Report: Brands aren\'t voice-search ready


Report: Brands aren't voice-search ready

While more and more consumers are simply asking their smartphones or virtual assistants for product information or store locations, one new report indicates they may not be getting the information they're in need of. That, because while more consumers are asking Siri/Alexa/Google for this information, most businesses don't have product listings or store information that can be easily "found" by these devices.

New data out from Uberall indicates that voice search is underperforming for many businesses because these businesses aren't ready for voice search. The Uberall Voice Search Readiness Report 2019 found that fewer than 4% of businesses had accurate business listings on sites like Bing, Google, and Yelp - sites that many voice assistants use to return voice search results.

Researchers studied more than 73,000 businesses/business listings and found that opening hours were the largest business listing errors. Website errors, location names, and even street notations filled out the top listing-error categories.

"When a consumer conducts an online search for a business, whether through voice search or not, they expect and trust that the information provided will be accurate. If the customer then turns up and finds that the business is closed, the immediate result is a loss of trust that will likely discourage them from ever returning to a business location," said Norman Rohr, SVP of Marketing at Uberall. "Voice search is one of the most hyped, yet perhaps least understood topics confronting businesses today. Very few understand what it is to become 'voice search ready' and whether there is actually an ROI justification to begin with."

When consumers search for "the nearest 'Forever 21' store" voice search is set up to return only one listing, rather than the series of listings returned in typical desktop and mobile search. When business listings aren't correct, consumers may not receive the most accurate information.

More data from the Uberall report can be accessed here.




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