The results of a survey (2015), which involved 27,000 participants worldwide, has declared that Google has now become more trusted than traditional media sources.
Results within the survey quoted that online search engines, such as Google, are now more trusted than traditional media. This came from the finalised results of the survey, which announced that 72% of people thought Google was easier to trust, comparative to 64% for traditional sources.
Trust of information sources varies by demographics
Among those of a younger demographic, known as “Millennials”, there is a much greater gap of trust, when compared to other age groups. With many more young people growing up surrounded by technology, and being constantly bombarded with big names like Google, it’s not surprising why they have a greater sense of trust in them, compared to traditional sources like newspapers, which are not typically brought by those of a younger age.
Even with this Survey, that was completed by a wide variety of people across the globe, we cannot completely assume that the public in general trusts Google more than traditional ways of receiving media, with 27,000 participants, it hardly represents the whole world, but it does give an insight as to where peoples trust is heading when it comes to the world of media.
As Google as a company, and as a search engine super-giant continues to expand ever further into our lives, we will see greater trust being held in not only Google, but from those who dominate the market. As well, as more children become involved with media at a younger and younger age, the brand loyalty of this new demographic will no doubtingly increase, and ultimately boost their trust in these well-known brands.
Impact of brand messages by media
The impact on businesses and brands regarding the difference in levels of trust between various types media is significant for both positive and negative news. If a brand is appearing in Google results with positive messages, then these results can have more of a 'trust appeal' than information that a consumer is exposed to via traditional media. The importance of positioning a brand within the organic search results is clear. The flipside is also crucial in terms of negative news and messages.
Mitigating Negative Google Results
If a business or brand has negative publicity, then apologies and explanations in traditional media alone is not going to be sufficient to mitigate the damage. In these cases, work should also be done to move positive messages about the story / brand / business above the more negative results within Google’s results. At Innovation Visual, we have worked on quite a number of projects of this nature – all of which are obviously highly confidential by their nature. We understand the importance of negating the impact of negative messages within the search results and working within the Google algorithm to legitimately promote positive results. If you have a similar problem then please get in touch for a confidential discussion as to how we could help you.
