Study: Google Universal Results Show Up For 85% Of All Searches: Videos In 65% & Maps In 1%

SearchMetrics released a study on the penetration of Universal Search results in the Google search results. By Universal Search we mean the way Google “blends” results from “vertical” search engines like Google Images, Google Videos, Google Maps or Google News into its web search listings. The study shows that for all searches, 85% of them […]

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SearchMetrics released a study on the penetration of Universal Search results in the Google search results.

By Universal Search we mean the way Google “blends” results from “vertical” search engines like Google Images, Google Videos, Google Maps or Google News into its web search listings.

The study shows that for all searches, 85% of them contain some element of universal search blend. The most common are video results, followed by images, then news, shopping and maps. Here is the breakdown:

1. Videos: appear for 65% of keywords
2. Images: appear for 40% of keywords
3. News: appear for 16% of keywords
4. Shopping: appear for 6% of keywords
5. Maps: appear for fewer than 1% of keywords

In fact, Google Shopping Or PLAs jumped 200% from the 2013 study.

Here is a nice infographic summarizing the study:

Searchmetrics Universal Search Study Infographic 2014_US_300dpi

Here are some additional highlights from the study, which is filled with awesome data:

  • An increase in the proportion of keywords with Universal Search Integrations is up to 81% from 75% the previous year
  • A considerable rise in the proportion, but a 15% reduction in the absolute number of Video integrations displayed, which appears to coincide with the switch to a paid model for Google Shopping in the US
  • Images are displayed 45% of the time, much more frequently than any other Universal Search elements
  • A 182% increase in the total number of Shopping integrations and their market share
  • A drop in the overall number of News sources for News integrations displayed, while both market share and the absolute number of News integrations remained quite stable

You can download the whole study from SearchMetrics.

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About the author

Barry Schwartz
Staff
Barry Schwartz is a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land and a member of the programming team for SMX events. He owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry can be followed on Twitter here.

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