google research informed consumer

The Informed Consumer

Google Confidential and Proprietary 1

The Informed ConsumerConsumers Research (and Search) More

Please do not re-purpose for sales, outside of your company

Careful Consumers

U.S. consumers are still spending, but more cautiously. What does this mean for the marketer?


the marketer?

Consider Them Informed Consumers

Google’s new consumer survey shows that people are spending much more time researching before purchasing.


researching before purchasing.

More Research Means More Time Online

54% spend more time researching products

53% use search engines more to research purchases

We asked U.S. consumers how their shopping habits have changed since thedownturn in the economy.


39% buy more products online (rather than in-store)

54% spend more time researching products online before they buy them in a store

Source: Google Touchpoints Consumer Survey January 2009. Base: 8,675 U.S. respondents

22%

29%

8%

6%

4%

11%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

Search engine results/ads

Websites

Recommendations

Physical stores

TV ads

Newspaper ads

We asked U.S. consumers about their main sources of information on products and services since the economic downturn.

Search is the #1 Consumer Information Source


2%

2%

2%

2%

2%

1%

1%

1%

1%

1%

0%

0%

0%

3%

4%Newspaper ads

TV shows

Internet ads

Newspaper articles

Email newsletters

Sales people

Product/service experts

Radio shows

Radio ads

Magazine articles

Magazine ads

Direct mail/Catalogs

Outdoor ads

Telemarketing

Print phone books

Source: Google Touchpoints Consumer Survey January 2009. Base: 8,675 US respondents.

Online sources total: 53%

Sources of Traffic to Hitwise Retail 500, December

Business and Finance

Entertainment

Email Services

Retail 500

Search Engines

2008

2007

Search is the #1 Traffic Source to Retailers


0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0%

News and Media

Portal Frontpages

Lifestyle

Social Networking and Forums

Rewards and Directories

Business and Finance 2007

Source: Hitwise, provided to Google 02/25/2009. Retail 500 is Hiitwise’s index of 500 leading retailers.

Share of Google Referred Traffic to Retail 500

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

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+12%

+23%

+13%

+18%

Shoppers Referred by Google Increasing


0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

Nov Dec

Sh

are

of

Up

str

ea

m T

raff

ic

fro

m G

oo

gle

2006

2007

2008

+12%+13%

Source: Hitwise, provided to Google 02/25/2009.

People Say They’re Searching for Savings

53% spend more time online searching for the latest promotions and discounts

We asked U.S. consumers how their shopping habits have changed since thedownturn in the economy.


46% spend more time searching for coupons on the Internet

Source: Google Touchpoints Consumer Survey January 2009. Base: 8,675 U.S. respondents

And Google Query Volume Reflects This

U.S. searches for “coupons” on Google.com since 2004


U.S. searches for “deals” on Google.com since 2004

Source: Google Insights for Search. Query numbers are normalized and presented on a scale of 0-100 relative to Google queries over time.

Quick Tips to Reach the Informed Consumer

Make sure product info is accessible on

your site

Consumers are researching online

more

Consider search engine presence

throughout buying cycle

Search is #1 information source

Add special offers to website and

purchase pages

Consumers are looking for

coupons and deals


Consider paid search on

“consideration” keywords

Consider display ad buys on content

sites used for research

cycle

Adjust budget allocation

For paid search, ensure landing

pages have enough info

Add savings and offer messaging to

search ads

Add “coupon” keywords to paid

search buys

Thank You!


Thank You!

Q&A

Appendix


Appendix

Google’s “Touchpoints” Consumer Study

• A large-scale survey of U.S. consumers who made a purchase in one of 26 product/service categories during the last six months

• Goal was to explore the role of the Internet and other channels in consumer behavior and research


• Survey conducted December 2008-January 2009

• Base of 8,675 respondents, representative of U.S. consumers, for results included in this presentation

google research informed consumer

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