web pages compelled the creation of Google’s advanced index and its friendly entry point that made all that information and knowledge accessible,” said report author Michael Boland, chief analyst and VP, Content, BIA/Kelsey.
The danger for Google?
“The app-heavy mobile environment — already siloed into neat little packages — doesn’t beg for a search engine,” added Boland. “This is worrisome for Google, whose biggest and most under-recognized challenge will be migrating its dominance into a digital world that has alternate entry points.”
More information about the report, including how to purchase, can be found on the report’s web page here.
