Tag: mobile search trends

Mobile search trending topics being quietly tested by Google

| April 15, 2016

This could allow trending search topics to be identified from within the query bar similar to top social networks.

Several reports have been appearing throughout media outlets that have indicated that Google may be quietly testing some trending topics options for mobile search that would let those popular stories be displayed within the search bar.

This concept is quite similar to what has already become commonplace over Facebook and Twitter.

The trending topics have become a regular experience through social media and now seems to be appearing on Google through mobile browsers such as Safari on iOS. After starting to type into the mobile search bar, the dropdown menu appears for the user and trending searches is one of the available options. This allows users to see what other people have been looking for during the last recent while.

Choosing one of the trending mobile search topics brings the user to an array of news articles on that subject.

Mobile Search - GoogleThat said, while some users are able to access this new trending topic feature over mobile, others are not. This looks as though it could be that Google is testing out the service but that it is making it available only to a group of a certain size as opposed to rolling it out across all users. Moreover, some people who have used it have also discovered that the option has been taken away and that they no longer have access to it.

By the time of the writing of this article, Google had yet to release an official statement about this trending topics option for mobile searches and it had not responded to request for a comment. There have been many speculations that this feature had been made available to only a limited pool of users and even that was for a small amount of time.

That said, if it is true that Google is testing out a trending mobile search option, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise for many users. This type of service already exists over social media platforms and has proven successful for keeping device users engaged. As one of Google’s specialties is obviously search, providing an option for what is trending may be considered a natural fit.

Mobile technology is becoming increasingly important to grocery shoppers

| August 1, 2014

An explosion of searches has revealed that people are using their devices to plan their supermarket trips.

According to search volume data that was collected during the second quarter of this year, consumers are looking to mobile technology on a rapidly increasing basis as they prepare their grocery shopping lists.

Among the searches that were performed over smartphones and tablets, recipes topped the ten leading grocery terms.

The largest sub-category search terms over mobile technology, according to the BRC-Google Online Retail Monitor were organic and natural foods. When all devices were taken into account, the searches conducted for grocery items rose by 22 percent when compared to the same quarter in 2013. The volume of searches conducted over smartphones greatly outpaced those of tablets. The data showed that there was a rate of growth of 94 percent over smartphones and 28 percent over tablets.

There was a tremendous spike in the number of searches conducted over mobile technology for organic and natural foods.

mobile technology - grocery shoppingThe growth rate in this category over smartphones was a tremendous 133 percent within that quarter. Among tablet users, the increase was recorded at 21 percent. Overall, when all devices were taken into account, there was a respectable growth of 23 percent.

It was the barbecue and grill category that brought about the largest search volume growth across all of the various devices, at 40 percent. Thirty seven percent more searches were conducted within the special and restricted diet foods category. Latin American cuisine saw a growth rate of 35 percent, while meat and poultry searches were up 34 percent and beer rose by 32 percent.

When it came to specific locations that used mobile technology the most for grocery related searches, it was London that scored the highest. Peter Fitzgerald, the retail director at Google, said that “the developments grocers have made in the region, for example the increase in delivery options becoming available.” The director general of BRC, Helen Dickinson went on to express that “In a change that will give particular cheer to grocery retailers, customers are increasingly turning to their tablet computers and smartphones for culinary guidance.”