Gone are the days when Citibank was boasting that “Citi never sleeps”. The slogan seems to fit more for Google these days. Not only that Google never sleeps, but rather does not allow others to sleep. Many businesses badly suffered because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Some survived and some thrived. Google is among those who kept on working on innovation plans. 4 Significant changes in Google search are recent enhancements to Google search.

As a leading search engine, Google is always concerned about the changing needs of searchers. Changes in Google search remain a regular feature. It always has a focus on making the search results more and more relevant. Following are the four vital changes that help retailers to get more out of the search stream. 

The Precision of Search Results  

Google is thriving to better understand online content with a focus needs of online shoppers. The search results are then best suiting to what online shoppers are searching for. The introduction of a new feature called subtopics is smartly using AI to knit the varied interests of shoppers around the main topic or a keyword. A search for “ New Cars” can automatically offer related information topics like “New Cars 2021” & “New Cars for Sale” and so on.

Retailers need to keep an eye on new features of Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). It will help them to know what shoppers need, and what related information. It helps mark the keywords or the main topics. Another expected Google search feature is passage indexing. It displays search results by highlighting the specific text lines from a page directly answering a searcher’s questions.

This way searchers will be able to get the in-depth information they try to look at. The subtopics are helpful to give push-to-head terms and top-of-funnel queries. Passage indexing, however, will have a lasting impact on long-tail queries in lengthy editorial content on retail sites.

Integrated Shopping and free Product Listings

Google launched another new feature in the US, during the early pandemic days. It is a free product listing. The feature was introduced initially in Google Shopping. It has now been integrated into SERPS. It means that retailers can now see their products in SERP features. The Knowledge Graph feature has also been expanded. Google is continuously expanding its structured data. 

Improved Video Results.

“A picture is more powerful than 1000 words”. The video simply can take the phrase to next level. The search results on the main page include more video results than ever. The trend will surely reign in the future with more gravity. Google announced its ability to understand and identify individual segments or chapters within videos. Google can show a specific part of a video that best matches to searcher’s query. The video becomes a more valuable tool for retailers. The future holds a greater rise in the video in SERPs.

Search as a Branding Opportunity 

Google has recently added its focus on increasing SERP features. Some of the features are featured Snippets, Direct Answers, Knowledge Panels, People Also Ask, and Videos Carousels. It is like a one-window facility for searchers to engage them on the page. Presenting relevant information directly at the top of the SERP is aimed to stop searchers from moving away from the page.

It does have grey areas like search traffic to retail sites has been falling. Possibly the retailers can respond by directing their SEO teams for content optimization for appearing within SERP features. This will optimize the search, making it more of a traffic channel than the search alone. Appearing within SERP will not generate traffic but put the company name at the forefront which is a branding opportunity in itself.

Google believes in continuous innovation, and retailers need to keep pace with evolution that at any time can change and convert into revolution. 

Image by Hebi B. from Pixabay