Archive for December, 2009

Search Engines in 2009 & Predictions For 2010

December 22nd, 2009

It’s that time of the year again. End of year roundups and predictions for 2010. It’s been a busy year in search, well in fact its been a busy decade (but we won’t go there)! If 2009 was the year of Bing, Wolfram Alpha, Google Caffeine and expansion of AdWords usage, along with everyone’s attempts at Real-Time search integration, then what does 2010 have in store for the search industry?

From a user perspective, search engines were looking east. Taking from insights in the far eastern search markets, Bing and Google focused more on becoming a one stop destination hub. From the second you type your query into Google, suggestions are sent your way. In 2009 they upgraded the suggestions to include direct links and elements such as the latest weather reports, or even parcel tracking information, all before you even click “submit”.

Personalisation was a key objective for search engines too, as user data continues to get used to determine future results and trends. However, it met a lot of critique, from many who cited that personalisation may take away from independence (with less and less “new” perspectives given to users). Just like the improvements in audio/video searches and real time search though, 2010 looks to be a big year for the development of these technologies.

As far as traditional SEO and PPC goes, Google impacted these strategies too. Lines began to blur between the two, as Google integrated local results (map results) and expandable PPC ads (integrating PPC and Google Base results together) to include sitelinks and product prices / listings. From an SEO perspective, Google spent the latter part of 2009 emphasising the need for speed – advising that a sites load time may become a big factor for optimisation in 2010.

And Google didn’t stop there, continuing their foray into a vast range of things – some of which it has been working on for a few years, such as voice recognition search, along with working on more efficient translation tools and various apps for the Android operating system. And then there were the many mash-ups of their existing offerings, such as City Tours and Social Search.

It wasn’t all bright lights for Google though, as they continued to seem out of place when it came to other forms of media, including a much criticised attempt to push the Google Chrome browser on TV and print media ads. They also took what many people felt were a step back with a more traditional pricing on “paid placement” local listings, and YouTube ads, opting away from their cost per click rates – and instead going towards the old CPM rates in some cases.

At the same time though, marketers looked closer at the impact of TV on search. Going beyond slogans that say “search for (name of brand) on Google” – marketers looked at having the celebrity presence on their search listings too. Hilary Swank, Scarlett Johansson, Oprah Winfrey and Jessica Alba were celebrities used to endorse PPC ad copy in 2009.

The merger between Bing and Yahoo looms ever present for 2010, while Yahoo Search Submit Pro calls it a day. Yahoo site explorer is rumoured to be next in line, which was the source of many an online SEO tool that analysed links. When this will happen is unclear, but it does remind many of a search marketer of the times when the Yahoo / Overture keyword tool was silently put to sleep.

And of course, it wouldn’t be an end of year / new year posting without some predictions, so here goes. Among our predictions for search in 2010, are:

1. SEO will become the darling of marketing, as recession strapped companies look to get the most of their budgets

2. SEO’s will need to know how to communicate with designers and developers (and vice versa), as factors such as load time, script usage and site coding become key SEO factors

3. Data (advertiser and customer) debates will heat up over the year, as companies like Facebook, Google, Bing, etc tread the line between insight and privacy

4. Local and retail advertisers will see Google Maps and Google Base traffic volumes soar

5. Launched in 2009 – Scoopler.com will become one to watch in the “real-time search” race

6. Search becomes the marketing channel for geniuses (or genii), as from keyword research to semantic psychology – things are about to get really interesting!

7. International SEO and PPC strategies will evolve fast in 2010, as search engines such as Baidu spent late 2009 moving towards a more westernised search methodology in both paid and natural search listings

8. Real time search still needs a fair bit of work and will look vastly different this time next year

9. Mobile search will finally catch up to all the hype its received in the last few years

Drop us a line and let us know what you think is in store for search in 2010.

Blog post by Niall Madden, SEO Director of Reform

Why I don’t want my search ‘personalized’

December 8th, 2009

So, now Google thinks it knows me. Even when I’m not logged in to one of their products. Well, Google, I’m not happy about this and I don’t want you deciding what I see and when.

Obviously Google has a massive influence on what we see on the internet these days and as the number one search engine in the UK, that’s unlikely to change, but I have to object to them taking all the fun out of search as they seem to be doing with this personalized search yoke.

If I’m searching on Google (or any other search engine for that matter) I will have some idea of what I’m looking for and I might be in one of three key search modes; navigational- getting to a site whose domain I’ve forgotten, transactional- researching with intent to make a purchase, or information search- just looking to find out something to enhance my own knowledge. I might be looking for a recipe,  I might be looking up the answer to a trivia question to settle an argument.

What I expect from Google in return is a set of relevant search results based on content from the whole of the world wide web. I don’t care what I searched for recently or what Google thinks I’ll like best. I want to decide. I am a moody searcher and my mood swings shall decide whether I’m looking for something old or something new.

When any user searches, they normally have some idea of what they want to find. There is obviously a big difference between someone looking for an apple phone and an apple pie recipe and Google can easily distinguish between simple behaviours each time we are searching to show appropriate result sets. But, sometimes I am looking for something out of the ordinary. How is Google supposed to know that? Sometimes I’m looking for something on behalf of someone else, or I just feel like branching out. Sometimes, heaven forbid, I’m interested to see what’s new out there.

I’ll be clearing my cookies and deleting my history so Google can’t try and understand me. If you want Google to be your friend and predict your inner thoughts and desires go spend some time on your igoogle page, but I say Bah Humbug to giving my soul to Google.

Search and Social Media

December 3rd, 2009

There was a really interesting article in the Nov/Dec issue of B2B Marketing called “Search and social media go hand in hand” by Tom Chapman. It discusses the importance of tying up search and social media efforts. However, it got me thinking about how there are very few businesses doing this at the moment, and very few doing it well enough to get anywhere near maximising their performance in each channel.

Part of the problem is that search marketers have traditionally operated in silos, coming from agencies where IP and data can be jealously protected to ensure the agency’s own longevity on the business. As such, the methods used to identify what people are searching for and what sites are ranking on those searches are rarely shared, let alone fed into a social media strategy. Further to this, as most of industry’s knowledge of search is confined within the walls of agencies and the search engines themselves, the focus has been on using the available data solely for buying decisions. To drill into this information and use it as a way of understanding consumer behavior, and the view of a market sector that a consumer is presented when searching, requires a different mindset.

Another problem is the continuing focus on using search and social media for dealing with negativity. When most people hear “search” and “social media” together they tend to think of all of the negative comments that could be showing when people search for their brand. Then they set about figuring out how to knock them off the first page rankings. This is just one (and perhaps a short sighted) example of how search can work with social media.

Using search query volume data to inform social media content development, tracking trends and rising searches to allow you to analyse the effect of your social media strategies, analysing rankings to show you where there are gaps in rich content listings that you could target to drive traffic to your social content, are more positive examples. Optimising your social content is the next big step, ensuring that everything works in tandem with your SEO strategy. There are a whole host of things you can do to inform your social media strategies, to get even more value out of your investment, and to hone how your brand is presented to consumers.

The barriers that we face to having the channels working together in true synergy are compounded by the elevation of social media to the latest “big thing”. The fact is, it’s not so different from everything else we do; social content development decisions should be driven by the same data and thought processes as all other content.

In Digital, we tend to specialize in different channels and think of them independently. The consumer doesn’t see separate channels though, they have one all encompassing experience. Specialists from each channel need to rally together to pool their knowledge and work harder together to align their efforts, not say “oh yes, we can do that” when a client asks about a different channel if it’s not their core specialism. Communication, open mindedness, and a willing approach will help us get these channels working better together, helping us unlock the true value of both.