Voice Search: From Audrey to Alexa
‘Audrey’, the first voice recognition device to recognize digits spoken by a single voice, has paved way for one of the most convenient features we can access at home or on the go. The history of voice search and voice recognition began in 1952 when Bell Laboratories created “Audrey’ and has continually developed ever since. From Audrey to Alexa, the possibilities of using voice search are proven to be endless.
Voice Search:
As we delve more into voice search, let’s talk about what it truly is. Voice search allows users to make focused internet searches and ask direct questions that get answered, fast! As it developed with technology trends, it continually gained popularity, as well as helped us in our daily lives. With voice search, beneficial aspects are
· It makes it easier to multitask
· It is quick and efficient in getting satisfactory answers
· It’s hands free!
What is it Good For?
1. Asking your smart speaker the next step in a recipe when your hands are full
2. Using Siri on your iPhone while driving to put on locations
3. It’s quicker than typing
4. Last second thoughts you can’t write down… “Hey Google, add bread to my shopping list”
5. Getting scores of games
6. This feature on websites, it allows them to more web traffic
Voice Search at Home:
Roughly 1 in 4 U.S Adults own a smart speaker according to research done by NPR and Edison research. To boot, it is estimated that there are now about 157 million of these smart devices in American homes. These speakers include but are not limited to: Amazon Alexa, Echo Dot and Google Home. Each one of these households now has the capability to voice search while connected to Wi-Fi or wireless data.
Some General Statistics from Voice Search Optimization: A Complete Guide in 2021
· 58% of consumers use voice search to find information about local business online.
· 52% of smart speaker owners in a common space such as a living room.
· 75% of voice search results rank in the top three positions for a particular question on a desktop search
· 56% of voice searches were performed to look something up on the internet.
Sometimes, we don’t even realize when we are using voice search or voice recognition. Our favorite apps even have these features. One that instantly comes to mind and helps me is the “Shazam” application that is available as a stand-alone app, or able to be used on Snapchat in my case. Shazam is a voice recognition app or in app feature that can listen to songs and tell you the artist and name of the song. The app even goes beyond voice recognition and can identify instrumentals, noise waves, and everything in between
Voice Recognition Enhancing Your Business:
Voice search is not only a useful tool in personal life, but your professional life, too. In order to increase web traffic, business’s need to keep up with voice search trends. Voice search dictates results in which people speak, but through Google’s official algorithm, the users search normally differs from what they originally wanted. This somewhat flaw in the system then in turns makes businesses change the dialect on their website to be more direct and conversational. The more businesses keep track of their keywords for SEO (Search Engine Optimization), as well as adapting to the changes in voice search technology, the more web traffic they can attract.