Universal Search: It's search Jim, but not as we know it.
By: Louis Coupe | Posted: 26th August 2007
So just as we think we've started to unravel the mysteries behind Google and the like, it's time for change. Murmurings have been around for a while, but with increasing pace it would seem change is almost upon us. As with all things Internet, change - when it does come is likely to be speedy and without compromise. For those who specialise in search marketing and optimisation, the message is keep up to date as the changes come on stream. For the generalist or those without unlimited SEO budgets the pace of change could easily catch them out.
It's search Jim, but not as we know it. SEO as we have known it is likely to be a thing of the past. This is not to say that it will completely disappear, but that it will change so vastly that the entire market will be very much different in a year or twos time. We are already seeing how social media coupled with RSS feeds, for example, are transforming how people find information and in turn find trusted sites they will frequent regularly.
Sensing this change Google is introducing a 'universal search', which represents one of the biggest shake-ups we've seen for a long time. Universal search aims to bring together results based on a multitude of information from news, video, images, and location to name but a few. This general move from horizontal to vertical search does have a great deal of merit. We've all seem how broad the results can be when searching for something specific. The vertical approach seeks to patch this problem by paying more attention to sites that cater for specific topics rather than scanning across the entire web. Then throw in user preferences, trends and favourites and it's easy to see just how different searching the Internet is about to become. While this promises to provide users with possibly more relevant results, the consequence for SEO's is still something many are struggling to conjure with.
What all this seems to be pointing at is an increasingly complex picture when it comes to engaging SEO services. Those with big budgets will benefit from more in-depth advice and assistance while the smaller website owners may struggle to afford the help they need. For those that have dabbled in do it your self SEO perhaps the fight is about to become just a little beyond them.
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Paul Coupe is lead designer / developer with Zoom Online.
Zoom Online - Providing total online solutions.
Contact: paul@zoom-online.co.uk
http://www.zoom-online.co.uk/e-marketing/Universal_Search_Its_search_Jim_but_not_as_we_know_it.htm
About the Author
Paul Coupe is lead designer / developer with Zoom Online.
Zoom Online - Providing total online solutions.
Contact: paul@zoom-online.co.uk
This article is free for republishing
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Tags: google, ups, long time, pace, consequence, promises, relevant results, entire web, budgets, seo services, searching the internet, multitude, favourites, compromise, video images, mysteries, generalist, universal search