subject: How Will Google Instant Impact Search Engine Marketing? [print this page] On the 8th September 2010, Google altered the way it displayed its search engine results by providing instant results based on which words and even characters end users entered. For basic internet users this may seem like a minor benefit but for search engine marketers it is causing some concern.
This is not that surprising for those who have been involved in the industry for some time, Google is constantly trying to find new ways and develop new technology so that when an end user types in a query, only the most relevant results are returned to him/her. The last scare concerned Google Caffeine which was released on the 8th June 2010 and was designed at changing the way search results were determined and cause chaos for SEO executives.
This never materialised itself although it no doubt affected certain rankings within Google's SERP's (Search Engine Results Page). It is also rumoured that Google makes slight changes to their complex algorithm on a daily basis but as these changes are so minor they don't generally cause much disruption within the SEO world.
However those involved within online marketing especially those working within SEO and PPC may now find they have a further challenge to deal with when concerning keywords and especially long tail keywords. This is because Google Instant provides the search results instantaneously as a user types.
So imagine for a minute that you're a car dealer who is trying to rank for the long tail keyword 'Car dealership'. Up until now ranking for that keyword wouldn't have been an issue as there's a fairly good chance that users who search for 'car dealer' also search for 'car dealership'. Now however when an end user starts searching for 'car dealership', he/she will be presented for results showing 'car dealer' or 'car dealership' before he/she can finish their original search phrase of 'car dealership'. This not only concerns SEO but also affects PPC and those who bid on long tail keywords.
Is this the end of long tail keywords? Not necessarily as it all depends on how many user will actually make use of this instant feedback. It is important to remember that at the moment the only way of accessing Google Instant is through the main Google search homepage, so for those users who simply type their search query within the search box at the top of their web browser, Google instant won't make any difference.
There is also the issue of how many end users will actually stop mid way through their query and look at the instant results that are provided and how many will simply continue typing their query until they press enter and see the results presented as they normally would be.
The last change that may be brought about by Google Instant may be the importance of the top 1-4 results, as for those actually using Google Instant the way it is intended, only the top 1-4 results will be displayed and to see more results the user will have to scroll down the page, which in some respects, takes away the instantaneous benefit of Google Instant. It will take several months though till we can accurately see what kind of impact Google Instant has actually had within the search industry.
