Google Instant Search: Will it Help Internet Marketers/SEO experts?

After Microsoft launched Bing in competition to Google Search and before it could capture a small bit of market share, Google fights back with their “Google Instant Search”.

So, what is Google Instant Search?

They say “Search as you type” and according to the official Google Blog, it is a simple and straightforward idea where people can get their search results as they type their queries and before they hit the ‘Enter’ button. The search-as-you type a.k.a Google Instant Search is thought-provoking filled with fun and lot of interactivity, but, fundamentally flawed. Now why do we say that it is ‘fundamentally flawed? Reason is people won’t really want search-as-you-type. For example, would you really be interested to see search results for [bike h] in the process of searching for [bike helmets]? Doesn’t really make sense, right? But think of the concept of search-before-you-type which means you get results for the most relevant term/s given what you’ve already typed. I’m sure that most of you are really interested now!

Now imagine, how difficult it might be to search even before you type. It’s not easy right and that’s the reason why everybody at the Google Headquarters were so excited about the launch of Google Instant. Google instant predicts the most likely completion of keywords and streams results. And all of this happens in the real time which yields a smarter and faster search making it more interactive, predictive and really powerful.

The core features in Google Instant are:

1. Dynamic Results – You get relevant search results dynamically as you type in the search box which lets you quickly interact through the web content you’re looking for.
2. Predictions – The key feature in Google Instant is that you get predictions of your search query (in light gray text) before you finish typing. If you see what you need, you can simply stop typing.
3. Scroll to Search – You can scroll through predictions and see the results instantly for each query as you arrow down.

Here’s the official video that explains Google Instant in greater depth:

I have a screenshot for you which show you different results and the sponsored/ppc links (you can click on the image to view an enlarged copy). Amazingly, you see that Google Instant even lists the sponsored links dynamically and instantly.

With all these being said, there are a few questions popping up in my mind.

1. Does Google Instant come packaged with a new algorithm?

Well, Google says no. But many bloggers and internet marketers are reporting indifferent behavior. Some are complaining that they’re out of the first page for a particular keyword for which they used to rank prior to the launch of Google Instant while some are happy to be included in the first page for a keyword for which they were quite below.

1. The second question is “How does Google Instant affect Internet Marketers especially the SEO dependent ones”?

Right now I don’t have an answer to this question. What do you guys think about it? Do let us know your thought and experiences with the Google Instant.

To find out more about technologies used and supported browsers visit the Official Google Blog.