“Discovering the world has never been easier on Google…”
– Marzia Niccolai, technical
program manager at Google
There is a single phrase that can
make business owners and SEOs everywhere simultaneously shutter with dread:
Google updates.
Normally this type of thing means
a SEO overhaul and website audit is just around the corner.
Thankfully, you have none of that
to worry about this time around.
While Google has made some recent
updates to its search engine like its new product features, the latest
additions will mainly serve to benefit its users in obtaining more refined
information, without the usual panic.
What does concern business owners,
however, is that Google has also added in a new element to help drive local
residents to any upcoming occasions or celebrations you may be having.
Check out these cool new features
you can now find on Google search.
Finding Plans for the Weekend
On May 10, Google broke the news
via The Keyword that it is focused on helping people find fun things to do with
their free time; namely local events like festivals, concerts, lectures,
meet-ups, sporting events and similar social activities.
The means in which the company
will drive this initiative is a summary of local activities for users who
search phrases like “Events near me,” “events this weekend,” or similar phrases
on Google’s app or mobile site on iOS and Android.
Google notes in its blog that
users will also be able to search more specific and refined phrases like “jazz
concerts in Austin next week.”
As indicated by the last example,
Google users will also be able to filter results based on time; fields like
“Today,” “Tomorrow,” “This Week,” “This Weekend,” and “Next Week” are all
present.
Users who interact with these
event lists will be able to quickly reference information about the event such
as title, time, date and location.
If users don’t see anything that
piques their interest, they can simply click “more events” for an expanded list
of experiences going on near them.
Once users find an event they want
to go to, they simply click through to purchase tickets right from the
originating website.
Google compiles its event lists by
aggregating data from various websites like Ticketmaster, Meetup, Eventbrite,
LiveNation, Vividseats, StubHub, Eventful, and many others. Despite the fact
that Google is already pulling event information from some of the largest and
most prominent event sites, the company claims that this list will continue to
grow over time.
Additionally, for any businesses
who have events that are not listed on the aforementioned destinations, Google
has uploaded developer guidelines for any company that does want their events
to surface in this manner.
This could be a massive driver of
sales for businesses who would otherwise need to promote their events on social
media and around town. Using this feature, small business owners can generate
free awareness about any upcoming occasions by getting them listed on the
search engine.
Google has stated that it’s
implementing this new feature because the engine sees millions of searches
around local events every day.
What the company has omitted from
its statements, however, is that Facebook has become the go-to source for event
information with more than 100 million people using the site’s “Events” feature
daily; this puts the viability of Google’s new feature into question.
Moreover, a multitude of Facebook
Pages maintain a list of events that users can mark as “interested in going” or
“going.” This data is then posted on the users Newsfeed which increases the
likelihood of more of their friends also going to the event and potentially
going viral.
This is something that Google will
likely not be able to compete with.
Also, for those who are unaware,
Facebook even has its own events and calendar iOS app called Events from
Facebook.
And if Facebook wasn’t enough
competition in the events category, users also have a variety of events apps to
choose from that completely circumvent Google.
While Google is busy testing the
new feature’s viability in the U.S., there are no current plans to expand the
events element to international audiences.
Even More Shopping Updates
Google recently made headlines
with its inclusion of Similar Items and Style Inspiration in its Images
section, but there is another shopping related update that flew somewhat under
the radar.
In a recent post to the Google
Merchant Help Center, the search engine informed eCommerce providers (as it
does every year) that changes are coming to its shopping product data
specifications.
This year, Google plans on
implementing minimum order values on all items. This means that if your site
does not offer shipping below a specific dollar amount, this will now be noted
in the Shopping section. This will help many businesses to cut down on their ad
clicks that result in cart abandonment due to their shipping policies.
Additionally, the search provider
will also be introducing “upper bound price and weight value limits” in the
shipping information shown to consumers. This way, any information that has
been input incorrectly, Google will be able to easily identify through
disapproval.
Finally, estimated delivery dates
can now be added to Product Listing Ads; granted you’re targeting U.S.
consumers.
All of these changes went into
effect on at the beginning of the week.
The Art of Search
Just a few weeks after Google made
its announcement about its new events lists, the company surprised audiences
with another new update to its search features.
On May 31, Google announced
through a blog post on The Keyword that the search engine had partnered with
Google’s Arts and Culture team to provide users with a deeper understanding of
art and related information:
“. . . Each month, there are more
than 500 million art-related searches on Google. Now whether you’re a casual
fan or a true culture vulture, Google can help you become an art expert.
Starting today, when you search for art-related things, you’ll have access to
more relevant results and the ability to dive deeper into topics of interest.”
When searching famous artists like
Gustav Klimt, Google will display an interactive knowledge panel that will
contain additional information about the artist, their collections of work,
when the artwork was made, what materials were used to make the pieces, and
where the pieces live now.
On top of the supplemental
information, Google has also augmented Maps with a new Street View that allows
users to virtually tour various museums across the world; just in time for its
10th anniversary.
Users can move through museums
viewing some of the world’s most recognizable pieces of art along with
annotations located in the bottom right corner that accompany most works. The
annotations provide additional information about the specific piece of art and
enables users to zoom in on high-resolution images to get a closer look.
If you want to see how the new
Street View works, check out this video uploaded by Google.
As of now, these new art-related
features are only available on desktop and mobile Chrome.
Over the past several months,
Google has been adding some great features for business and consumers to take
advantage of; this is just another example in the company’s growing stable.
Check out these new features and get your brand’s next shindig listed on
Google’s local event results.
What other search features would
you like to see from Google? Do you think Google’s events list will be viable
in the face of its competition?
Source: - http://www.sitepronews.com/2017/06/28/helpful-new-updates-to-googles-search-results/
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