It's a general trend: search queries are getting longer. But what's going on?
New research by agency bigmouthmedia has shed some light on the phenomenon in Europe and the results are intriguing.
The agency conducted a survey using data from Google Analytics and client data which confirmed that "the vast majority of European consumers now use two and three word search phrases to deliver more targeted results when surfing".
According to Andrew Girdwood, Head of Search at bigmouthmedia, the recession has likely given momentum to this trend:
Over the past few years consumers have become far more savvy about search, and as the recession drives people to hunt for the very best available deals, we’re seeing them adopt a sophisticated approach with the majority now employing more complicated phrases to find their way around the web.
Internet users in Italy, the UK and Germany demonstrated the greatest tendency to use multiple keywords when searching. In Italy, bigmouthmedia found that 16% of the search phrases included 4 keywords, while in the UK and Germany, 15% included 4 keywords.
Contrast that with France and Spain, where nearly one quarter of searches still contained only a single keyword.
While more data is still needed to better understand what is taking place and how digital marketers should react, the message is clear: how internet users seek out information online is dynamic and constantly-evolving. Marketers will need to monitor search sophistication trends in the markets they target and adjust their strategies accordingly.
Photo credit: maveric2003 via Flickr.
Patricio Robles is a tech reporter at Econsultancy. Follow him on Twitter.
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10:04AM on 19th May 2009
Interesting to compare with Keyword Discovery data from last year.
Two and three word equity rules.
Unsure at Unsure
10:58AM on 19th May 2009
Do you have any stats on (roughly) how big the sample was? I know BigMouthMedia are pretty large, but a figure would lend a bit more credibility to this report.
Tech Reporter at Econsultancy
2:20PM on 19th May 2009
Tom,
Here's the source information:
Unsure at Unsure
2:35PM on 19th May 2009
Thanks. I did have a look on the BMM site, but couldn't find it (I wasn't just being lazy).
Tech Reporter at Econsultancy
2:48PM on 19th May 2009
You're welcome.
9:53AM on 5th June 2009
this is good news for niche marketing
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9:23AM on 8th April 2010
So Dyshaun gets to pick the teams. He puts his bitchy idol Megan and his pinched cheek nanny Johanna on his team and sticks Ashlie (whose greatest crime is a willingness to stick up to Megan) and relentlessly buoyant Kate on the other team. The teams had to style, shoot and put together three or four pages for Elle. Both teams brownnosily go for color as a theme. ‘Cause Anne Slowey loves color! ‘Cause she’s deep. Deep like the winedark...yeah, I’m not going anywhere with that.
9:24AM on 8th April 2010
Team Bitchy selects a bunch of outfits that have no place outside of a kindergarten or maybe – and this is a big maybe – a Cirque de Solieil open call. Dyshaun micromanages the hair and make-up people to distraction, then sits down on the couch and bitches with Megan. Johanna, apparently exhausted from breaking Danielle’s spirit last week, just sits there like a disillusioned grad student. Hmm. Wait a minute, isn’t she?