Wednesday, September 08, 2010 at 10:15 AM
Webmaster Level: AllWebmasters, you may notice some changes in you Search queries data due to the launch of Google Instant. With Google Instant, the page updates dynamically to show results for the top completion of what the user has typed, so this means people could be seeing and visiting your website much faster than before, and often without clicking the search button or hitting “enter.”
While the presentation of the search results may change, our most important advice to webmasters remains the same: Users want to visit pages with compelling content and a great user experience.
With Google Instant, you may notice an increase in impressions because your site will appear in search results as users type.
Impressions are measured in three ways with Google Instant:
- Your site is displayed in search results as a response to a user’s completed query (e.g. by pressing “enter” or selecting a term from autocomplete). This is the traditional model.
With Google Instant, we also measure impressions in these new cases: - The user begins to type a term on Google and clicks on a link on the page, such as a search result, ad, or a related search.
- The user stops typing, and the results are displayed for a minimum of 3 seconds.
It’s likely that your site will still see impressions for queries like [hotels in santa cruz], but because Instant is helping the user find results faster, your site may see an increase in impressions for shorter terms as well.
Let us know if we can help you better understand how these changes impact Webmaster Tools, measured Search queries and impressions, CTR, or anything else. We’d love to hear from you in our blog comments or Webmaster Help Forum.
58 comments:
Really it more help to People to find the relevant search quires..
I think this is an excellent way to show results. I'm not so sure how it will assist with conversion metrics, however, the ability to review terms that users may find relevant or related to your web site is going to improve web site quality phenomenally.
well everything is going to be faster from now on, i'm curious what positive and/or negative effects it will have on SEO
Hello,
I would like to say that with this search results, I think it will help the first one in the SERP to have more visits.
If so, Google will maybe stop this instant search because of advertisements. But maybe I'm wrong and we'll see benefits in few days.
(Sorry for my english, I'm french).
Doesn't Google Instant advantages big, generic sites over small, more specialized ones?
Let's say I'm a novice user searching for "hotels in Santa Cruz" (as in the example on the post). I start typing "hotels", results show up, so I instantly click on hotels.com, expedia or other result that popped up.
However if you type the whole search query ("hotels in Santa Cruz"), first on the list is the SantaCruz/hotels site that is probably more related to what I was looking for in the first place.
Additionally, the number of impressions on the big sites will skyrocket, bringing the convention rates down. I guess the 3 seconds rule will help not to count impressions while typing but still...
Thoughts?
I hate to be negative but this new Google Instant has a flaw that even when you turn it off you still get suggestions.
I agree with knico. I'm a web developer for small and medium size businesses and I don't see this helping them at all.
My clients have great sites that provide relevant, rich content and a great user experience but how can they compare to big sites for the generic terms like "hotel", "books", or similar when those big sites have thousands of high ranking backlinks and a huge web presence?
I think Google Instant would promote and increase the likeliness of searches typing in longer search phrases. What do you think?
Could this make a user's search experience take even longer because they have to refine their search phrase more?
Also, how will this affect global and local search volume estimates provided by Google keyword tool?
Scott Offord
orionweb.net
I am really very keen ( as a larger size business using both seo and ppc) to understand the impact of Instant. I can immediately seethe impact of longer tail searches for smes and local business.
But as with any new UI I am having to seriously refine my search queries.
As for conversion only time will tell
Also, if an "impression" is registered after 3 seconds, does Google check to see how many pixels my browser is, and whether or not the website listing was above or below the fold?
And.. sometimes when I'm searching, I'll write a word, pause for a bit, and think about what I am searching for, and then continue typing... does that 3 second pause really count as an impression?
Scott
Please understand the difference between "Suggesting" a query and "forcing" a query. I'm afraid with Google Instant, the second phenomenon becomes dominant..
Interesting to see how PPC will change and what would be the impact on quality score. More impressions and less clicks would impact quality score negatively.
wow,really it is more helpfull to peoples. Now it is excellent ... I think this google instant is more helpfull to google advertisment...
I agree with orchid box, how PPC will change and what would be the impact on quality score. If impressions will be more but clicks are less then it would impact negatively on quality score.
In terms of SEO, it would not be helpful for website owners whose rank in Google is after 3rd or 4th no. because Google Instant shows only 3-4 results while typing the query in query box.
I can't see how this will have much knock-on for webmasters.
Old scenario 1: I enter "Santa Cruz hotels" press enter and then make a selection from the SERP.
New scenario 1: I enter "Santa Cruz hot" and see that the desired results are showing so I stop typing and make a selection from the SERP.
Net effect for webmasters = zero*.
Net effect for user = a bit of time and effort saved.
Old scenario 2: I enter "Santa Cruz" press enter and see that I don't have many hotel websites on the SERP. So, I append "hotels" to my search term and press enter again. This time the SERP seems to give me what I want so I make a selection from the list.
New scenario 2: I enter "Santa Cruz" and see that the SERP has been presented to me instantly. I stop typing and have a look at the website list - taking more than 3 seconds to scan the page. Hmmm, not really what I want so I continue typing in "hote..." Now, the SERP has instantly updated and I can see many websites that might be of interest, so I stop typing and make a selection from the list.
Net effect for webmasters = zero*.
Net effect for user = a bit of time and effort saved.
Old scenario 3: I enter "Santa Cruz" and the 'phone rings, so I pick it up and have a 5 minute chat with that nice SEO guy. When I finish talking, I then complete my entry into google's search box by typing "hotels". Press enter and then make a selection from the SERP.
New scenario 3: I enter "Santa Cruz" and the 'phone rings, so I pick it up and have a 5 minute chat with that nice SEO guy. When I finish talking, I notice that google has already presented me with a SERP, but it is not really what I want so I continue typing "hote..." Now, I can see plenty of websites in the SERP that I might be interested in so I make a selection from the list..
Net effect for webmasters = 1 extra impression for some in their stats.
Net effect for user = a bit of time and effort saved.
Hey, but how often does scenario 3 happen? For me, almost never - but I might work in a particularly quiet working environment!
* But, if I understand it correctly, "google instant" may change the makeup of your impression stats. For example, you may find that more impressions are being recorded for just "Santa Cruz" but your impressions for "Santa Cruz hotels" may decrease.
Of course, I may be missing something obvious, if so, I'll readily be willing to bow to other peoples' knowledge.
I am still Not Sure How much It Will Help Normal User Like Me
waiting for impression value in Google webmaster tool.
I wanted to find the place where I could leave a comment about the Google Instant. I really, really dislike it. The search results that I received prior to the switch were light years better than the ones I received today. Why? I work for Microsoft, but I've always preferred Google over Bing. Now, Google is worse than Bing. Thanks, but no Thanks, Google. I'm looking for a new search engine as of today.
As an AdWord advertizer I ask myself: If the searcher clicks a result after typing "hote",is that taken for the keyword? The consequence is, that I have to bid for some more keys to maintain good results, am I right? I can imagine, that Google likes this...
I think our biggest worry is how much PPC traffic our clients will lose now that the changing organic SERPs distracts their searchers. Of course, that means less ad revenue, so I'll chuckle a little if Google ends up turning it off soon. In any event, this is just in time to help Bing keep that Yahoo! marketshare they're hoping for.
Simplifying search to fewer words doesn't increase relevancy and instead will probably kill long tail search terms :(
I agree with knico and others who feel that this benefits large, generic organizations. I did an experiment yesterday in which I started to type in "web design" along with the city in which I am located. For the first time that I have ever noticed, results included large national firms that were keyword stuffed for my area.
Not only is this not beneficial to my clients (who have small to mid-size businesses), but it is not helpful to me as a searcher. If I want local results, I don't want to have to wade through irrelevant returns.
I hope that the Google Instant team will work to address this problem.
TAM - YOU CAN TURN IT OFF
I don't like it. It takes more time for me when I'm typing something. And if your computer is slow "Google instant" make your computer slower
Alright everybody, why has no one brought up the fact that Google does what it does, not for users, but for the bottom line? (need proof? Look at the VZW-GOOG deal on wireline vs wireless neutrality).
If they are serving up SERPs every 3 seconds, that speeds up the frequency they can serve ad impressions, and therefore, your ad get shown more instantly (like a blink). They are no dummies.
I think it really helps people to find results faster. I just think that some people can be influenced by the results showed before they finish typing the search text and instead of keep typing to search for a specific keyword, they stop there and go for a broader one.
I wrote my doubts about Google Instant on that blog. Hope to see your opinion there.
I see this new turn in Google to be a nightmare for SEO/SEM. I also see if making Adwords almost pointless unless you are a large corp that can spend 100's of dollars a day on advertising. What do we need to put all letters of the alphabet in our SEO. Obscure words (or not words), like od, ti, and po. I bet Google is already planning on penalizing if you do that. Is Google going to release a new handbook on their changes to help SEO sites. Will only websites like Facebook and Yahoo always win in search queries?
Well could be very interesting how this will affect SEO as you now need to consider the terms that will be displaying in the dropdown suggestion. This could also reduce the effectiveness of the less search gems that you might have targeted in the past.
Who will benefit? I wrote my impresiions here:
http://silenssimo.blogspot.com/2010/09/seo-google-instant-and-analytics.html
Well, Google Instant might be an excelllent feature, but i am worried about the distraction it can make on searchers, especially a naive searcher. I am worried about the Local brands, yes it will help in getting higher click rates for universal brands, but what about local brands. I am from India, and if in any case I am searching for Apple fruits, it will distract a user from typing complete Apple Fruits, and will through up Apple.com, which I am not looking for, and in any case, if one doesn't know Apple.com, then he might be landed to a wrong website.This can increase bounce rates on the website.
Well, that my personal thought on this, but its still new, may be whatever we are predicting will not be true, and may be it will prove to be an excellent feature.
Good Luck Google.
It is hard to predict at this moment but i do not think it will affect the SEO business. But on this is certain that all will have to optimize their sites for smaller keywords and focus on them
It seems like an awesome new way to search however it is not for me. I deactivated it under preferences but it seems to turn itself back on. I can't make it permanently shut off and it drives me nuts.
It does increase traffic to the website but the real test will be measuring the return on marketing investment. At the moment few have requested information.
My sites traffic are also dropped, I like the concept of quick search results, But the annoying thing which is really making webmasters, SEO's down is the suggestion box below the search field, if Google can remove those suggestions from the search box and put those suggestions below every search results page that would do great for webmasters, small business people and those who rely heavily on ppc income.
It is good as far as user point of view. It would be interesting, how quality score will effect.
I don't think that novice users will just click the first result (such as hotels.com or expedia) ALL the time. I mean, think about how you use Google search.
When you're in a niche, such as hotels in santa cruz, don't you want people interested in santa cruz hotels? I think those people will still look deeper in the results.
I know that it's all a numbers game, and that Instant might jeopardize some of your numbers, but it may help, also.
Thanks for update.
The comment box is not a problem for me. And I'm not too sure about the traffic dropping. I have not noticed and I write at http://www.mortgagecrisistips.com helping struggling homeowners. I think time will tell
"Webmasters, you may notice some changes in you Search queries data due to the launch of Google Instant."
Should read:
"Webmasters, you may notice some changes in YOUR Search queries data due to the launch of Google Instant."
I do not like the new browser search. It takes me longer to get to my destination than it did before. Thanks but no thanks.
i think the classic method to press a button was better, what's the point in getting the inflated impressions
The new instant google is driving mi nuts!!!..I keep going into the preferences and turning it off yet when I need to google something else..boom there it is..Make it go away...permanently..Thx!!
As a long-term owner and designer of a 900+ page informational website, all my work to maintain a first page position by carefully following Google's guidelines, has all gone down the tube with 'instant'. Instant seems to totally ignore all the guidelines for SEO suggested by Google Tools and heavily favors paid advertizing. I'm completely devastated by this change and I give up. I have no energy or time to keep up with Google's incessant demamds to adjust my life to their mood or needs. I QUIT!
I hate google instatnt. It is distracting to what i am typing. I use google as my primary search engine for everything i do, but this is making me want to change. On every computer i have used in the past couple of days, i have turned off google instant.
thank you
I hate google instant. It is distracting to what i am trying to type. I use google for every search i do, but i am thinking about changing because i cannot get away from google instant. On every computer i have used in the past few days i have turned off instatnt. Hope google instant goes away, the suggested quireies are work just as well.
Hi, I would like to say that I have switched to Yahoo Search and no longer use Google. I hate, absolutely hate, autofill and I have tried everything to turn it off. If you do a Google search on "disable Google autofill" you will find a lot of people besides me hate it too. So, sorry, no.
It's very good (dynamical search results) but we can't see more than 10 pages for a time. And we can't change this value.
scotsman2 said that instant results were showing up even when he has it turned off. Are you seeing the suggestions and not the instant results? With instant results turned off, you'll still see suggested search phrases below the search bar but the actual results won't change.
As a content writer, I find this so called innovation, too much unimpressive, not only for the SEO or PPC guys but for us, the content writers also. This instant search feature is surely going to be a big headache for all of us, at least I am not in a position to write a full fledged article about 'SE' instead of 'SEO' or:
i. int
ii. internet
iii.internet mar
iv. internet marketi; or
v. anything else
instead of internet marketing..too weird to be true, isn't it?
It definitely seems to be immensely confusing, both for the readers as well for the writers,SEO & PPC guys. In my words, it is perhaps the 'DEATH OF CONTENT'. Until now the content was at least under the state of coma, but now, thanks to this new feature, the content quality is finished and so are we.....the content writers.
Hope to get respite from this deadly innovation at the earnest.
Google should read this post at digital point- http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=1946900
After continuous decreases in my traffic when I check Google analytics, I got panicked and found that it is the effect of Google Instant. I can see the for my keyword, there are three advertisement appears on top 3 position which may steal 50% of traffic and the site which was below top 3 getting less traffic than before. That a challenge for any seo like me.
Is it good for site owner who are working hard to rank their site at Top position and visitors are getting paid advertisement to click on.. Is this the policies of Google or Google is just trying to earn more revenue to offer more paid advertisement on top of result??
.
If Google really think about user then it should not offer paid ad on top position.
.
If this would be the trend and user visits undesired site via paid ad, then they might start using Yahoo and bing.. Will it not affect Google in Long term.
Unfortunatly, i found that the website of my small company has suddenly went to page number 10 or 11. I gues that this is because of the instant search. What drive me to think about? when you begin typing a word, the serp will suggest some word. I guess that people has same sensation of a drop down window, when you click on it, it will show you a selection of options, and this will drive your mind to choose one of them. This happens for people that doesn't look around about new things in google, and suddenly find this new feature. The idea i absouloutely useful, but the way of suggesting results, by a drop down window is mmmmmm
Sorry.. but I do not like google instant. It is annoying and too slow.
The centered layout is no improvement, because all users are used to left aligned searchresults. You guys want to help the web and show only well-build websites etc.. but with this new "improvement" small websites do not stand a chance
This is my opinion
hi All,
Can anyone help me how to check wheather Google Instant features on my machine.
I am not seeing any effect when i type query in google search box.
Please help me
Having google instant getting results while you type your keywords, then what is the use of having "I'm Feeling Lucky" button on the Google search home page. Weired, did somebody thought about it.
I could not understand why my traffic from Google is going down and increasing a bit from Bing. So, people slowly started quitting Google and joining Bing. This feature ruined all my years of effort to build a decent website. This is clearly an end of the concept SEO for Google and the only hope for the medium and small website owners now is Bing and Yahoo. Bing and Yahoo are having very low market share and need to see how they will help us. As a webmaster I scrapped all my plans to invest further on my websites after coming to know this feature.
My question to Goolge is simple, assume that I have invested a huge amount on an ad campaign and publisized my web site "realestate-blah-blah.com" and many users attracted by my ad decided to search and find my website in Google. When Goolge starts showing the results as user types after user types 'real' the chances are very high that the user may be interested/distracted by some of the results and might visit some other site instead of "realestate-blah-blah.com" and the result is all my investment in the ad campaign has gone. This instant feature is certainly going to hit the lively hood of many small and medium size website owners and full time bloggers.
Thanks,
Mithali.
Everybody keep your hats on. When it comes to SEO anyway and long-tails are safe from this.
Most people are going to continue using long tail. When you have a specific search query in mind how often do you stop to select a vague and too general suggestion a search engine is offering ?
I almost never do. People looking for something specific won't be satisfied by the vague and general searches this feature brings up.
They'll complete the search query. Adding the data they need to get more relevant results.
Speaking as an aspiring SEM professional, I do think this is kind of sleazy in terms of penalizing people for impressions on adwords. This shouldn't effect an advertisers quality score. That's insane ... and grounds for a nice fat juicy class action I'm thinking.
Google show's searchers people's paid ads by assuming and suggesting what the person is searching for ? That's putting the cart before the horse and penalizing the advertisers when google is at fault.
I am finding this very irritating. How to block this??
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