When Google announced their real time search additions, many were probably left unimpressed. After all, they are jumping on a bandwagon created by the popularity of Twitter’s search platform.
From an SEO perspective, however, the move excited me. It opens up a whole new world for savvy SEOs looking to compete in the always profitable business of trending search terms. There are several reasons I believe SEOs should be taking note of this addition:
1. QDF – The concept of query deserves freshness is not new, and search users are utilizing results that show up because of it everyday. However, in terms of rankings QDF can have huge impacts on the SERPs. The first thing that came to mind when I saw the real time search data pouring through was that Google is getting a massive amount of real time link data without the issue of a crawl. I am convinced they will be utilizing this data to help shape SERPs for terms that are trending or based on timeliness.
2. SPAM – Seriously, any new feature that Google rolls out is a playground for SPAM. My head is spinning thinking of all the cool/evil implications of the service. I am sure lots of people are going to be testing how Google is choosing the results coming in the box. Some people might ask the importance of coming up for a mere moment in that position, but the sheer amount of traffic generated for a trending term can make even a 30 second window profitable.
Time will tell if this is actually a feature search users utilize. From the user perspective, I definetly see the benefit in terms of staying on top of breaking news. This could be a game changer in that respect, and was the one place Twitter search had really changed the face of social media.
