Over the past year, voice search usage has seen unprecedented growth. It was reported recently that 20% of all Google searches are done through voice search. And within one year alone, the use of voice search over all went up from “statistical zero” to making up 10% of all search volume.
What is the reason behind voice technology’s growth? Many explain the reason for this exponential growth is the improved rate at which voice commands are actually captured. Over the years since voice searches started, personal assistance devices have improved drastically. For example, in 2013 Google had a world recognition accuracy rate of below 80% and now that rate has risen to over 90%. This encourages more and more people to make searches using voice commands.
Another reason for the explosive growth in voice searches is a number of new players in the game. There has been a recent boom in voice-controlled personal assistance. For example, Amazon has recently released the Amazon Echo, a voice only interface which allows users to search for information through voice search. Amazon Echo’s sales are on the rise, although only a fraction of iPhone sales, the growth is still impressive. Amazon reflects a year –over- year growth rate of about 150% which down the line can mean even more people using voice-searches.
Whatever the reason, there is no denying voice search has experienced huge growth over the past year and will continue to moving forward. This information will be important to take into account when optimizing your website for voice searches.