Recently, we noticed many more Universal Search results appearing in the Google.com.au SERPs. We performed some testing on the number of occurrences and the type of Universal Search results to provide some actionable insights and data to back up our observations.
In addition, we wanted to test what Marissa Mayer, the Google VP of Search Products & User Experience stated in November 2009. In the interview, she noted that when Universal Search launched in 2007 a Universal Search item appeared in 4 percent of search queries, whereas in November 2009 a Universal Search item appeared in 25 percent of search queries.
We selected a sample of different search results in Google.com.au (searched from an Australian IP and eliminating the impacts of personalised search) and recorded the occurrences and types of Universal Search results. We gathered this data across a number of different keyword groups including brand, high-volume, mid-tier, long-tail and celebrity- and news-related keywords. We then tracked those search results over a period of days to determine the level of change.
Please note that these are based on a sample size and are based on an average across the sample set. The results of our research are outlined below:
Our research shows that:
- 86 percent of all searches returned a Universal Search result on page
- 74 percent of all searches returned a Universal Search result above the fold on page 1.