What is Google I/O?

Google touches most things in the world today. From how you learn who won this year’s Oscar for Best Picture, to which of your friends was correct in their assumption of what the definition of “interoperability” is. It only makes sense that the Alphabet giant hosts an annual conference for the multitudes of developers who interact with their products and platforms in their everyday lives.

Founded in 2008, Google’s annual developer conference called “Google I/O” where the “I/O” portion stands for Input/Output or the slogan “Innovation in the Open”. This year in addition to having their in-person conference in Mountain View, California, Google made this year’s gathering available to virtual attendees. As with many conferences, the focal point of the event was in the innovations previewed in the Google I/O Keynote and Developer Keynote.

How Google Search is changing and why you should pay attention.

As a company that helps businesses understand what they can do about how their company appears on Google Search, we were specifically tuned in to this portion of the Google I/O Keynote presentation. While many of the capabilities that they were demonstrating are yet to be launched, we can already see the usefulness of these features for the consumer and the possible headache these features may cause for small business owners trying to figure things out on their own.

Voice Search Optimization:

Google is seeing a higher adoption of voice search in new users to their platform. This is indicating that as Generation Z continues to enter the workforce and become heavier digital consumers, we are seeing a different style of use emerge, similar to what happened when the Millennial generation came onto the scene.

Google Lens and soon – Multisearch:

Utilized three times as much as in previous years, Google Lens is becoming a game-changing search tool for both consumers and businesses. Launched in 2017, Google Lens is a set of vision-based computing capabilities that can understand what you’re looking at and use that information to copy or translate text, identify plants and animals, explore locales or menus, discover products, find visually similar images, and take other useful actions.

During this year’s keynote Google unveiled “Multi-search” which will give users the ability to pair a question with their image search. Search Engine Journal has done a fantastic job laying out exactly what this function does and how to use it in their article “Google Multisearch: A New Way To Search With Text & Images” if you want to learn more about this new function.

In addition to the multi search capability, Google announced a “Near Me” function to empower consumers to find products they search for online at a local business. Launching globally in late 2022, the “Near Me” function of Google Lens will increase the importance of both the quality and quantity of photos your business has on the internet.

Scene Exploration:

Much like Google Lens allows you to learn about your environment without the searcher having the words to describe what they are seeing, the Scene Exploration feature that was previewed during the Google I/O Keynote speech allows users to give inputs to highlight and rank matches based on the inputs you pair with a photo of scene. The example used during the conference was for a row of chocolate bars that helped the user identify at a glance which bars were nut-free and dark chocolate. This idea is not new, with apps like Vivino using machine learning to identify and help users sort various wines, having been around since 2010.

(source: Google)

Google Maps Immersive View and AR Content Capabilities

Google Maps has been making a number of strides forward this year with the launch of their Fuel-Efficient Route, created in partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), to help reduce emissions and combat climate change. The depreciation of Google My Business (which we write about in this article) and migration of managing your business information on Google to Maps and Search will undoubtedly change the way SEO specialists and business owners interact with these platforms.

Adding to the list of changes happening in 2022 to Google Maps, we will soon have Immersive View.

“Google Maps first launched to help people navigate to their destinations. Since then, it’s evolved to become much more — it’s a handy companion when you need to find the perfect restaurant or get information about a local business. Today — thanks to advances in computer vision and AI that allow us to fuse together billions of Street View and aerial images to create a rich, digital model of the world — we’re introducing a whole new way to explore with Maps. With our new immersive view, you’ll be able to experience what a neighborhood, landmark, restaurant or popular venue is like — and even feel like you’re right there before you ever set foot inside. So whether you’re traveling somewhere new or scoping out hidden local gems, immersive view will help you make the most informed decisions before you go.”

While Immersive View doesn’t launch until late 2022 in select cities, select developers utilizing the ARCore Geospatial API, are bringing AR Experience to apps with partners such as Microsoft, Apple, Meta, and others. One of our favorite uses, so far, is Pocket Garden – which allows you to plant, care for, and watch your virtual garden grow. This type of AR experience is already used in Nantec’s popular Pokemon Go, Snapchat, TickTock, and many other apps.

(source: Google)

What Google’s My Ad Center will mean for your analytics.

Slated to roll out in late 2022, Google’s My Ad Center will give consumers direct control over the ads they see and the data that marketers have available to them for individual Google users. With online privacy being a major focal point over the last few years and third-party data disappearing, the frontier of digital advertising has become increasingly challenging.

With Google’s new My Ad Center, users will be able to select which brands/topics they like and the amount of personalization they are comfortable with giving to advertisers. Although Google Analytics is not the only data source that marketers have access to, the sentiment of consumers not wanting large companies to know personal details is one that should give marketers pause when they build out their advertising campaigns.

Included with the launching of My Ad Center will be the “About this Ad” feature that makes it clearer to users why they are seeing certain ads and who paid for the ad (using Advertiser Identity Verification). This feature will allow consumers to like or block advertisements as they appear on their search results, giving more power to businesses who have focused on organic search engine optimization practices instead of purchasing multiple ads that allow them to appear on the first page of search results.

While the My Ad Center currently supports only Google Search, YouTube and Google Discovery, it may not be long before off-Google advertisements such as the Google Display Network or programmatic ad buying platforms are subject to similar levels of scrutiny. This makes authentic and intentional advertising significantly more important to businesses who advertise in the digital realm.

What does this mean for your business’s SEO and marketing efforts?

Focus on the fundamentals of on-site SEO best practices.

Before these initiatives roll out, the power of landing your business on the first page of Google search results was in the hands of those companies with the bigger media budgets. Now that Google is giving ad power over to the consumer, small businesses which communicate a clear message, their company’s purpose, and utilize SEO best practices will be able to rise to the top of search results.

How do I know if my site is using SEO best practices?

Many SEO agencies and companies will offer businesses a free audit of their website in the hopes of roping them into a paid SEO package. While these services are easy and quick, we all know that it is rare that a human is actually looking through your website and giving actionable feedback. This is why Sword and Spark offers website auditing packages for purchase. Our interest is in educating the consumer about SEO best practices and helping them to understand what aspects of their website actually matters to the Google algorithm and their target customers.

What matters most for SEO?

As with most things in life, the answer to what matters for your business’s SEO is – it depends. There are a multitude of factors that will influence your website’s ranking in search results and they change all the time. Truth is Google updates their search algorithm at least twice annually and they have never told website developers or marketers which metrics will rank them higher on their algorithm criterion.

Knowing what is and is not working is only half of the problem. This is why Sword and Spark comes alongside business owners and marketing managers to help them navigate the evolving landscape of SEO best practices. If you worry that your current SEO strategy or website is not up to snuff, give us a call. Our initial consultation is always free and our audit packages always include a real human looking at your website.

Google I/O’s key takeaways according to Sword and Spark Consultants.

• Search and Maps is evolving and expanding
• Interoperability of sites is continuing to move forward
• Voice Search is being used more frequently with new users
• Google Lens continues to change the search landscape
• Multisearch, Near Me, and Scene Exploration are launching soon in select markets
• Google Maps will continue to expand their AR capabilities and Immersive View
• My Ad Center aims to give consumers more control over the advertisements they see online
• Your business’s SEO will be affected by these new products and services

Thanks for reading! You can watch the keynotes and other learning sessions at https://io.google/2022/