Almost one in six people now use voice search at least once a week in the UK, with more than half feeling that voice search will be of importance in the future.

According to a survey of 1,000 UK consumers from Uberall, 15 per cent of people now use voice search frequently versus 66 per cent who have never used voice search. Meanwhile, 55 per cent of respondents felt that voice search will be important in the future.

Frequent users more often use voice search in their own home (52 per cent) or in the car (15 per cent), but have also been known to make use of the function when walking to a destination, at work, in a restaurant/shop/café, and on public transport.

Of those not adopting voice search more frequently, 27 per cent said it’s because they’re not used to it, while 19 per cent don’t feel it’s very efficient, and 18 per cent do not think it’s accurate. 11 per cent of respondents said they don’t use voice search because they feel uncomfortable talking to artificial intelligence, with the same number saying they were embarrassed about using voice search in front of others.

“Our research shows that as consumers get used to voice products in their everyday lives, it is more likely that it will have a broader adoption rate,” said Norman Rohr, SVP of marketing at Uberall. “This has already been proven through the rise in smart speaker sales and in-car voice technology in 2018.

“Voice search technology has to become more user friendly before it wins the hearts and minds of the general public. From this data, businesses can start asking questions such as ‘is a consumer likely to search for my business while out driving or walking to a destination, or at home?’”