born ready - design & marketing

There are millions of people using Google Instant to find out the weather, the latest celeb gossip or which television to buy. Google Instant shows results as you type.

On the Google search engine in the background nothing has changed but in the foreground everything has changed.

Google Instant has taken searching a step further simply because it changes how your listings are displayed. Not only is the faster speed a factor, but Google is guessing or rather dictating what the web surfer is searching for so Google's influence on what's displayed has increased massivly.

Only time will tell what effect this "jumping the gun" or "making up your mind for you" will have on Internet marketing. The long-lasting effect of Google imposing its results on the web searcher will no doubt have some strong impacts on web marketing. Getting those first suggestions when a surfer types in just one or two letters... will become the real money-makers in terms of online traffic and sales.

Those companies and products which pop-up first will gain in market share and importance, but hasn't this always been the case with getting those first place keyword rankings in Google? Yes, but now Google is giving the searcher options and planting seeds/suggestions, which Google has done in the past but not at this speed and to this extent. The implications for online marketing could be enormous, assuming of course, web surfers actually use this function. Google does give users the option of turning off Instant search. In our hurried fast-paced world, one would reason, web searchers would not turn off this function, although if your Internet connection is too slow, Google will automatically turn off Instant search for you.

Shaun Gilbert, Director - Born Ready Design & Marketing