Intent 2.0 refers to improved search marketing based on more precise knowledge of what users are looking for. But the question is: do we want it?

The power of search marketing derives from tapping into intent. For example, Internet users searching for the word “iPhone” signal intent to learn more about iPhones. Some of those searchers want to buy an iPhone.  As a result, paid search ads selling iPhones that appear on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) for the search term "iPhone" generally work well – even though it's not known which iPhone they want to buy, at what price point, or where.

On the other hand, some “iPhone” searchers may want to learn more about its features, read independent reviews, or find a forum where they can chat with other iPhone users about taking pictures. In these situations when it’s not the searcher’s intent to immediately purchase an iPhone, the search ads selling iPhones aren’t particularly relevant. If we as search marketers continue to present ads that may or may not be relevant to Internet users' intent, they may learn to tune out paid search marketing.

So, how do search engines guess your intent based on a single word or phrase? Leading search engines have many ways. The first is based on lifetime search history such that new search results are influenced by past searches and results clicked on. Other factors include: demographics collected during registration for an email address, content of email messages, purchases made after a search, the context of the task currently engaged in by the user, and so on.

Theoretically, personalizing search results and ads based on user intent could be good for searchers. It’s a win-win, especially when users are exploring unfamiliar territory. However, it’s also a little creepy - to what extent do we want to trade off privacy for convenience? Helping consumers answer this could be worth its weight in digital gold.

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