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Is Google Instant good or bad for us?

by Thomas Stoker
8 replies
Hi Warriors,

I'm sure you will have noticed the latest tweak Google has added to their search engine; Instant search. Results are displayed while you're typing in the query.

I was wondering if this is good or bad for SEO and I'm curious to hear what you all think of it or if you've had good or bad experiences so far.

For instant, I think it could give a boost to the long-tail keywords because instant search encourages the user to keep on typing and adding to his query until he found what he was looking for.

This of course also works the other way around. When a user wanted to search for a long-tail keyword but already sees a good result after typing the first word he might just click on that result and forget all about the long-tail keyword...

It might also be harder to decide what long-tail keywords to rank for...

Like I said, I'm curious to hear your thoughts and experiences...
#bad #good #google #instant
  • Profile picture of the author Anthony Stillwell
    Only time and testing will tell.

    I don't consider myself to be the typical searcher. If I'm looking
    for something specific I'll type in a 40 word keyword phrase in
    quotes if I have to; ignoring the instant search results. I search
    for what I want. Period.

    The thing is, even though I search in a specific way, it's hard to
    ignore all the search results that are coming up as I type so it's
    easy to get distracted. Probably NOT a good thing for long tail
    keyword optimization in my opinion.

    The average surfer probably stops short of where they normally
    would have had instant search not been implemented. As far as
    how this impacts those of us who depend on SEO...

    Again, only time and testing will tell for sure.
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  • Profile picture of the author activetrader
    I think it will steer the searches from those people who optimized for results that are different from the suggested results; for instance, you want to know how to stop your dog from whining, you start typing "how to stop my dog" and you see search "how to stop my dog from barking" and you think it's similar enough and the training must be the same; so you go on and read about how to stop your dog from barking; those people who optimized for "how to stop my dog from whining" are SOL.

    Also, these results can be distracting; for instance you are looking for something and while you type something else catches your eye and you move on to read those results completely forgetting about what you searched for initially.

    I think Google Instant sucks.
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  • Profile picture of the author lazy boy
    People that type looking at the screen may love it. People that look at the keyboard while typing may hate it. You can turn it off by the way. I think it is just another gadget that won't have a huge impact on anything.
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  • Profile picture of the author Josiah
    Honestly...

    I find it annoying, and I'm not the only one...

    A lot of people hate it.

    Basically what I'm trying to say is it's another project Google came up
    with so all their ridiculously talented employees had something to do.

    Josiah
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    • Profile picture of the author FredJones
      If you know how to use Google Instant then it is a potential goldmine. If you don't then you are in for a toss. Yes it can be disabled, but how many users are "educated" enough to disable it? And most people would love it - I am talking of "real" people doing real search - not marketers. So better apply your imagination and learn how to make the best of it rather than qualifying it as good bad ugly.
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  • Profile picture of the author InternetSuccess001
    It's actually quite annoying.

    Google is implementing a lot of new 'features', and is starting to "decide" for you which ones you "want".
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  • Profile picture of the author snapcontent
    It's bad news for the original 'long tail keyword' niche site model. Time to build 'broader' (read 'more realistic') niche sites.
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  • Profile picture of the author kindsvater
    I haven't seen it having any traffic effect. But it is a pain in the neck. Seems like I do a search and then the results screen is often blank because my typing and clicking enter is faster than Google is processing. So I have to go back and hit enter again to see results.
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