Google created a new traffic source with the Keen App, a tool capable of directing new users on websites.
Where is Google Keen Coming From and How Does It Work?
Keen is part of the innovative projects promoted by Google’s “Area 120”. Area 120 is described as the place where small teams work together in a start-up environment to create new innovative projects. Keen is definitely one of the most innovative experimental projects of the last few months: it is in fact a web and Android app based on machine learning principles which actively suggests the most relevant web pages to users based on their search interests, and it allows sharing these interests with other people.
According to what Google announced in a recent post, the project was started to fulfill a daily life need: a husband and wife who were collecting information on the activities and ideas they considered important and that they wanted to share.
As they were gathering more links, ideas and information about their hobbies and interests, the two “Googlers” soon realized that they needed a tool that would help them in organizing and sharing their ideas and finding new ones.
The post explains:
“It was interesting to inform each other about the things we wanted to spend more time on. Once we did it, we found out that putting ideas, links and resources together gave us a way to dedicate more time to the passions shared in the real world.
To explore this idea further, four colleagues created Keen…”
The content created with Keen can be publicly shared, shared with specific people, or kept private. What makes Keen different from Pinterest is that this new web and mobile app uses Google Search and machine learning to suggest relevant contents correlated with the interests of the user.
As the user expands her collection of interests, Keen becomes more efficient, suggesting the type of content that is really interesting in a proactive way.
According to the official announcement by Google, with Keen it is possible to save and add links, images and web searches: more elements are added to your feed and additionally you can discover related ones.
What does this Mean for your Business?
Keen is a new traffic source since it actively suggests which web pages are more interesting to visit based on the interests. It is therefore possible that contents and websites suggested by Keen will have a high chance of being explored, providing a great opportunity for traffic to your business website.
The real new innovation is the fact that traditional search engines like Google are “passive” in the sense that they respond to an explicit request of the user (search query) while Keen is “proactive” as it actively suggests content that the user will probably find relevant and click on.
This aspect makes Keen more a competitor to Pinterest but in an interesting way for publishers, web marketers and e-commerce managers who have an opportunity to grow the popularity of their business with a very targeted audience landing on their website.
Do you want to find out how to make the most out of Keen’s potential and all the other Google tools? Contact us now or check out our services.
