Google Suggest Feature To Shake Up PPC World
Search giant, Google Inc., recently rolled out its search enhancing “Google Suggest,” a drop-down box that recommends search queries as users type. While Yahoo! has had this feature for some time, the addition of search suggestions in Google has caused a special stir among pay per click managers.
As Google users search, a drop-down box appears with 10 suggested queries, along with the number of results. For example, if users type in “UFO” Google suggests “UFOs (8,370,000 results)”, “UFO Sightings (1,430,000 results), and “UFO News (830,000)”, among others.
PPC Discussions calls Google Suggest “the death of the long tail.” With search made easier for users (searchers don’t have to type a full query - they can just type a word and choose a suggestion), many long-tail keywords will likely be less searched or even un-searched. Major increases in search volume for the most popular queries will not only result in more advertiser competition for those keywords, but also much more revenue for Google as bids increase.
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September 5th, 2008 at 9:33 am
I’m not sure about “the death of the long tail”. I think if someone wants to find something, they will still search for it. You may get less people accidentally typing long-tail queries (because they couldn’t think of the right words), but the ones that do will be better qualified, and more likely to convert
Just my two cents!
Cheers, Jon
September 5th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Jon, I agree that people will still search with the long tail - I also agree on the front that there will be fewer long tail queries due to search suggest at the search engines. The search engines need more revenue for the Street to be happy…search suggest simply tightens up the focus on their ad inventory. I believe it is actually a smart business move. -James
September 21st, 2008 at 10:54 am
Hi James. Now that Suggest has been round for a couple of weeks, I find from my personal experience that I’m already starting to ignore it! A bit like on-page ads, it’s as though I’ve developed a blind-spot. But I’m probably not in the target demographic for the service
Cheers, Jon
September 22nd, 2008 at 11:38 pm
Of course those who stare at their keyboards while typing will never know