The Internet is always changing, and this goes for search engines as well as everything else. There are signs that new technologies may eventually make search engine marketing as we know it obsolete. One company that business leaders should watch carefully is , which has recently released a new type of search engine. uses an image based index rather than text based search engine. This is an extremely significant development for several reasons.
The Shift Towards Images on the Internet
If you have been paying attention to the online trends of the last few years, you will have observed that images are becoming increasingly important. People simply find it more convenient and entertaining to look at images than to read text. This doesn’t mean images will ever completely replace text, both obviously have a part to play. However, it’s clear that people now favor content such as photos, videos, infographics, memes and other visually interesting content. This type of content is more widely shared than traditional text based content.
This trend is perhaps more noticeable on social media networks than anywhere else. Consider the rapid growth of sites like Pinterest and Instagram, which are both image based. Even on older social sites like Twitter and Facebook, visual content is more popular than text. A recent study concluded that photos are liked twice as often as text posts on Facebook.
How Can Transform the Search Engine Industry
uses an innovative technology that allows users to search using images rather than typing in text as they would on traditional search engines,. uses a sophisticated image analysis technology that uses geometry to recognize the visual similarities between images.
This technology is already helping people who are searching for home decor and pets, among other things. Their LikeThatDecor tool makes it easy for shoppers to find furniture and other decor by entering pictures that resemble what they’re looking for. This may seem like a simple idea, but it has revolutionary implications for the future of online commerce. As this technology is applied more widely, it could mean a fundamental shift in the way people search. Rather than typing in text, more and more users may begin searching with images.
Why Business Leaders Need to Pay Attention to
A shift in the direction of visual search could utterly transform online commerce very quickly. Among other things, it could render traditional search engine optimization practically obsolete. Rather than optimizing keywords, online sellers would have to focus on optimizing images.
Currently, optimizing images mainly involves giving the images keyword rich titles and descriptions. However, the kind of image analysis technology used by could create a whole new type of image-based SEO. While the exact nature of such developments are hard to predict, there is little doubt that the emergence of image based search engines will transform the entire field of SEO.
Business owners and online marketers should prepare themselves for such a shift in the search engine industry. Otherwise they risk being blindsided if things shift quickly, as they often do where technology is concerned. Businesses should be researching ways to adjust and benefit from a world where most searches are done via images.
