Google Instant - a threat to SEO?

taktikz

taktikz

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Oct 22, 2008
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Google Instant: A More Innovative Approach to Search - Inside AdWords
A reporter (I believe she was from AdAge) attending Google's Q&A about Google Instant pointed out that the new search feature tends to favor big brands. This isn't really surprising, as it is these brands that are more likely to be searched for most often. After all, they're big because people know them.

Do you think Google Instant is a threat to SEO? Share your thoughts.

iCrossing has a list of brands that come up when you enter each letter of the alphabet (not all are brands, but many are). A is for Amazon (not Apple), B is for Bank of America, M is for Mapquest (not Microsoft), N is for Netflix, P is for Pandora, V is for Verizon, and Y is for Yahoo.

You must keep in mind, however, that the instant results are personalized. Google takes into account things like your location and your surfing habits when providing you results.

Google Instant doesn't necessarily make things any easier on small businesses, but it's showing big brands in cases where Google probably would've suggested big brands anyway. If users do a lot of local searches, it's possible that Google could show more local results (including small businesses) for those users, I'm speculating.

Steve Rubel says that Google Instant makes SEO irrelevant. "Here's what this means," he says. "No two people will see the same web. Once a single search would do the trick - and everyone saw the same results. That's what made search engine optimization work. Now, with this, everyone is going to start tweaking their searches in real-time. The reason this is a game changer is feedback. When you get feedback, you change your behaviors."

He's not wrong about that, but I'm not sure that makes SEO irrelevant. Google has been showing different results to different users for quite a while now. This is really just an extension of that. Businesses might want to try (and have other people try) doing searches for keywords that they would expect people to use to find their site. See what comes up (keep in mind the personalization) and work from there. Easier said than done no doubt, but it's something to consider. Think about what kinds of people will be interested in your products and what other kind of searches they might be doing. It's not a science, but again, perhaps something worth considering. It might mean getting to know your customers better, which can' t be a bad thing anyway. Maybe it means asking them to take surveys. Maybe it doesn't.

The whole thing doesn't help organic SEO's case in the old SEO vs PPC debate. I'll give Rubel that.

Speaking of PPC, Google says Google Instant changes the way it counts impressions. "It's possible that this feature may increase or decrease your overall impression levels," says Google's Dan Friedman. "However, Google Instant may ultimately improve the quality of your clicks since it helps users type queries that more directly connect them with the answers they need."
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What do you think?
 


Interesting, a few of my browsers have been forced into the beta of this recently. Others are stuck with the regular ajax results page and dropdown. The ajax results are fucking aweful, but the instant has been surprisingly good from a user perspective.

I do think this will dilute googles own stats, since they are doing a lot of CTR ranking and it appears to fire an impression after about 3 seconds of no typing. I wonder how this affects adwords also, does it classify an impression on pixel fire, or as they are shown?

They took away the search box at the bottom of the page, which I feel will limit a lot of the long tail corrections that everyone is afraid of.

I don't really think this'll change SEO much though since google is already treating serps like adwords as it is.
 
from a user-standpoint it sucks. i shut mine off already... i don't need results for divorce atty or disney land when i'm searching for "D"entist. I'll go to Bing if they force it on me.
 
Hellrot said:
The game will always change and the strong will adapt.
Click to expand...

Agree. I personally don't think this will affect the seo services industry nor seo maneuvering of rankings. However, the competition for short tail keywords and the demand for local seo will most likely increase.
 
SEOLIX said:
Agree. I personally don't think this will affect the seo services industry nor seo maneuvering of rankings. However, the competition for short tail keywords and the demand for local seo will most likely increase.
Click to expand...

Short tail is getting eatin' up by instant. The suggest is mowing right over a lot of short tail search.
 
levels the playing field and enters whole new dynamics. i dont know the stats but i'm sure a lot of people are going to turn instant search off (like myself), so longtail/localized keywords will still have a demand. SEO and keyword bidding will be cheaper for those focusing on long tail or niche, while the rates for the big ones will go up subtantially (if a substantial amount of people use instant search). people that once couldnt afford to play in the longtail arena will now have a lower price of entry.

or thats my theory.
 
Does anyone know for sure if age have the upper hand in the new roll out for sites?

I'm seeing a lot of people posting that after blowing the dust off a few old files their old ass sites are ranking rather well now with the new Google instant without effort on their part.

Also seeing that the results are schewed to the users search patterns or answers?

I'm guessing that will eat up a lot of space on their end.
 
simpleonline12 said:
Does anyone know for sure if age have the upper hand in the new roll out for sites?

I'm seeing a lot of people posting that after blowing the dust off a few old files their old ass sites are ranking rather well now with the new Google instant without effort on their part.

Also seeing that the results are schewed to the users search patterns or answers?

I'm guessing that will eat up a lot of space on their end.
Click to expand...

Age always helps SEO wise...are you saying if it affects it more than it used to?
 
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