Google Instant

70 Comments

1. Also noteworthy … Since I do a fair bit of local SEO, I’ve checked out a lot of the keyword phrases that I target for clients and I’ve noticed that Google Instant tends to add the state abbreviation more times than not.

   So while our target used to be something like “flooring charlotte,” Google Instant suggests “flooring charlotte nc.”

   Now a lot of the competition that I work against tend to optimize for “________ charlotte” (or wherever) instead of “________ charlotte nc” because that was traditionally where the search volume was.

   However I’ve always made it a focus to optimize for *both* (not like it takes any additional effort – just put the state abbreviation in your page titles and links), and it looks like that choice is going to pay off pretty well.

   Just something to keep in mind for any folks who do search marketing for local businesses. 🙂

2. One other thing: While the search box is still “open,” (if you don’t hit the enter key) it pushes the results down a bit, so the difference between #3 and #2 or #1 is going to be even more important than ever.

3. I must say this really scares me. What are you supposed to do with all the sites and blogs and squidoos you have already?

   I read the email about the google suggestions and understand that bit. I just don’t know how I’m going to use it in the end as I mostly promote physical products and not niche sites.

4. Great, Jennifer – you beat me to the punch. Always one step behind…hmm…

   🙂 I’ll be posting the majority of my thoughts on my blog, but the fact is that it’s so new there will need to be some time to do any sort of measuring…

   Just remember that the majority of the keywords use Google’s own AdWords tool, so it’s not as if Google will bite their face to spite their toes…

   You know what I meant.

5. Hmm, I’m not sure how I feel about this yet. I haven’t seen it implemented on my end, not sure if it’s in Canada at the moment.

   HOW does Google know what keywords to SUGGEST?

   More popular ones based on what’s been SEARCHED or more popular ones based on what’s in RANK?

6. Thanks for the head’s up, Jennifer…I hope this doesn’t turn out to be as alarming as it seems right now.

   It seems like this will skew searchers toward the highest demand keywords, which are already not winnable, and away from the niche and long-tailed KWs.

   I hope this perception turns out to be wrong!

7. I had read earlier in the day it was coming and just like you later this evening there it was. I really wasn’t paying to much attention to it. Funny I kinda of think of it as a Big Brother thing at the moment with Google getting even more control of you.

   But I have noticed something else going on with Google. I do alot of research in my niche markets and just recently I have noticed something interesting. Which is I start seeing Google ads that are showing on the pages I’m browsing related to my niche. Sometimes on pages that aren’t related to my niche.

   Give you an example … I’m in the baby products market. I was doing alot of jogging stroller research. Guess what I start seeing Google ads for when I’m just browsing around? Yep jogging strollers… is it just me or has anyone else noticed this?

8. Greg –

   Yeah, that’s been going on for a while, it’s part of the personal search…Google “knows” you and what you’ve been looking for.

   As an affiliate marketer, you’ll see a lot of your own products following you across your search.

   Facebook is doing similar things…

9. Greg – that is Google’s personalized search thing is action. These days it happens whether you are logged in to Google or not.

   For example, I can working on information/research about dog food. Then I change it up to find a new kitchen blender for the house….but the Google ads are still showing dog food related ads.

   While I get the point behind why they do it, my little pea-brain does not work that way. When I am done looking at things related to dog food and have moved on to something else – stop talking to me about dog food…Just let it go….lol!

10. Yeah… what James said….lol

    (apparently great minds think alike AND at the same time!)

11. For the record – you are up much too early, I’m up much too late.

    AND

    I’m in no way in your league, Jennifer – not by a long shot, but thanks!

12. From a searchers viewpoint I think this can be a timesaver. From a niche marketers viewpoint, it seems that this will cut the traffic on a lot of low competition long tail keywords, because searchers will be directed to the more popular (and more competitive) keywords that Google suggests for them. From my viewpoint, it seems like this will only mean more competition for less keywords that get traffic.

13. This has been active in the Google toolbar search box for a while now. Sometimes it’s helpful but if searching for a long tail expression, not so much.

    The buzz around this reminds me of when the Google maps 6 pack was rolled out but I don’t think it’s as big a deal as that was. I do agree with what others have said, that this will hurt long tail keyword performance as searchers take a shot with one of the suggested expressions.

14. I guess this is just the next evolution of predictive typing. If only it worked for comments on blogs — this comment would be already done by now 8=)

    While I’ve seen the Google Suggestions and the effects of Google Personalization, I haven’t experienced the Google Instant yet (I use the .ca — national pride and all that) I’ll have to zip over to google.com and test it out.

    I don’t think this will be a bad thing for SEO going forward as it will focus the keyword efforts for those who do research. It gives you a pretty strong clue to what popular searches are looking for.

    It does make me wonder how they will discover new search phrases in the future though as people get out of the habit of actually typing them in. Will it eventually get to the point of being an interactive directory rather than a search engine?

15. When I encountered Google Instant last night I promptly turned it OFF. I don’t want Big G telling me what to search for, or encouraging me to do it faster. This is as rude as a fellow diner who has wolfed down his meal watching every bite you take and sighing impatiently.

    Reading their explanation for this “innovation” I was struck by the impression that this is good for Google but not necessarily for us (as searchers or marketers). I completely agree with the previous comments that this will “steer” searchers towards the most popular keywords. From this point on, the legitimacy of any keyword’s popularity must be in question, as a growing number of those “popular” searches will be at the prompting (I wanted to say “behest”) of Big G. These are not the results of users’ independent decisions about what they want or what is important to them; they are self-perpetuating, artificial contrivances. We will no longer know (if we ever did) what searchers are really after – and nor will Google themselves!

    If Google’s ultimate raison d’etre is to connect searchers with the information they seek – which is what they have always wanted us to believe – this is horribly inconsistent with that goal. But if Google is in fact driven by the profit motive, this is potentially wonderful for their bottom line. For these popular keywords are precisely the ones that Adwords advertisers are paying dearly for; more searches on these terms presents more opportunities to serve these ads and milk the advertisers’ ad budget.

    Is that a smart business decision? Only time will tell. I hope this all backfires on them, but they are so big they can get away with almost anything, can’t they? Are we all going to go back to Yahoo? Hardly!

    How many of you remember that great, iconoclastic website, long-since sanitized, F***Microsoft.com? In a similar spirit, someone needs to buy a domain along the lines of “SwitchOffGoogleInstant.org” and put up a nice blog. You can always monetize it with Adsense…. ;(

16. @Richard

    “someone needs to buy a domain along the lines of “SwitchOffGoogleInstant.org” and put up a nice blog. You can always monetize it with Adsense…. ;(”

    Someone?? Why not you??

17. I have already visited a few other guru blogs talking about this. Surprisingly, not many of them see the benefits. Yes it will be harder to rank for some of these terms, but if you can, imagine the traffic you could get.

    Personally, I neither like or dislike it, but we will see how it effects our SEO.

18. To clarify my earlier comment: I believe the focus will remain on the keywords and not the dynamic results.

    Are people really going to glance beyond the proposed keywords to see the new search results every time they type a letter? That’s going to get old pretty quickly.

19. Cindy – Yes, I’m tempted, but it would be an indulgence of my time that I really can’t afford. Of course, there would be spades of irony in trying to optimize a site like that, wouldn’t there? Even more irony if we made it a Blogger blog! How quickly can you say, “Account suspended”? At the time of writing there are only 4 results for that KW in quotes. Hmmm….

    Matt Cutts’ blog has a long thread on this, and most of his posters are enthusiastic about the perceived quantum leap forward in technical prowess. Apparently the way to herd sheep in the 21st Century is to dazzle them with gadgetry.

    I can’t help thinking about all those people who paid a whisker under $2000 for Ryan Deiss’s Perpetual Traffic Formula, one of several big product launches this year. The product was sold on the premise that Google had changed its algorithm and only he could help you navigate in this new SEO landscape. How much of that expensive wisdom just got blown out of the water? Oh wait, I’m not thinking like a marketer. Coming soon to an inbox near you – Perpetual Traffic Formula 2.0. LOL.

    Sorry about that rant, but sometimes all you can do is laugh.

20. Hi PotPieGirl,

    It is amazing to see how the top search engines are in a battle for supremacy. They will do anything to have the edge. I think this tool will devide the searchers out there. Some will like it, some wil become frustrated with it. The jury is out on this one.

21. I love this feature. I think it’s simple, genius and very very usefull. At least for me. Also it saves 11 hours every second, incredible! )

22. 1) If you like the app, use it.
    2) If you don’t like the app, turn it off.
    3) Research the effect it has on your marketing efforts and discover ways to use it to your benefit.
    4) Quit worrying about “Big, Bad Google” and keep
    marchin!

23. I think this new implement of Google will definitely help out everyone. I just tried it and it work so quickly that i don’t have to wait at all for results as it is right there! Good stuff Google!!

24. I’m not sure I agree with the long tail conclusion… it seems like it would hurt Google’s all-important search relevance if people searching for something specific started guessing and checking through “head” searches. So the 5 seconds saved in typing would be more than offset in multiple clicks to irrelevant and generic “head” phrase search results.

    What I wonder about is how “instant” will affect keyword search stats. For example, here’s what happens if I type “Pot Pie Girl” into Google:

    1. When I type “P” Google suggests “Pandora Radio” and I get a SERP for that phrase.

    2. When I type “o” now I get a SERP for “Pottery Barn”

    3. Typing “t” keeps the Pottery Barn SERP, but then when I type the space I get a SERP for “Pot Deli” (hopefully not a personalized search LOL!)

    4. When I type “P,” the SERP is for “Pot Pie,” which persists through “i” and “e.”

    5. When I type the next space I get a SERP for “Pot Pie Recipe”

    6. Finally when I type the “G” I get a “Pot Pie Girl” SERP.

    So my question is, does Google now count me as having searched for “Pandora Radio,” “Pottery Barn” (twice), “Pot Deli” (yikes!), “Pot Pie” (three times), “Pot Pie Recipe”, and “Pot Pie Girl” when all I actually searched was “Pot Pie Girl” one time? If I actually type the “i,” “r,” and “l,” does it think I searched “Pot Pie Girl” four times? Does it matter how long I pause between letters? Does it matter if I hit “enter?”

    On the other side of the coin, if I just type in “Pot Pie G” and never hit enter, does Google think I actually searched the term “Pot Pie G?”

    How Google is counting these “instant” intermediate searches has implications for keyword research using the Adwords tool…

    What’s your take, Jennifer?

25. This new features saves us a lot of time in keyword research for niche marketing.

    Gerry

26. I love the new feature! 🙂 it saves so much time on my searches.

27. Well, I couldn’t resist. The irony was just too great. Visit the blog here and leave a comment: Switch Off Google Instant.

    Jennifer: I hope you don’t mind me doing this. If you feel this is inappropriate for your blog, I won’t be the least bit offended if you delete this post.

28. I found out about Google Instant last night also, as a surprise while I was doing searches.

    I actually find it a bit annoying – more often than not the initial results that Google displays in the textbox and on the page are not actually what I was even thinking about typing, and they feel like interruptions in my train of thought.

    It’s sort of a weird feeling to have Google (or anyone else) present what I am about to say before I say it, especially if it’s not even what I was about to “say”! =)

29. Jon,
    I had to comment that your post sounded quite smart.

30. Hey Jennifer,

    I have been keeping up with what You & Josh Spaulding have been talking about as far as goolge sugestions.

    I am starting to implement this strategey into my article marketing and blog posting right away.

    BTW… Thanks For The Info…

    I too tried Google Instant the other day and found it to be a real pain in the butt.

    Maybe my computer is to slow or I type to slow.

    But as soon as I typed in the first letter it would start bringing up things that start with that letter. Before I could even type in my keyword.

    I was about to switch over to another search engine before I figured out how to shut it off.

    But I still think there is a lot of merit to what you are saying and it’s a great way to start targeting keyords for articles and more…

    Thanks Again & Keep The Great Work

31. Google found a way to MAKE time! 11 hours saved (created?) every second 😉 haha!!!

32. No matter how we feel about it, we have to do what Affiliate Marketers always have to do…Adjust! Let’s face it, this is a business with near constant change and the most successful among us are able to change and capitalize on new aspects of the business quickly.

    I’m not thrilled about it, but it does get my mind thinking about how I can make it work for my business. So I thank you in advance, Google, for all the money you are going to make me with this change (even though I haven’t quite figured out the “how” yet).

33. I love it. I see my results as I type and can stop if need be. The shortcuts also help so if I am typing longer words and it suggests them I just hit tab and it completes that word for me. It definitely speeds up my search, and overall, Google Instant is very entertaining.

34. Travis Sago promised to address the implications of Google Instant for marketers in his Monday-night webinar.

    Just to be clear, my complaints about Instant are not primarily related to the challenges marketers will now face. One day it’s the new “Caffeine” algorithm, the next day it’s Instant. There will always be changes to which we must adapt. This is great for the gurus, too, because now they can sell us more products. 😉

    My concerns here are more about Google’s encroachment into our very thought process and the massive amount of private information they are gathering about us.Those of you who are seduced by this gimmickry are failing to see the bigger picture, which has very real and disturbing implications in an information-based society.

    Have you tried Jon’s experiment, given above? Do you get the same results he did? Of course you don’t. That is personalized search at work. Are you o.k. with Google’s multi-million dollar super-computers getting to know you that well? Are you o.k. with them doing your thinking for you? This is not as benign as an automatic transmission in a car, folks. I feel another post coming on over at Switch Off Google Instant.

    One final point, coming back to marketing. You do realize that your market research is corrupted by personalized results, don’t you? If you want to see where a site really ranks, you need to stop Google from “helping” you by using a proxy server. For research purposes, we want to see the real SEO landscape, not the uniquely distorted one that Google constructs for our searching pleasure.

35. hmmm…still trying to figure out the “cough, cough, hint, hint part…” It did freak me out though when Google started magically having results appear when I started typing. Although, everything was all scrunched up at the top of the page, not sure what that was about.

36. Thanks Jen,
    For more great information.

37. What’s interesting is that it pushes everything down in the serps, doesn’t it? I think one outcome is that you really need to have your site in the top five results for your keyword, otherwise you’ll get ignored.

38. I am a little nervous about how this is going to affect search results for consumers…but I am also going to try to use it to my advantage, but targeting those keywords.
    Thanks for the great post, PotPieGirl!
    -FertilityHelper

39. I saw this tonight when I was checking to see if a new post was indexed. I thought I was going crazy and seeing things! I thought all of these late hours on the computer was making my head get a little wacky! I should of known it was Google all along.
    -Kelly

40. Jon, Google mentioned:

    With Google Instant, you may notice an increase in impressionsbecause your site will appear in search results as users type.

    So I guess this means that people don’t have to hit “enter” for G to count it as a query.

    So,I guess you did queried 4 times.

41. If it weren’t for your posts Jennifer, it would be hard to keep up with Google’s changes. It’s kind of frustrating. Everytime I seem to get a grasp on the concept of keywords and SEO, etc…….they tweak and change something else.

    Of course, that is the nature of the internet. It has an ever-changing landscape, that’s for sure.

42. Google instants, because 87,000,000,000 results in 1.02 seconds isn’t fast enough? Haha

    But its a great idea if your unsure exactly the search term you want. I was very impressed. Nice post thanks.

43. I do not like Google Instant.

44. From a niche marketers viewpoint, it seems that this will cut the traffic on a lot of low competition long tail keywords, because searchers will be directed to the more popular (and more competitive) keywords that Google suggests for them.

45. Some times, I think google instant make idea to searching something. For this time, I like it. It’s helping me to search someone.

46. I have been trying Google Instant for nearly a week and it’s been a godsend for me. I was able to find exactly what I was looking for by just typing in 3 letters!!

47. Eternity Diamond just hit it on the head. “I found what I was looking for by typing in 3 letters.”

    My guess is that it wasn’t a longtail…

48. This new features saves us a lot of time in keyword research..
    I love the new feature!
    Thanks PPG for the great info ..as always

49. I turned Google instant off. They annoys me. i feel like Google is reading my head. yay!

    Also, it my connection is slow

50. I like google instant it really seems to help when you are not sure about what you are searching for.

51. As an end-user I somehow like thee feature but for those using ppc, it will surely effect their ad impression therefore lowering their ctr, not good. For seo, that’s yet to be discovered.

52. DEAR Jennifer

    I love your blog and have started at the beginning. I love also teh way you teach us so simply and nicely…i can tell you really do care,

    So I wanted to really leave this comment on the 4th of January ( i know its sept!) and ask you about that post.
    I apologise that this comment really isn’t about this post, But I gotta ask you something if thats ok?

    When you put the
    intitle:”keyword”inanchor:”keyword”
    and press search and Google comes back with zero results, it had me jumping with joy, BUT when i searched for that keyword on Google, Loads of results came in with the KW in the title and the Domaine name as well as in the description

    Has the method changed? Amd I doing something wrong?

    I would really really appreciate your help with this question
    Kindest regards
    Alexa

53. Great feature and sure this will enhance the user expreince. This makes user to intract with search box for the first time.

54. I think that the overall experience is awful! I switched it off immediately because I felt so dizzy…besides I don;t think that they have launched this feature for our own good….it is probably that since we are all logged in through our google accounts, they have too many sessions open who just use search, and they want to cut down on their number.

55. Wow…I thought Google’s mantra was “Be Not Evil.”

    Whether Google Instant is evil in an empirical sense is up for debate — but in the Emily Post world we were taught not to interrupt when someone is speaking.

    We were taught to listen intently and to listen carefully.

    Perhaps Google should focus on listening to what we are searching for rather than interrupting and then AFTER listening Google should return more accurate results.

    Now let’s look at this from a business ethics (i.e., “Not Evil”) standpoint.

    Type “A” in Google Instant an you get:

    * Amazon.com
    * AOL
    * Amtrak
    * Apple
    * A

    When someone selects the first suggested result for A in Google Instant search suggestion they are taken to is Amazon.com.

    How much revenue Google make from does amazon.com?

    How much more cash does Google skim off by serving up billions of additional “suggestions” for the user to click Amazon.com

    Any marketer knows that more exposure means a greater possibility of conversion (sales).

    How many small business, moms who are helping support their family with Clickbank.com or Commission Junction are going to lose money or maybe even their home because of this “biased endorsement?”

    Wouldn’t unfairly increasing your income by favoring more profitable businesses at the expense of all other’s be “evil?”

    AOL (result number two)…

    …why in the word would Google be pusing AOL. AOL is free now and no longer pays a “finder’s fee.” So why AOL?…knowing that AOL is stumbling could Google be negotiating to buy AOL’s assets at firesale prices now while simultaneously building AOL’s membership? If so, wouldn’t that be “Evil.”

    Last, isn’t “fortunetelling” both Biblically immoral and criminally fraudulent? If telling me I am looking for Amazon when I was looking for apostle isn’t false “fortunetelling,” then what is it?

    Google technolgy cannot read my mind or yours.

    Is the FTC listening…could these actions be antitrust violations, RICO infringements, and extortion or other federal crimes?

    Hmm – “Be Not Evil” surely sound “Good” – but when you do the opposite of what you profess it’s hypocritical and “Evil.”

    Agree or Disagree?

56. It was activated for me and I have used it a few times. I do like it when I am personally searching for something. But I do not like using it when I am doing niche keyword research.

    I honestly do not know how this is going to affect the organic traffic that I get from Google.

    I will be watching my stats very closely to see if things change.

    – Rick

57. I find it kind of annoying that Google has done this roll out text. I love you google but I think I know what I am typing and I type pretty fast!

58. Hi Jennifer,
    Reading between the lines here… I’ve always written down the list of keywords that google suggests when I search the rankings of my keywords… Sounds like traffic is going to be steered toward the suggested keywords… I missed the cough cough email…. I will sign up for your emails again in case I’m off the list.
    Appreciate your info, as always!

59. It’s interesting that big G now thinks that it’s able to read our minds. I’m not worried about this new feature, what really scares me is the path Google has chosen. What will be next feature? To suggest links only according to navigation patterns? Without typing anything? That’s wold be really scaring!

60. I am very grateful to have read the said information you have posted here. It is easy to understand since you have stated the definition. The firsthand approach you did is very effective. I am thanking the author for this.

61. Things sure do change fast on the internet, Google is trying to stay a step ahead of competitors.

62. Google can claim they are helping us, but again, they are subjectively suggesting what they want us to look for. another big brother step

63. As far as time savings go, I don’t think Google instant is really going to make an impact on my day. I am interested to see how it will affect my search engine rankings though. So far I have seen little or no change, and sometimes no change is a good thing.

64. Thanks for the info, clear and helpfull 🙂

65. Thank you for your invaluable help
    this information is very useful

66. This is definitely going to affect the SEO and PPC community. The Google Suggested searches are going to receive much more traffic than any other keywords, and the cost to compete in the PPC market on these is going to skyrocket.

    I for one, don’t like the change.

    But then… I guess it has never taken me 9 seconds to search for anything =P

67. I don’t like it besides the fact it determines users to search what Google wants and probably what they have good bids for it also slows down browsing, it’s ok on my desktop but my Atom netbook crashes a lot because of the heavy AJAX.

68. Solo illusioni…. Troppo belle per essere vere.. Un’altra delusione che si È solo rivelatà un’illusione e io che pensavo che eri

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