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Implications of User Engagement with Universal Search Results

Jeremi Karnell, President, One to One InteractiveDan Berlin, Sr. Research Associate, OTOinsights

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

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Agenda

1Overview

2Study Objectives

3 Universal Search & SEM

4Methodology

5Insights & Implications

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Quantemo

Neuromarketing Research | Usability

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Overview

• OTOinsights conducted a study to determine user behavior and engagement with Universal search engine result pages (SERPs)

• Study included recording the users’ eye tracking, physiological & emotional reactions, and click tracking

• We found that media (images, videos, etc) impact how a user interacts with a SERP

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Study Objectives

• Compare user engagement with Universal search results vs. traditional text-only results– Determine changes in user behavior

• Physiological, Eye gaze, and click pattern

– Indentify potential impact on SEM campaigns

– Assess the viability of Universal search becoming a prominent part of SERPs

– Gather preliminary data to inform a formal, larger scale study

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Universal Search

• 72% of adults use search engines to find Web sites (Forrester, 2008)

• 2007: Google and Yahoo add Universal Search results

• Universal Search = inclusion of media in search results

• New generation of search optimization transcends just text

• No Universal results in paid links… yet

Video and Images

News

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Pay Per Click – Paid Search

Search Engine Marketing

SEM

SEO

PPC

Search Engine Optimization – Natural Search• Relevance of content• Keyword use in Title attribute• Site architecture• Link popularity

• anchor text & topical relevance• Domain age

• Bid• Quality Score• Click Through Rate (CTR)

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Insights

SERPs which include Universal Search results reinforce eyeballs to stay focused on the first page’s top paid and natural search results

The inclusion of Universal Search results increase emotional engagement during interactions with a SERP

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Methodology

• 10 terms relevant to the cable industry were identified

• Four types of Google SERPs were created for each of these terms

– Natural Only; Natural w/ Paid– Universal w/o Paid; Universal

w/ Paid

• 17 participants chose five search terms

• Participants were presented with a randomized SERP type for each of the chosen terms

Natural Only Natural w/ Paid

Universal Only

Universal w/ Paid

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Methodology

Each page presented for 1

minute

Collect physiological and eye tracking data

What links would you click on first

and second?

Fill out two surveys

• Geneva Emotion Wheel• Aesthetic Likert Scale

41

2 3

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Methodology

Heart Rate ∆

Breathing Rate ∆

Quantemo

Engagement

Index

Geneva

Emotion

Wheel Aesthetic

Likert

Baseline Data

QuantemoPhysiological

Index

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Insight 1 - Overview

SERPs which include Universal Search results reinforce eyeballs to stay focused on the first page’s top paid and natural search results

Top Paid Page Top Video 1st Link Right Paid 1st Picture0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

39%

22%17%

11%6% 6%

Universal w/ Paid Search First Fixation

% o

f pa

rtic

ipan

ts

1st Lin

k

Top Paid

Other L

inkVideo

Right Paid

Image

Multilin

ks

2nd Link

News0

2

4

6

8

10

12

3 3 4 3 31 2 1 1

7 62

1 12 1

1

Universal w/ Paid Clicks

1st Click2nd Click

# of

clic

ks

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Insight 1 - Details

Top Paid Page Top Video 1st Link Right Paid 1st Picture0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

39%

22%17%

11%6% 6%

Universal w/ Paid Search First Fixation

% o

f pa

rtic

ipan

ts

1st Lin

k

Top Paid

Other L

inkVideo

Right Paid

Image

Multilin

ks

2nd Link

News0

2

4

6

8

10

12

3 3 4 3 31 2 1 1

7 62

1 12 1

1

Universal w/ Paid Clicks

1st Click2nd Click

# of

clic

ks

Note the location of the video links:• 1st fixation after the top of the page• clicked more often than both the multilinks and the 2nd natural link

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Other Link 1st Link Image Multilinks 2nd Link Video Zip Code0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

11

26

2 2 2

8

9 2

2 13

Universal Clicks

1st Click2nd Click

% o

f pa

rtic

ipan

ts

1st Link Page Top Image Multilinks Video0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

29%25% 25%

13%8%

Universal First Fixations

% o

f pa

rtic

ipan

ts

Insight 1 - DetailsNote the location of the image links:• 1st fixation after the top of the page• clicked more often than both the multilinks and the 2nd natural link

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Insight 1

Natural w/ Paid Universal w/ Paid

• Heat maps show 30s of eye tracking

• Natural w/ Paid– F-shape– More exploration

• Universal w/ Paid– Golden Triangle– Mostly above

the media

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Insight 1 - Implications

The advent of Universal Search demands that companies optimize not only their text, but also their media (images, videos, etc)

Image and video results may anchor users to stay at the top of the SERP

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Insight 2 - Overview

The inclusion of Universal Search results increase emotional engagement during interactions with a SERP

Natural Only Universal w/ Paid Universal Only Natural w/ Paid0.00

0.10

0.20

0.30

0.40

0.50

0.60

0.70

0.07

0.37

0.44

0.08

Quantemo™ Engagement IndexHigher

Engagement

LowerEngagement

Results had images and videos

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First Fixation

Clustered on Pics

• Took ~50 fixations to get to the images– (after the first fixation)

• Then spent 38 fixations on the images

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Insight 2 - Implications

Higher engagement with Universal results may stop users from exploring the rest of the SERP

Users will get an ‘instant gratification’ from images – perhaps more so from branded images

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Overall Implications

• Create a holistic strategy which considers all search interactions to increase user engagement

• Determine how digital assets can be leveraged to gain additional reach into search engines

• Top paid results are the highest focal point and provide a great branding opportunity

• High positions in natural and paid results will continue to be important traffic from search engines

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Future Studies

• Does media in searches change users’ propensity to purchase?

• Does brand exposure on a SERP change users’ engagement and click behavior?

• Do positional changes in non-text results impact users’ click propensity and engagement?

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In Conclusion

Optimize your entire Web site, not just the textThis now includes media!

The evolution of Universal Search will impact how users interact with SERPs – marketers and UX professionals must be prepared