Online Marketing Briefing: Google Instant

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1 Online Marketing Briefing: Google Instant Instant Search is a major new development from Google and there have been a number of scare stories online about the effects this may have on the various aspects of search marketing. In order to allay fears and ensure that our clients are fully informed, Receptional have produced this document about the changes. Contents Online Marketing Briefing: Google Instant...1 Contents...1 About Google Instant...2 Google Instant: The Facts...2 Google Instant & PPC...3 Predicted Query PPC Results...3 Google Instant & PPC Impressions...3 Google Instant PPC Example: PPC Marketing...4 Likely PPC Outcomes from Google Instant...6 Google Instant s SEO impact...7 On Page Real Estate...7 Result Selection and Keyword Outcomes...8 Impact on Searcher Behaviour...10 Plural vs. Singular...11 Effect of Personalisation...11 Search Engine Optimisation on Google Instant

2 About Google Instant Upper Floors, 7 Station Square, Flitwick, Bedfordshire, MK45 1DP. United Kingdom. Google Instant is a change to Google Search that shows changing results as a search query is entered. That is to say real time results are delivered with each keystroke. Google Instant shows search engine users information faster by showing relevant results as a query is typed in line with Google s suggestions. The immediate, changing results theoretically enable users to refine their searches more quickly and find the results that more precisely match what they need. The idea is to get users to right content faster than ever before and in many cases without having to finish entering their search query. Google Instant: The Facts Google Instant predicts what users are searching for and uses autocomplete technology to show search suggestions whilst simultaneously updating the search results depending on what the users selects. As users type, the predicted queries and the search results change. Google states that the main benefit is in saving visitors 2.5 seconds per search without them having to click on the search button. Google Instant is starting to roll-out to users on Google domains in the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Russia who use the following browsers: Chrome v5/6, Firefox v3, Safari v5 for Mac and Internet Explorer v8. At time of publication it only works for searchers in the US or searches that are logged in to a Google account in selected countries outside the US. Google instant only works for users that search from Google s home page or a Google search results page. It will not work from the Google toolbar, IGoogle, other places that access Google search or if you disable auto complete. Instant search will be disabled if Google detects that a user has a slow internet connection. Search terms that may be considered offensive will not work on Google Instant. It is not yet available for mobile searches. 2

3 Google Instant & PPC Predicted Query PPC Results Google Instant does not change the basic criteria of paid search, the way in which Ads look, are served and appear in results will remain the same. However, results will be shown for predicted queries as search phrases are entered into Google. Here is Google s example: if someone types "flow" into Google, an algorithm predicts that the user is searching for "flowers" (the predicted query) and therefore displays search listings and ads for flowers. These predicted results will continue to show until/unless the next letters typed generate a different predicted query. These real time search results change when ads are triggered for display and therefore the definition of impressions must now also change. Google Instant & PPC Impressions When users search with Google Instant, impressions are counted when: The user begins to type a query on Google and clicks anywhere on the page (a search result, an ad, a spell correction, a related search). The user chooses a particular query by clicking the Search button, pressing Enter, or selecting one of the predicted queries. The user stops typing, and the results are displayed for a minimum of three seconds. 3

4 Google Instant PPC Example: PPC Marketing 1. Pay p entered into search: Suggested result and Ads are for Pay Pal 2. Pay pe entered into search: Suggested results and Ads change to pay per click 4

5 3. Pay per clic entered into search: Suggested results remain the same, this is an impression. 4. Pay per click m entered into search: Suggested results and Ads change to pay per click marketing 5

6 Likely PPC Outcomes from Google Instant CPC s for generics will increase as more volume is generated. Competition for the top suggested search terms will become aggressive. Traffic for long tail terms may decrease as visitors click on an ad or auto complete suggestion earlier in the search process. Advertisers may have to broaden their search portfolio to incorporate generics to ensure they have coverage throughout the entire buying cycle. Advertisers will have to constantly review the criteria they are appearing for to ensure quality scores and CTR are not adversely affected. Advertisers will get some free impressions for ads, that will not be included in the stats as users search and the results dynamically change with the users query (as long as the user doesn t stop typing for more than 3 seconds). Long tail keywords will be less important as searches become lazy. Larger brands with bigger advertising budgets will probably be among the happier advertisers. Generics will play a much more important role. Top positions will become even more competitive. Impressions will increase (Google suggests between 5-7 more results pages for typical searches). CTR and quality score could be affected if campaigns are not closely monitored. In the short term we will, of course, continue monitoring your Ads' performance as normal. Google Instant may lead to an increase or decrease in your overall impression levels but the thinking behind Google Instant suggests that it could improve the quality of your clicks since it aims to help users search with terms that more directly connect them with the answers they need. Therefore, your overall campaign performance could improve but the list above must be considered against this. 6

7 Google Instant s SEO impact There is a lot of discussion online regarding the likely impact that Google Instant will have on SEO implementation: below we address what are likely to be the main aspects of organic search results which will be affected by these changes to Google search. On Page Real Estate The presence of the suggestion box means that results are pushed further down the page, with 3-5 results likely to be visible for the typical user: This means that sites in positions 4-6 of results may experience decreased click-through due to reduced visibility. 7

8 Result Selection and Keyword Outcomes As users will see more result pages than before, if relevant results appear for more generic keywords, users are likely to stop searching and choose the relevant result. Thus, ranking for more competitive keywords may be more important than before. That said, generic keywords that do not match user intent may now be glossed over in favour of more relevant keywords and phrases. Example: [map of Africa] 8

9 Outcome: user must complete the search query as before as relevant results do not appear earlier (final search: [map of Africa]). 9

10 Example: [cheesecake recipe] Outcome: user is likely to cease typing and choose the top result (final search: [cheesecake]). The extent to which a user is likely to find relevant results without completing the majority of their search query depends on particular result sets, and the relevancy of initial results returned by Google. Over time, sufficient data will become available to estimate impact with more precision. Impact on Searcher Behaviour It is likely that use of Google Instant could change searcher habits as they become accustomed to the new interface. They may select different keywords based on those suggested by Google, although at this stage it is unclear whether this is likely to favour the generic or more long tail suggestions that appear. Additionally, the movement on the page within the suggestion box and within the results themselves may draw the user s eye towards different sections of the page than on a static results page. This may result in increased click-through in certain sections of the page, and less visibility for others. It is also possible that this effect could impact on the number of visitors who select an organic versus a sponsored result. 10

11 Plural vs. Singular As a rule of thumb, more people tend to search for pluralised keywords rather than singular; thus, Google s suggestions tend to auto-complete plurals: Sites that rank only for singular variations on a keyword are likely to receive less traffic. Effect of Personalisation The keyword suggestions provided by Google are influenced by individual searcher s habits and history, and given a sufficient amount of searches by an individual, could be very different for one searcher when compared to a user with minimal search history. However, the actual results themselves are not altered by the change to Google instant. There is not likely to be a large impact on most sites as a result of personalisation of keyword suggestions. 11

12 Search Engine Optimisation on Google Instant While Google instant is a highly visible change to Google s interface and may seem daunting at first, a key factor is that the underlying algorithm delivering search results has not changed. So, sites rank in exactly the same positions as they did prior to Instant. What has changed is how a user retrieves and interacts with those results. Instant is therefore an evolution for search marketers, of a kind experienced at many times in the past following other major changes at the search engines. Nonetheless, SEOs and site owners are advised to ensure they are monitoring and reacting as necessary to: Changes in keyword search patterns: ensure your strategy covers a spectrum of keywords, from the most relevant generics to highly specific long tail keywords, and make sure you account for Google s suggested keywords within your keyword strategy. Changes in page real estate in search results: ensure your site continues to occupy the most visible portions of a results page Ensure clearly focussed, searcher friendly text is displayed in search results: the number of search result pages viewed by searchers will increase, and thus visibility of your listings will increase. Make sure your listing capitalises on this by attracting click-throughs for those additional views The real-world impact of Google Instant is still subject to speculation, and it is easy to over-react to what appears to be a dramatic change. But the same SEO principles still apply, and so it is not advisable to implement changes purely based on the new Instant interface. In the short term we will, of course, continue monitoring your site's performance as normal. Google Instant may lead to an increase or decrease in your overall impression levels but the thinking behind Google Instant suggests that it could improve the quality of your clicks since it aims to help users search with terms that more directly connect them with the answers they need. Receptional : Internet Marketing Company Terms of trade for Receptional Ltd. are available online at 12