Search giant Google has launched a new search enhancement tool called Google Instant, which shows results as you type. Google have identified that ‘people type slowly, but read quickly,’ thus Google Instant allows users to scan a results page while they type. The benefits of Google Instant are faster searches, smarter predictions and instant results. After spending time playing around with the tool, trying different searches and different letter/keyword combinations, it’s clear that the tool will have a major impact on the search industry. There has already been scpeticism from industry insiders towards the new search function, but purely from a user’s point of view it will almost certainly catch on, and in the process will force SEO and PPC experts to re-think some of their strategies and the way they work.
Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin suggests that “Google Instant will draw more users,” which can only be great news for advertisers and therefore ultimately great for Google. However, advertisers will now have to think how they go about optimising for instant results, with more bids and greater competition on highly generic keywords being a prime example of projected trends that we at Network Intellect expect to take place. In the few hours since Google announced the pending roll-out of Google Instant, SEO whizz’s have already been building alphabet lists to see which results appear first for which letters (e.g. a = amazon, b = bestbuy, c = craigslist etc) and as such, the fight for top natural positions on single letter searches will also be fierce.
It seems that the main benefit of Google Instant is that users now no longer have to type out a full search query, hit the search button, then scroll the results, then type in another search query if they couldn’t find the results. They can see the results as they type, meaning it will save the user a lot of time in their search for the result they are looking for. It does seem though that most users have got used to Google over time and have learnt how to search, how to write/word a search query to give themselves the best chance of getting the results they desire. They learnt how to write searches that they knew Google would understand, but now it appears that Google no longer need the help, and can now tell you what they think you want to find before you’ve even told them!
So where does this all leave MSN Bing? Whilst it has slowly been chipping away at Google’s dominant search engine market share over recent months following its partnership with Yahoo, Bing will now have to step up to the plate and shows it’s hand in order to survive. However, it is still early days and at this stage, it is more a case of ‘wait and see’ to find out how the roll-out of Google Instant will impact on the search engine market in the long-term.
