Binoculars Preview Tool Only for Organic Results

[rustybrick]

Andy Beal (http://www.searchenginelowdown.com/2004/06/ask-jeeves-observation.html) points out that the new Binoculars Preview Tool (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/forum/showthread.php?t=191) will only be used on the organic results. Andy asks, "but if the new Ask Jeeves Binoculars Preview Tool makes searching so efficient, why don't they offer the service for their sponsored web results?"

I'll leave this question open ended for you all. :)

[AndyBeal]

Cos posting it on my blog isn't going to get me in enough trouble with Jim Lanzone already! ;)

The move does pull back the curtain a little, revealing that not everything the se's do is for the users benefit. I am sure that Ask will state that they get their sponsored links from Google, so it is out of their hands, but they could add the binoculars to the sponsored results.

Let me ask this. If you are a PPC ad buyer, would you want your potential visitors to see your site first, without charge, before they click thru? Wouldn't the binoculars ensure that you get a better qualified visitor? Or how about if Ask/Google only charged you 50% of your CPC, if someone clicks on the binoculars instead, of your actual listing?

[rustybrick]

Well, one can make the argument that the advertiser benefits from this preview in order to bring in more qualified traffic and not waste clicks on non qualified traffic. So Ask should add it to sponsored results.

However, they might also argue that the advertiser wants the traffic for those keywords, otherwise they wouldn't be paying for it. So the ads must be relevant and a preview really does not justify the actual page content.

There are so many factors, not just the advertiser, searcher, or Ask. Also Google's contract with Ask...

I seem to be going in circles, circular reasoning. :)

[Chris Sherman]

I can think of a couple of disadvantages with using binoculars for sponsored listings, both for advertisers and search engines. For the advertiser, the disadvantage is that the thumbnails Ask is displaying are small, and with all but very sparse pages, text is all but unreadable. While thiese small screenshots are good memory joggers for searchers, the format is not a very desirable landing page format for a potential prospect.

And for the search engines, allowing sponsored content to appear in these small screenshots is not much different than the thankfully abandoned practice of using popups (albeit user-controlled). Why would Ask abandon popups only to bring back something similar?

There's also the potential problem of spam -- lacking the full-text of a page, how is the engine to know whether a screenshot captured for the preview is kosher? It would require something similar to a trusted feed/paid inclusion program, which Jeeves is abandoning.

[AndyBeal]

Chris, your responses are valid, but appear to be directed to the Binoculars on the whole. Do you think the whole concept is flawed?

[Chris Sherman]

No, I think the binoculars concept (and the idea of easy preview of pages in its various forms, offered at Vivisimo, Wisenut, Thumbshots in the ODP, etc) is great -- for searchers. Seeing a preview before clicking can help a searcher decide whether to visit a site initially, and also serve as a great reminder of whether you've seen a site before. But these tiny images aren't going to help marketeers very much, due to the limitations of the format.

And I doubt spam will be a problem either -- while I don't know exactly how these screenshots are being generated, I suspect that Ask is being careful to make sure that the screenshots match the indexed content (perhaps a screenshot done at crawl time?).

So I like the idea -- I'm just doubtful that it'll be rolled out (at least in present format) for sponsored listings.

[AndyBeal]

The actual test conducted by Veritest, makes for interesting reading (http://www.veritest.com/clients/reports/askjeeves/askjeeves_usability.pdf)...

* Participants using the binocular version were consistently more efficient with their mouse clicks averaging 50% to 100% fewer mouse clicks than the control group.

* Participants using the binocular version consistently viewed one-fourth to more than half fewer Web pages completing the tasks than the control group.

Although, it appears it takes some getting used to:

* Participants using the binocular version in the first three tasks were slower completing the tasks than the control group. In tasks four through five participants using the binocular version were faster completing the tasks than the control group

[Jim Lanzone]

Andy, don't worry, I'm a lover not a fighter.

While it may surprise you, we think there is something to the notion of a Binoculars-like tool being applied to p4p ads at some point. You, Chris and Rusty point out some of the complications of this, most of which are valid. And there are probably a lot more, especially when advertisers start wanting a say in how it works. We will continue to explore it.

From a financial perspective, meanwhile, it would be a mistake to assume that the impact of Binoculars to p4p revenue would be negative. We suspect that it would be flat to positive, given that, if conversions improved, equilibrium in pricing would be achieved relative to the value/ROI created.

It will be interesting to see the space evolve, as always.

Now about Chris' comparison of the Binoculars rollover to pop-up ads: Chris are you feeling okay? What did you have for breakfast? :eek:

Jim

[Chris Sherman]

Now about Chris' comparison of the Binoculars rollover to pop-up ads: Chris are you feeling okay? What did you have for breakfast? :eek:

Jim

Must have been that haggis that I had in Scotland last week. :p

They are like popups, Jim -- about the same size, format, etc. But remember, I said they are also user-initiated (in that they don't appear unless the user mouses over the link), and I also really like the idea of a preview of a website. For all of the sophisticated searchers who hang here, not a problem. But some users (hi mom) may not get the distinction. Again, the point was to say they're fine for organic results, but might not work well for paid listings, for many reasons.

If your tests show other results, I'd be very interested in hearing about it (natch, when you're ready to talk about it). But given Ask's moves away from popups, paid inclusion, etc, and the less than usable resolution of the screen captures, I'm not sure how you see these things working in an P4P context.

Though I do see Internet evolution, with streaming media, increased monitor resolution, broadband, et all, perhaps changing that.

Will watch for your reply after breakfast tomorrow... ;)

[AndyBeal]

While the size and resolution of the previews may not be the best in the world, I wouldn't class them with pop-ups either. As the Veritest study shows, it took users 2-3 searches before they realized the value of the binoculars. After that, they appeared to love them (yes, I read all of the feedback quotes). Chris, I'm sure your mom, would get the hang of them. :)

Personally, I love them. When I am searching, especially for products, I will not buy from anyone that has a site that appears to have been written by a ten year old, using Frontpage, back in 1998. The binoculars save me the wasted time of review each site.

[Jim Lanzone]

To be fair, Chris wasn't comparing the current product to pop-ups, just saying that if we made ads out of them, they'd be "like" pop-ups. But when was anyone ever fair to Chris?

In terms of resolution and size, we're working on improving, but need to balance with the Top Gun factor: the need for speed. It will happen over time. Remember they are only meant to be an additional factor for determining relevance. As is, they do a very good job of it.

Maverick

[jameson]

I think that the binoculars feature has to be offered to AJ sponsored web results as well. As MSN search is doing with the previews when searching through the IE search pane.
I agree with Andy's argument that then you will get better qualified traffic.
Moreover, if Mr. Jeeves want to inspire loyalty, make their search engine sticky and encourage repeated visits - so thumbs up for the new feature.

[AussieWebmaster]

Now I understand why my ad rep sent me the binoculars... to look at the roll over images... will have to 'pop' them out of the case and give them a thorough test market....
lol.. actually I like the new look and feel... now just have to get the public to embrace it and watch out Google...