Mar
2
A new monster called Google
Each month I get delivery of the Search Engine News; an industry rag by Planet Ocean which goes over most everything a marketing professional would need to know about how the search engines are changing. While most monthly reads are mundane ones, recent developments around changes with regard to Caffeine, Local Search and Google Buzz have lots of people concerned about some of the new changes Google is implementing. 
Buzz specifically caught a lot of folks off guard with its ‘instant follow’ capabilities. Moreover, users could instantly derive who was in conversation with who among their connections based on follower lists. Instant privacy concerns.
Lots more public conversation has asked why Google is entering the social game. Google should answer ‘why not’ however some of the Google Buzz bungles have perhaps shown that the internet marketing behemoth doesn’t necessarily understand the implications of privacy regarding the massive amounts of data it has available from its users, specifically at the point of e-mail. Where Facebook has perhaps fared better with the privacy concerns of its users, it shows that Google is perhaps comparably new to the social dynamics of how people use its software.
Back along the lines of SEO, Google has lots of search consultants sweating with the implications of how changes in local and personalized search results are changing what it means to have a “#1 ranking.” In regard to personalized search, the major implication is that one user may have a different experience in search results based on their past search tendencies. Moreover, Google’s testing of “Enhanced” Local listings (in the Google Maps results) may soon put a spin on what has been the more organic nature of the 7-pack of maps listings found in locality specific search queries. (For reference, Google is testing a $25 paid Local listing in San Jose and Houston as test markets for the new service)
As for the other third of the search engine market, both the Department of Justice and the European commission have OK’d a deal between Microsoft and Yahoo to make Bing the power behind the Yahoo throne. In essence, the two companies have entered into a five year deal by which Bing will provide the backend for Yahoo’s Search and Ad Networks – a sizeable change considering that following the deal, there will be only two majors venues for search marketing: Google and Bing. In short, if your current business model or marketing practices rely on visibility through Yahoo, you may want to rethink your plan of attack.