Google Instant - your thoughts please

1. 38

   Spacey Graceyposted 14 years ago

   Wondering if Google instant is going to reduce views to hubs focused on long string keyword searches.
   
   Thoughts people.

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   1. 71

      waynetposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I prefer Kenco or Nescafe....better coffee!

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      1. 38

         Spacey Graceyposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks for your valuable contribution I hadn't actually noticed the pun, now every time I write Google Instant I will be thinking about coffee.
         Still not as bad as the time I was writing about iPhone 4 skins.

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         1. 71

            waynetposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Lol!
            
            On a more serious note....instant coffee is the best!
            
            About Google Instant....anything that Google tries to add to their search structure could be a good thing, because it makes them feel as though it works and it probably might, but Bing and Yahoo are not far behind, so It's best to target if possible all search engines and not just pander to the big G.

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   2. 59

      web3posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Hi dear Spacey Gracey, what I worry more is about Google's May Day Update which is the most prominent changes made by the Google in SE algorithm. Since INSTANT won't affect the ranking of pages (for long tailed keywords AND it can be turned off, right?) there's still room for working with hubs in terms of adsense or marketing. But the recent change in SE algorithm (known as 'may day update') is something that affects the ranking of the pages.
      Matt Cutts of Google have described that the SE is going to rank pages with high authority than the one-paged- sites or pages that are really focused on that long tailed key phrase. So this is some kind of problem especially with hubs. Even though we have some good SEO in those hubs or pages, Google is going to rank for sites with high authority even though it is not targeting that keyword. Matt Cutts says that this change is permanent since they see some QUALITY WIN when the tested it last year before launching it. That means, we have something more serious to worry about rather than Google INSTANT.
      
      Thoughts and comments are appreciated.
      And thank you very much for this useful thread and discussion started by Spacey Gracey.

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2. 92

   Rochelle Frankposted 14 years ago

   It still gives you choices-- actually I like it for searches because it sometimes helps to focus the search. I might benefit long strings.
   I find it interesting that their "big benefit" is saving 2 to 5 seconds. I guess instant gratification sells.

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3. 63

   ns1209posted 14 years ago

   I was just going to start a topic on this and wondered what the big seo experts here though of it - I like it from a user point of view but imagine it will be bad for some people as it suggests other phrases.

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4. 78

   starme77posted 14 years ago

   this will be interesting ... I think it will be a good thing

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5. 87

   rebekahELLEposted 14 years ago

   I think it simply requires smart writing. it's looking for the closest matches to the search. 
   
   like Peter and the experts keep saying, write for the reader, not the search engine.

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6. 86

   WryLiltposted 14 years ago

   Went to try it but... it's not enabled on my account yet.

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7. 78

   PurpleOneposted 14 years ago

   Yikes.. I don't think I like this at all.

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8. 59

   Mrvoodooposted 14 years ago

   Slow, jerky, and distracting.  And that's just from a users point of view.
   
   As for traffic, it was down a little yesterday, but way too early to tell.

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9. 74

   Kangaroo_Jaseposted 14 years ago

   1st Impressions......
   
   
   wait...... kettle is still awaiting to boil...........
   
   
   OK.... Coffee's all good now....
   
   
   Apologies for that
   
   -Akin to predictive texting on a cell.
   -Very quick
   -Saves me having to hit the search button, hence the 2-5 second saving is not too incorrect from Google's claim.
   -Distracting to typing not quite full words before actually wanting to have a result in search, and this process if unliked, can be turned off.
   -Only works in text search, doesn't occur when searching in Images, Videos, News, Maps, Shopping or Mail sections of Google Search.
   -I see a potential dramatic drop in Adwords returns for certain keywords, especially if they now almost never appear in search.
   -Conversely to the above point, Adwords that never appeared will most likely have significant gains with different keywords results.
   -Other search engines will be scrambling to come up with something similar, even if it is for nothing more than a marketing reason (Google is doing it, so why aren't we?)
   
   I shall post something more significant when I have had a chance to process this news and have had a while to see what happens and have a think about it.

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   1. 59

      Mrvoodooposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      'and this process if unliked, can be turned off'
      
      Brilliant.  I didn't even think of that.  After 15 years of using Google I switched over to Bing today.  But now that I can turn this crap off, I'll probably switch back.

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      1. 0

         DoorMattnomoreposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Bing sucks. I suggest switching back, even if you cant switch off the "instant" thingy, its not all that different from before.
         
         As far as how this will affect keyword stuff, I dont know all that much about keywords but as a regular search engine user person, I was looking for stuff about coydogs and dogotes, and even with the instantly instant stuff I ended up at a hubpages article.

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10. 86

    WryLiltposted 14 years ago

    For the last few months I've heard 'unbased rumors' about google doing something to shake things up in September. Maybe this is it.
    
    Mine still hasn't been rolled out.

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    1. 92

       Rochelle Frankposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       I wonder if it doesn't work with certain browsers -- of if your browser needs an update?

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       1. 86

          WryLiltposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          It's not released in my country yet - I have to be logged into a google account to get access.
          
          I'm on google chrome so should definitely work.
          
          I have the message: Google Instant is rolling out over several days to users signed in to a Google Account. Check back soon if you are signed in and do not see it yet.

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       2. 74

          Kangaroo_Jaseposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          Rochelle,
          
          Its purely an update by Google, for there text based search engine, and is totally independent on which browser you choose to use for it.
          
          Hope this helps.

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11. 90

    Stacie Lposted 14 years ago

    I find it a little distracting since it assumes to know what i want before i finish writing...

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    1. 71

       xixi12posted 14 years agoin reply to this

       i agree. I just ignore it and keep typing what I want

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12. 87

    rebekahELLEposted 14 years ago

    so far, just playing around with it, I like it. it's much faster and brings up numerous searches that are closest. I'm pretty impressed with its accuracy and speed.
    
    here's an interview with Ben Gomes. http://www.daylife.com/article/02E0cOg5wrdkB
    
    another article worth reading that came out a few weeks ago about changes in google search. http://www.sci-tech-today.com/story.xht … ull_skip=1

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    1. 38

       Spacey Graceyposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks for the links.

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13. 63

    Kidgasposted 14 years ago

    I get distracted by all the movement on the page.  I could never work with those cell phones that predict what I am trying to type.  I haven't noticed a change in speed personally but that is probably because of the distraction with the movement that I am suffering from.

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    1. 87

       rebekahELLEposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       I know what you mean about the movement. it's working so fast. I definitely noticed a change in speed. did you read his article? Gomes? it's very good (the second one) in explaining his thought process.

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14. 38

    Spacey Graceyposted 14 years ago

    A second thought - when I am doing competitor analysis with SEO Quake after a while I get kicked out of Google because i have sent a large volume of search queries. Then I'm allowed back in a little while later.
    
    With instant turned on, does that lift the restriction on the number of queries you can conduct in a short amount of time? Because a normal user who might have conducted one search with four words in, may actually generate 4+pages of results before they stop typing and see what they want.

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    1. 59

       web3posted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Actually, I think the same way. I mean, there must be some kind of restriction if the INSTANT  is turned on. Am not at all using it since it annoys me a lot . But in the searchers point of view, its something cool but sometimes discourage the surfers to put long search queries. I am not an expert anyway, but just wanted to comment when you thought the same way just as I thought when I use Instant for the first time. 
       
       
       And hereby, I provide you these links that I visited and read recently. Hope it would be useful for you.
       
       http://www.jonathanleger.com/does-googl … -seo-game/
       
       http://www.amnavigator.com/blog/2010/09 … marketing/
       
       http://tupalo.com/en/blog/pass-through-impressions/
       
       Thanks

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15. 82

    earnerposted 14 years ago

    If you do not have Google Instant in your country yet, you should be able to see/use it by going to http://www.google.com/ncr - this forces you to be on the .comm domain, instead of defaulting to your country suffix.
    
    I'm not really liking Google Instant and I'm fearful of my online income - I've been SEO-sloppy for years, I think this Google Instant will catch me out

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    1. 86

       WryLiltposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks this worked. Strange! I don't know if I like it...

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16. 38

    Spacey Graceyposted 14 years ago

    It is bothering me quite a bit as I had a nice little strategy of writing about products then plonking the words 'online' or 'review', or 'range' or something like that. Initially I would get searches for the full phrase, and then eventually it would start to rank well for the shorter more traffic-friendly search term. But without that initial love from the people typing in long search queries it may never have ranked well for the shorter term.
    
    But too early to start worrying about it too much.

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17. 61

    Merlin Fraserposted 14 years ago

    I think it all depends on who you are and why you use Google to search for anything. 
    
    If you are a casual browser just looking for quick response then you will find the predictive part of Google Instant a bonus but in the long term it will limit the choice you are offered in the top ten to those companies with the biggest budgets.
    
    If you're a SEO expert your job to get your smaller clients up the search list just got a lot harder, as if Google cares !!!
    
    If you are a small medium sized company trying to maintain your search list position against your much larger and richer competitors..... It isn't good news !
    
    As usual the only people who will really benefit from this will be Google Share Holders.

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18. 0

    TopUniverseposted 14 years ago

    I hate distractions while making search, so turned off the option. Google normally cares about searcher but not the webmasters.

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    1. 61

       Merlin Fraserposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Like you I have the distraction of being second guessed as to what I want to see, and I already said the only thing google cares about is Google !

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19. 69

    lrohnerposted 14 years ago

    Google Instant isn't as new as you think. I've been using the Google toolbar for my searches for a very long time, and this type of predictive search functionality was already built into that--actually, this exact functionality is what the toolbar search uses.

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20. 65

    prettydarkhorseposted 14 years ago

    The only thing is that when you type F facebook will appear of course, those sites which are popular will become more popular, and one word keyword for us publishers will be the in thing?
    
    Google knows us like when you type DMV, it will immediately offer DMV in your area, I like to be known by google, smiles,

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21. 39

    vikassingal2002posted 14 years ago

    good ...!!

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22. 88

    IzzyMposted 14 years ago

    There is something strange going on. I've got a hub I wrote a few months ago called 'Normal Pregnancy and Childbirth'. It did absolutely nothing despite being loaded with photos , videos and well over 3,000 words.
    The I got Market Samurai and discovered that 'pregnancy and childbirth' was an impossible term to rank for, being full of .edu and very high PR sites at the top, so I didn't even try to promote it, just left it.
    Then a a couple of weeks ago it started getting google traffic - not a lot at first but it was building. It got to about 30/40 a day (good for me) when I went to google.com to see how it was ranking.
    It was nowhere for 'pregnancy and childbirth' as I expected, but it was #4 for 'normal pregnancy and childbirth', the ones above me using the same terms.
    Then yesterday the traffic fell right off. I went to google and discovered the term 'normal pregnancy and childbirth' no longer listed.
    
    I've just used the link to Google Instant that Earner posted above, and the search term I wanted is back. What's that all about?

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23. 79

    Shil1978posted 14 years ago

    I've used Google Suggest before, so I guess Google Instant is an enhanced version of it. I do like it - the suggestions do help often!!
    
    I am not sure how this will affect search behavior of users though - guess will have to just wait and see!!

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24. 72

    Singular Investorposted 14 years ago

    Here is a very specific example that shows how the change will affect click through behavior
    
    Imagine your average browser wants to find out how to make money on the Internet. He/she will start typing 'make money on the internet' but as soon as he types 'make money', Google displays 'make money online' right in front of his eyeballs so he thinks 'that's good enough' and clicks on the first site in the list.
    
    This means if your site is optimized for 'make money on the Internet' you had better re-optimize it pretty quick to 'make money online' to stand any sort of change of being found. I suggest there will be less variety in keywords as people all start optimizing for what shows up first in Google's instant search list.

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25. 58

    VerticalMeasuresposted 14 years ago

    It depends on what your hubs are ranked for - if your hub is ranked for a query that comes up in the Google suggest, then it might do well even in Instant.

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26. 77

    psycheskinnerposted 14 years ago

    I hope they roll back the autocomplete aspect of this change, it very annoying

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