Living with a Smart Speaker
Anyone who knows me, had a meeting with me or read any of my blogs or social media posts knows my message for the last 18 months has been “Voice Search is the Future”. Towards the end of last year, I realised I wasn’t fully immersing myself in that future and decided it was time to start living with a smart speaker.
I bought my Google Home Mini when the Black Friday sales come out. Every retailer had them on the same deal at $49, not a bad entry point I thought so I picked one up from JB Hifi.
Setting up the Google Home Mini was an absolute breeze. Google has refined it to an art, download the app and in a couple of steps you’re on your way.
The first few days having the Mini sitting on my desk was a bit of a novelty. It was full of;
“Hey Google, what’s the temperature?”
“Hey Google, what’s the time?”
“Hey Google, tell me a joke”
After a few days I watched a few YouTube videos, to see what more I could do with the smart speaker and I tried a few things out but the initial novelty was over.
A funny thing happened though over the next few weeks.
Without realising I began to use the Mini for all my basic quick searches. More complex searches initially were a bit, hit and miss!
Overall though, while working at my desk I was conducting fewer and fewer searches on my pc or phone. It was just to easy to do them through voice rather than type them out.
In November and December last year more complex searches seemed to be a bit of a struggle for the mini to answer. In January though there must have been an update to the mini as more complex searches were having the search results getting pushed through to my phone so I could browse the results. Which has been quite handy.
Another pleasant surprise was Google’s AI assistant functionality. I’m only using a small fraction of its capability, but it has become a part of daily life. From using Google Maps to creating a shopping list, it’s effortless.
Talking about effortless, the AI assistant and the calendar function are like having someone literally working for you. It will tell you about your day and appointments, and scheduling new appointments is as easy as 3 quick steps.
How Will Smart Home Speakers Change SEO?
I have been contemplating this question for the last 3 months. SEO is such a competitive industry already and the future with voice search is going to make it even more competitive.
With search on your phone or pc you get 3 or 4 ads, a Google featured answer or maybe some Google Map results and then you get 10 organic search results.
Voice search most of the time gives you ONE result.
We will go from fighting to be one of 10 results on page one to fighting for ONE voice result.
Some results Google handles totally on its own. The weather for example Google tells you and gives no credit for where it has gained the knowledge from. If you were the owner of WeatherZome or Accuweather I would be worried. Looking at a big loss of traffic in the future, which would probably lead to a big drop in revenue as both of those sites seem to run a lot of ads.
The other thing I have been thinking about is what will happen once google starts allowing people to ‘buy’ the answers like they do with ads on the search results. The day that happens I think will be the beginning of the end for organic search results.
Funny Experiences with The Google Mini
Telstra was running ads that featured the Google Home Mini over Christmas. In the ad the little kids asks, “Hey Google, what sound does a reindeer make?” Every single time that commercial come on the tv my Google Mini answered the question.
That scenario got me thinking about the future marketing potential of the smart home speakers being able to interact with you and your tv to promote or sell products
I have experienced one phantom answer. I was sitting in the lounge room watching tv when I heard the Mini talking, no one was in the room. I went in and it was giving an answer about the nearest place to get food. I checked the search log and somehow it heard someone ask “where is the nearest place to get food”. Whether it heard what I was watching on tv I’m unsure… or maybe a hungry ghost?
Will Voice search Really take over?
Yes…
It’s extremely easy to do a voice search, the easier something is the more you will use it.
Voice search is just a small part of what the home smart speakers will do for you in the future. I’m not using my Google Home Mini to any where near what it is capable of. If I had smart bulbs, I could have them all connected and control them by voice. TPLink has released smart plugs, you could plug items into them and control them. New smart devices are coming out.
Smart air conditioners are coming out now, you could be driving home from work and tell Google to turn your air conditioner on so by the time you get home the house is cool.
Smart homes are much closer then what people realise.
Are you excited about this future or do you fear it?
Written by Dave Stansfield - 8 February 2019