When I say search, you think Google. But the question that I have is this--does the consumer think the same way? And if so, why? Is it because of the brand or the search experience?
Six
years ago, when the search market was dominated by the academics, the analysts and the geeks, not a lot of advertisers, marketers and content developers were overly concerned with how the technology
itself was serving consumers as an experience - it was all about relevance and reach. In other words, they were thinking of search within the comfortable confines of their business model and metrics.
Today, little has changed. But I am going to challenge both the search technology companies and their clients to stop and think about this: Where does search go from here?
With the onslaught
of user-generated content and of video and audio online; the growth of blogs, and the incidence of tagging in these massively connected and communicative social networks--are we doing enough to
provide the best search experience, with contextually relevant search results?
Well, I would have to say no. And the fault lies not only with the technology but with the user. Now, don't fall
over. I am actually saying that the user is at fault for the poor experience. Why? Because of a comment that was made at a panel that I attended here in Santa Monica, where representatives from FAST
Search, About.com, blinkx, Kaboodle and Eurekster were discussing how the consumer will search and navigate this expanse of multimedia content. And the comment was this: the average search string is
2.2 words. Two point two words! How is that possible? If I walked into a store and asked a sales representative where I could find the "book about rel..." would they be able to point me in the right
direction? They could guess, maybe, but the experience would, frankly, suck.
So, getting back to the inflammatory statement that it is the users' fault--now that it has been said, the
question still remains: Where do we go from here? Well, I would suggest that we begin solving this problem on two fronts. First, educate users about how to search. Easier said than done, I know, but
we have to be able to find a way to move the needle--and quickly. Second, technologists need to find new ways of gleaning information from users--since a user is now both an extractor of AND
generator of content. Perhaps it is a simple adjustment to the interface (has anyone, for example, challenged the efficacy of the search box itself?) or of deriving intelligence based on the search
habits of consumers across all sites--not just one site. And finally, content needs to be thought of in a different way--from how it is delivered to the information that is contained in the meta
data. Maybe we need to start building mechanisms to add intelligence and information into the assets themselves over time? Perhaps.
However we approach the solution, let's at least first
admit there is a problem. And if you believe that there isn't a problem and that I am, well, wrong, think about this for a moment. I was going to ask you to submit to a test of sorts. I had read an
article, within the last year, where a group of university students were asked to find three things online - an image (I think it was the Mona Lisa), the complete works of someone, and a recipe with
an image for apple pie. Well, I have been searching now for over an hour and I can't find the article. I have used search strings of up to 10 words in various combinations across 4 meta engines and
site-specific engines--and still, nothing. Get where I am going? If you find the article and you perform that test--you know the drill. You tell me.