Google Instant - A New Way to SEO
posted Friday Sep 10, 2010 by Scott Ertz
This week, Google launched their newest, most ambitious search enhancement yet - Google Instant. If you have made it to the Google homepage in the last 36 hours or so, you will notice that all of the searching is different. As soon as you start typing, it starts searching.
Google says,
Google Instant is a new search enhancement that shows results as you type. We are pushing the limits of our technology and infrastructure to help you get better search results, faster. Our key technical insight was that people type slowly, but read quickly, typically taking 300 milliseconds between keystrokes, but only 30 milliseconds (a tenth of the time!) to glance at another part of the page. This means that you can scan a results page while you type.
For more about Google Instant, hit the break.
Google is alto touting their predictive text and user predictions.
Smarter Predictions: Even when you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for, predictions help guide your search. The top prediction is shown in grey text directly in the search box, so you can stop typing as soon as you see what you need.
What I read here is that the web has changed. Two people making the same starting search will change what they are typing live, meaning the end results will be different. This makes SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, a thing of the past. Hitting keywords won't matter so much anymore because people won't be stopping on the keyword, it will only be a launching ground for more search terms.
These results may only stay on your screen for a fraction of a second. So, if you own a website that is the top result for the search term 'DDR' but the user is searching for German band, they will continue typing and never really see or care about your website. Many sites use this approach to attract new users who may never have heard of your site.
Clearly, Google has changed the web again. It will be interesting to see how people respond to this change. What do you think about it? Tell us in the comments section.
