Google recession-proofing with a bigger search box
By Dave Jeyes
When the economy gets tough, the tough find ways to get users making more search queries. And what better way than a gigantic search bar from Google?
The announcement came yesterday afternoon from Google products pooh-bah Marissa Mayer. While her post is filed under ‘user experience,’ the leading search provider rarely rolls out updates to its homepage on a whim.
The resulting search box is even more striking against the otherwise sparse Google homepage. Likewise the search box on the results page is an unmistakable target that draws users eyes in for a second look.
These changes may seem fairly minor, but where your attention flows, ad search revenue is sure to follow. By making the search box more prominent, users are ever-so-slightly more likely to try a new query rather than thumbing through page after page of results.
The result is not only a quicker way for users to dig through Google’s search index, but also a faster way to deliver Google’s lucrative search ads. Overall that sounds like a win-win for both Google and users.
The larger search box could be a way for Google to circle the wagons upon the arrival on Bing’s market-share-stealing rampage. However the change could also spell trouble brewing in the search ad market.
Since Google’s revenue comes primarily from search ads, it has been relatively immune to the recession affecting display advertisers. That run could be coming to an end as advertisers’ budgets dry up at the end of the year.
A land-grab for screen real estate could serve as an effective way to offset lower search ad revenue. Likewise the change could be a well-tested way to make searchers’ lives easier when hunting for information on the site.
One thing that’s certain is that the larger search box was well thought out and tested extensively. What else would you expect from a company that tested 41 shades of blue to see which one performed best.
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on Thursday, September 10th, 2009 at 9:42 am
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