So Google introduced “Universal Search” (GUS for short). So what it is? Instead of using separate search pages for photo, video, maps, news, scanned books, images, and of course websites, Google’s Universal Search will find links to all of those sources in a single search. This is big news as this is the first major revamp of the site and its underlying architecture in several years according to Sergey Brin (Google’s co-founder). Equally significant, according to Marissa Mayer, Google’s VP of search products and user experience, the Google home page eventually will have ads featuring more than just text ads, display and video. So what does this mean to pharma?
Here are some results:
“ear anatomy”
http://www.google.com/search?q=ear+anatomy - images integrated into results
“high blood pressure”
http://www.google.com/search?q=high+blood+pressure - Coop results… and a news item! (halfway down)
It means every asset owned by your company and brand should be maximized [read:optimized], or I guess I mean digitized! Just like other industries we need to increase the breadth of our readily accessible digital content. As I have mentioned before, pharma has some great videos, MOA, patient testimonials, lots of press releases, make sure your search shop is optimizing every available asset. Search is evolving, the digital space is evolving and the mobile consumer is coming (according to MMetrics 35+ million consumers are using mobile browsers). Additionally, the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) are going to become more interesting with display and video ads. Make certain that when you achieve great Search results you also engage your potential consumer or existing patient. Finally, a shameless self promotion, make sure you are working with an agency that specializes in Search Engine Marketing.
One Comment
We covered this too, another interesting example is iPhone as a search, take a look, thanks for sharing these.