Search Engine Land
  • SEO
    • > All SEO
    • > What Is SEO?
    • > SEO Periodic Table
    • > Google: SEO
    • > Bing SEO
    • > Google Algorithm Updates
  • PPC
    • > All PPC
    • > What is PPC?
    • > Google Ads
    • > Microsoft Ads
    • > The Periodic Tables of PPC
  • Focuses
    • > Local
    • > Commerce
    • > Shopify SEO Guide
    • > Content
    • > Email Marketing Periodic Table
    • > Social Media Marketing
    • > Analytics
    • > Search Engine Land Awards
    • > All Focuses
  • SMX
  • Webinars
  • Intelligence Reports
  • White Papers
  • About
    • > About Search Engine Land
    • > Newsletter
    • > Third Door Media
    • > Advertise

Processing...Please wait.

Search Engine Land » Channel » SEO » Will Google Instant Kill The Long Tail?

Will Google Instant Kill The Long Tail?

From a paid search perspective, the first impression of Google Instant is alarming. On September 8, Google announced Google Instant. This new feature uses a predicated query technique to establish the user’s intent. Although part of me finds Google Instant really intriguing, as a paid search marketer I have my concerns, despite Google’s assurance that […]

John Ellis on September 8, 2010 at 3:21 pm

From a paid search perspective, the first impression of Google Instant is alarming.

On September 8, Google announced Google Instant. This new feature uses a predicated query technique to establish the user’s intent. Although part of me finds Google Instant really intriguing, as a paid search marketer I have my concerns, despite Google’s assurance that this feature will not impact the ranking of ads (see Danny Sullivan’s notes about Google Instant from live blogging at the press conference.) Those concerns range from interesting, to wait and see, to alarming. Below are my early observations and first reactions to Google Instant.

Regional impact

Maybe I missed it, but during the live announcement, I did not hear mention of regional differences in query prediction. The example of starting a query with “w” and showing San Francisco weather drew a round of applause from the local, live audience. That sounds great! I would love to get my weather with one letter click.

However, my Nashville location fails me. My “w” returns WalMart. Okay, no problem let’s try this again. “John” returns “John Deere”. [Insert your Southern, redneck joke here]. Without going into too much on my personal life, let’s just say WalMart and John Deere does not appeal to me. I rarely visit WalMart.com and I have never visited Deere.com, but apparently “my people” do.

[By the way, those examples above also varied per browser]

From a paid search angle, this can be a very serious concern. When targeting keywords, I need to have consistency across regions. Having that consistency allows me to target regions the way I want to with ads, not how Google Instant chooses.

Effect on ad impressions

Counting impressions with Google Instant happens in three different ways.

  • Any click – If the user starts typing, then clicks anywhere on the page, an impression is counted. Whether that’s an ad, spell check, or link, it’s counted.
  • Search Selection – An impression is counted when the search button is clicked or a user selects a query.
  • 3 Second Rule – When the user stops typing and does nothing for 3 seconds, an impression is counted

Source: http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=187309

I am actually not sure yet how this will affect my ad campaigns. At a minimum, I would expect an impression count to go down. Impressions are a great way to draw brand awareness without accruing cost. It makes sense that Google would want to eliminate this “free” form of advertising. I am at the “wait and see” stage with impression count.

Long tail affected

The status of the long-tail query is my biggest concern in the paid search world. For years, I have been eliminating broad and short keywords. Although the volume was there, the conversions were not. As many marketers have learned, the real “value” in AdWords is in the longer-tailed, specific keywords.

For example, a hotel in Las Vegas would expect more conversions bidding on “Las Vegas 5-star Hotel” vs. “Las Vegas”. Bidding on “Las Vegas” would surely bring in lots of clicks, but the cost per conversion may be too high. Lower budgets can easily compete by bidding on longer terms.

Google Instant Las Vegas

Now with Google Instant, that changes. With our example, starting the query with “Las”, shows ads for Las Vegas. Some of those ads are for hotels. Why would a user continue typing if they see hotel ads already? As an advertiser this forces me to bid on “Las Vegas” to compete. Thus, making me put more dollars in Google’s pockets. This kills the need to bid on long-tail keywords. Users may never even get to “Las V…” much less “Las Vegas 5-star Hotels”, “Las Vegas hotels on the strip”, “Las Vegas hotels on the North Strip”, etc.

Google Instant Search Results for Las Vegas

What are your thoughts? Maybe I am missing something. While you ponder, I need to go turn all my broad matching back on and add shorter keywords to my list.


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.


New on Search Engine Land

    4 elements of good content, according to Google research 

    Google Ads bug inflating some cost-per-click (CPCs) for non-US campaigns

    3 changes coming to Google Ads audience features

    Chrome will show Google Lens results in the same browser tab

    Google Marketing Live 2022: Everything you need to know

About The Author

John Ellis
John W. Ellis is an online marketer with a strong emphasis on search marketing. John is a frequent contributor of paid search topics to SearchEngineLand.com. More information on John can be found at www.JohnWEllis.com

Related Topics

GoogleSEO

Get the daily newsletter search marketers rely on.

Processing...Please wait.

See terms.

ATTEND OUR EVENTS

Learn actionable search marketing tactics that can help you drive more traffic, leads, and revenue.

March 8-9, 2022: Master Classes (virtual)

June 14-15, 2022: SMX Advanced (virtual)

November 15-16, 2022: SMX Next (virtual)

Learn More About Our SMX Events

Discover time-saving technologies and actionable tactics that can help you overcome crucial marketing challenges.

Start Discovering Now: Spring (virtual)

September 28-29, 2022: Fall (virtual)

Learn More About Our MarTech Events

Webinars

Take a Crawl, Walk, Run Approach to Multi-Channel ABM

Content Comes First: Transform Your Operations With DAM

Dominate Your Competition with Google Auction Insights and Search Intelligence

See More Webinars

Intelligence Reports

Enterprise SEO Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

Enterprise Identity Resolution Platforms

Email Marketing Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

Enterprise Sales Enablement Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

Enterprise Digital Experience Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

Enterprise Call Analytics Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

See More Intelligence Reports

White Papers

Reputation Management For Healthcare Organizations

Unlock the App Marketing Potential of QR Codes

Realising the power of virtual events for demand generation

The Progressive Marketer’s Ultimate Events Strategy 2022 Worksheet

CMO Guide: How to Plan Smart and Pivot Fast

See More Whitepapers

Receive daily search news and analysis.

Processing...Please wait.

Topics

  • SEO
  • PPC

Our Events

  • Search Marketing Expo - SMX
  • MarTech

About

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Marketing Opportunities
  • Staff

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Newsletters
  • RSS
  • Youtube

© 2022 Third Door Media, Inc. All rights reserved.