Wassup Economy!

A Close Look on Economic Trends through the Search Glass

A lot is being said these days on India's economic growth and progress. There is a fair amount of negativity in the recent times especially when it comes to macroeconomic patterns. Lets look at these  patterns from an interesting lens- Google search.

Why Google search-

The search box is a reflection of demand. People type in what they are interested in and trying to find more about. From online shopping to bollywood celebrities, its a reflection of what 150 million people in India are looking for. Hence it can estimate and predict the ground reality in many ways. 

Google Trends is a free google tool available online which allows us to look at searched topics and their patterns overtime. Lets look at the demand for key economic indicators in India and see if the economy is really going up or down.

Here we analyse Google trends for the last 10 years and see how economic indicators have progressed over the years. Remember, the number of internet subscribers in India grew more than 3 times over these years and so the hypothesis is searches should also grow three times to be consistent with the expanding user base.

1. Real Estate-

People's interest in buying their homes is a strong indicator of economic progress and new home sales forms a considerable portion in the GDP. Lets see how this stacks up on Google search over the last 10 years-

Searches for "buy house" and related variants showed a peak till about mid 2010 and since then has fallen considerably before showing marginal improvement in 2013 mid. On the other hand searches for "home loans", show a disproportionate fall indicating falling interest levels in buying new homes and properties 

So in the real estate world, things have certainly taken a hit as far as the consumer interest is concerned on Google search. Yet the real estate prices in major cities have shown an increase?

2. Consumer Savings-

In a falling economy, people are hesitant to spend more and tend to go for saving their money rather than spending it on goods and services. Trends for "Fixed Deposits" show an interesting trend where we see a sharp increase in interest over the years. Clearly search trends indicate increasing interest in savings till about start of 2011.

3. Automobile Sales-

Higher the auto sales, more money people have to spend and less hesitant they are to go ahead and splurge it on the machine of their choice. It's no secret that auto sales have taken a hit after the fuel price  hike and falling rupee. It clearly shows on Google search trends where searches for "car prices" shows a sharp decline after 2010-

and an even disproportionate fall in searches for "Car Loans".

4. Jobs and Education-

Unemployment is probably the biggest indicator of a weak economy and there are 2 instances when people look for jobs- When they don't have one or when they want a better one. 

Lets see an instances where people don't have one. Searches for "fresher jobs" grew since 2004 till about 2010 before falling again indicating on a whole more freshers are looking for jobs than ever, maybe a sign of unemployment?

On the other hand, interest in education especially higher education has shown a sharp fall- definitely not a good sign. Here we see trends for "mba" and "education loans".

5. Communication-

Not a direct indicator of economic growth but definitely a key indicator of how our government has performed when it comes to connecting people and developing the communication infrastructure. Searches for mobile phones one, in a country with ever increasing mobile penetration, would assume will show a spike atleast. Well this was true till about 2010 mid but surprisingly this also has shown a sharp decline post that- strange, isn't it?

Broadband penetration in the country is yet to pickup and that is very well reflected in the Google search box-

6. Other spending areas-

One of the biggest ecommerce platform on the internet is travel. Huge amounts of ticket bookings and travel research is done online. Increasing travel patterns also indicate rise in disposable income- overall a good sign for the economy. Overall searches for "air tickets" grew till about 2009 end but since then has shown sharp decline. Yet another sign that all is not well.

To Sum Up

Clearly trends are depressing and so is the mood. Hope things improve soon and we see these demand patterns rise like they should in a developing country like ours. 

Meanwhile, searches for "Salman Khan" keep going higher and higher :)

Disclaimer: The views are completely my own. Actual facts may vary.

How to write an awesome text ad

How to write an awesome text ad?

Text ads are a gateway to your product/brand's communication to an interested audience. In a world where an average internet user is used to seeing thousands of ads daily, how do you take the lead and ensure that you differentiate yourself. After all, every advertiser on Google search has only 35 characters to write their best possible message in a description line.

To unveil the mystery, lets map a users journey when they are searching-

Lets say a user is interested in buying t shirts online, so she goes to Google and types- "buy t shirts online". Here's what she gets-

She sees two sections-

1. Organic search results.

2. Paid search results.

Let's delve into the paid search results a little more-

There is space for a maximum of 3 ads to appear on the top, yet only one appears and then there are 8 ads that appear on the side positions.

Why is the first ad on the top?

Ad position is a function of your bids (maximum sum you are willing to pay for a click) and the quality score. For simplicity, lets assume all advertisers are bidding competitively. Then why is it that only one advertiser manages to appear on the top?

Quality score is a key player in determining ad positions and Click through rates are a key variable in determining quality scores. Hence, a high CTR typically means you are more likely to be chosen by users and hence you have better QS.

Lets dissect the first ad and see how it is different from other ads-

1. 50% discount in the headlines- Please note that no other ad has this offer in the headline. The advertiser has even reinforced the message by stating it twice.

2. Free shipping & COD- Except for a jabong.com ad on the side, no one talks about cash on delivery (even though many have it on their website). 

3. Ads on the sides talk about best price, Latest collection, wide designs, Taste of india etc etc- All qualitative terms which dont tell the user anything. (She might just assume that all websites have good quality of products) Where is the hook?

So, how do you ensure that with the 95 characters you have, you build a text ad so awesome that the users chose you every time and over time you build a competitive advantage at no extra cost?

Tips to build awesome text ads-

1. The Hook-

Biggest reason why anyone would click is the hook. Ask yourself, what is the hook that you have to offer? What is the one thing that will kill the competition and make you the winner? It can be discounts, freebies, cash on delivery, free deliveries, return policy, etc etc. It has to be unique and attractive.

2. Synchronizing with search terms-

Dont show a hair fall shampoo ad to someone who searches for shine shampoo, they will just not click. Its that simple. You have to be extremely specific while showing ads to what the user is typing. The more the better. This is digital and being specific works the best. Remember, the user has a choice.

3. Numbers work-

Numbers stand out. They look different, grab attention and raise curiosity. Always use numbers, whatever you might have. e.g- if your handwash kills 99% germs, use it! 

4. Use extensions-

Extensions are plugins that expand your ad beyond the stipulated space. Use these sitelinks-

a. Social Extensions- Integrate with Google plus and get the power of recommendations from people  right on your search ad.

b. Sitelink Extensions- Use sitelinks to expand your ad and divert traffic to multiple landing pages using one ad.

c. Call/Location Extensions- Integrate phone numbers and location information of your business to give users even more options to reach out to you and get expanded space.

d. Image Extensions (New!) - Look at these two ads, Which one are you more likely to remember? Image ad extensions are great for branding.

5. Custom Display URLs- 

Integrate your display URLs to match closely with what users are searching, this leads to much better reinforcement to the user that they will get exactly what they want if they click.

6. Special Characters-

Use special characters like exclamation mark in the ads to attract more attention. But use them sparingly as they might turn out to be irritating. 

7. Call to Action-

This is a must do. Buy now, Learn more, Find out, Get it now- Call to actions always work and are absolutely critical for the success of text ads.

That's it! Hope you find this useful and create ads so awesome that no one can give them a miss!

Cheers

Abhishek

What do you love by Google

What do you love?

Just came across this beautiful tool by Google called what do you love (www.wdyl.com).

With Google, we always expect awesome things but this one really takes the pie. What do you love is nothing but a collection of all Google products and platforms displaying things about the stuff that you love.

Just goto www.wdyl.com and you see the familiar Google search bar with a heart icon instead of the usual magnifying glass signifying this is not just a normal search but something special.

Just type in what do you love and see the magic! e.g.- I love manchester united and as a true red devils fan, this is what I get

This has everything I can possibly imagine about manchester united-

1. Translate manchester united into 57 languages (in case i need to! )

2. Google trends 

3. 3D logos.

4. Picture search.

5. YouTube on united.

6. Books search on united.

7. Maps search (takes me to united cafe & bar nearby, won't mind that as a fan)

8. Patent search.

9. Alerts.

10. News (very very useful)

11. Blog search.

12. Mobile search.

13. Discussion groups.

14. Gmail

and of course web search, phew!

With this available at my fingertips, do I need to go anywhere else? Great stuff, Google! You surely know it all