Web search moves toward local search, greater personalization
In the fast-evolving realm of search engine marketing, two trends shaping developments at search engines are local search and personalization, Chris Winfield, president of search marketing firm 10e20.com, tells Internet Retailer. Most major search engines already have a local search feature, with AskJeeves rolling out local search this week.
Though the web potentially makes the entire world the marketplace of online retailers, marketers still risk losing something if they overlook the unique opportunity of local search, Winfield says. “Even if you are a global retailer, you still don’t want to be losing your customers to somebody else who is marketing locally the right way,” he says. “This will become more important as people stop walking into stores.” Even shoppers who buy online may want to reduce shipping times by finding a local business to order from, he adds.
Local search also is effective advertising for those shoppers who do get to local stores. Though shopper’s use of local search options vs. Internet-wide search is still relatively low, the increased adoption of local search is part of a “natural progression,” as they become more comfortable with the Internet and new utilities it rolls out, Winfield notes.
True personalization of search results is further in the future, Winfield says, partly because of potential perceived privacy issues. “People are wary of having personal information online,” he says. Personalized search will return results based in part on what information a search engine has about the user through registration or cookies, producing different results for a search under “bass,” for example, depending on the user’s history of searching for loafers or fishing tackle.
Functionality at Amazon’s A9 search engine and portal Yahoo provide a peek at how personalized search might look, Winfield notes. “With the ability to launch the music you like and personalize the home page, no two people are really listening to or looking at the same thing when they go to Yahoo,” he says.
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