Mobile Search

Mobile web usage including mobile search is growing faster than for the desktop counterpart.  Users’ expectations are that the mobile search experience should be equivalent to the same performance that Google provides for the web.  People expect fast, relevant, comprehensive and fresh results.

There are huge challenges being faced with the mobile web in general, little alone mobile search.  Hundreds of devices with widely varying capabilities and that do not follow any set standards makes it difficult for websites owners and search providers to provide simple, easy to use web services.  On top of this, the mobile web is inventing itself at the same time that people are discovering these new devices and providing feedback.

Google knows that search needs to be easy and effortless to get answers on a mobile device.  It is their objective to provide “all of Google” on mobile.

The cornerstone of mobile web usage is that mobile is inherently local.  The mobile phone is where the user is and that specific location can provide results based upon locality.  No longer do you need to type in the city or suburb of where you are.  Your mobile phone and Google already knows this.

Usability of Google’s mobile search product is incredibly important.  For example, when you click to search, the search field zooms to the top of the screen.  When you start typing, Google Suggest provides recommended relevant results to explore that matches your search query.  This is more than displaying another suggested search term query, but rather actual local search results including business name, address, phone, post code and link to map.  The most relevant results are displayed that are closet to the user’s current location.

Beside individual search listings, Google displays buttons to “click to call” and “get directions”.

With image search, depending on the device you are using, the user is able to slide from one picture to the next with ease.

Product Search for mobile provides nice rendering of images with an application type feel.  The user is able to go down several layers in order to gain further details such as detailed reviews or technical specs.

Mobile web is a subset of the wider Web of which Google searches both to return suitable results to the user’s search query.

Some websites do not have a mobile purpose built website, but rather apply CSS as a way to render the site for mobile devices.  An example of this is CNN.com.

However, for some website owners, and particularly those in Japan and China, they build websites specifically for the mobile web.

Even though Google blends mobile rankings with websites from both the mobile web and the wider web, there is a bias towards the former.  If your website is built specifically for the mobile web it is likely to rank higher than a “CSS rendered mobile site”, even if both are equally relevant to the user’s search query.

Source: Mobile Search Quality, Searchology Presentation, Scott Huffman, Engineering Director, Google.