Google Instant Makes SEO Irrelevant

Google today launched an ambitious effort to speed up searching. But what they really did is kill SEO.

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."

The most important consideration for marketers or anyone who creates content, however, is in the bullets...

"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."

Here's what this means: no two people will see the same web. Once a single search would do the trick - and everyone saw the same results. That's what made search engine optimization work. Now, with this, everyone is going to start tweaking their searches in real-time. The reason this is a game changer is feedback. When you get feedback, you change your behaviors. 

Think about it. When you push a door and it doesn't open quickly, you push harder. When you try to drive a car up a hill and it doesn't go as fast as you would like, you step on the gas. Feedback changes your behavior. 

Google Instant means no one will see the same web anymore, making optimizing it virtually impossible. Real-time feedback will change and personalize people's search behaviors.

::LATER: Google is saying expect traffic fluctuations around organic keywords.

Comments

[DarrenNegraeff]

I agree with others - this is not the death of SEO, this is a new thing to adapt to, to understand, and to benefit from.

[Internet LAVA]

I don't think the google instant will have much of an affect on the organic SEO results as the algorithms are not impacted. It's basically just a faster processing power that shows the same results.

[Marc]

It seems to me that Google's keyword suggestions have never really been addressed in standard keyword research, but now they can't be ignored.

[Ellie Becker]

If you kill SEO, do you also kill PPC? What happens to the sponsored links?

[seo]

it just leaves us now with less longtail keyword searches. seo changes always but doesn't get eliminated. it will make seo tougher but now the field is wide open again with a first-come first-serve optimization basis

[john]

I think SEO will be very relevant, as long as, quality content and quality results are the ongoing goals for search, which of course they are!

[AkaMoniker]

It seems that Google has begun a trend that strengthens the Google revenue stream more than anything else. Google talks about being consumer oriented, but Google has 2 consumer markets. That of the business advertisers, and that of the searchers. This new method will cost business advertisers more, and they will get less for their money. End users will suffer because they are being denied choice. Google now wants to choose what results I should think are important? Isn't that like saying " I will make your life easier by just making all your decisions for you"?How could Google could make such an individualized prediction, by using something similar to spy-ware?And I certainly don't want a whole results page with only one name over and over again, no matter how "relevant" it is. Wouldn't that just amount to being Google Spam?

[J.J. Hayes]

Google Instant seems to blames me for not working by saying it is turned off due to connection speed, which means that those of us who for whatever reason don't reach the speeds required, will even under the scenario described here, see the same web. Will that mean that there will be a block of us who see the same thing while everyone else is fragmented.

[Darren]

Not at all. Google Instant makes it harder for SEO, yes, true point. but it makes SEO more valuable. Having the new service makes it harder for keywords to be seen, however, the organic, paid and other SEO efforts now have to be reshaped. SEO needs to have more $ put to it. You need to have more dedication toward SEO if you want results, that's why www.travelspike.com has anticipated this change for a while and specializes in SEO.

[Jarret]

Steve, with previous changes in Google's Algorithm, we've seen a few constants. First, Google isn't the free Yellow Pages. Making it expensive and time-consuming to rank well organically encourages people who market product or services to use Adwords. Secondly, with all off the ensuing panic over Google's changes, websites that pull large volumes of organic search traffic always seem to continue to do so (excluding sites that get penalized). To monetize paid search even further, I'd expect Google to continue to make it increasingly difficult to rank well organically. Killing long-tail search for Adwords looks like a cash grab, and it will likely hurt Google's smaller customers the most.

[Tim]

I could give a rats ass what Google does: Build real sites, with real content that offer real value and people will find you.SEO's are rubbing their hands together - this gives them yet another excuse as to why your $2,000 a month on SEO isn't yielding results. "Oh I'm sorry, we can guarantee you rankings, which is what you purchased, but that doesn't guarantee you traffic or return on investment."

[Neel]

Google had been upgrading itself and making user friendly since it launched it's search engine.Google instant is nothing but an add on which makes search better for users, infact gives them more options.As far as SEO is concerned, relevant content and meta tags will always be the top preference for Google as being the primary parameters for ranking algol.

[Prokofy]

It's good that Google Instant knocks out SEO power because that makes the web so unfair and skewed to the geeks, but there's another sinister outcome which is the shattering of our shared world, such as it was. If everybody only sees what they are looking for, there is no rule of law. And only Google knows the patterns as it lords over us all. I find it all terribly creepy. I also don't like people to start pushing turtles at me while I'm typing "Turkmenistan".

[Kamal Patel]

Google Instant will surely impact on SEO, but beside that it will also impact on Google's own service, "Google Adwords". There might be fluctuations in AdWords impression volume and in the distribution of organic keywords.

[Craig]

The thing that worries me about Instant is that SEO companies may be tempted to start optimising for the first part of a keyphrase: for instance 'web d' instead of 'web design'. Where will it all end??

[Pulkit Kaushik]

With Google's instant search out, Google AdWords will suffer a lot. By a lot, I mean a lot.

[Avi]

Hi,Google Instant is nice feature but I also agree that it will affect the adwords.Thanks

[Andre]

SEO lives because its what runs the Google Instant engine. Without it, Google Instant wont have anything to predict or show.Google aint the only serach engine around as well.

[yamcllc]

Google instant is more a game changer for keyword research: It is now very important to know what Google Instant will recommend in your market

[engagetoday]

I think you are missing the point of relevancy here. Google Instant is not making SEO irrelevant, it is actually making bad or blackhat SEO more difficult but a carefully crafted managed SEO campaign is as valuable today as ever. Please see http://engagetoday.livejournal.com/899.html.Thanks,Rob

[sugarrae]

I've got a very opposing viewpoint: http://outspokenmedia.com/seo/dear-mainstream-media-please-remove-foot-from-m...

[neilcowley]

Yea, but this doesn't _end_ SEO, it makes the case for solid-broad based, organic SEO with real content behind it.

[Rafael Montilla]

Do not be afraid,I just made this test.When I type SEM none of the suggestions are not related to what I am looking for (SEM or Search engine marketing), but the results Google shows are right, it gives me Search engine marketing as first result.Google will always show the same results as before. As you said, it is guessing. What I can notice, is it cannot give me the right suggestion becuase I have never made a search with this keyterm on this computer, nor when I am logged in my gmail account. After I clicked on the first result "Search engine marketing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia", and I started typing again, it showed me "SEM", when I had typed "SE".After I logged out from my gmail account, I started typing SEM, same thing happened, none of suggestions were not related to SEM

[Ted]

Anyone who thinks this update is bad, clearly doesn't understand what the purpose of the net is. If you are going to be spending 12 hrs a day what do you do?Spend 12hrs doing SEO and creating poor articles?ORSpend 12hrs creating great content that helps users?Create Content that people find useful and you will always blow SEO people out of the water! FINALLY, Google will get rid of these deadbeats.

[John Assalian]

I think you are right for popular searches, but for niche, targetted content, SEO is still relevant.