“Ubiquitous and seamless”: The future of voice searchThese are interesting times for voice search, both in terms of its adoption among consumers and its technological development.We have moved beyond seeing voice search as a futuristic concept with rather limited and stilted realization, to viewing it as an increasingly integral part of our interactions with home and handheld devices. However, voice search brings with it a lengthy list of questions for technology providers, consumers, and marketers alike. If we are indeed at something of a crossroads for this technology, it seems a good time to address these questions, giving particular thought to how the landscape will change over the next few years. These questions include, but are certainly not limited to: - What types of queries are best suited to voice search?
- What do people use voice search for?
- How will voice search be monetized?
- How will voice search performance be tracked?
- Is voice search really the end-game for Google, Amazon, et al? Or is it rather a means to an end?
Unfortunately, neither Siri, Alexa, nor Google Now were of much assistance when I posed them these questions, so we will endeavor to answer them the old-fashioned way. Let’s start with a quick recap of where we are today.
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