DIGITAL
The Evolution of Search : How Google sees the day after tomorrow by Professor Steven Van Belleghem
ou might not know it , but the digital world is reaching a new phase . Ten
Yyears ago companies were being urged to think ' digital first '. Five years ago this switched to thinking ' mobile first ' – which is still the current model for many .
But now it ' s time to start thinking ' artificial intelligence first '. AI is going to change the way we use the internet , particularly the way we search for things . And while this may seem a huge leap forward , for the likes of Google , Facebook and several others , AI is already today ' s reality .
The changing user interface
The evolution of search involves AI , and specifically bots : internet applications that perform an automated task , from ordering food to telling you what the weather will be that day . They ’ re often programmed so it seems as if you ’ re having a conversation with a real human . The interface of search is set to change due to bots .
A great example of a bot is Amazon ' s Echo , a smart speaker that connects to a virtual voicecontrolled personal assistant , or bot , called Alexa . Since its launch in 2016 , over 5.1 million Echoes have been sold in the US alone , and customers are using them in a variety of ways around the home , from creating shopping and todo lists to curating the perfect playlist for a dinner party .
The rapid rise in popularity of Echo is leading to a seismic shift in the search . When you look at the breakdown of what customers are using Echo to do , one in three use it to buy products – from Amazon .
This means that a huge number of households in the US , UK and other countries are buying products on a voicecontrolled device that ' s owned by Amazon . If this increases in popularity and effectiveness , this creates a new world of search .
Google is worried about this , because if people start to buy items through a machine that ' s linked to a specific company – one of its biggest rivals – it means that the way that we search for items is changing . It could alter the way that people find products , and buy products , completely . Google therefore has to meet this challenge head on if it ' s to survive .
Google ' s day after tomorrow The basics of Google ' s search interface hasn ’ t really changed since the last century , and when you think about how it works , you realise it ' s actually a suboptimal system for the customer .
Why ? Because of the overwhelming numbers of results that are returned whenever you type in a search term . How likely are you to trawl through every single page that Google gives you ? But if you don ' t , you could well be missing the perfect item or website that ' s hiding on page 10 .
Google now realises that this model of search could be on its way out , and that the future involves all of us having a personal bot inside a device .
This bot will gather information about our likes and dislikes , and then act as a virtual personal assistant to go through search processes for us , presenting us with options that best fit our requirements .
You ' ll make your request , such as “ Hey Google , I need to rent a car in London next month .” Your personal Google bot will start to the talk to the car hire bots , find out the best options based on its knowledge of your needs , and then return the tailored results to you .
While we ' re still a long way off this and the technology isn ' t there yet , you can see some brands are starting to take steps along this path and creating the first applications of bots to optimise the search process .
Disney is about to launch a bot in the guise of Mickey Mouse ( how cool is that ?) that asks you questions about what type of holiday you want at its parks , and then presents you with the best options .
Outdoor clothing company Northface has developed a search function on its website that leads you through a series of questions to find the item of clothing that ' s the best fit for your needs .
This is Google ' s day after tomorrow . It knows that its existing search model won ' t last another decade , so the race is on to invest in new technology and make sure it doesn ' t get left behind .
Of course , Google still makes £ 100 billion a year from the current model , so it ' s not going to stop offering that , but the company is canny enough to know that it has to invest in the next phase . If not , it will be dead within a decade .
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Prof . Steven Van Belleghem is an expert in customer focus in the digital world . He ’ s the author of the award-winning book When Digital Becomes Human , published by Kogan Page , priced £ 19.99 .
Follow him on Twitter @ StevenVBe , subscribe to his videos at www . youtube . com / stevenvanbelleghem or visit www . stevenvanbelleghem . com
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