Universal Search

Universal Search is also referred to as "Blended" or "Enhanced Search" (universal/enhanced search). In search engine optimization (SEO), this means the integration of media such as images, videos, or maps, in addition to the organic search results on search engines like Google. Universal Search has existed since 2007.

Behind the term Universal Search lies the merging of horizontal and vertical search within the regular search results of the search engine Google. Specifically, this means that searchers will not only find general information (horizontal search) in the organic search for a specific keyword but also receive special results from the areas of news, images, or shopping (vertical search). The goal is to provide the user with even more informative results and useful facts. Because media results such as images, videos, and news are increasingly provided here, it is also referred to as Rich Media content. The content is displayed alongside the SERPs during a search query. Back then, the result appeared in a bordered box that separated it from the other SERP elements, which is why the term "Boxes" is still frequently used.

Universal Search was introduced in 2007. Specifically, Universal Search draws on the following areas of vertical search: Google News, Product Listing Ads (ads in the PLA area are now paid, which is why they no longer strictly belong to Universal Search), Google Images, Videos (YouTube), Google Maps, and the Knowledge Graph, an infobox displayed to the right of the search results that primarily provides useful facts about well-known people, buildings, places, or animals. Universal Search was expanded with "Search Plus Your World." This allows users of Google products to receive personalized results for a keyword. This development aims to account for the increasing role social signals play in searching for information and products. The so-called social signals refer to content from social networks.

Which elements are increasingly displayed in Universal Search depends heavily on the search term. Transactional search queries (e.g., product + "buy" or "order") indicate a clear purchasing intent, which is why Google primarily provides shopping results in Universal Search. However, if the user searches for a current event (e.g., Football World Cup 2014, snowstorm, Super Bowl), they are provided with real-time results, for example from Twitter. Companies and providers have the opportunity to appear in search results through various content. Google also uses personal search history to tailor the results for users. User behavior plays an important role: What is the location? Which browser is the user using? What cookies are stored? And so on.

Database of Universal Search

The database for Universal Search typically consists of the SERPs of the first five search results for a keyword. Sometimes, only the top SERP is considered. Google usually tests the integration in the displayed results first—this often happens initially based on the database of Google search results in the USA. However, databases are also used that provide only websites. For shopping, for example, the product lists submitted by merchants registered with Google Shopping are used. Google also frequently acquires companies to use and expand their data repositories for Universal Search.

Criticism and impact on SEO

Points of contention with Universal Search include that users spend more time on Google-internal pages and find the information they are looking for (e.g., How big is Berlin?) without having to click on the target page. As a result, websites have to accept a loss of visitors, usage time, and conversions. At the same time, the likelihood that users click on an advertisement increases the longer they move on the search results page. This, in turn, brings the search engine giant more advertising revenue through the Google Ads advertising system. It is also controversial that the integration of Universal Search reduces the number of organic results in the SERPs. As a result, it can happen that instead of the top 10, only 4 organic results are displayed. Consequently, websites are only visible after scrolling, despite good rankings and comprehensive search engine optimization.