Every now and again you'll hear the phrase, "A sign of the apocalypse." Well, here it is again.

The search engine Bing recently announced that emoji characters can now be used in place of and along with words/letters in organic search. (Thousands of 12-year-old girls posted an excited face next to an exclamation point shortly after the news was released.)

[Appear high on Bing search by clicking here.]

Let's back up a bit: emoji (the singular and plural are the same) are "ideograms or smileys used in Japanese electronic messages and webpages, the use of which is spreading outside Japan," as described by Wikipedia, the perfect source for this medium.

Here are some visual examples:



So now, instead of going through the arduous process of typing out "pizza," you can just put the pizza emoji in the search bar and you're good to go. For the advanced, you can pun it up by adding "crap" after pizza or use the symbols of a bride and a shower to search for bridal shower information.

[What keywords are used to find your website? Click here to find out.]

Yes, a picture is worth a thousand words. But the other side of that phrase is that 1,001 words will always be worth more than any image. No emoji will ever be worth the word, emotion or description it represents. And when we start aligning our search practices with the preferred methods of tweens, we move towards even lazier language use.

Regardless, the "search with emoji" feature could be the next big trend and push for organic search and SEO efforts.

Does your company have a firm grasp on the digital trends happening in the U.S. and around the globe? Let MAXtech Agency ensure you are up to date and ahead of the digital curve. Get your digital presence checked right now by calling Thoughtwire at 800-367-2570.