Does ‘Google Now’ Have an Edge Over Siri? Isn‟t it convenient to have the latest news and stock prices at your finger tips by simply speaking to your iPhone or iPad? This capability was offered for the first time by Apple‟s Siri. Google‟s intention to introduce such a facility in Android resulted in „Google Now‟ which can answer user queries as well as provide possible search results related to input queries after receiving a voice input. This service was only available with Android until Google Search app released its latest update for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch in iTunes Store on April 29, 2013. „Google Now‟ iOS version can provide information such as the weather condition, traffic updates, score updates of sports teams and breaking news. You can download this app from iTunes Store into devices which use iOS 5 or a later version. Let us see how the new version is different from the Android version, its impact on Siri in terms of voice search and the role of mobile SEO.
www.viralseoservices.com
Major Differences from the Android Version According to Google‟s director, some changes were made in the iOS version of Google Now even though it retains some design elements from the Android version. Here are the main differences.
Google incorporated Google Now with Android JellyBean and it was acting like an application within the operating system. For example, it was possible to access pop-up cards with Google Now from the phone‟s home screen itself. But in the iOS version, Google Now is accessible as a part of Google Search application. Thus, it can show up the cards only after opening the Google Search app.
Google Now with iOS uses modern font along with a good amount of white space unlike the Android version. We can say it is as fresh as the new You Tube and Gmail apps for the iPhone.
Google Now in iOS – a Challenge to Siri? It may seem that both Siri and Google Now are doing the same thing with voice search. But there are noticeable differences. You can even say that Google Now outsmarts Siri in certain instances. Siri display the results for what is exactly specified in the user input. It will show prepared responses when it fails to obtain actual results. On the other hand, Google Now displays some search results that suit user queries if exact results are not available. Let‟s consider some examples which support these facts. Suppose, you are asking a general question like “What are the steps to success?” to Siri and Google Now. Siri will display prepared responses such as “No results” or “I will answer it later.” On the other hand, Google Now will redirect you to ads regarding this topic, Wikipedia links or other related sites. When you ask for weather condition, Siri can bring up the day by day weather details for the next six days while Google Now can display the details for the next ten days. However, Siri is best for
www.viralseoservices.com
doing voice-over actions with your iPhone or iPad such as setting up alarms, birthday reminders and more.
Now, it is clear people who want specific search results rather than accomplishing tasks with iPhone or iPad will surely go for Google Now. Those who depend wholly on Siri for voice-over search will obviously start using Google Now to search for important information, timings and news. Thus, Google Now can slowly draw some customers from Siri towards it. With Google Now gaining more customers who use iOS devices, it is time for SEO experts to focus on mobile search engine optimization for iOS platform. Imagine that you have created content that needs to be popularized among iPhone and iPad users, say news about an app suitable for these devices. If you optimize your content with mobile SEO techniques by consulting a professional SEO company, then it will surely figure under the top search results displayed by Google Now and attract iPhone and iPad users. As a result, the marketing potential of Google Now will become far better than Siri.
www.viralseoservices.com