Google Webmaster Trend Analyst John Mueller has recently indicated that Google may be seeking to implement a sophisticated Voice Search function to Google Search Console.
In a Q&A session on the 6th May, Mueller has explained that Google is looking into new methods that will translate the longer forms of spoken search queries into more useful data for webmasters when looking at their search analytics reports.
Ttracking Voice Queries may be ‘Tricky’ to implement
Mueller has suggested that there will be a great deal of difficulty in realising this new feature, and so the function to track voice queries through google search console may take longer than some would wish. The difficulty is a result of how spoken searches differ from keyboard input. Naturally spoken language inevitably contains a higher frequency of low volume keywords, which lead to these queries being filtered out by analytics reports, in comparison to more tightly phrased text queries. Mueller has suggested that Google will solve the problem by using their experience in developing separate tracking mechanisms for desktop and mobile traffic. By separating the three sources of searches into their own segments, it would be possible to create a more accurate view of voice queries because the low volume keywords contained in full sentences would not be overshadowed by the less natural, but more specific language that tends to arise from desktop or mobile searches. You can see the full interview here for more.
What this means for webmasters
The key reasoning behind the decision to develop a new system for dealing with voice queries is that Google have realised that the exact phrasing a person using voice search may choose will often be filtered out of reports, due to the bundling of the queries intended purpose with low volume keywords.
The benefits of more accurate reports for voice searches would be great for those wishing to get a more accurate view of their traffic, as people’s searching habits change it is important for the technology to track these habits to be able to evolve alongside them.
