Google “Brand” Refinements

by PJ Fusco | August 4, 2010

Generally speaking, search engine queries can be classified into a specificity scale. One end of the spectrum consists of predominantly generic terms, like “shoes” or “cameras”. On the opposite end of the scale, search queries become more specific, like “womens mossimo vida peep-toe black patent leather pumps” or “canon powershot 12.1 megapixel digital cameras”. The more specific the phrasing, the greater the likelihood that the search query will be brand-influenced.

Because general search terms generate very broad-based results, search engines rarely return the exact content that would-be shoppers seek. Toward this end, Google has recently focused on leveraging brand preferences as a way to provide search engine users with one-click access to more specific subsequent search queries:

From the Official Google Blog – This Week In Search 5/1/10

“Sometimes when searching for product information on Google, you may not know some of the brand names relevant to your particular search. For example, if you’re taking on a new river-rafting hobby, it’s quite likely you don’t have a clue about kayak manufacturers just yet. So, we wanted to make it easier for you to find the brands other people consider useful for popular product searches. So this week we launched a search refinement that calls out brand names related to your query in a single line above the rest of the results. Determined algorithmically, these highlighted brand names may help you find what you’re looking for faster, and make your research and shopping experience all the more enjoyable.”

This is certainly not the first time that brands took center stage in refining Google search results. The “Vince” brand-influenced update (Mar. 2009) attempted to address the issue that Google’s algorithms allowed for the manipulation of branded rankings based on anchor text links. The problem is that a portion of the “Vince” update didn’t exactly work as intended. For example, insurance industry related search queries prominently still featured content that used brand-targeted text-link buys to inflate results for questionable landing pages, and for online retailers, affiliates could still edge their way into highly ranked results.

Google’s consequent focus on brands in May 2010 highlighted the issue when Google SEO Eric Schmidt said “Brands are the solution, not the problem … “Brands are how you sort out the cesspool.” (Reference: Ad Age Mediaworks article) Now, with Google’s “Jazz interface,” everyone wants to know how to get into Google’s brand listings:

Actionable Insight #1: It’s important to note that none of the brands listed in Google results point to a 3′rd party website: All links are refined Google searches, rooted in the original search query. For example, the “brands” presented for “digital cameras” includes Canon, Olympus, Sony, Nikon and Kodak. Subsequent Google brand search links are refined to connect with to refined search results for:

“Canon digital cameras”
“Olympus digital cameras”
“Sony digital cameras”
“Nikon digital cameras”
“Kodak digital cameras”

In other words, Google’s focus on brand searches produce “brand” + “keyword” search refinements that could allow online retailers with a way to show up on 5x the search results pages if they carry all five brands. That does not mean that online retailers can make their way on to page-1 results for the original unbranded search query, without a little help from Google AdWords, of course. Initially, online retailers should focus on gaining page-1 results for the refined search queries.

Actionable Insight #2: Understand how are Google brand listings chosen to determine if you get listed in Google’s subsequently synonymous search results.

Google has confirmed that the brands listed at the top of search results are generated by Google, as an “extension” to the organic results” and completely algorithmic in order to provide users with more suggestions on searches. (Resource: Google support forum) Furthermore, Google has noted that brand results are not related to Google AdWords in that these particular positions cannot be bought and sold.

It’s also been suggested that trademark ownership could be essential (Resource: Google support sktool) for attaining “brand status” in Google. This particular observation is reinforced by brand results that include not only the manufacturer, but also a trademarked product line. For example, Ugly Stick and Shakespeare are both listed as brands for a “fishing rod” search query. Shakespeare makes the Ugly Stick. Consequently, it makes sense that trademark ownership could be a core signal that Google leverages to make semantically disassociated search query phrases like Ugly Stick synonymous with “fishing rod”.

Actionable Insight #3: For other obvious opportunities to gain entry into brand results, just look to the left column of Google’s new “Jazz Interface.” Opportunities abound for going after “brand” + “keyword” rankings in image, news, video, and blog refined results. It just takes a well-rounded search engine optimization regimen to get there.