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You, me and the Internet of Things

There is currently a lot of disruption in the way we shop, interact with each other and get the information we need. This has caused changes in the way we search and even who will search. New advancements in technology and more specifically the internet of things (IOT) will disrupt search drastically. The IOT is the connectivity of devices to the internet. First, phones were connected to the internet, then watches and now we even have fridges. There were 20 billion IOT devices in 2017 and it is estimated that there will be as many as 30 billion connected devices by 2020.

It's fair to say that the IOT is making our homes smarter with connected lights, heating and smart speakers. It mitigates the need to sit down at your computer or even use your mobile to search or listen to music. But, how does all this connectivity relate to paid search? Currently, we are used to seeing ads when we search, we are used to seeing ads when we go to the cinema, however what we are not used to seeing is ads from like our fridge. This sort of advertising is the future!

Imagine this scenario: you are at home on a Saturday night, you are hungry and you check your fridge to see what you have…nothing. You close the fridge door and suddenly on your smart fridge you see an ad for your favourite take away. Or perhaps you get an ad for Tesco reminding you to re order you latest shopping basket for delivery. This will entirely depend on quality score and bidding just like a traditional paid search auction. We may start to see new device bidding options beyond the current 3 traditional options: desktop, mobile, tablet.

Internet of things fridge 

Left: A smart fridge allowing the user to watch TV, see the current stock of their fridge via multiple internal cameras and even order their grocery shop. With such a big screen there will be a multitude of opportunities for paid search.

The possibilities are endless for companies and agencies alike. We will start to see companies who have previously been absent on paid search begin to use it. We may even see petrol garage companies start bidding on in car auctions for you to fill up your petrol at their garage. At the rate of technological growth, the only limit is our imagination.

How do we prepare?

  • Automating as much as possible to allow us as marketers more time to focus on the future and planning for it.
  • Look at strategies on targeting devices which previously were not connected to the internet.
  • Optimising mobile experiences as much as possible as these smart devices will in most cases share their technological architecture with mobiles.
  • Open up our minds to new ideas and push the boundaries that previously were only possible in sci fi movies.