Local search ads were introduced by Google with an attempt to get more money from Maps. How much more? This means that Google might get about 1.5 billion extra during 2017. Maps deals with local intent, which usually converts. This is not a surprise.

But ads usually put a damper on the user’s experience.

Advertisers can do whatever they want, but ads are very irritating. This is especially the case when dealing with maps. If you are looking for a particular spot, you don’t want to deal with a map that looks like a pincushion. There must be a way to balance paid and organic listings.

It’s difficult to balance paid and organic listings when screens get smaller. The map magnifies them. When using the desktop, there is a balance. Also, you don’t have to pay to use Google’s service, and Google makes money in the end.

When using mobile devices, putting ads on local searches is not as user friendly. Paid ads almost make organic listings useless. This makes it harder for small businesses to pay for these types of searches, but it is still doable.

However, voice search is basic part of local search, and it gets rid of the whole screen. But this produces two bad results. First, how can Amazon, Microsoft and Google show a map without a screen? Second, how can they make money if no one can see the map?

Problems seeing the map

In terms of basic searches, a screen isn’t really needed. Search for the airspeed velocity of an unladed swallow and you’ll get the answer, if your search is African or European.

Being able to see the map is very important. Yes, Google gives good instructions when you’re driving, and you don’t really have to look at the map to get to your destination. But this only happens once you’ve chosen a specific location. It doesn’t happen before the decision is made. When you initiate voice search for a restaurant, it’s hard to make a choice if you can’t see anything on the map.

This is why there is a problem with home digital assistants such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home. Do we listen to these digital devices when they give us a long list of locations to choose from? No, this isn’t how it should happen. Should you be stuck with just one suggestion from a digital assistant? No, this should not happen even if it were doable.

With new technology, search engines will figure out how to give each user optimized search results.

But a problem still exists. Google doesn’t have to wait for you to choose a good search option. They want you to pick the paid option. Choosing the best optimized organic option goes against what they are trying to accomplish.

Of course, most search engines won’t be stupid enough to do this. But if they are only offering one paid search for every three organic searches, it will be hard to get around paid searches with voice search. When you have a screen, you can actually see the ads and ignore them. But with voice search, you have to listen to the ad. You can skip through them on YouTube and television, but it doesn’t do much for the user experience. It’s even worse when you want an answer from a home digital assistant and you must listen to ads before getting your question answered.

So how are search engines going to get around this? Most likely it will be done with a virtual screen.

This will be down with virtual and augmented reality. Microsoft, Google and Facebook have seen this problem coming. This is why they want virtual and augmented reality.

There will be over 20 billion connected devices within the next ten years, and most users will want to use voice search instead of a screen. However, Google won’t be able to make money if users don’t use screens. Also, this is needed if you want to get quick information and make quick decisions.

The answer is to use a virtual and augmented reality screen. You can see the product, but you won’t have to touch a screen or mouse.

Basically, the virtual screen of the future will provide the same user experience as your current smartphone screen. This means that you’ll be using augmented and virtual reality glasses in place of your phone. Google Glass is the way of the future.

In addition, other ways to solve this problem is to sell digital assistant services and not utilize voice search and maps to monetize. The first suggestion may seem unethical due to digital assistant accessibility. The second suggestion might cut down on Google’s and Amazon’s profits. Most likely neither option will work overall.

Category Search Engine Marketing