Google Instant to Be Major Impact on Analytics

[Brett_Tabke]

Other thread: [webmasterworld.com...]

Webmasters, you may notice some changes in you Search queries data due to the launch of Google Instant. With Google Instant, the page updates dynamically to show results for the top completion of what the user has typed, so this means people could be seeing and visiting your website much faster than before, and often without clicking the search button or hitting “enter.”

With Google Instant, you may notice an increase in impressions because your site will appear in search results as users type.

[izurl.com...]

[fabulousyarn]

Oh, man. So I guess we can sort of infer that we are more popular because we show up in the instant queries because that is based on real time data.......headaches.

[member22]

Hopefully google will never release this feature other than to those that are signed into their google account. In a way they force you to advertise to make more money because what is going to be clicked are only the adds now nothing else... Natural search results are dead with this new feature but google is not they will continue to make billions !

[SEOMike]

Wow - what is this going to do to CTRs in Adwords? I just typed "nike sho" then backspaced to "nike shi". This would be a natural typo if you were intending to search for "nike shirts" but missed the i and hit o instead. Once I entered "nike sho" the results immediately jumped to shoe results. I wonder if G has a counter that makes sure an ad is displayed more than half a second before counting it as a display.

[Robert Charlton]

At about 56 minutes into the presentation, a question was asked about how they count impressions.

Answer was essentially that a 3 second pause or click anywhere on the page is an impression, and that these are counted as impressions, not clicks. I got the sense that they understand that the effect on click-through rates is something they're going to be calibrating.

I'm not yet seeing the video archived on YouTube, but I'm sure it will be available soon.

[edited by: Robert_Charlton at 6:19 pm (utc) on Sep 8, 2010]

[wildbest]

With Google Instant, the page updates dynamically to show results for the top completion of what the user has typed...

Wow this is how they decided to please as much people as possible. Now much more websites will be placed on the first page! :)

[edited by: tedster at 4:48 pm (utc) on Sep 9, 2010]
[edit reason] member request [/edit]

[Eurydice]

Previously, the user typed a search string and then selected the "best fit", even if it wasn't the best possible result.

Now, the user can see the results as she types, so she will modify the search string to get better results until she gets the best possible result.

This will have a major impact on SERPs, ad position, impressions, etc.

All in all, it's a great improvement for the user's experience. Good work, Google!

[MrFewkes]

I wonder - maybe this is why they wanted to make bandwidth savings on the crawl (telling us that speed was a factor). So they could shove out more crap that people dont want. A slow typist entering the words "google is crap" actually gets results sent for "g".

Whats the point of that crud? thats a joke.

I think this looks crap - screen flickering all over the show.

I cant seem to click on a blank part of the screen to get rid of that junk dropdown box they shove in my face either.

Oh god - please help us get rid of goofle. Pleaaaseeeee

[Lapizuli]

I can't see anything different with the Analytics data so far. I haven't been able to figure out if we'll be able to tell whether a visit came from a non-entered search or an entered-search.

[mercedesP]

Woul the user get real-time "help" or "distracted" from his original query and intention?

[Eurydice]

It's not working in IE.

It works in Firefox and Chrome if one is signed in.

[blend27]

Classic Hook:

Give For Free: in
Keep them Coming: in
Confuse the Mass: in
Take Free away: $$$,$$$,$$$,$$$

I wonder what is the passing score($) for the project to go live within Gorg as far as the money goes.

[netmeg]

It's nice to know that I still won't be getting what I want, but I'll be not getting it faster.

[jimbeetle]

Woul the user get real-time "help" or "distracted" from his original query and intention?

That's a great question. I was playing around with it and for a couple of test searches I basically got lost, did more exploring than searching.

[blend27]

and exploring = more Ads By Goog;e; plain and simple.

[networkliquidators]

I bet Google saw a need for this from the avg time people are on Google. I leave google open in my browser all the time.

What's this, Joe Shmoe has searched google 4 times in 32 hours. Quick Google team, we need to deliver results faster and real time so the poor boy has time to eat and crap.

[jimbeetle]

It's not working in IE.

Designed to work in IE8 only, not lower versions.

[ChanandlerBong]

this is great for people with typing speeds of about 20 wpm or less. Above that, it's actually a distracting PITA. I type at 70/80 wpm and that doesn't give google enough time in a two-word query to do anything useful...well, certainly not anything useful that I can notice and act on.

[Sgt_Kickaxe]

Actually, throw all historical data away and ignore the new data if you're using conventional metrics to determine your rank potential.

You may rank well for Widgets but do you rank well for Widge or Wid? If you rely on multiple keywords your visitors will see a whole lot more results before typing in all of those keywords, I suspect you'll lose a few to a short word based variant now.

This is a major change in how users search for things, type and look as you go after each letter...

[edited by: Sgt_Kickaxe at 8:36 pm (utc) on Sep 8, 2010]

[netmeg]

(Assuming most people actually type without looking at the keyboard - I mean, *I* do, but...)

[Sgt_Kickaxe]

lol netmeg, I do too, I forgot that it's not a universal skill though... thank god ;-)

Hopefully today isn't an adwords nightmare for some.

[jimh009]

I find "Instant" horribly distracting and annoying, so I turned it off. I wonder why Google made it "default on" like they did. A lot of inexperienced surfers will see this, become annoyed at how it works, not know what the heck it is or how to turn it off - and either suffer through it or go to Bing.

Common sense says to make it "off" by default and introduce it as a new feature - so people know what it is, how it works, etc...

Google is supposed to be quick, uncluttered and simple. This "Instant" is none of those.

[Robert Charlton]

I'm double-posting this for both threads currently discussing Google Instant...

The video of the launch event is finally online...

Google Instant Launch Event
TRT: 1:27:12
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0eMHRxlJ2c [youtube.com]

[aakk9999]

You may rank well for Widgets but do you rank well for Widge or Wid?

You do not have to rank for Widge or Wid, instead you would have to rank on whatever search prediction would Google come up with when your typing come to the point of entering Widge or Wid in the search box. Google shows that search prediction by auto-completing your typing in faded gray.

[PaulPA]

"Webmasters, you may notice some changes in you Search queries data..."

It is so fast you don't even have to worry about using proper grammar.

[jecasc]

This is a great tool that gives valuable insight in the helpless guessing Google is performing while I type in my search terms.

[joelgreen]

To avoid this, install browser plugin/addon which would disable javascript for google.com page and you are allset.

[yaix2]

After one day of using it, I think its a great improvement for search.

Now I'm just nervously waiting for the impact it will have on traffic for my sites.

[FranticFish]

It's nice to know that I still won't be getting what I want, but I'll be not getting it faster.

LOL thanks for that Meg.

[chewy]

oddly enough, while using wifi in my back yard (which seems to significantly slow down my connection) Google Instant has turned itself off.

it is giving me the message:

"Google Instant is off due to connection speed. Press Enter to search."

-- While I'm still not sure what to think of this thing, I do like the option of turning it off.