SEARCH IN

2020
How Consumer Search Behavior
Is Adapting to Mobile, Voice and
Visual Channels
JANUARY 2020
Nicole Perrin
Contributors: Lauren Fisher, Natalie McGranahan, Victoria Petrock, Jillian Ryan
 SEARCH IN 2020: HOW CONSUMER BEHAVIOR IS ADAPTING TO MOBILE,
VOICE AND VISUAL CHANNELS
Searching for information is one of the oldest and most common online activities. We forecast that more than 85%
of US internet users, or 246.4 million people, will search online at least monthly in 2020. Most will use smartphones
for at least some of those searches, though newer channels are becoming more common.

How has consumer search behavior changed

US Smartphone Search Users and Penetration,
over time? 2019-2023
millions, % of smartphone users and % of population
Most US internet users now search for information not
227.2 231.3
just via PC but also on their smartphone, indicating intent 217.8 222.8
211.5
and interest while on the go—or just second-screening
90.8% 91.3% 91.7% 92.0% 92.3%
from the couch. Visual search has caught on among a
solid chunk of users, while voice is more nascent but
gaining share. 66.5% 67.4% 68.1%
64.0% 65.5%

What changes do these new contexts represent?

Despite accounting for most impressions, mobile
searches still convert at lower rates than desktop ones.
And when consumers search with voice, often without
a screen, it means marketers need to be the one correct
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
answer if they want to appear at all in results.
Smartphone search users
% of smartphone users % of population
How are consumers using Amazon to search?
Note: smartphone uses of any age who search on smartphones at least
once per month via mobile browser or application
Searching for products directly on a retail site—usually Source: eMarketer, March 2019
Amazon—is not a new behavior for consumers in the 251139 www.eMarketer.com

US, and most who shop at Amazon start their product

KEY STAT: More than nine in 10 US smartphone users will
searches there if they have a good idea of what they
search on their mobile phone this year. Smartphones have
want. But for certain types of products, and for
changed how people search and what types of results
higher-funnel research, Google still dominates.
they’re looking for—and, in turn, how search engines are
serving them.
WHAT’S IN THIS REPORT? This report explores consumer
trends in search behavior, including how they’re searching
on mobile, with voice and on ecommerce channels. It also
details how marketers are responding to these changes. CONTENTS
2 Search in 2020: How Consumer Behavior Is Adapting to
Mobile, Voice and Visual Channels
3 Search Is a Largely Mobile Activity
5 Amazon and the Ecommerce Channel
7 Voice and Visual Search
13 Key Takeaways
13 eMarketer Interviews
14 Read Next
14 Sources
15 Editorial and Production Contributors

SEARCH IN 2020: HOW CONSUMER SEARCH BEHAVIOR IS ADAPTING TO MOBILE, VOICE AND VISUAL CHANNELS ©2020 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2
 SEARCH IS A LARGELY US Smartphone Search Users and Penetration,
2019-2023
MOBILE ACTIVITY millions, % of smartphone users and % of population
227.2 231.3
217.8 222.8
The rise of smartphones has transformed search 211.5

91.3% 91.7% 92.0% 92.3%

behavior, with almost two-thirds of the US 90.8%

population expected to search on smartphones this

year—a phenomenon that has changed how search 65.5% 66.5% 67.4% 68.1%
64.0%
results look and allowed users to start searching with
their voice or a picture.

Among the many digital activities we have tracked over

the years, search is second in penetration only to email.
We estimate that 85.4% of US internet users, or
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
242.5 million people, executed searches monthly in 2019.
Smartphone search users
Those figures will rise slightly to 85.6% and 246.4 million, % of smartphone users % of population
respectively, by the end of this year. Note: smartphone uses of any age who search on smartphones at least
once per month via mobile browser or application
Source: eMarketer, March 2019
How Many US Internet Users Participate in Select 251139 www.eMarketer.com

Digital Activities?
% of internet users, 2019 These searches on smartphones and other mobile
devices add up to a mountain of mobile search
Email users
impressions, including for search ads.
90.9%
Search users
85.4% Paid Search
Digital video viewers
82.8% Performance agency Kenshoo reported that more than
Digital audio listeners
70% of its clients’ US search ad impressions, as well as
72.1% clicks, occurred on mobile devices in Q3 2019. However,
Social network users mobile’s share of ad spending just passed the 50% mark
72.0% in Q2 2019 due to the historically lower prices for mobile
Facebook users search ads compared with desktop ads.
60.4%
Digital gamers Merkle, another performance agency focused on search,
58.3% social and ecommerce channel advertising, also reported
Mobile phone messaging app users that 69% of its clients’ US search ad clicks on Google and
49.7%
Microsoft search ad platforms came from mobile devices
Smart speaker users
in Q3 2019, with almost all of that total coming from
27.3%
mobile phones (64%). Clicks from tablets have stagnated
Podcast listeners
in recent years, but mobile phones have accounted for a
26.9%
steadily increasing share.
Source: eMarketer, Aug 2019
249808 www.eMarketer.com
Similar to Kenshoo, Merkle reported that mobile’s portion
The vast majority are conducting many of these searches of search ad spending lagged its impression share. Paid
on smartphones. We estimate that more than nine in 10 search ads run on smartphones and tablets accounted
smartphone users in the US searched on those devices for just 41% of search ad spending in Q3 2019 because
in 2019, amounting to 211.5 million people, or just under performance lagged on mobile phones compared with
two-thirds of the population. (Note that we do not provide desktop. For nonbranded paid search placements, for
estimates of search users on desktop and laptop PCs, a example, revenues per click on mobile were just 34% as
group that overlaps with smartphone search users.) high as on desktop, and costs-per-click (CPCs) were 47%
as high.

SEARCH IN 2020: HOW CONSUMER SEARCH BEHAVIOR IS ADAPTING TO MOBILE, VOICE AND VISUAL CHANNELS ©2020 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 3
Analyzing more than 300 US retailers, online pure plays
and brand manufacturers with at least $1 billion in annual
online revenues, performance agency Tinuiti (formerly
Elite SEM) found that 61.9% of search ad impressions
occurred on mobile phones in 2018, and an additional
8.3% came from tablets. The total mobile share had
risen from 56.8% in 2017 to 70.1% in 2018. Tinuiti also
reported much stronger CPCs on desktop than on mobile
phones—an average of $1.18 vs. $0.53 in 2018—with
prices on tablets falling somewhere in between.
Search Marketing
Though mobile might not account for the bulk of paid
search yet, its influence on search marketing is significant.
Mobile search has driven an increase in Google’s
emphasis on zero-click results, which has been a game
changer in what’s considered a successful search—for
consumers and marketers. Searchers no longer expect
to page (or thumb) through a list of results and select the
right one. In many cases, they know they’ll get a single,
“accurate” answer, right from Google, without clicking
through to other sites.
SEO professionals surveyed by audience intelligence
firm SparkToro in August 2019 rated zero-click searches
among the top three trends that would affect them in the
next three years. Other closely related trends, including
general advancements in AI and Google competing
directly with publishers, were expected to have an even
bigger effect.
SEARCH IN 2020: HOW CONSUMER SEARCH BEHAVIOR IS ADAPTING TO MOBILE, VOICE AND VISUAL CHANNELS ©2020 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 4
Trends that Will Have the Biggest Impact on SEO in
the Next 3 Years According to SEO Professionals
Worldwide, Aug 2019
scale of 0-4*
Google entering verticals/competing directly vs. publishers
3.36
Advancements in machine learning/AI
3.24
Zero-click searches on Google
3.10
Changes to quantity/presentation of Google Search Ads
2.99
Loss of cookie, visit and web tracking data
2.57
Voice-answered queries from Google Assistant, Alexa, Siri
2.56
Voice search as a query input
2.55
New EU/US laws or regulation in tech & web landscape
2.46
Google Discover and/or other content-nudging products
2.20
Visual search advances (Google Lens, photo-querying, etc.)
2.17
Outcome of US Congress/DOJ investigations into Google
1.96
Note: n=1,584; *where 0=no impact and 4=huge impact
Source: SparkToro, Sep 4, 2019
250695 www.eMarketer.com
Even if being the result in a rich snippet doesn’t lead to
a click to a marketer’s site, it can establish the brand
as an expert or thought leader that users will look to
in the future, according to Paul Michelotti, director and
solutions architect at digital commerce tech provider
Avionos. “This shift in strategy has changed the objective
of search marketing. Instead of trying to get to the top of
the list through metadata optimization or paid keywords,
marketers are focusing on addressing the exact matter
customers are asking for.”
This shift also means that measuring the results of
search may need to change. “As search marketing
evolves heading in 2020, marketers may find themselves
receiving eventual increased loyalty instead of receiving
immediate clickthroughs,” Michelotti said.
 AMAZON AND THE in 10 respondents said that if they knew what gift they
wanted to buy, they would start on Amazon; 49% said
ECOMMERCE CHANNEL they would start on Amazon if they didn’t know.

Amazon’s rising importance as a starting point for Since then, research has varied somewhat, likely
searches has been one of the biggest search trends in depending on methodological factors including question
recent years. wording. For example, in May 2018, ecommerce tech
provider Adeptmind asked US internet users about the
Historically, most marketers have equated search with first place they would go when digitally searching for
general search engines, which have long been dominated an item and found a plurality chose Amazon (46.7%),
by Google on the consumer side. Comscore reported that ahead of second-place Google (34.6%) and a different
in June 2019, Google sites received 62.4% of desktop search engine (4.7%). But when cloud retail provider Kibo
searches in the US, with Microsoft sites (including Bing) Commerce and customer experience firm Watermelon
getting 25.2%. These shares have hardly budged over Research asked US digital shoppers in January 2018
the years. about where they researched brands, products or
services, more selected search engines (69%) than
Amazon (61%).
Monthly Share of Online Searches in the US, by
Search Engine, June 2019
% reach For some marketers, Amazon clearly represents a
major source of search referrals. Data intelligence firm
Verizon Ask.com Jumpshot analyzed where product searches began that
Media 0.9% resulted in hits on its clients’ product pages. In 2015, the
11.5%
split was 54/46 in favor of Google. By 2018, the same split
Microsoft sites flipped in favor of Amazon.
25.2% Google sites
62.4%
Starting product searches on Amazon isn’t as widespread
as Google’s near-worldwide dominance as a general
search engine, but it is common across several markets
where Amazon has a significant ecommerce presence.
Note: home and work locations; desktop only; excludes contextually driven
searches that do not reflect specific user intent to interact with the search Digital agency Wunderman Thompson found in February
results
Source: Comscore Media Metrix, Sep 3, 2019 2019 that solid majorities of digital shoppers ages 16
249656 www.eMarketer.com and older in France, Germany, Spain, the UK and the US
used Amazon to begin their search for products online—
Google’s share of mobile search queries is even higher,
ahead of search engines. (In the Netherlands, Amazon
ranging in the high-80% to low-90% range on mobile,
sells only books, and domestic Bol.com is the dominant
according to StatCounter.
marketplace.)
But consumers aren’t searching only via search engines.
Many of their most commercially oriented queries are Sources Used by Digital Shoppers Worldwide to
entered directly on retail sites. And for the most part, that Search for Products Digitally, Feb 2019
% of respondents
means Amazon.
Spain Germany US France UK Netherlands
Amazon 80% 79% 79% 68% 62% 13%
For most internet users, Amazon has long served as a
Search engines 47% 58% 47% 47% 39% 54%
default starting point for a number of searches. In 2015,
Branded websites 37% 18% 23% 34% 18% 30%
close to half of US internet users surveyed had named
Other marketplaces 35% 35% 18% 21% 39% 61%
Amazon as the first channel they used to research
Retailers 17% 16% 40% 19% 34% 29%
products online—already ahead of the 34% who chose Social media 10% 4% 5% 9% 11% 9%
search engines, according to the “State of Amazon 2016” Note: ages 16+; shop online at least once per month
report from retail experience firm Bloomreach. By the Source: Wunderman Thompson, "The Future Shopper Report," June 26,
2019
following September, a majority (55%) chose Amazon 248586 www.eMarketer.com
as their first stop. Notably, the report also asked holiday
shoppers whether their answer would change depending
on where they were in the purchase funnel. Nearly six

SEARCH IN 2020: HOW CONSUMER SEARCH BEHAVIOR IS ADAPTING TO MOBILE, VOICE AND VISUAL CHANNELS ©2020 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 5
One of the most recent and largest surveys on this memberships and used them at least weekly, eight in
subject to date comes from CivicScience. In June 2019, 10 started their digital searches on Amazon—compared
US internet users ages 13 and older were asked where with just 12% who started on Google. (We estimate
they “typically start” when shopping for a product online. that 51.6% of US households had an Amazon Prime
Just under half of respondents said they went to Amazon, subscription in 2019.)
and among those who normally shopped online, the
share starting on Amazon was about 58%.
Starting Location for US Internet Users When Digitally
Shopping for a Product, by Frequency of Amazon
Prime Usage, June 2019
Where Do US Internet Users Typically Start When % of respondents
Digitally Shopping for a Product?
% of respondents, June 2019 Use Amazon Prime weekly
79% 12% 10%
Amazon 49%
Use Amazon Prime monthly or less
Google 22% 65% 20% 15%
Other 13% Not a Prime member
37% 37% 26%
16% I rarely or never digitally shop
Amazon Google Other
Note: n=4,969 ages 13+
Source: CivicScience as cited in company blog, Oct 17, 2019 Note: n=770 ages 13+; numbers may not add up to 100% due to rounding
251136 www.eMarketer.com Source: CivicScience as cited in company blog, Oct 17, 2019
251137 www.eMarketer.com
Internet users’ likelihood of starting shopping for products
Price optimization tech provider Feedvisor also found high
on Amazon varied little by age and was a majority activity
levels of reliance on Amazon for search. In February 2019
across all age groups, per CivicScience.
polling, about two-thirds of US internet users who had
purchased something from Amazon in the prior two years
When US Shoppers Digitally Shop for a Product, said they started their search for new products there,
Where Do They Typically Start?
compared with just 20% who started on search engines.
% of respondents, by age, June 2019
13-17
57% 21% 22% Where Do US Amazon Buyers Start Their Search for
New Products?
18-24
% of respondents, Feb 2019
57% 34% 9%

25-29 Amazon
60% 29% 11% 66%
Search engine
30-34
20%
57% 28% 15%
Brand website
35-44
4%
61% 26% 13%
Retailer website
45-54 4%
62% 24% 14%
Social media
55-64 1%
55% 26% 19%
Other marketplace
65+ 3%
55% 24% 22% Other
Amazon Google Other 1%

Note: n=4,164; numbers may not add up to 100% due to rounding Note: ages 18+ who have purchased a product on Amazon in the past 24
Source: CivicScience as cited in company blog, Oct 17, 2019 months
250521 www.eMarketer.com Source: Feedvisor, "The 2019 Amazon Consumer Behavior Report"
conducted by Zogby Analytics, March 19, 2019
There was significantly more variation depending on 246116 www.eMarketer.com

whether respondents were Amazon Prime members

and on their frequency of using their Prime membership.
Among internet users who weren’t Prime members,
Amazon and Google were equally likely starting points
when shopping. But among those who had Prime

SEARCH IN 2020: HOW CONSUMER SEARCH BEHAVIOR IS ADAPTING TO MOBILE, VOICE AND VISUAL CHANNELS ©2020 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 6
Amazon has capitalized on the huge number of product
search queries it serves up results to by offering
keyword-targeted, CPC ad products—search ads—that
now attract billions in spending, primarily by retailers and
product marketers that sell items on the ecommerce
marketplace. We estimate that Amazon netted almost
13% of US search ad revenues last year, a share that’s
doubled since 2017.
Net US Search Ad Revenue Share, by Company,
2017-2021
% of total search ad spending
Paid search monitoring service BrandVerity asked US
consumers where they would start a product search for a
specific branded item—for example, “Nike shoes”—and
found that 56% chose Amazon, compared with 30% who
selected Google. When consumers were asked the same
question about shopping for an item like “running shoes”
without knowing in advance what brand they were
looking for, they were more likely to choose Google (52%,
compared with 37% who chose Amazon). This result is
similar to the Bloomreach finding from several years ago.

VOICE AND VISUAL SEARCH

2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Google 74.7% 73.4% 73.1% 71.1% 70.5%
Amazon 6.5% 11.7% 12.9% 14.3% 15.9%
Microsoft 7.6% 7.2% 6.5% 5.9% 5.4% Voice and visual search are relatively new search
Verizon Media Group 3.1% 2.4% 2.0% 1.7% 1.5% channels. Both have been partly enabled and
Yelp 2.0% 1.9% 1.8% 1.7% 1.6%
popularized by their usefulness on smartphones
IAC 1.1% 1.0% 0.9% 0.7% 0.7%
and smart speakers, as well as other devices. They
Other 5.1% 2.3% 2.8% 4.6% 4.5%
Note: includes advertising that appears on desktop and laptop computers represent new input methods, search contexts and
as well as mobile phones, tablets and other internet-connected devices;
includes contextual text links, paid inclusion, paid listings and SEO use cases for marketers to understand.
Source: eMarketer, Oct 2019
250076 www.eMarketer.com

What Are Voice and Visual Search?

Google’s share has dropped slightly over the same time
period, from 74.7% to 73.1%. We expect that Amazon
will continue to make gains here, at least partly at the
expense of Google, but will remain a very distant second
place through at least 2021.
For more on Amazon’s ad business, read our November
2019 report, “Amazon Advertising 2019: Growth and
Performance Are Strong at the No. 3 US Digital Ad Seller.”
For more on how other retailers are also capitalizing on
consumers’ propensity to search on ecommerce sites, read
our November 2019 report, “Retail Media Networks: How
Retailers Are Building Digital Ad Businesses.”
It’s important to note that most of the above research
is focused on product searches—and in some cases,
surveys don’t even ask about “search” specifically, but
about “shopping” or “research.” It’s likely that Google
is still the first choice for search applications that aren’t
product-related, that aren’t related to products frequently
sold on Amazon or that take place higher in the funnel.
From a consumer usage perspective, voice and visual
search are both about input methods. Rather than typing
a query on a physical or virtual keyboard, in the case of
voice search, consumers speak their queries aloud. That
could be into a voice-only device like a Google Home or
Amazon Echo, via a voice assistant on a smartphone, or
more directly into smartphone apps like Google’s where
users can speak aloud to enter a query into the normal
Google search box.
To conduct a visual search, consumers use specialized
search engines that are designed to pick out details of
images and match them up with similar ones—often
product photos—to help digital shoppers find something
they saw elsewhere. Users can typically either upload
a photo they have taken or point to a photo they
found online.
Results of visual search queries are other images, but voice
searches may have “normal” search results—for example,
if smartphone users speak a query into the Google search
box and get a page of results that looks similar to what
they would have gotten if they had typed the same thing.
Voice searches on other devices, like smart speakers, have
voice-only results as well, with an assistant often giving a
single “correct” answer aloud.

SEARCH IN 2020: HOW CONSUMER SEARCH BEHAVIOR IS ADAPTING TO MOBILE, VOICE AND VISUAL CHANNELS ©2020 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 7
VOICE SEARCH HAS TRACTION FOR US Smart Speaker Owners vs. Total Internet Users
Who Have Used Voice Search, Jan 2019
INFORMATIONAL QUERIES % of respondents

No
Though we don’t estimate how many people conduct 12.2%
voice searches across all types of devices that accept
voice input, we do forecast how many make inquiries No
via their smart speakers. It’s a much smaller group than 41.4%
Yes
search users overall (56.6 million people as of the end of 58.6%
Yes
2019 vs. 242 million overall) because most people don’t 87.8%
have a smart speaker. But among those who do, almost
three in four ask it to answer questions for them—and
Smart speaker owners Total internet users
that estimate excludes inquiries about the weather, news
Note: includes voice search inquiries made via any device
or traffic. (If we included those inquiries, we believe the Source: Voicebot, "Voice Assistant SEO Report for Brands" sponsored by
Magic & Co., July 9, 2019
figure would be close to 100% of smart speaker users.)
248642 www.eMarketer.com

We do estimate growth in the number of smart speaker
inquirers will be faster than for smartphone searchers—
this year, the smart speaker inquirer audience will rise
9.4% to 62.0 million, or 21.5% of internet users.
US Smart Speaker Users, by Activity, 2019
% of smart speaker users
Audio listeners
And voice search is an ingrained habit for even fewer
internet users. Among respondents to the Voicebot
survey who had tried voice search in the past, only about
a third used it monthly or more as of January. Fewer than
12% executed voice searches daily, though both numbers
were notably up since the prior September. And about
half of respondents in January did say they expected to
use voice search more frequently in the future.
79.8%

Inquirers* 73.0%
How Frequently Do US Voice Search Users Conduct
Shoppers** 40.0% Searches via Voice?
% of respondents, Sep 2018 & Jan 2019
Smart-home control users 34.5%

Buyers** 27.0%

Note: individuals of any age who use a smart speaker for each activity at
least once per month; *ask a smart speaker questions via voice command;
excludes inquiries about weather, news and traffic; **ages 14+; at least
once in the calendar year 67.0%
Source: eMarketer, May 1, 2019 74.5%
247900 www.eMarketer.com

Smart speaker owners appear to be more likely than

other internet users to use voice search. For example,
21.2%
a January 2019 survey by voice industry publication 17.3%
Voicebot, sponsored by voice agency Magic & Co.,
8.2% 11.8%
found that almost nine in 10 smart speaker owners had
Sep 2018 Jan 2019
searched via voice, but only about six in 10 internet users
Daily Monthly Rarely/have at least tried
overall had done the same.
Note: includes voice search inquiries made via any device; among
respondents who have at least tried voice search
Source: Voicebot, "Voice Assistant SEO Report for Brands" sponsored by
Magic & Co., July 9, 2019
248643 www.eMarketer.com

SEARCH IN 2020: HOW CONSUMER SEARCH BEHAVIOR IS ADAPTING TO MOBILE, VOICE AND VISUAL CHANNELS ©2020 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 8
Traditionally, search advertising is a performance-oriented A January 2019 poll conducted by experience cloud
channel, with marketers paying to reach consumers who Episerver saw similar findings. Among adult digital
have expressed intent and are thus relatively far down shoppers worldwide, 17% reported making purchases
the purchase funnel. But research suggests that most via smart speakers at least monthly. That compared
of the questions consumers do ask their devices are for with 30.5% who bought on tablets and 51.4%
basic information and aren’t very commerce-oriented. on smartphones.
For example, more than six in 10 voice search users to
the Voicebot/Magic & Co. survey said they asked
How Often Do Digital Shoppers Worldwide Make
fact-based questions, and just over half asked for maps Purchases on Select Devices?
and directions. Fewer than one in four said they used % of respondents, Jan 2019
voice to research products and prices before a purchase. Smartphone
12.2% 16.3% 22.9% 17.9% 22.7% 8.0%
Among the US smart speaker owners surveyed in May Laptop
2019 by Adobe Digital Insights, almost half conducted 8.2% 13.4% 27.3% 24.9% 13.4% 12.8%
searches with a voice assistant and 40% reported Desktop
doing “basic research.” But shopping and ordering 7.6% 11.9% 22.7% 19.6% 15.0% 23.2%
items was still classified as an “emerging use case” Tablet
in the company’s “Q2 Voice Report,” with just 20% of 6.4% 9.3% 14.8% 17.2% 26.3% 26.0%
respondents having used voice search for this purpose. Smart speakers (e.g., Amazon Echo, Google Home)
6.4% 5.8% 30.3% 46.9%
The survey and several other findings indicate that voice 4.7% 5.9%
shopping is still a niche activity. In April 2019, 17.3% of US Smartwatch
internet users polled by digital commerce strategy firm 3.9% 28.1% 54.3%
Sumo Heavy said they had ever shopped for products 4.3% 4.8%
4.7%
via a voice assistant. Most respondents to the survey At least once a day A few times a year
said they couldn’t see themselves making any type of Multiple times per week Never
purchase through such an assistant. Multiple times per month Don't own this device

Note: ages 18+; numbers may not add up to 100% due to rounding
Source: Episerver, "Reimagining Commerce: Principles of Standout Digital
What Types of Purchases Can US Internet Users See Shopping Experiences," March 31, 2019
Themselves Making via Voice Assistants? 246578 www.eMarketer.com

% of respondents, April 2019

Adobe polling conducted with research firm Advanis
Household products in December 2018 found, probably unsurprisingly, that
11.8%
younger digital device users were more likely to purchase
Experiences (movie tickets, flights, hotels)
products via smart speakers or voice assistants—but still,
10.7%
only 17% of respondents ages 34 and younger engaged
Grocery and food delivery
10.6%
in this activity.
Consumer products (electronics)
6.3%
Still, other sources suggest consumers’ reliance on voice
Clothes
search for making purchases is well below the 10% mark.
5.5% Data from Salesforce confirms that channels like voice
None account for little in terms of purchase volume as well.
55.3% Just 5% of digital purchases in the US in July 2019 were
made through what the CRM provider called “emerging
Note: n=1,004 ages 18+; includes voice assistants on any device (e.g.,
smartphone, smart speaker); numbers may not add up to 100% due to digital purchase points,” which include voice, as well as
rounding
Source: Sumo Heavy, "2019 Voice Commerce Survey: The Current State and channels like social media and messaging platforms.
Future of Voice-Assisted Shopping," May 31, 2019 And just 2% of US internet users polled in October 2019
247916 www.eMarketer.com
by eMarketer and Bizrate Insights said they used voice
shopping regularly. Another 4% had used it in the past but
did not do so regularly. Across age and gender breakouts,
an outright majority of respondents said they had not
used voice shopping and were not interested in doing so.

SEARCH IN 2020: HOW CONSUMER SEARCH BEHAVIOR IS ADAPTING TO MOBILE, VOICE AND VISUAL CHANNELS ©2020 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 9
VOICE SEARCH AND MARKETERS How Optimistic Are Marketers in North America
About Voice Product Search and Commerce?
Not surprisingly, it’s still early days for voice search as a % of respondents, June 2019
marketing opportunity. Voice, both as a search query input Very optimistic
and as a direct output channel for results from assistants 29.2%

like Alexa and Siri, fell midway down a list of trends that 27.1%

SEO professionals worldwide told SparkToro would Moderately optimistic

38.9%
have the biggest impact on SEO over the next three
35.0%
years. Respondents also didn’t think visual search would
Neither
have effects as big as issues like Google competing 16.1%
with publishers more directly, including with zero-click 20.4%
searches, as well as general advancements in machine Moderately pessimistic
learning and AI. 8.8%
8.8%
Very pessimistic
Voice and AI 2.1%
The issues of voice search and AI are inseparable—and 3.7%
while voice may not have been specifically called out in Not sure
the top five responses to the SparkToro survey, four of 4.9%
those leading concerns are strongly intertwined with the 5.2%
changes associated with voice. Voice searches are zero- Product search Commerce
click searches, and they’re searches where Google—and
Note: numbers may not add up to 100% due to rounding
other providers—are leaning hard on machine learning and Source: Voicebot, "The State of Voice Assistants As A Marketing Channel"
knowledge graphs to deliver answers to queries—thereby sponsored by Voices.com, July 19, 2019
competing directly with publishers. 248722 www.eMarketer.com

Most expected voice to be at least a significant marketing

But that doesn’t mean marketers aren’t bullish on the
channel within the next three to five years.
future of voice. Almost three-quarters of marketers in
North America surveyed in June 2019 by Voicebot and
voice-over service Voices.com were at least moderately How Important Will Voice Assistants Be as a
optimistic about the prospects for product search Marketing Channel to Marketers in North America?
% of respondents, June 2019
via voice, and almost as many were optimistic about
Not at all
voice commerce. 4.0%

Somewhat
11.5%
Extremely
25.2%

Moderately
21.7%
Significantly
37.6%

Note: within the next 3-5 years

Source: Voicebot, "The State of Voice Assistants As A Marketing Channel"
sponsored by Voices.com, July 19, 2019
248720 www.eMarketer.com

SEARCH IN 2020: HOW CONSUMER SEARCH BEHAVIOR IS ADAPTING TO MOBILE, VOICE AND VISUAL CHANNELS ©2020 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 10
“The concept of using voice-enabled devices for
customer experiences is still relatively new, so to ease
consumers into using voice capabilities, brands need
to first build a deep connection with them before
weaving the technology into their daily lives,” said Marcel
Hollerbach, CMO of product feed technology provider
Productsup. “Brands that establish more trust with
consumers upfront using voice technology will have more
success when customers are ready to engage with the
brand’s product or service.”
Marketers’ voice-related efforts may be less focused on
search per se and more on replenishment, which seems
to be one of the voice commerce use cases people are
most comfortable with to date.
For more on how US consumers are adopting voice, read
our July 2019 report, “US Voice Assistant Users 2019: Who,
What, When, Where and Why.”
VISUAL SEARCH MEETS MORE OF A
CONSUMER NEED
In the October 2019 eMarketer/Bizrate Insights survey,
respondents indicated that visual search was more
popular than voice. Overall, 12% of respondents polled
had tried it, and 4% reported using it regularly. And unlike
with voice shopping, people who hadn’t tried visual
search tended to be interested in it.

“With voice technology, consumers are worried about How Interested Are US Internet Users in Using
Shopping Technology?
errors and miscommunications with some reporting they % of respondents, Oct 2019
don’t trust the device to make the correct purchases,” said
Voice shopping
Darin Archer, chief strategy officer at headless commerce
4% 6% 22% 59% 8%
tech provider Elastic Path. “Brands should be investing 2%
more in improving the direct search experience and Visual search*
combining that with easy re-ordering functions. Voice is 4% 8% 22% 31% 29% 7%
better suited to these experiences than it is to browsing.”
Use it regularly
Have used before, but don't use regularly
B2B use cases may also emerge ahead of normal Have not used, but very interested
consumer shopping behaviors. “In 2020, we will start Have not used, but somewhat interested
Have not used and not interested
to see voice-based user experiences more frequently in
Don't know what this is
B2B as well, where hands-free UI can be really helpful
Note: ages 18-65; numbers may not add up to 100% due to rounding;
and make the life of the customer easier and more *taking a picture of a product then uploading the image onto an app or
convenient,” said Brian Walker, chief strategy officer at website to find it and shop for it
Source: "The eMarketer Ecommerce Survey" conducted in October 2019 by
Bloomreach. “For example, a repair person using voice Bizrate Insights, Oct 9, 2019
search to find a product and place an order as they drive 251138 www.eMarketer.com

from job site to job site, or a floor or office manager using Other consumer research confirms that visual search
voice to quickly add something to an order or check a is more widely used and more helpful in commercial
status via smart speaker or their phone. These are no contexts than voice search. September 2019 polling by
longer oddities for the consumer and will blend quickly Deloitte found that 17% of US internet users said visual
into the work life of busy people.” search tools were useful to them while shopping, making
visual search second to product recommendations
And preparing for a future where voice search is more as a useful technology. Only about a third as many
common can also benefit overall search strategies. respondents said voice assistants were useful to them for
“The two most important pieces of optimizing content this purpose.
for voice are formatting your keyword strategy around
long-tail keywords and using a question and answer
format,” said Madelyn Wing, director of product and
customer marketing at tracking and analytics firm
CallRail. “When Google is crawling for answers, if your
website has clear answers to users’ questions and loads
quickly, your ranking is likely to be higher, whether it’s a
voice-search or not.”

SEARCH IN 2020: HOW CONSUMER SEARCH BEHAVIOR IS ADAPTING TO MOBILE, VOICE AND VISUAL CHANNELS ©2020 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 11
What Technologies Do US Internet Users Find Useful US Companies' Leading Marketing Priorities for
While Shopping? 2019-2020
% of respondents, Sep 2019 % of respondents
Product recommendations on shopping websites or mobile apps Video marketing
42% 76%
Visual search tools GDPR compliance
17% 55%
Curated subscription products AI/machine learning tech or services
7% 41%
Voice assistants via smart speakers or mobile phone apps Experiential marketing
6% 38%
Virtual assistant chat bots Reactive design
5% 31%
Micromoments
Note: n=4,410
Source: Deloitte, "2019 Holiday Survey of Consumers," Oct 22, 2019 28%
250525 www.eMarketer.com Motion design
24%
Visual search
MARKETERS PRIORITIZE VISUAL SEARCH 21%
Voice search
Marketers are putting greater emphasis on visual search 10%
than voice, though again, it’s still early days for these
Source: Mondo, "The Mondo Creative & Digital Trends Survey," Aug 21,
channels. According to June 2019 polling by staffing 2019
agency Mondo, just 17% of US companies planned to 249424 www.eMarketer.com

optimize their site for voice search within the next year.
July 2019 polling from Marin Software found a similar
Respondents were twice as likely to say they planned to
portion of companies worldwide that said visual search
optimize for visual search.
would be among the industry trends that would impact
them most in 2019. Shoppable images generally were
Current State of Visual and Voice Search According to nearly as important, the survey found.
US Companies, June 2019
% of respondents
Already/plan to Already/plan to optimize Industry Trends/Challenges That Will Most Impact
No optimize site for No site for voice search Companies Worldwide in 2019
response visual search within response within 12 months % of respondents
3% 12 months 4% 17%
35%
Data privacy/tracking restrictions/ad blocking 22%

Video advertising 22%

Visual search 21%

No plans Ad fraud 20%
to do so
62% No plans to do so Brand safety 20%
79%
Influencer marketing 19%

Messaging apps add bots 19%

Visual search Voice search
Source: Mondo, "The Mondo Creative & Digital Trends Survey," Aug 21, Attribution/cross-channel and device measurement 18%
2019
Rise of shoppable images or shopping ads 18%
249426 www.eMarketer.com
Improved offline/in-store measurement 17%
Overall, the Mondo survey found that voice search
was a leading marketing priority for just 10% of US Source: Marin Software, "The State of Digital Advertising 2019," July 18,
2019
companies, compared with 21% who said the same 248800 www.eMarketer.com
about visual search.

SEARCH IN 2020: HOW CONSUMER SEARCH BEHAVIOR IS ADAPTING TO MOBILE, VOICE AND VISUAL CHANNELS ©2020 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 12
Image-Based Discovery
Visual search—using an image as the search query itself—
is not the only way images have become more important
to search over time. All the major performance agencies
report strong results from Google Shopping ads and the
increased presence of image carousels, including in mobile
search results. Performance agency Sidecar reported clicks
and conversions throughout 2018 that were higher than for
other Google paid search placements, for example.
The digital retailers in North America surveyed in February
2019 by retail conference CommerceNext and marketing
cloud Oracle were about equally likely to say they would
increase investments on voice search and visual search
(13% and 16%, respectively).
How Will Marketing Departments at Digital Retailers
in North America Invest in Select Emerging
Technologies in 2019?
% of respondents, Feb 2019
Customer data platform
65%
Personalization technology
52% 22%
Alternative payments
47% 30%
KEY TAKEAWAYS
■■ Search engines are most commonly used on
mobile devices—but that doesn’t mean that’s
where conversions are happening. Most search ad
impressions come from mobile devices, but ad prices
and revenues per click are still higher on desktop PCs.
■■ Voice shopping remains a nascent consumer
behavior; more internet users see the value in
visual search. These newer input methods come with
different search optimization strategies and include
different contexts for consumers. Visual searchers are
typically relatively high in the funnel, for example, while
voice searchers are looking for a single correct answer
to a question.
■■ For at least some searches, consumers are more
likely to start with Amazon than with a general
search engine. This is a behavior that has gone on for
years, but marketers are doing more to take advantage
25% 1% 9% of these intent signals by buying keywords directly on
ecommerce sites. Higher-funnel searches may still be
2% 24%
more likely to start with Google, however.
3% 20%

Chatbots & other AI for customer service

45% 22% 2% 31% EMARKETER INTERVIEWS
Programmatic TV
34% 17% 2% 47% Darin Archer
Visual search Chief Strategy Officer
16% 35% 49% Elastic Path
AR/VR Interviewed November 22, 2019
15% 17% 5% 63%

Voice-enabled search Mike Balducci

13% 22% 3% 62% Vice President of Strategy
Increase in investment Decrease in investment Valassis
Same level of investment No investment Interviewed October 31, 2019
Note: vs. in 2018
Source: CommerceNext, "How Leading Retailers and Direct-to-Consumer
Brands Are Investing in Digital" sponsored by Oracle, May 30, 2019 Todd Bowman
247608 www.eMarketer.com Senior Director, Amazon and eRetail
However, visual search was already getting a higher level Merkle
Interviewed October 18, 2019
of investment. About half of respondents were doing
something with visual search, compared with about one
in three that were already investing in voice. Melissa Burdick
Co-Founder, President
Pacvue
Interviewed October 24, 2019

SEARCH IN 2020: HOW CONSUMER SEARCH BEHAVIOR IS ADAPTING TO MOBILE, VOICE AND VISUAL CHANNELS ©2020 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 13
 Simon de Beauregard SOURCES
Engagement Director, Absolut, Malibu, Kahlua
and Smithworks
Adeptmind
Pernod-Ricard

Interviewed November 13, 2019

Adobe
Advanis
Casey Gauss Bizrate Insights
CEO
Bloomreach
Viral Launch
Interviewed October 22, 2019 BrandVerity
CivicScience
Selina Heckendorf
CommerceNext
Vice President, Ecommerce/Amazon Strategy
The Mars Agency Comscore
Interviewed October 18, 2019
Deloitte
Episerver
Marcel Hollerbach
CMO Feedvisor
Productsup GPShopper
Interviewed November 22, 2019
Jumpshot
Paul Michelotti Kenshoo
Director, Solutions Architect Kibo Commerce
Avionos
Magic & Co.
Interviewed November 22, 2019
Marin Software
Brian Walker Merkle
Chief Strategy Officer
Mondo
Bloomreach
Interviewed November 22, 2019 Oracle
Periscope by McKinsey
Madelyn Wing
Pymnts.com
Director of Product and Customer Marketing
CallRail Salesforce
Interviewed November 22, 2019 Sidecar
SparkToro
StatCounter
READ NEXT Sumo Heavy

Amazon Advertising 2019: Growth and Performance Tinuiti

Are Strong at the No. 3 US Digital Ad Seller Visa
Retail Media Networks: How Retailers Are Building Voicebot
Digital Ad Businesses
Voices.com
Voice Assistant Users 2019: Who, What, When, Where
Watermelon Research
and Why
Wunderman Thompson
YouGov

SEARCH IN 2020: HOW CONSUMER SEARCH BEHAVIOR IS ADAPTING TO MOBILE, VOICE AND VISUAL CHANNELS ©2020 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 14
 EDITORIAL AND
PRODUCTION CONTRIBUTORS
Anam Baig Senior Editor
Joanne DiCamillo Senior Production Artist
Donte Gibson Chart Editor
Katie Hamblin Chart Editorial Manager
Dana Hill Director of Production
Erika Huber Copy Editor
Ann Marie Kerwin Executive Editor, Content Strategy
Stephanie Meyer Senior Production Artist
Heather Price Deputy Editor
Magenta Ranero Senior Chart Editor
Amanda Silvestri Senior Copy Editor

SEARCH IN 2020: HOW CONSUMER SEARCH BEHAVIOR IS ADAPTING TO MOBILE, VOICE AND VISUAL CHANNELS ©2020 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 15
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