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Highlights brought to you by Search Lately @SMGSearchUK this week include: GoodBye Google Places Hello Google Local UK Paid Search Market Worth over £4BN Hitwise Reports Search Growth YoY Browse last week’s Search Lately for more details and initial reaction from industry experts on recent hot topics
GoodBye Google Places Hello Google Local – 31st May 2012 Yesterday, Wednesday 30th May, Google rolled out their latest tool Google+ Local to combine their social network with Zagat, a directory of 35,000 place reviews and ratings service that Google acquired last September. Zagat was once a subscription-only directory but with the integration with Google+ Local their listings have become available to everyone. You can contribute to Google+ local with a review of places that you have visited by clicking the ‘local’ icon in Google+. From now on, when searching for something within Google you will receive a window alongside the usual search results with Google+ Local information.
Google+ Local is another step in Google’s aim to making search a bespoke experience that integrates the search process with other Google products. It works to push their social networking site Google+ which, up to now, has been successful in getting people to sign up for accounts but quite frequently those accounts lie dormant as users find themselves going back to other social media platforms and tools such as Facebook and Skype. The Guardian states that Google+ Local threatens other review sites and relays that Google ‘continues to be criticized by groups like Consumer Watchdog, which believe its search dominance thwarts competition’.
Ultimately, word of mouth from friends and family will always be the most trusted form of review, now that Google have utilised this everyday experience it is likely that this clever tool will only make Google+ a more attractive option.
– Hannah Struve More details: www.guardian.co.uk/technology/us-news-blog/2012/may/30/google-localcombines-zagat-reviews?newsfeed=true searchengineland.com/google-places-is-over-company-makes-googlethe-center-of-gravity-for-local-search-122770 marketingland.com/new-google-local-tab-unveiled-will-replace-googleplaces-13190
UK Paid Search Market Worth over £4BN – 31st May 2012 Figures released on Wednesday by Econsultancy claim that paid search in the UK is set to grow by 14% this year bringing total market spend to nearly £4.2BN by the end of 2012. Despite a worsening economic climate, paid search activity continues to show no sign of slowing down. Search volumes continue to rise as we enter an ever more mobile world, and advertisers are seeking to stay ahead of competition by investing larger volumes into this channel. Paid search is seen as very cost effective and a measurable channel for driving sales in a direct response environment, but is also being used increasingly for brand awareness to build exposure for smartphone apps and local listings.
Google have also recently released figures that show they are seeing a 10% increase in revenue this year as advertisers can no longer ignore paid search since online is becoming increasingly integrated with offline activity.
Consumers now expect a seamless experience between platforms and paid search is often seen as a vital feature in digital strategy and integration. – Kevin Ting More details: econsultancy.com/uk/blog/10004-uk-paid-search-market-worth-more-than4bn-new-reportImproved
Hitwise Reports Search Growth YoY - 25th May 2012 Reports show that search engine visits have grown 4% year on year with 89 millions more visits to search engines this April. Google market share also grew by 0.2% year on year as both Bing and Yahoo dropped as a result by -0.22% and -0.38% respectively. Search engines with paid search now driven by the Search Alliance meanwhile accounted for just over 7% of total search engine visits in April 2012, with Ask being the only non-Google engine showing signs of growth, up from 1.87% to 1.92% last month.
– Kevin Ting More details: www.hitwise.com/uk/press-centre/press-releases/visits-to-search-enginesincrease/