We all watched a few weeks ago as Google broke the news that our search results would be tailored to our preferences and those of our networks. If you or I are logged in to YouTube, Gmail, Google+ or any other Google property, the data stored in relation to your interests, your network’s interests and your history would allow you with the opportunity to see search results that are personalized to you.
We saw the backlash that quickly erupted from the announcement and the general confusion of Google property users when they logged in and were presented with a new privacy policy to accept. In fact, a majority of my friends, not in the industry, said ‘what the heck is this’ upon seeing it on their screens.
Now I am not a big fan of this for a couple reasons.
For one thing, the way I search and what I search for while I am at work is completely different than when I am ‘off the clock’. Let’s say I am researching a cool giveaway for an upcoming tradeshow. I may be searching and looking at pages for things like iPads, notebook computers, swag items, etc. If my search results now took that history of data and started serving me ads or results around these items on a Saturday, I would not be pleased.
Fact is many of us are logged into our personal emails while we are at work but the things we do online are not necessarily what we are interested in on a personal level.
The second reason I dislike this idea is that my social network is extremely diverse. If Google is going to ‘personalize’ my search results with data extracted from social connections, Im not sure how much sense this would make. Sure, I respect everyone’s opinions and reviews, but again, I would rather ask than be served.
My final reason behind this is a common one especially if you consider recent research from eMarketer that nearly half of internet users prefer standardized results. The reason? They think everyone should see the same results. I agree. Why should someone else see a different research article or a different manufacturer for a like product? I want to see what you see and if I don’t, I feel like I’m missing out on something. Don’t you?
Are we killing ourselves to personalize when our audience doesn’t want it?
As marketers we strive to personalize our communications. Whether it be lead nurturing where we carefully calculate who should get what piece of content and at one time or the types of content we produce. We strive to make a connection. A personalized one. Because we feel that this is the best way into our future customer’s world.
But why are we doing this and going through the effort when people don’t want it (for the most part)? Are we limiting our reach when we silo too much? Or are we reaching that exact, niche group we intend to?
Why are customers in an uproar over the Google announcement? I can name 3 reasons why I don’t like it, but do you? And why not?
What are we, as marketers, going to do with this information? Are any of you adjusting your strategy?
