Whether you’re an “Okay, Google” or a “Hey, Siri” kind of user, chances are, at one occasion or another, you’ve tried out voice search. The technology isn’t perfect. Indeed, much of the initial amusement when it comes to interacting with voice assistants stemmed from the kookie answers or, in Siri’s case, the snarky replies.

Voice technology still has a long way to go, but since its initial emergence into the digital world, there’s no contesting that immense strides in growth and development have been made, as evident in the recent voice search statistics.

Adoption is on an uptick, even if it’s seems slow when it comes to certain voice-enabled devices. With the convenience that going hands-free provides, however, the voice search phenomenon is surely here to stay.

To help you navigate the new frontier of voice search and voice technology, we’ve gathered the best and most current data on voice search, voice assistants, and other niches relevant to the topic.

• 50% of smartphone users also use voice technology, according to voice search statistics.
• 20% of voice searches are done on Android phones.
• 90% of voice search directories are on Google, Yelp, and Bing.
• Almost half of voice search users make use of local search.
• Google Assistant is rated as the best voice assistant.
• Siri is the most popular assistant on mobile.
• Smart speaker use promotes the use of other voice interactions.
• Many businesses and industries have yet to be optimized for voice search.
• Voice shopping is the next frontier of voice search.
• Voice commerce activities have been estimated to be around 50% or higher at the end of December 2018.

1. On average, people type at a speed of 40 words per minute. Voice interactions are more efficient in comparison at 150 words per minute.

Smartphones remain the leading device for voice interactions since consumers are always in possession of them. But it’s more than just the fact that voice search is great for instances necessitating hands-free use. Users are already accustomed to speaking into their phones. So engaging with voice assistants on their phones is second nature.

Source: eMarketer

2. Google Voice Search was initially introduced in 2010.

It shows just how much foresight Google itself had back then to have already started developing speech recognition nearly a decade ago. It’s hard to imagine, but at the start, the voice search function barely worked. Sometimes, it did nothing.

So what was the process for this early version of search like? To be able to do a voice search back then, the user needs to dial the Google Voice search number (650) 623-6706 using their phone. Then, recite the query keywords as a response at the behest of a pre-recorded prompt. Users would then be provided a link to their search results. It’s a far cry from the Google Voice capabilities we have now, but this older version was very much a huge contributor.

Source: WordStream

3. Nearly 70% of queries made to Google Assistants are expressed in natural language and constructed very differently from manually typed search queries.

And it’s due to this fact that Gartner makes the insightful observation that as voice search usage grows, strategies for paid search and organic content in digital marketing will be significantly altered. Future transactions and voice search marketing will rely more on conversational interactions. If they haven’t already done so, businesses and marketers alike will have to quickly adapt.

Source: Think With Google

4. Google, Yelp, and Bing together have a 90% share of the world’s voice search directories, according to a study conducted by Uberall.

Are you wondering what percentage of searches are voice? Well, Search Engine Land reports that in the U.S., 20% of searches run on Android are voice searches. (This statement was attributed to Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai.) With the integration of third-party services that allow for a variety of transactions, this number has gone up and will continue to rise, according to voice search stats.

Source: Search Engine Watch

5. Fun fact: Google engineers had a Google AI read through romance novels to develop mastery of verbal nuances.

How conversational Google Assistant is nowadays may have something to do with this particular experiment back in 2016. BuzzFeed published a piece about it, interviewing Google software engineer, Andrew Dai.

Why romance novels? Dai cites that these works of fiction generally present the same plots using varying means of expressions. This particular quality is what makes them the perfect tools for developing an AI’s understanding of nuances in language. While it would be interesting to test Google Assistant’s capabilities, we’re not saying you should put your assistant to the test with raunchy questions. But what you do on your on free time is really up to you.

Source: Search Engine Land

6. Also, did you know that voice searching works differently between certain voice assistants?

Google Assistant works by answering queries using the Google search index, then formulating the results into a verbal explanation for users. Alexa, on the other hand, relays questions to the cloud, where the user’s need is determined and looked up based on the skill needed to complete the request. Additionally, Alexa relies on Bing search engine instead of Google.

Source: Search Engine Land

7. In 2017, daily voice search trends revealed that rate of use was at 41% for adults and 55% for teens.

Semantic search was also introduced with the advent of Google’s Hummingbird, which turned search query interpretation by search engines into something that’s more context-based than keyword-based. Because of this, long-tail phrases that mimic natural speech now have more importance to SEO strategies.

Source: Forbes

8. Based on an analysis of voice assistant statistics, Alexa appears to be the most in demand.

Consumers have purchased over 100 million Alexa-powered devices from Amazon. As it turns out, they’re consciously buying Alexa-enabled devices specifically because they want Alexa as their voice assistant.

Source: eMarketer

9. Nearly half of voice users turn to local search for business review ratings and discover new businesses (at 47% and 46%, respectively), according to voice search statistics.

This data is significant since a BrightLocal survey has found that 33% of consumers take action once they read a positive review. This means that for businesses that are optimized for voice and local searches, there are many opportunities for revenue generation. Other user objectives included getting a business’ address, acquiring directions to its physical location, and getting the business phone number, based on the voice search stats report.

Source: BrightLocal

10. Did you know that Google Assistant can play quiz master?

The prompt “Talk to Music Quiz” will start the exchange, and Google Assistant will start asking relevant music trivia questions. It gets better. Not only does the assistant administer the quiz, it’ll also track your score as you go.

Not in the mood for trivia? You can play games like Tic-Tac-Toe. It seems that with just the words, “I’m bored,” users can trigger these sorts of amusing interactions.

Source: Tom’s Guide

11. Out of the different voice assistants leading the market, Cortana was found to be the worst performer.

According to the personal testing carried out in the article, Cortana had problems detecting user speech. Other voice search products and assistants failed to detect voice commands when media of some kind was playing in the background, but Cortana wind up unable to decipher queries even when they were spoken clearly and slowly, without any background noise. The article also reports that Cortana was the most difficult assistant to set up.

Source: Business News Daily

12. 33% of participants in a voice searching and local business study have admitted to using the voice search function to order takeout.

It seems that there are many opportunities for voice search in the food industry, as the study also determined that 54% of users would use voice search to make reservations at a local restaurant, pub, or bar. Aside from this particular feature, 46% of respondents would like to be able to find out the pricing information relevant to the businesses near them.

Source: BrightLocal

13. Adults spend 10x more hours on their phones this year than they did in 2018.

According to Higher Invisibility, over 34% of respondents stated that they use voice search primarily when they’re driving. Android users use voice search primarily for looking up directions. iOs users, on the other hand, showed a preference to using voice to ask a fun question and find music. Interestingly enough, though, Apple users are the ones who tend to use voice search the most while driving.

Source: Search Engine Watch

14. ComScore finds that 50% of people who use a smartphone also use voice search.

And with 90% of households in the U.S. owning a smartphone, that’s a tremendous number. As far as the general voice technology user population goes, nearly half expect their usage of the feature to increase even more. Already, a third of people who use voice technology, use it daily. Why go back to a more primitive way of doing things when voice makes everything so much more convenient?

Source: ComScore

15. Siri statistics reveal that it is the most used voice assistant among mobile users.

It’s interesting to note that 45.64% of mobile users use Siri. In comparison, only 28.70% turned to Google Assistant. According to Apple CEO, Tim Cook, Siri has monthly active users totalling 375 million in the United States.

Source: Voicebot.ai

16. Another voice assistant statistics reveal that the most common uses for mobile voice assistants are in the car while driving (62%) and while relaxing at home (38%).

Aside from this, it turns out that smartphone use of voice search functions in 2018 is primarily informational. 83.6% of users ask general questions, 47.4% ask questions related to traffic and directions, and 28.8% use the feature to find a place to eat.

Source: eMarketer

17. 46% of participants in a voice search for local business study used voice search to find local businesses on a daily basis.

56% of users who used voice search in 2018 did so on their smartphone to find info on a local business, while 18% did so on smart speaker. Of the smartphone users that search for local info, more than 75% utilize voice search to run local business search queries at least once a week.

Source: BrightLocal

18. Consumers between the ages of 18 and 34 years old are most likely to perform local searches based on recent voice search stats. (Specifically, that’s 76% of users in the case of this particular report.)

Users aged 35 to 54 come second at 64%. While less than 40% of users over the age of 55 use voice search to find local businesses. Across genders, it turns out that men have used voice search for local queries at 11% more than women.

Source: BrightLocal