Why Search Isn't About Search Any Longer

Have you seen this?

These are “cards” in Google Now, suggestions of restaurants I (or you) might want to check out. Google offered me these cards the other day on my phone.

For no particular reason.

Well, except that these were nearby restaurants. And it was lunchtime.

None of this would be that impressive if not for the fact that I didn’t search for nearby restaurants at lunchtime.

Nope. Google did it for me.

I’d opened the Google app on my phone to search for something else and these cards happened to be right up top, ready when I needed them.

I’ve been talking about the future of search for some time, noting the growth of the channel and shifts in user interface to voice. I’ve even noted the how maps/location-based services continue to change search and the effect these various shifts will have on your overall distribution strategy.

But until you’ve experienced what it’s like to not search and have relevant answers find you, you don’t realize how massive a shift this will really be. As I’ve said before, we’re entering an era where search results will find customers instead of customers finding search results.

And, of course, these shifts depend heavily on Google and its competitors understanding their customers—your customers—deeply. If only there were ways for the AGFAM giants to learn what your customers do. Something that gave them insights into your customers’ social, local, and mobile behaviors.

Oh, right…

Because mobile isn’t just an output device, a place for Google to show its recommended results. It’s also a data-collection device (though, you probably knew that thanks to recent headlines).

The real point here is that because of this data—and the shifts in search it enables—search marketing is changing. Significantly.

The key question is whether you’re changing your search marketing along with it.

If you’re interested in learning more about the future of marketing on the social, local, mobile web, register to receive a special report I’ve produced in conjunction with hotel marketing firm Vizergy, “Digital Hotel Marketing in a Multiscreen World.” While it’s targeted specifically at hotel and resort marketers, the lessons apply to just about any business. You can get your free copy of the report here.

You might also enjoy some of our past coverage of the social, local, mobile web and what it means for your business, including:

• Today and Tomorrow: Mobile and the Changing Customer Journey
• What’s the Future of E-commerce? Look to the Past to Find Out
• How to Get In Your Customers’ Pants… Pocket
• What Watson, Xbox, and Google Are Telling You Right Now (Travel Tuesday)
• The Truth: How the Social, Local, Mobile Web Affects Sales Online and Offline
• 7 Steps to E-commerce Heaven
• 4 Amazing Global Internet Trends