Where Are You? Map Searches Increasingly Shifting to Mobile

Search Engine Watch has an amazing look at how desktop map searches increasingly shifting to mobile noting:

“Searches with a mapping/navigation intent on the Big 5 Engines (Google/Bing/Yahoo/Ask/AOL) are down 34 percent over the past 15 months, going from 74.8 million to 49.5 million in August. Search clicks to map/navigation sites show an even steeper decline, down 41 percent to just 55.2 million in August.”

Does that mean that no one’s looking at maps any longer?

Of course not.

Where are those searches happening then? The article continues:

“As desktop-based searches with mapping intent and search clicks to map websites both show declines, it’s clear that search as a discovery process for navigation on desktops is eroding. This trend signals a significant shift in intent, as consumers who once relied on being at a computer to search for directions before going somewhere are now happy to rely on those handy little computers in their pockets.” [Emphasis mine]

Mapping, and map-based search, may be the killer app for mobile. And mobile is here. Now. Today. if your business relies on a physical location, you must appear in map search results. And that means your marketing must work in a mobile environment. Any questions?

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Technorati Tags: mobile, search, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, sem, seo, strategy