The trouble behind the popularity of voice search: Google is having trouble monetizing

Foreign media TheStreet wrote that Google has a deep skill in search engine optimization and has derived many new forms, such as voice search. This technology is very popular on major platforms, but one problem Google faces is how to monetize it.

Last month, Google ran a short audio ad for the movie "Beauty and the Beast" on its Google Home speaker, which played only after the speaker answered a user's voice command, a move that suggests Google's voice monetization efforts are still in the experimental stage.

After all, if Google were to engage in “paid responses” on a large scale, it could damage the quality and trustworthiness of the company’s services, which could lead consumers to switch to Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and Microsoft’s Cortana.

While most consumers don’t find ads on Google search pages to be too annoying, and many find them very useful, the same cannot be said for voice search ads, which they must listen to before getting a voice response. In fact, the shopping list feature built into Google Assistant can display ads for “recommended” products that can be purchased through Google Express, Google’s same-day delivery service.

The most profitable ads for Google are for products and services, and when searching for them, users often want to open pages on websites and apps to see more information. There doesn't seem to be much that voice assistants can do about that.

If it is e-commerce advertising, Google can allow voice search users to order products currently advertised on the search results page. Of course, such integration will take some time and require the support of advertisers.

In addition, when Google performs a voice search through its search app, website or Chrome browser, it displays a search results page on those services, often with ads. With one click, users are taken to a standard search results page, which is easily visible to ads.

Now, Amazon is showing the world that voice can be a potential platform with Alexa, which can be used to place orders on Amazon and supports a number of third-party "skills" that allow users to order pizza or hail a cab, for example.

In May last year, Google released data showing that voice search accounted for 20% of all questions asked in its Android search app. A survey of more than 2,000 mobile phone users by research company HigherVisibility found that 21.6% of users said they used voice search at least once a day, and 26.7% said they used it at least once a week. Behind this incident is the outside world's concern about risk issues.

In terms of mobile search monetization, Google's efforts to create "mobile-friendly" search advertising formats, provide advertisers with better measurement tools, and work with them to build mobile-optimized websites for easy access have ultimately paid off. In contrast, voice search presents a very challenging task.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.