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The search landscape is drastically changing and a lot of factors play into this. But we can broadly sum up the changing face of search with one characteristic: Search is expanding beyond Google and – more than that – beyond traditional search engines.
Whoever your target audience is, they’re using a wider range of tools to search online than ever before. As a result, brands need visibility on a wider range of platforms than ever to connect with prospects at the key moments of the consumer journey.
In July 2024, Google’s search market share dropped to 91.02%. That’s still a dominating lead, but it’s Google’s lowest market share since April 2015.
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A lot has changed over the past decade, too. For starters, Google is no longer the top destination for online product searches. In the UK, 63% of shoppers turn to Amazon vs 37% to Google for their product searches. It’s a similar story in the US, too, where 61% of product searches start on Amazon.
Meanwhile, Gen Z is increasingly searching on platforms like Instagram and TikTok over Google.
At the same time, people use a growing number of niche search products for specific purposes. For example, 7% of online flight bookings in the UK happen through Google Flights – less than Tripadvisor (8%), Cheapflights.com (8%), Expedia (18%), Skyscanner (23%) and Booking.com (33%).
The same applies to accommodation, food deliveries, rides, music, games and plenty more. When people need a ride, they can book an Uber almost instantly. When they’re looking for something to watch, they’re probably searching on Netflix, Amazon Prime or YouTube.
Google is still the biggest search engine (by far), but you don’t see Amazon, Booking.com or Airbnb in those market share reports. Sure, technically, they’re not search engines in the same vein as Google and Bing, but this misses the point.
The fact is, search is bigger than search engines now – because more and more searches are taking place elsewhere.
Whether you’re a local restaurant, an online retailer or a major airline, visibility on Google alone isn’t enough anymore. You also need a presence on those food delivery apps, on marketplaces like Amazon and the top flight booking apps.
As search expands, your target audience is spreading out across a wider variety of platforms. More importantly, people are turning to different platforms for different purposes – and this is the key distinction for search marketers.
Instead of Google being the go-to search platform for everything, people use a mix of search tools for specific purposes – for example:
Brands need to map out user interactions across all of the platforms their target audiences are using. For example, a hotel chain might need visibility on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube for travel inspiration. However, they’ll also need a presence on Booking.com, Expedia, Google Hotels, etc. for room bookings – as well as their own website.
Between discovery and bookings, the hotel chain may find people are also actively searching on Google, TikTok, YouTube, Tripadvisor and a variety of other platforms with valuable questions.
For example, “best things to do in [location]?” “what’s the best time of year to visit [location]?” or “where in [city] should I stay for a three-day visit?”.
Each of these searches is a lead generation opportunity, but they also add a key step in the consumer journey that can bring prospects one interaction closer to buying from you.
With people using a wider variety of tools for different purposes, marketers need to know where their audience is at each stage of the consumer journey and why they’re using any given platform.
We’ve covered this in a previous article where we lay out the key steps for marketers as the search landscape expands:
Earlier, we touched on Gen Z using TikTok and Instagram over Google, but this doesn’t tell the full story. Gen Z is still using Google as their go-to search engine, but they’re using TikTok and Instagram for specific purposes – namely, finding places to eat and other local businesses.
One study even finds that Google is Gen Z’s third choice for local search (61%), behind Instagram (67%) and TikTok (62%).
Yes, searches on Instagram and TikTok are up, but is your target audience searching on them? And, if they are, what are they looking for and why are they using these networks over traditional search engines?
If you need help adapting your search marketing strategy for the changing face of search, call our SEO team on 023 9283 0281 or send us your details.
Dave is head of SEO at Vertical Leap. He joined in 2010 as an SEO specialist and prior to that worked with international companies delivering successful search marketing campaigns. Dave works with many of our largest customers spanning many household names and global brands such as P&O Cruises and Harvester. Outside of work, Dave previously spent many years providing charity work as a Sergeant under the Royal Air Force Reserves in the Air Cadets sharing his passion for aviation with young minds. He can often be found in the skies above the south coast enjoying his private pilot licence.
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