Blended search enhances marketers´ internet presence

Search engine users are displaying a tendency to click on specialised content such as news, image and video, within general search results rather than vertical search results.

That is according to the iProspect Blended Search Results Study, published yesterday (Monday, April 7th).

´Blended´ search results offer users a combination of specialised search result types on the search results page alongside traditional web pages.

Google, Yahoo! and MSN have all started employing this within the last year.

The iPropect study revealed amongst other things that news results within blended search results were clicked by 36 per cent of search engine users.

By contrast, only 17 per cent of users clicked a news result after conducting a news-specific search.

Robert Murray, president of iProspect, commented: "Blended search allows marketers to capitalise on their digital assets without the need to affect a change in user behaviour.

"It essentially brings a variety of content types to users - where they are most comfortable and open to receiving it - and allows them to choose between the various result types.

"On top of that, it increases a marketers´ available inventory and their chances of being found amongst the clutter."