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Last year, Google released a Gmail Labs feature that added a search box for regular Google Search within Gmail. The lab is simply called Google search. However, it didn’t provide all of the features that the real Google search does. They have now taken steps to improve the feature’s capabilities in the following areas:

- Dictionary definitions
- Spelling corrections
- Calculations
- Local results
- Weather
- News

You can now enter "define" and a word in the search box to retrieve a definition. If you spell something wrong, it will ask you if you meant something else. If you type in a math expression, you’ll get the calculation. You can search for a specific place or for things near a specific place and get map results (although Google said this feature will become available in a few weeks). It will also show you the More Info link, which will take you to a place page.

You can type "weather" followed by your city and state (or country) or zip code and get local weather results not unlike what you would get in a regular Google search. If your query matches something in the news, you may get some news results.

The new features are available in all languages that Gmail supports. They have also added a search button to the toolbar when you compose a message. With this, you can select text, click the button, and it will search for that. If you don’t select text, it will just bring up a search box.

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The U.S. remains the largest search market worldwide, while Google holds on to a commanding position in the global search market, according to a new study from comScore.

"The global search market continues to grow at an extraordinary rate, with both highly developed and emerging markets contributing to the strong growth worldwide," said Jack Flanagan, comScore executive vice president.

"Search is clearly becoming a more ubiquitous behavior among Internet users that drives navigation not only directly from search engines but also within sites and across networks. If you equate the advancement of search with the ability of humans to cultivate information, then the world is rapidly becoming a more knowledgeable ecosystem."

The total global search market had more than 131 billion searches conducted by people 15 or older from home and work locations in December 2009, representing a 46 percent increase in the past year.

Broken down, it represents more than 4 billion searches per day, 175 million per hour, and 29 million per minute. The U.S. is the largest individual search market in the world with 22.7 billion searches, or about 17 percent of searches conducted globally. China landed in the second spot with 13.3 billion searches, followed by Japan with 9.2 billion and the U.K. with 6.2 billion. Among the top ten global search markets, Russia had the biggest gains in 2009, growing 92 percent to 3.3 billion, followed by France (up61% to 5.4 billion) and Brazil (up 53% to 3.8 billion).

Google sites were the top search property worldwide with 87.8 billion searches in December, or 66.8 percent of the global search market. Google sites saw a 58 percent increase in search query volume over the past year. Yahoo sites ranked second globally with 9.4 billion searches (up 13%), followed by Chinese search engine Baidu with 8.5 billion searches (up 7%).

Microsoft sites saw the largest gains among the top five properties, growing 70 percent to 4.1 billion searches, on the strength of its new search engine Bing. Russian search engine Yandex also saw solid gains, growing 91 percent to 1.9 billion searches.
 

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As a group, search engines appear to be in the process of losing bragging rights in Australia.  Social networking sites and forums (also taken as a group) topped search engines in terms of market share over Christmas and are poised to assume the lead on a permanent basis.

Hitwise’s Alan Long wrote this morning, "The chart below confirms that during the week of Christmas . . . the Social Networking and Forum industry category overtook Search Engines share of visits for the very first time.  While this looked like a short term lead, we are now seeing continued growth of Social Networking and Forums to now sit just 0.4% share behind Search Engines in week ending 16 January 2010."

That’s an impressive fact, especially if you consider how far social networks have come in the last six months.

The one potential problem with the Hitwise analysis is that YouTube has been classified as a social network.  Marshall Kirkpatrick observed that the site also functions as a search engine, and so social networks and forums may not deserve to have it (and its impressive numbers) on their side.

Still, it’s obvious that social networks are becoming more and more popular however the numbers are spliced.

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A little bit of data from the Efficient Frontier Q4 2009 Search Engine Performance Report has been made available, and it’s completely un-shocking in that it shows search marketers are still more than happy to spend their money with Google.  The interesting thing, though, is that Bing seems to have gained a little ground on the search giant.

To give credit where it’s due: Nathania Johnson is the one who got an early look at Efficient Frontier’s report (which is supposed to be released tomorrow).  It’s thanks to her, then, that we know Google’s market share in terms of search advertising spending fell 1.0 percent on a year-over-year basis to 74.5 percent.

Meanwhile, Yahoo’s share stayed steady (at 20.4 percent), and Bing’s increased by 1.0 percent (to 5.1 percent).

From Microsoft’s perspective, that represents a move in the right direction, at least.  And it’s interesting, too, that Bing managed to draw revenue away from Google instead of its partner-to-be in Sunnyvale.

As for the future, Johnson wrote, "Bing is expected to grow 30% in 2010, giving them a 6-7% share of paid clicks."  The outlook for the whole industry seems fairly bright, too, given that she stated, "SEM spend will grow 15-20% in 2010."

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As you know full well, the search industry is constantly changing, and that means SEOs and businesses must adapt. This is always made abundantly clear at the change of each year as the previous year is reflected upon, and predictions about trends in the upcoming year are discussed. SEOs know that adaptation and ongoing education are crucial. The problem is that businesses don’t always understand just how much the search landscape actually does change. This can present a whole different set of challenges for both the small business and the professional SEO.

What are some SEO tactics you’ve had a hard time convincing clients to employ? Discuss here.

Searching for Profit founder Amanda Watlington recently discussed some arising trends in the search industry and how understanding the changing search landscape is of vital importance. One example of change is the possible inclusion of site speed as a ranking factor in Google. Matt Cutts dropped that bomb a couple months ago, and while many welcome it, a lot are dreading it.

For one, businesses and clients of SEOs simply may not be so eager to put forth the time and money required to make the necessary adjustments to their sites to optimize for speed, although it is clearly in the best interest of the customer’s experience anyway.

Another challenge, as Watlington mentions, is personalized search. Companies don’t always get that not everybody is necessarily going to see the same search results for any given query, and it can sometimes be difficult for SEOs to convince them that this is the case.

Although things appear to be looking up, budgets have been tight, and businesses are demanding better results for their bucks, but they are not always aware of the big picture, which is why it is up to the hired SEO professional to educate them as best they can, and for other businesses to educate themselves.

Luckily, there are plenty of industry resources freely available on the web. After all, you’ve probably read about the very tactics you have in mind there yourself. SEOs should find instances to back up their case to convince stubborn clients. Some of them are just hung up on outdated trends. Obviously this can make it hard to produce the results they are after.

"The evolution has been slow, and I don’t think we’ve helped it as much as we could," Watlington says of companies’ understanding of SEO trends.

If you are the client of an SEO or a business trying to get things done yourself, don’t stay hung up on old tactics that might be outdated. At this point, these are some of the things you should keep in mind:

- Site Speed (it’s going to matter, so don’t ignore it…here are some things to consider)

- Personalized Search (Not everyone is going to see the same Google results)

- Universal Search (Showing up here requires attention to different indexes)

- Real-Tme Search (look for more evolution in this area)

- Changes in Local (there are frequently tweaks made by Google here)

- Some things do stay the same (things like reputable links will always be in style)

- Most importantly, stay informed (just keep up with the latest in industry developments)

As Watlington notes in the interview, metrics are very important, and there has been a great deal of focus on them in the industry in recent years. New metrics come about, just as new tools do. Metrics can help illustrate the bigger picture, custom-fit to a particular organizations goals.

What are the biggest challenges you face when dealing with changing SEO strategies for your own companies or your clients?  Comment here.

Related Articles:

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> Things to Consider if Page Speed is to Become a Ranking Factor

As I’ve noted in the past, Wolfram Alpha, the much-hyped search computation engine that was supposed to be the future of search hasn’t exactly set the world on fire. As of November, Compete data indicates it was receiving under 300 thousand unique visitors in the US. To put that into perspective, Ask.com had over 41 million.

However, that’s not to say that Wolfram Alpha is a failure. Not only is it still quite young, it is a much different animal than the average search engine, as has been discussed anytime Wolfram Alpha comes up in conversation. Those who search for the kind of results Wolfram Alpha offers seem generally impressed.

Microsoft recently launched some new features for its Bing search engine, and among those was the integration of some Wolfram Alpha data. Just like that, it seemed to dawn on the search industry that maybe this thing could indeed play a significant role in the future of search, perhaps not as a standalone engine (it’s hard to get the average searcher to go to WolframAlpha.com), but maybe behind the scenes. Maybe the average person has no idea what Wolfram Alpha is, but if they use Bing, they may be using it anyway, and they may really like those results.

WebProNews recently interviewed Javed Panjwani, the Business Development Executive at Wolfram Alpha:

Among other things, Panjwani says that they look forward to more and more of those "kinds of conversations," as he talks about the engine’s integration with Bing. We can only speculate, but does this mean they will pursue relationships with other search engines? Google perhaps?

I’m not trying to start any rumors about any possible deals or anything, but Wolfram Alpha’s attitude seems quite open to such a thing. As Google likes to "organize the world’s information," it’s not hard to imagine them being able to use such a "computation engine." It could be at least as useful as the real-time results they’re now indexing.

People have no doubt suggested the possibility of such a match-up in the past, particularly after the Bing deal was brought into the public eye. This could be something to keep an eye on. We’ve seen repeatedly now that Google does not want to be upstaged by Bing.

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The search industry has changed a lot since it was conceived years ago. The rate of change shows no signs of slowing down either. That’s one reason why it pays to keep up with the current trends and discussions surrounding the industry. One way to do this is through attending conferences. WebProNews attended and covered Search Engine Strategies in Chicago this week, and we’ve put together ten selections that can help you learn a thing or two for your own search engine marketing endeavors.

What do you think the most important topic in the search industry is right now? Discuss here.

1. A Black Hat Debate

There was an interesting discussion about the difference between "Black Hat" and "white Hat" SEO, and how their meanings change over time. This led to talk about Google’s place as the enforcer of rules.

Read here.

2. What’s Better: PPC or SEO?

If you’ve ever wondered whether you should focus your efforts on PPC or SEO, some experts looked at the pros and cons of both, which could help you in your decision. Of course using both is always an option, but does one fit your plan and budget better than the other?

Read here.

3. Ranking In Real-Time Search

Real-time search has been the subject of much discussion throughout the industry in 2009. Now the year is almost over, and Google has finally introduced its version right into its regular search results.  What does this mean and how can you optimize for it?

Read here.

4. The Future Of Online PR

PR tools change over time, but the principles remain relatively consistent. In the age of social media, many PR professionals have discovered just that, and many more marketers continue to do so as time progresses. That said, PR must still evolve to utilize the evolution of tools and go where the people are.

Read here.

5. Lessons from Political Social Media

Social media has changed politics. There’s no question about it. The last U.S. Presidential election really highlighted it, but you can expect that every election from here on out will accentuate that point further. Dan Siroker, former Deputy New Media Director for the Obama Presidential Transition discussed the topic at the conference and pointed to five lessons that should be taken away.

Read here.

6. Be Proactive to Avoid Duplicate Content Issues

Duplicate content is one of those topics in search engine marketing that comes up over and over again. It never really goes away. Though Google has come right out and said that it doesn’t exactly get you "penalized" in their search engine, there are still reasons it should generally be avoided in most cases (though there are exceptions). Experts discussed ways to better manage your content to avoid duplicate content issues.

Read here.

7. Small Businesses And Social Media

The big companies often make social media look easy, but let’s face it. Small businesses just don’t have the same resources. That doesn’t mean that small businesses can find a tremendous amount of benefit to using social media channels to connect with the customers and the general public. Need some advice?

Read here.

8. Moving Beyond Google

There’s no question that Google is a dominant force on the Internet. You can hardly ignore Google as a marketer or webmaster. Still, it’s not the only thing people use on the Internet, and it’s not the only way they find content, products, and sites. It shouldn’t be your only area of focus. At SES, some tips on moving beyond Google were discussed.

Read here.

9. How Marketers Can Find Success Via Search

Search is getting harder for marketers all the time. Search engines frequently change how they deliver results. Google has really driven this point home in the past week with the announcements of personalized and real-time search. Search marketers have to constantly adapt. Still, there are some things that never change. Experts discussed how marketers can find success with search in one session at the conference.

Read here.

10. Optimizing for Mixed Media Search Results

One of the ways search is getting more challenging for marketers is the inclusion of mixed media search results like Google’s Universal Search. Google sometimes delivers news search, image search, blog search, local search, and other kinds of results (now real-time results) in SERPs, and while this can be great for users, it also means less focus on organic search results. That means as a search marketer, you really can’t ignore the mixed media result being pulled.

Read here.

As always WebProNews conducted a number of exclusive interview at the conference. These will be posted over time, so check the WebProNews Video Blog frequently. Here is a taste of what we have live so far:

Conferences like Search Engine Strategies and others frequently provide great discussion about topics that WebProNews readers care about. That’s why we attend so many of them. We also like to extend the discussion that takes place at the conferences to our readers. That’s why we encourage you to comment on our articles and extend the conversation even further.

Share your thoughts on any of the ten topics mentioned above.

It seems that over the course of the entire year, we’ve been waiting for Google to get real-time search. Now it’s here. If you have ever had a hard time finding a direct relationship between social media and search engine marketing, it doesn’t get any more direct than this. Real-time search results (from Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and other sources) right in regular SERPs.

Do you like the idea of real-time results in Google SERPs? Discuss here.

While "real-time search" has certainly been a buzzword this year, the concept itself has been around for a while longer in some capacity. Sure, the concept of searching Twitter has been around for quite some time now, but even as far as Google is concerned, freshness has been a factor of great interest.

"Google has been working on real-time search for years," as Marshall Kirkpatrick at ReadWriteWeb points out. "In the spring of 2006, the story goes, Google launched Google Finance onto the Web and was promptly dismayed to find that the service didn’t appear in a Google search for its own name later that day. It was after that, and a few other similar experiences, that Google engineers created an algorithm called QDF, or Query Deserves Freshness. QDF determines when results for a query need to be augmented with the newest content available, in addition to the content with the highest PageRank."

"Search users are utilizing results that show up because of it everyday," says Dave Snyder at Search Engine Journal. "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."

The Potential for Abuse

Snyder also makes a good point about spam. "Seriously, any new feature that Google rolls out is a playground for SPAM," he says. "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."

The nature or real-time search reults showing content as it is created leads to questions of accuracy of content as well. It does bring up questions about Google showing results that are quite possibly just inaccurate, but in a prominent place on the first page. Google’s Vice President of Search Products & User Experience, Marissa Mayer told TechCrunch that she uses real-time search a lot, and that she trusts the content "most of the time, even if they’re public and not coming from friends." Do you trust the content? Comment here.

When asked whether or not she thinks Google can solve the problems of filtering, the virality of rumors (true or false), and mob-forming in real-time search, she said, "Hard to say. We can’t simply apply the PageRank algorithm to content shared in real time, but we look at the ecosystem and detect signals we can use to reveal authority, for instance. It’s difficult, but there are data points out there that can be used for filtering."

Will Real-Time Search Results Drive PPC?

Much like with Google’s recently launched (for everyone) personalized search results, or any other universal search results for that matter, the addition of real-time results is just one more element that can add to the challenge of getting organic results to show up high on the page. As iEntry CEO and WebProNews Publisher Rich Ord noted when talking about personalized search, this could give marketers more cause to focus on PPC, where they have more control over their campaign. This notion seems to be becoming a more common theme.

"I certainly think this will have a more profound impact on results sitting below the Twitter feed and those above," says Peter Young of Holistic Search, as quoted by MediaPost. "The scramble for the top positions will become fiercer. That may mean more people invest in PPC to gain more control of their presence."

Notice how few organic listings are at the top of the page.

Tips for Getting in Real-Time Search Results

There are ways to take advantage of real-time search functionality without spamming. In fact, these ways really involve a number of principles that are already staples of social media and search engine marketing in general. Allow me to reiterate some tips I gave in a previous article for getting found in real-time searches.

Note: These I wrote these tips more based on Twitter search, they do not take into account any back-end algorithms Google may use in selecting the real-time results they display. However, the concepts behind them should still generally be relevant.

1. Use Keywords

This seems obvious, but use keywords in not only your content, but in your titles, and your updates. If you’re writing an article, you have to consider what people are going to include in their updates if they share it on a social network, whether this be Facebook, Twitter, or anything else. More often than not, they are going to include the title. If the right keywords are in the title, then those keywords are also more likely to appear in any ensuing tweets, Facebook updates, etc. If someone searches for those keywords, they will be more likely to find your content in real-time search results as they are created. The same goes for your own Tweets/status updates. Even if you are not sharing an article, if you want your update to be found, use relevant keywords. Again, obvious, but true.

2. Talk About Timely Events

Mentioning events that are current  can put you directly into the results for any searches having to do with that topic, provided the right keywords are in play. This is a method that could and (surely is) being exploited by spammers, but that doesn’t mean you can’t provide legitimate conversation and simply put yourself on more people’s radars, without throwing links at them every time.

3. Have a Lot of Followers

If you have a lot of followers or friends on social networks, or even just readers of your blog, you are going to get more people sharing your content. The more people sharing your content, the more impressions of your content will be making their way into real time searches. There is no easy way to instantly get a bunch of legitimate readers/followers. It will take some promotion. Provide useful content that people will link to and it will spread virally. Provide clear ways for them to follow you (like links to Facebook pages and Twitter accounts on your blog).

4. Promote Conversation

Whether on your blog or on a social network, spark conversations. Talk about topics that people are interested in. This is tied to number 2. The more conversations you are involved with, the more retweets (and equivalents on other networks) you are likely to get. And again, this potentially means more impressions in real times search results.

5. Include Calls to Engagement

Use buttons for sharing your content on different social networks. If you have been into marketing through social media, there’s a good chance you’re already doing this, but it will also cater to sharing and possibly increased visibility in real-time search results.

Reputation Management Concerns

The introduction of real-time search results into SERPs does bring up some new and interesting reputation management concerns. It does after all thrust whatever people are saying at any given moment right into the forefront. David Whitehouse, writing on Dave Naylor’s blog, suggests that the move will force more companies to get Twitter accounts and actively particpate in social media.

"The reason?" he says. "Well, check out the Amazon query for a few minutes and I am sure you will see a complaint (as well as around a hundred offers!) – if Amazon doesn’t respond, it would reflect badly upon them." (Note: at the time of this writing, a query for Amazon is no longer delivering real-time results. This indicates that it is based on the amount of conversation at any given time).

Not a bad point. In real-time search results, you may show up at the top of the results page, but that may or may not be a favorable result. Of course there is a good chance a query for your brand will not return any real-time results unless that option is activated. It’s not yet clear exactly what criteria Google uses for displaying these results, but it probably helps if a whole lot of people are already talking about the keywords used in the query.

Wrapping Up

In any regard, real-time search results in SERPs means you can’t ignore social media. The more you engage in social media, the better shot you have at hitting high placement on Google SERPs that display real-time results.

While real-time search presents both opportunities and challenges for businesses, it’s here whether you like it or not, and it’s right where it matters the most – on Google. As Kirkpatrick noted, it’s going to introduce millions of people to the concept of real-time search for the first time. You can bet that you will see similar features appear on Yahoo and Bing. Wait until Twitter opens up that firehose to everyone, if you even have to wait that long. More deals will probably be made and APIs made available. Wait until practically everything from the real-time web becomes available in each of the search engines in actual real-time. We’re bound to get there sooner or later.

What challenges do you see coming from mainstream real-time search? Opportunities? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Related Articles:

> Tips for Getting Found in Real-Time Searches

> Google Makes a Second Real-Time Search Announcement

> Yahoo Rolling Out Something Kind of Like Real-Time Search

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> Yahoo Showing Tweets For News Results

> Twitter to Spray Developers With the Coveted Firehose

> Showtime For Real-Time With Google

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> New APIs Should Help MySpace Stay Relevant

This may be the year of real-time search, but this week alone has captured much of the attention related to the subject. Yahoo is rolling out something close to real-time search today, and of course the big news is that Google has begun incorporating real-time search results right into its regular SERPs.

Google has now made another real-time search-related announcement in that they are now offering Twitter integration with the Google Search Appliance. Google Search Appliance can now show users tweets next to their internal Search Appliance results.

"Social information is important for businesses: employees searching for information needed to do their jobs benefit from real-time news too," says Cyrus Mistry, Product Manager, Google Enterprise Search. "They might be developing a new breakfast cereal, or designing a marketing plan for a clothing line, or writing strategy report for a political campaign. In all of these cases, understanding what is being said just as Twitter users are saying it can be invaluable."

It looks something like this:

"Customers have told us that placing web results next to intranet ones often allows employees to think differently about a particular topic and approach it in new ways," says Mistry. "By integrating enterprise search with more of the information that exists in the cloud, like tweets, employees can more easily leverage the wisdom of the crowd."

Google says it should take no more than fifteen minutes to get the Twitter box up and running on Google Search Appliance. The option is available to enable it for only some users, or you can set up to let all users have access. You can also set it up to let users choose for themselves whether or not they want Twitter results. More information about set-up and integration is available here and here.
 

Related Articles:

> Google Search Appliance Gets New Algorithm

> Google Sends Partners to Search Appliance Customers

> Showtime For Real-Time With Google

There are two key concepts of search according to Javed Panjwani, Business Development Executive, Wolfram Alpha.

(Coverage of SES Chicago continues at WebProNews Videos.  Keep an eye on WebProNews for more notes and videos from the event this week.)

There is the web of documents, which includes Google, and there is the web of data or semantic web, which includes Wolfram Alpha.

Current problems with search:
Accuracy
Relevancy
Insight
Convergence

Search engines create value through computation by curating data from credible sources and computing answers in real-time. "Computation personalizes information," said Panjwani.

How people search, what they search, and what they do with search is all evolving. There are evolving ways to search including via twitter, Facebook and Wolfram Alpha.

"Wolfram Alpha creates value through computing knowledge and underlying data," said Panjwani.

Bill Scott, Chief Operating & Commercial Officer, easelTV, said the three most important elements related to the future of search are data, permission and trust. These elements will deliver a relevant experience for users.

Data that is needed includes:
Context
Behavior
Location
Community
Social network
Social trends
Preferences
Multi-channel identity
Metadata

"We must deliver demonstrable value to the consumer in order to win their trust," said Scott.

Anne Kennedy, SES Advisory Board, Founding partner and CMO, Joblr.com, said the future of search is visual.

With visual search people get information 28 percent faster than from reading text. Ten billion YouTube videos were watched in August 2009, compared to 9 billion searches being conducted.

The future of search is moving towards visual search and mobile. Users want visual search.
 

WebProNews Reporter/Anchor Abby Johnson Contributed To This Report.

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