An online conducted research by JupiterResearch in December and January, found more than a third (35%) of search engine users do not use vertical search at all, and 25% do not recall if they have clicked a result after using vertical search. JupiterResearch said there were 2,404 respondents to the survey.
When it comes to image search, 31% of users click image results within blended search, while 26% click an image result after conducting an image-specific search. Seventeen percent of users click video results within blended search, while just 10% click a video result after conducting a video-specific search.
Videos are clicked infrequently compared to other vertical search categories. JupiterResearch said two reasons for this are that video is the newest form of specialized search and because video-specific engines such as YouTube have become very popular.
Staying on top of your optimization efforts
“You can’t pay for listings within image search results in Google, for example, so you need to stay on top of your optimization efforts,” said Peter Sargent, a VP at JupiterResearch.
Given the propensity to stay within the main page of blended search results, iProspect President Rob Murray said that marketers need to look at their search strategy holistically.
The study also revealed that brand equity is conveyed upon companies whose digital assets appear in the top search results. Thirty-nine percent of search engine users link search result placement to company prominence.
Finally, while optimizing for blended search is inherently more complicated than the straight text, it also provides opportunities, especially for the smaller marketers.
“This may be relevant to small and midsize businesses,” Sargent said. “There is to some degree a level of weight given to [marketers that appear at the top of blended search results],” he said. That weight would level the playing field for smaller, lesser known marketers.
