This concept is simple - page one = inquiry, page two = results page: where you go from there is what we’re talking about.
I like to think of Search as only ending when the consumer’s intent is truly qualified and solved. As GYM often admit (albeit quietly), their job is to send you to the right place as efficiently as possible, and results pages rarely deliver more than crude approximations in qualifying intent.
There are rich examples today where search is performed in deep meaningful ways AFTER leaving what we’ve come to view as “the” search engine. Consumer’s are not “done searching” when they link from Google to Orbitz, or Move.com, or Dexonline.com - they follow the richness of specialized search, deeper content and application integration in these destination sites - continuing to refine their search to solve their needs. Charlene Li blogged about it a bit, and added some dimension to the concept after we chatted about it back in 2005.
A few years back we referred to the work Local Matters does in Local Search as “Destination Search”, along these same lines - rich in “applied search” and designed to be the logical destination AFTER the SERP to qualify and complete the real consumer local shopping experience. To me, Local Search is a poster child for the Third Page of Search concept.
The most valuable real estate is the point where search truly converts into refined intention and commerce action. In value terms, the SERP ability to truly convert 3-4 search terms into shopping intent is just plain overblown. Spend some time browsing the AOL search database and you’ll see. The average user’s grasp of search tools is just plain elementary.
Undoubtedly, the SERP will morph into increasingly creative models of “keeping you” until you are more qualified. However, to me this is where the deeply entrenched behavior patterns of Google in particular (efficiently search and leave) can become a tremendous challenge. It’s chronicled here in a pretty telling way. This makes me feel like the early movers to the third page neighborhood are sitting on a piece of search real estate that is really well positioned for growth!
