Internet Market Power

If you used Google to find InternetMarketPower.com, you might have noticed a slightly different search experience than you’ve been used to for the past decade or so. Early in September, Google launched Google Instant, a new tweak to the traditional search engine that no longer requires you to hit “Enter” before seeing where your search might take you. Google Instant displays searches in real time as you type. For example, were you to search for “carbonation,” as you are typing you might see results for cars, followed by pages for carbon, then finally once, your word is complete, results for carbonation in its entirety. Of course, there are many factors that play into exactly what Google gives you, such geotargeting, which may bring up results for Carowinds (an amusement park just south of Charlotte) after your first 3 letters are typed.The ultimate benefits of Google Instant, at least according to Google in principle, are primarily focused around time saving, estimated to save approximately 2 to 5 seconds per search by not requiring full words or phrases to be typed. The new model also seeks to ease the burden of searcher indecision, helping users find exactly what they are looking for with a host of suggestions. You might be looking up some statistics for an article but aren’t sure exactly what prompt will bring you the best results. Google Instant’s streaming recommended searches and pages gives you more direction in your query. This increased guidance will hopefully lead to less time wasted on errant searches that bring you irrelevant results or outdated results.One question still to be answered regarding Google Instant is how it will affect internet marketers. There will undoubtedly be changes, as impressions may appear in just a split-second window of time between characters. But just as Google’s technology has advanced to enable this instant search capability, so will the strategy and approach of SEO and PPC marketers adapt to use the change to their benefit. Only time will tell what online marketing innovations are in store in the near future.