Google Instant and Why It’s a Genius Way for Google to Make More Money From Advertisers

Google is constantly tweaking their main search service and introducing new features that the majority of users probably don’t even notice. For the most part these are smart little touches that help to make Google more intuitive and more effective at what it does – quickly connecting visitors with the content they’re looking for.

A recent example of one of these tweaks for instance is Google Instant – a feature that aims to second guess you to the point where you get your results even before you’ve finished typing them and maybe even before you knew what it was you were going to type. The way this works is to bring up SERPs as you’re tying your key phrase so that there’s a chance of your finding a relevant result even before you’ve finished writing.

It’s a potentially useful feature, but if you’re the cynical type then you might suspect that there’s more to it than that and that there is a little something in it here for Google as well. In fact you might suspect, if you’re very astute, that it could potentially increase AdWords revenue to a significant degree… Let’s look at how that could work…

Change in Searching Behaviour

These small iterations might not seem like much to Google’s user base, but those who deal in SEO know full well that even the smallest tweak Google make can often have large unexpected impact on searching behaviour and on the fates of many businesses.

So how could search behaviour change as a result of Instant? Well of course it logically follows that people would start using shorter keywords. If you were interrupted halfway through typing your search term and saw what you wanted then you would most likely stop typing (unless you had some form of OCD) and across the millions of people using Google that could be bad news for sites that targeted ‘bodybuilding supplements reviews and information’ and great news for sites targeting ‘supplement reviews’.

But how does this benefit Google? Simple – because they make money via AdWords by auctioning off advertising space on certain key terms. And how do you get more money at an auction? You get more people bidding for the same thing.

As such then Google Instant makes perfect sense for the AdWords team because it will drive the majority of traffic towards a particular kind of keyphrase – the short kind. And where the users go, the advertisers will follow meaning that they’ll be bidding on a less diverse range of keywords and having to pay more to get the popular ones.

What Does This Mean for You?

In theory this could mean more expense for users of AdWords and more competition on the short tail key phrases for those using good old fashioned SEO. However the good news is according to the Rimm-Kaufman Group, this actually isn’t the case and users in fact seem to be moving towards more 4 and 5 word searches. So far, so no problem.

However that said, what Google Suggest tells us is the direction that Google is going in – and other features like Google Instant and even semantic search to a degree seem to be targeted towards a Google that knows what you want before you think it and acts on short phrases and even vagaries in some cases. If you want to survive then you need to adapt and make sure that you are targeting those shorter and more succinct key terms. Of course though it does also mean potentially less competition on longer tailed keyphrases, so be on the lookout for opportunities.

The article is written by Jeet, an avid blogger and expert in SEO and internet marketing. Using his knowledge, he has founded GetLinksPro, providers of link-building service to their clients. You can follow him on twitter to read latest info on SEO trends and Google updates.