As the world turns to FIFA, FIFA.com turns to Google

We’re right in the middle of football fever worldwide and as the number of competing teams dwindles, the interest is only growing. Of course, many of these eyeballs around the world are turning to FIFA.com to get the latest scores, updates, and analysis.

Given the traffic flowing through FIFA.com, FIFA understands the importance of search on their website. Indeed, according to a recent independent Forrester Research, Inc. report, a 2008 survey found that “70 percent of online users stated that “ease of search” is the most important factor influencing how they select news resources”. ¹ For this reason, FIFA has chosen the Google Search Appliance to power search on their website.

With the Google Search Appliance, FIFA.com is able to provide a user-centric, universal search experience across all types of content—news, statistics, images and videos. For instance, when you type in “Messi,” you first see a box at the top showing “player statistics,” followed by FIFA news results in order of relevance, then images and videos specifically pertaining to Messi.

Additionally, features like “Did you mean” direct people to the right results. For instance, if you type in “mesi,” FIFA.com will ask you if you meant “Messi.” Or if you type in a country name, say “Argentina,” the top result will be a link to a country-specific page.

By focusing on the user, FIFA.com offers their fans a compelling experience, with search as a core element. And we’re happy to play a small role in helping millions of fans around the world keep up to date on their favorite sport.

¹ Site Search Best Practices: Methods for Creating a Positive Search Experience, Forrester Research, Inc., March 5 2010.

Posted by Rajat Mukherjee, Group Product Manager, Enterprise Search