[ad_1]
The generative AI race is well underway, and we’re already seeing applications in advertising and marketing for creative ideation and development. This includes one of the key pillars of digital advertising—search. As consumers, we have grown accustomed to being overwhelmed with ads and information in search engines, while being underwhelmed by experiences and results from brands on their own sites.
In the last six months, the breadth and pace of innovation has been intense. Google has had more core updates and helpful content updates targeting potential misuses of gen AI. At the same time, they’ve expanded their own use of their Search Generative Experience, which is constantly improving and prompting important debates in the SEO community. Microsoft’s Bing has expanded its partnership with OpenAI, and CEO Satya Nadella’s annual shareholder letter could have been called the “Copilot chronicle” expansion. This doesn’t even cover the mind-blowing expansion of image generation and other advancements over this same period of time.
Brands must recalibrate their approach to harness the potential of these emerging technologies. Gen AI is revolutionizing online search experiences with three pivotal shifts every brand should keenly understand.
Dialogue over monologue
For over 25 years, people have become accustomed to using shorthand when searching for something online. Searching in keywords is a skill that grows increasingly complex as the amount of available online content skyrockets, and by using more keywords in each query, people have attempted to find more precise or helpful information. This is often termed the “long tail” of search and has also caused a gap between how people normally speak with how they search online.
For instance, if someone’s ankle is hurting, they might type into a search engine, “ankle pain lower heel.” Today, this kind of search will usually return a list of monologues, such as nearby orthopedic surgeons or conditions where pain could be indicative of something serious. Alternatively, conversational AI is now able to begin a dialogue, perhaps by asking basic questions like, “How long has your ankle been hurting?” Instead of just trying to rank with SEO for a string of keywords, gen AI will enable marketers to help people refine their concerns or questions through natural, humanized conversations.
