Google Instant & Search Marketing

Google Instant & Search Marketing SEOmoz PRO Webinar: September 30, 2010 Presenters: Jamie Steven, VP Marketing Joanna Lord, Director of Customer Acquisition (day / month / year)

SEO is dead.

SEO is dead. Okay maybe not.

INSTANT! What is it?A feature that predicts what a user is searching for and shows dynamic results as you type the query. As you type letters, Google auto completes popular related queries and populates them below the search box.

Searching in ye ‘ol Google of yesteryear

And with Google Instant?

And with Google Instant? Oh HAI!

What else is in the search results?

What’s this? A t-shirt?

What was I looking for? Ah yes, a t-shirt. Shirt for sale at Threadless.

Why did Google launch this? • Save time • Query suggestion • Preview query result • Increase impressions and (maybe) clicks to AdWords campaigns?

Searching for ‘turbo for mustang’

Searching for ‘turbo for mustang’ 3 seconds later, and the ‘TurboTax’ PPC campaign records an impression

Okay before we go further, don’t forget Google tests things. (…like all the time) There were testing this for months before rolling out. Lots of time for them to tweak how it functions. Improve user functionality (and advertiser success) without rocking the boat. http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/21/live-update-search/ Google Search Scientist

The color of AdWords listings in the SERP. Before After

How has it changed the way people search?It will take months to know for sure. But here is what the data is showing us...

What the data is showing: Google Instant hasn’t changed things much.

What the data is showing: Google Instant hasn’t changed things much. (yet)

Example #1: Conductor using 880,000 visits Conductor published data showing the difference (or lack there of) between the search term length driving traffic to their site before Google Instant launched & after. As you can see… there isn’t much change. http://blog.conductor.com/2010/09/what%E2%80%99s-been-the-impact-of-google-instant-on-searcher-behavior-so-far-not-much/

Example #2 : MEC using 10,000 searches Similar results were published by Matt Bennett from MEC. He used the data from 5 sites, 12 days after Google Instant went live and showed that not much has changed. http://www.mecmanchester.co.uk/blog/google-instant-data-after-12-days.html

Example #3 : Distilled using 11 sites and 75,000 keywords A third survey from Justin at Distilled, did show a slight decrease in 2-3 word KWs, and a slight increase in 6-7 word KWs. http://www.distilled.co.uk/blog/seo/impact-of-google-instant/

I can haz less organic?

Where is Instant available? 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. And now: Signed-in users in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Ireland, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Ukraine. More countries in the weeks ahead.

Where is Instant available? • 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. • And now: Signed-in users in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Ireland, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Ukraine. • More countries in the weeks ahead. • Where it is not: • Browser’s search boxes and toolbars • Mobile searches • iGoogle • Third-party sites that access Google Search • Autocomplete or Google Suggest are turned off • Google SSL beta • Slow internet connection (keep an eye on those dial-up minutes) • Bad words like “crack” and “turd” • Full list -- NSFW link http://www.2600.com/googleblacklist/

What about built-in web browser search? 9% of all web searches come through Firefox built-in search Internet Explorer 53% market share Firefox 31% market share Chrome 11% market share Safari 5% market share * http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/report_google_search_box_in_firefox_accounts_for_9.php Median of August 2010 Data from Net Applications, W3Counter, Stat Counter, Clicky,

What about built-in web browser search? 9% of all web searches come through Firefox built-in search Internet Explorer 53% market share Not likely. Likely. Firefox 31% market share A few months. Chrome 11% market share Safari 5% market share Maybe. Median of August 2010 Data from Net Applications, W3Counter, Stat Counter, Clicky,

New Instant features launched yesterday Instant now available on: Keyboard navigation of the search results: Videos News Books Blogs Updates Discussions

General Implications for Organic Marketing Monitor data closely for the next couple monthsPosition 1 & 2 more important than everCTA might move to title tagsLong tail traffic changes (eventually?)More qualified visitorsRethink on site optimization Remember the different experiences for searchers SEOmoz PRO Webinar: Google Instant, 9/30/10

But we are SEOs! Let’s talk algorithms. Prediction algorithm: changedRanking algorithm: not changed SEOmoz PRO Webinar: Google Instant, 9/30/10

But we are SEOs! Let’s talk algorithms. Prediction algorithm: changedRanking algorithm: not changed But the cool part is you can see these changes.

Plus you get another tool for SEO Awesomeness. Using Google Instant for Keyword Research & Competitive Research (shady spying squirrel) • You see: • Other words to consider • Brand associations to consider • Query extensions to consider • What domains keep dominating the top listings as you scroll over options • Quick representations of current landscape • Low hanging fruit opportunities Looking for other uses? Check out: http://www.blueglass.com/blog/use-google-suggest-keyword-research-and-beyond/

(shady spying squirrel)

Example #1: (Connective Web Design) Horse Photography You can type out top value keywords and research query extensions, the keywords suggested, and see what competitors are dominating share of voice. http://www.connectivewebdesign.com/using-google-instant-for-keyword-research

Example #2: Brainstorming for relevant keywords to target You can type out top value keywords and literally build out lists. Remember these queries have already been proven to Google as relevant, lot less guesswork. http://www.connectivewebdesign.com/using-google-instant-for-keyword-research

Okay my SEO is safe, but what about my PPC?! • More real estate! • Impressions are going up • CTR will likely see a dip, relative CTR will not likely change • CPCs will likely go up over the next few weeks for head terms • Keyword lists need a revisit • The wrong negative keywords could hurt you here • On page optimization just became more important Impressions CTR

So let’s get to it…what counts as an impression? • Press “Enter” to execute their search • Click on Search • Click on a result • Click on a prediction/suggestion • Click on a refinement option (to the left of search results) • Pause for 3+ seconds How will Google Instant impact impressions?“I don't have the data yet. But my opinion is that it will increase impression counts for a lot of keywords. Think about how older demographics type in Google. They are going to take longer than three seconds sometimes. Not to mention that during that time, we're all getting distracted. It makes it difficult for the Hitwises and comScores of the world to actually count impression shares.” Dr. Sid Shah, Director of Business Analytics at Efficient Frontier Awesome post: http://www.fastcompany.com/1687976/google-instant-impressions-3-seconds-sneeze

Wondering why you should listen to “Dr. Sid Shah” ? Shah has a PhD in “algorithm development.” Uhmm WTF?!

CTR & Quality Scores How does CTR play into this?The CTR algorithm has not changed, so relative CTR will stay the same. What does this mean for quality scores?CTR is a weighted factor in a keyword’s quality score, so quality scores will adjust accordingly. What does this mean for my bottom-line?Bigger brands are getting an advantage. So will I still make enough money to afford my bling?

How should you change your PPC programs to avoid this?

How should you change your PPC programs to avoid this? Definitely:Use Google’s suggestions in Adwords more effectivelyBuild out keyword list using Google InstantRevisit ad copy, headlines matter more than ever On page optimization revamps Probably:Exact and phrase keyword volume may decrease (yet to be proven) so consider broad and broad modifier match types

General Takeaways for Search Marketing The algorithms that guided us before the Google Instant launch still stand as is (no public changes announced). The preliminary data released shows no drastic changes as a result of Google Instant launching. Google Instant is most likely here to stay, and holds value as a new research tool in a variety of search marketing capacities. Your best bet is to revisit research basics, keep a close eye on things, test before changing anything significantly, and operate as usual… …SEO is not dead.

I can haz more information? Official Google page on Google Instant: http://www.google.com/instant/ How Google Instant Search Will Impact Advertisers: http://bit.ly/93sZeX I Wish We Had Google Understand Not Google Instant Search: http://bit.ly/cHHx7g Google Instant & Prediction (spreadsheet): http://bit.ly/9DxTc2 How Google Instant will Affect PPC: http://bit.ly/ac7XnfHow to Set up a Google Instant Experiment for AdWords: http://bit.ly/dcuglxGoogle Instant Expands To Videos & Other Search Verticals: http://bit.ly/9F7gy4 SEOmoz PRO Webinar: Google Instant, 9/30/10

Google Instant & Search Marketing