Tocquigny - A Measured Approach

Google’s ‘Instant’ Effect on Advertisers

Posted 09.16.2010 by Ashley DiPasquale

In the past week, Google Instant has received a lot of attention—but will the effect on advertisers be as instant as your search results?  Some critics have gone so far as to make claims that the new search offering could cannibalize Google’s own AdWords program or render SEO irrelevant. On the flip side, those in support of Google’s new product believe Google Instant will save users invaluable time as they perform routine searches daily.

So what exactly is Google Instant? According to Google, their new search service displays users’ real time search results as they type, giving them an opportunity to adapt their search on the fly and helping them find exactly what they are looking for. Google estimates this will save users two to five seconds per search. And if you Google as much as I do, this could end up saving you a couple of minutes in searches daily—just enough time to grab your third cup of coffee for the day. 

But time saving aside, now that search results instantly populate alongside relevant paid search ads, how are ad impressions counted in a world without pageviews? According to Google, an impression will not register unless the user views your ad for more than three seconds. This is good news for advertisers: impressions will be more qualified, rather than artificial padding in impression volume.

Google Instant may end up benefiting Big Name Brands. For example, as a user begins searching for “bug sprays” and types “b” into the search field, a number of results will display relating to Best Buy (See images below). In this instance, Best Buy’s brand awareness is significantly increased; however, the results related to Best Buy are irrelevant to the user’s original search causing temporary dissatisfaction.

Type 'b' and Google Instant suggests 'Best Buy', 'Bank of America', and 'Bing'

As we finished our search, Google returns our desired item, 'bug spray'

Advertisers can also expect stiffer competition for shorter and non-plural keywords. It is not difficult to predict that we will begin to notice a decline in long-tail searches: if a user finds what they are looking for before completing their original, more long-winded search, it is likely they will click on the instant results rather than finish typing their plural keywords. With that being said, advertisers can still expect long-tail searches to be performed if a user is not finding the results they are looking for as they instantly generate. From an advertiser’s perspective, it is important to monitor your keywords in the upcoming weeks to see if their cost-per-click (CPC) increases as a result of more competition bidding on shorter keywords and key phrases.

 Overall, it is too early to tell how Google Instant will affect advertisers in the long run. What we do know is that advertisers will need to adapt quickly to these changes and optimize their campaigns accordingly. One thing is for sure: you can always count on Google to shake things up right when you start to get comfortable.

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