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Earlier this week, we reported that Google Suggest was going to become more mainstream -- that is, that it would be the search default. Essentially, Google would "choose" the search phrases you were aiming to search for. This decision has been already challenged as search engine marketers wonder the consequences of this decision.
On Sphinn, lots of debate is cropping up about how this will change the face of SEM -- for good. In one post, we see 9 ways how the decision will impact search marketing. Some of these include the negative impact to long tail searches, more traffic to regional sites, and less opportunity to capitalize on misspellings, among others.
In another post, Google Suggest is thought to "completely change the query landscape" because the drop-down box may offer you suggestions that will change your mind on the search phrase you may have aimed to look for initially. The same concerns (capitalization on misspellings and long tail optimization) are brought up in this post as well.
However, that's not all. Martin Bowling explains that Google Suggest is a reputation management nightmare. Using an illustration for Obama, one sees that a lot of 'common' searches include 'obama antichrist' and 'obama muslim,' search phrases you wouldn't think of (or would you?). Because of effective reputation management, though, the actual SERPs for "Obama" hardly show any of those negative pages, but the bitter taste doesn't really leave your mouth. This can eventually grow over time and the reputation management dangers could increase. Indeed, that is a bit worrisome.
There are a lot of related discussions on Sphinn:
Comments:
Michael Martinez
08/28/2008 05:06 pm
Why anyone would think this should kill the long tail of search is beyond me. If anything, the feature seems designed to drive more traffic to long tail expressions. Right now, all the hubbub sounds like a bunch of little old ladies running around screaming and hollaring over nothing.
Jaan Kanellis
08/28/2008 06:08 pm
I dont think it will kill the long tail, just think it could effect your overall referrer numbers. No one really knows until it rolls out.
Jeremy
08/28/2008 10:07 pm
This impacts the paid side of the fence A LOT more than it does natural search. This combined with a few other recent Google changes (automatic matching, ever expanding expanded broad match, etc) is changing the paid search space in a big way.
No Name
08/29/2008 01:35 pm
The long tail is here to stay. why would Google remove an income stream? Lots of business are optimising their sites for longtail hits through PPC campaigns... i see the adverts for more longtail phrases increasing each week.
Jeremy
09/02/2008 07:08 pm
"why would Google remove an income stream? " They are not removing it, they are replacing it with a higher margin revenue stream. Why get 10 cents a click when you can get a dollar?
No Name
09/16/2008 10:58 am
i think there will be a solution in seo... generate google requests in tons for your keyword... and you grt the point in suggest