Investis Ltd.

05/18/2023 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/18/2023 11:15

How Brands Should Respond to Google’s New Generative Search Experience

In the 25 years that Google has been at the forefront of search, we have not seen anything like what was shared at its I/O keynote last week.

The demos shared in real-time at the conference of its new search generative experience (SGE) were awe-inspiring and terrifying. With SGE, Google will make search more powerful and conversational by providing descriptive answers to queries with lengthy blocks of the generative text created by Bard - Google's answer to ChatGPT and built from its own large language model (LLM) called PaLM2.

As Google demonstrated, Google searches will be answered with AI-powered snapshots of key information to consider, with links to dig deeper. According to Google, below this snapshot, you'll see suggested additional content to dig deeper into your search or to perform related searches prompted by Google. The context will be carried over from question to question to help you more naturally continue your exploration, befitting how conversational AI works. Searchers will also find jumping-off points to web content and additional perspectives.

Sure, the traditional search results that searchers are familiar with and comfortable with are still there. But those links are overshadowed by the results created by Bard.

How search will change with SGE

From the searcher's perspective, you don't always need a ton of information to make a decision. I'm reminded of how painful it can be to research recipes online. Most recipe websites force you to scroll past hundreds of words of text just to get to the ingredients and instructions.

But, if you type in a query like "How do I make tandoori chicken?" into Bard, I am immediately given a list of ingredients and instructions. Some challenges come to mind straight off:

  • It will be interesting to see if and when publishers are given credit for being the source material for their information.
  • The other challenge with this: the generative text does not include reviews, so I don't know who else has tried this recipe or if the answer is shared with other searchers who ask the same question.
  • Google has promised they are taking a "responsible" approach with AI, yet they have not publicly announced any strides made to display sources for generative text.

Will publishers lose eyeballs on their websites?

From the publisher's standpoint, these conversational answers could dramatically reduce the need for searchers to leave the search results page. Publishers - and brands functioning as publishers - have invested millions in content marketing to generate revenue and conversions. For the home cook who publishes a cooking blog, there's nothing to drive people to their website to read the recipe's reviews. The publisher loses an opportunity to earn affiliate income from selling cooking tools to make the dish, and they also end up with less advertising revenue from the ads displayed on the recipe page.

That challenge I just described is the same for larger brands, just on an exponentially larger scale.

The downfall of rich snippets?

With SGE poised to take over the primary real estate in the SERPs, I expect a reduction in rich snippets for things like Featured Answers and People Also Ask Boxes. These treatments feel like low-tech execution of what Bard can deliver with the promise of greater interactivity.

Still, the advantage those snippets have over SGE is that they are credited to a source. The burden of identifying whether a source is factual or not still largely falls on the searcher.

However, Google recently promoted its commitment to truthful information when it announced an update to its fact-checking tools. One has to wonder if fact-checking will be applied to generative search.

So how does a brand face this brave new world of search?

Generative search results are coming; there is no way around it. While it is impossible to know how to influence what appears in the conversational box or if and when Google will ever do a better job of citing source information, we do think there are a number of things brands can do to build upon authority and trust signals and flood the rest of the results page with different types of information.

1.) Double down on building authority and E-E-A-T signals

We still believe that experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness are still signals that should be focused on. Google may rely on trustworthiness, and authorship signals more as a way to determine whether content is truthful.

2.) Perform a content audit

Look for topical gaps in your content strategy that would be beneficial for your products or services. One of the use cases that Google highlighted was comparing two things for a very specific audience. What considerations are critical to the decision-making process for your audiences? The answer will help shed light on the content that could be missing from your site or improved.

3.) Diversify your content assets

As search results continue to diversify away from the traditional list of ten blue links, having more variety in the content types your site offers will help. Content your brand publishes should leverage formats that best align with search intent. Examples: For instructional, how-to content, videos may work best. For informational topics where there is a lot to unpack, an article may be best.

4.) Rethink content length

Google also says they are planning on making search results more human and snackable. Shorter content may work better than long-form content. Thank Tik Tok for the short attention span trend. Google announced the addition of "Hidden Gems." This component of the helpful content system is expected to be released in the coming months. This feature is designed to surface information from hard-to-find places like a comment in a forum thread, a post on a little-known blog, or an article with unique expertise on a topic. I'm not saying long-form content is going away. I just think the content length is going to be evaluated differently.

5.) Offer generative search on your website

You can train generative AI to learn your brand content, tone, and offers. Trained with this information, you can use off-the-shelf tools to serve up your own customized chatbot. We think this is something that could improve customer service and also allow brands to extend their tone and messaging in a way that is helpful and insightful for customers.

One thing is for sure: I can't remember a more exciting time to be in the search industry.

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