Google Instant, and What it Means for SEO

By Chelsi Nakano (@chelkano) Sep 9, 2010

Yesterday the Internets welcomed Google Instant, a new search feature with streaming Web results that appear as you type your query. Reactions have been mixed, especially from within the SEO pool.

Google Instant

Welcome to the age of instant gratification, when, thanks to real-time technology and social media, wanting more than what's directly in front of us is no longer an issue. Google Instant further perpetuates this expectation by providing users with search results before they've even had a chance to hit the "Enter" key:

Google Instant example

In the example above, I've simply typed "Google is" in the search query bar and the most popular ending to that search ("hiring") has appeared in grey. Meanwhile, the results for that popular search have already appeared in the results panel just below.

This would be great if I were looking for jobs, but I had a different query in mind:

google _instant_example_2.JPG Google Instant example

Again, without pressing the "Enter" key (or clicking the "Search" button), I've typed in my full query and am able to see the instant results for that query below. Here it is in action:

While some are claiming that Big G is fixing what ain't broke with this feature, the Internet giant claims their inspiration came form the realization that people generally read faster than they type."

Our key technical insight was that people type slowly, but read quickly, typically taking 300 milliseconds between keystrokes, but only 30 milliseconds (a tenth of the time!) to glance at another part of the page. …seeing results as you type helps you formulate a better search term by providing instant feedback. You can now adapt your search on the fly until the results match exactly what you want. In time, we may wonder how search ever worked in any other way.

Room for SEO and Paid Search

It's a noble cause, but, as nifty as this feature may be, it is not without repercussions. Search engine optimization in particular has been on the minds of many experts.

"Once a single search would do the trick - and everyone saw the same results. That's what made search engine optimization work," said Steve Rubel, SVP, Director of Insights for Edelman Digital. "Now, with this, everyone is going to start tweaking their searches in real-time. The reason this is a game changer is feedback. When you get feedback, you change your behaviors. …Google Instant means no one will see the same web anymore, making optimizing it virtually impossible."