How Businesses Can Benefit From The New Google Multisearch
If there is a single certainty across the ever-changing landscape of business operations, it is that technology will always provide new solutions to persistent problems. For example, there was a time where all inventory management was done by hand, not automated like much of it is today. Can you imagine tracking thousands and thousands of individual products in this fashion? On top of all the shipping logistics to get these items to their intended destinations in the first place? It is enough to walk away from business operations entirely. Obviously, people have not done this, otherwise there would not be many businesses left. But, that might be because of the technology element mentioned.
Not only have inventory management endeavors benefitted from the implementation of technology, but so has just about every other area of business. From accounting to customer relations, every aspect of business operations has experienced their own form of technological benefit. Steve Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft, summed this up, “The number one benefit of information technology is that it empowers people to do what they want to do. It lets people be creative. It lets people be productive. It lets people learn things they didn't think they could learn before, and so in a sense it is all about potential.”
But the introduction of new technology in any area does not ensure a beneficial outcome. The truth is, if you and your company desire to benefit from a certain item of technology, you will have to learn how to implement it properly. Such is the case for Google’s New Multisearch. But, if you can master this one, it can work wonders for you. To see how, let’s look at a few tangible ways this is possible.
1. The fundamentals of Google Multisearch
Before any discussion can be had surrounding what Google Multisearch can do for you and your business, we must first have a solid understanding of the technology. Seeing as it was only announced in April of this year, it stands to reason that it may be unheard of by most. To paint a simple picture of it, imagine when you pull up Google to search for something specific. Despite your best efforts, you just cannot come up with the right words to describe whatever it is you are in search of. Multisearch will allow you to upload a picture of this item and pair it with any key words to find your desired results.
“Of all the technological advances we’ve seen over the last couple of years, Google Multisearch might be the cream of the crop," said Shaunak Amin, CEO and Co-Founder of SwagMagic. "I can’t think of a better way to search honestly.”
The beauty of Multisearch is that any image can be uploaded. Is there a plant in your neighborhood you are curious about? Google Multisearch can give you more details than you will ever be able to process. Though, what if you pulled an image from the internet and wanted to use that in your Multisearch? Absolutely!
“Multisearch is the search engine experience we all know so well, brought to life," said Ian Heyman, Founder of Dermasteel. "In many ways, it eliminates the middle-man - our brain’s ability to come up with just the right words to give us what we want.”
2. A faster shopping experience
With the fundamentals out of the way, let us move on to all the ways your business can benefit from Google Multisearch. Now, you might be thinking that you can use this technology to find quicker answers to questions around the office and you would be correct. However, the relationship between your business and Google Multisearch is all about the potential customer. Instead of combing page after page in search of a specific product to purchase, the average consumer can now upload a picture paired with keywords of what they want to purchase. With near-instant and identical results, you can see how this would help.
“How many times have you sat staring at the blinking cursor struggling to come up with the perfect word to refine your existing search?" said Lina Miranda, VP of Marketing at AdQuick. "Google Multisearch speeds the whole thing up which can be great for the companies behind the products being searched for.”
The partnership between pictures and words used in Multisearch can really take this entire thing to the next level. Say a consumer comes across a product they want to purchase. However, they also feel a slightly different version of said product may suit their needs more effectively. Through a picture of the product on hand and the keywords related to this different version, the right product can be found. Do you see how this can benefit your business?
“In my experience, one of the ways customers fail to follow through on their online purchases is because they can’t find the precise item," said Woody Sears, Founder of Autio. "Google Multisearch aims to eliminate this because the goal behind it is highly specific searches which lead to better results.”
3. A more involved shopping experience
When Google made the announcement about the beta version of Multisearch, they mentioned a key aspect which has only grown in significance since - Scene Exploration. In many ways, this is about immersing your phone with the world around you and vice versa. This may sound a bit vague so we will dive into an example here. Envision you come across an article of clothing somewhere in your daily life that strikes a chord with you. So much so that you not only want to know all about it, but other items that are related. This is what Scene Exploration is in a nutshell.
“Scene Exploration is so cool because it really is the in-person shopping experience brought to life," said Karim Hachem, VP of eCommerce at Maxine of Hollywood. "When you’re in a store, you inherently know how to navigate it because similar items are together. Scene Exploration allows you to view this with any item you want.”
Hopefully, the bigger picture of what Google Multisearch is capable of is becoming clearer. Another way to look at the technology as a whole, and Scene Exploration, is as a successor to the once long-standing department store shopping experience. The idea behind these was to cater to each and every person who walked through the doors. But now, Google Multisearch lets consumers build their shopping experience for themselves.
“It does not do your business any good to have digital visitors who are not within your purchasing demographic," said Eric Elggren, Co-Founder of Andar. "Thankfully, Multisearch can help bring the people who will settle for nothing less than what you have to offer.”
4. It plays very nicely with search engine optimization
SEO content seems to be continuing its reign as one of the supreme methods for connecting with users online. With no signs of slowing down in any capacity, ensuring you are on top of this at all times is always advisable. But you knew all this. What you came here was for Google Multisearch so let’s get to it. The good news is that because Multisearch is built off Google’s existing infrastructure, everything you have done in regard to best SEO practices holds up.
“Whenever new technology appears on the rise, it can make users wary of what’s to come," said Max Schwartzapfel, CMO at Fighting For You. "But with Google Multisearch, all the SEO stuff you’re doing still applies and is effective.”
All this to say - keep doing what you are doing when it comes to the SEO efforts you have in place. Most likely, there will come a time when the technology powering Multisearch will introduce an element which changes this game. Most certainly, this will include a steep learning curve. This is simply the nature of technology - always evolving. But do not get ahead of yourself just yet. Instead, take your time to learn about the SEO and Multisearch partnership.
“Multisearch is so exciting to me because I feel like it really demonstrates the full power of the internet," said Chandler Rogers, CEO of Relay. "SEO has gotten us part of the way there but now that visuals are part of the equation, I can’t see things being the same again.”
5. If you are indexed, you are good to go
For our final point, it is vital to highlight one very critical step you and your business need to be taking so as to make full use of Google Multisearch. You must, in each and every instance, index your images. Indexing itself is a whole other topic for another day. But, essentially, it is how the internet is organized. If your content is not part of this organization, you will not appear in any search results. Multisearch or not.
“I know on the surface that Multisearch might seem like magic but there really is a whole system behind it," said Fred Gerantabee, Chief Experience Officer at Readers.com. "This system functions off of the indexing that we are already doing on a regular basis so don’t let this fall by the wayside.”
In the long run, this means continuing to update any images you already have indexed as well as any new images you choose to upload. Odds are, you want as many eyes as possible on your company. So why not give people the opportunity to do so by having as many relevant images indexed?
“Indexing is a tried and true practice that is not going anywhere," said Bryan Jones, CEO of Truckbase. "In fact, with the introduction of Google Multisearch I have to imagine it will only become stronger.”
This may feel like a ton of information to take in at once. And it is. But that is just the nature of technology. Tim O’Reilly, the founder of O’Reilly spoke to this, “What new technology does is create new opportunities to do a job that customers want to be done.”
