People are placing more complex search queries. That much is true. Almost 20 percent of online search requests now contain five words of more, says Hitwise.
Mobile search is a trend that will continue to grow, says Microsoft researcher Pavan Lee
Computer based search engines haven’t been able to keep up, even as they have done a better job of figuring out user intent.
So what about typically quicker and lighter mobile search – which is making up an increasingly higher percentage of search requests?
“It’s pretty clear mobile will be a very important component of the digital future,” says Pavan Lee, research manager of search at Microsoft. “We believe this trend will continue.”
Despite the more lightweight nature, mobile search is proving a useful platform for ads. That’s because it lets people search from where every they are, without having to pull out the laptop – even if they don’t submit as detailed a query.
People consider their smart phone a personal device, capable of very personal responses, such as the location of a restaurant they are trying to find, Lee said Tuesday at the Search Engine Strategies conference in San Jose.
She said that Microsoft’s goal is to convince advertisers of the opportunities in mobile search. To make her case, she highlighted a study Microsoft completed of a Toyota campaign that found consumers with significantly better able to remember an ad and a brand when mobile ads were used in the ad mix.
More importantly, 12 months of tracking discovered a 15.7 percent click-through rate for mobile ads and 13 percent better audience reach.
Why these astonishingly high numbers?
“There are not as many competitors,” says Lee. “The advertiser density is very low.”
Posted by Mark Boslet 
