Google Now Allows Posts From Musicians Directly In Search

[engine]

In a very twitter-like step, Google is now allowing authorised musicians to post updates directly in search.

This enhanced format allows searchers to hear directly from the primary source — you — and complements existing results from across the web.

Posting is currently open in some categories in some countries. If you see the link under your Knowledge Panel, you're in. If you don't, please be patient as we expand.

If you're wanting to get verified, here's your destination. [posts.withgoogle.com...]

[keyplyr]

Keeping a close watch...

[tangor]

Can see where this is going, and it won't be pretty.

Whether g intended or not, they just became a publisher.

[keyplyr]

They've been "publishing" my content in their ever growing snippets for years.

[Shepherd]

twitter like... so can we now start calling the "serps" the "twerps"

Twerp: a silly or annoying person.

[aristotle]

google better be careful with this or spammers will figure out a way to get in

[tangor]

They've been "publishing" my content in their ever growing snippets for years

Sorry. Not true. They have been displaying fair use with your permission from the get go. After all, they don't generate anything but a search listing.

Or,

Cost of doing business with g.

This will be content generated (UGC) via g. I suspect they are trialing to see if it can grow, and how they can monetize it down the road. They are famous for giving things away free until it becomes essential then tightening the screws to squeeze out every hundredth of a cent.

Hard to have cake and eat it, too.

[keyplyr]

You're gonna have to argue with yourself on that one.

[browndog]

So basically they are displaying content/info/updates directly from the artist's website on the G homepage, therefore reducing traffic to said website.

Sorry, gotta agree with a PP, they are slowly turning into a publisher. Boiling frog anyone?

[engine]

This must concern twitter, too: The 800lb online gorilla starts displaying instant notifications from artists.

[Shaddows]

This must concern twitter

Maybe, but if you are one of the Big Data companies, it can hardly be a surprise when another Big Data company comes after you.

Facebook, Amazon, Google. They are all climbing the same mountain, but from different sides. Any lesser company in the same arena should expect to be copied (Snap, Twitter), acquired (WhatsApp), or crushed.

[brotherhood of LAN]

One of many opportunities where 'real time' results can be displayed by Google

[goodroi]

Google missed the boat with social media and they keep trying to catch up but they keep failing.

You probably don't remember Orkut. Then Google+ was supposed to have killed Facebook. I have full confidence this newest idea will fail because it isn't even new. Google has been allowing certain people/organizations to post for the last year in different ways and it has barely been noticed. There is little incentive to post content to Google for content producers who would rather have users go to their website. I wouldn't be surprised if Google is paying famous people/companies to use this service.

PS The boiling frog metaphor is actually not true in real life. Even a frog is smart enough to eventually jump out when the water gets too hot. The only way to get a frog to stay in boiling water was to remove its brain. Since we still have our brains, I am confident we can also figure out how to survive and adapt the changing landscape.

[Shaddows]

For all the Google fear, I think they are third in the race for world domination.

Amazon and Facebook have built integrated platforms. Google have a disparate mish-mash of projects. Amazon and Facebook are legitimate destinations, Google is doing it's best to retain eyeballs that arguably should be referred elsewhere.

G-suite / Google Docs might yet prove to be a winning strategy, but otherwise they are falling behind. Hell, Amazon may have already won the future of search with Alexa/Echo. Sure, it's just an interface, but whoever they partner with will be a winner (powered by AWS data centres).

[browndog]

PS The boiling frog metaphor is actually not true in real life. Even a frog is smart enough to eventually jump out when the water gets too hot. The only way to get a frog to stay in boiling water was to remove its brain. Since we still have our brains, I am confident we can also figure out how to survive and adapt the changing landscape.

I know, it was an analogy. I actually said that due to my own experiences with Google constantly moving the goalposts (images, answers box etc), as well as making strong suggestions about how if we don't do X, Y or Z, it will impact our traffic...working 7 day weeks, 12 hours a day, and still having much less traffic. It was only this year that I opened my eyes and saw it for what it was, jumped out of the pan, and got a job that actually pays (unlike my site, these days).

[graeme_p]

For all the Google fear, I think they are third in the race for world domination

I agree. We tend to overestimate Google because it has so much immediate business on us. From a wider and longer term perspective they are not as much of a threat. I would say the same of MS: their strangleholds on desktop OSes and office software are not as important as they used to be. I find Amazon and FB really scary from a lot of perspectives.

[graeme_p]

Thanking about this, it also degrades the quality of the search results. You get more PR and less impartial commentary.

It does not seem to be limited to musicians or even to living people.

[Musicarl]

Our music-related pages have dropped about 20% in G impressions since this announcement, with no change in position. Search pages for major artists are dominated by that artist's properties (official site, socials), their breaking news, and Google suggestions (other artists in this genre, people also ask).

[MrSavage]

A lot of ignorance spoken here that's for sure.

[EditorialGuy]

They've been "publishing" my content in their ever growing snippets for years.

And sending you traffic in the bargain. Oh, those evil search engines....

But in any case, what we're talking about here is a new feature that lets musicians post to the search results if they want to (and only if they want to).

[seoskunk]

And sending you traffic in the bargain. Oh, those evil search engines....

You omitted the word LESS here's the correction

And sending you LESS traffic in the bargain. Oh, those evil search engines...

I know SEO is harder these days but do I need to learn the Tin whistle to grab a backlink now?

[keyplyr]

I've seen music related sites (I have 2, I manage another) gain close to 40% traffic in the last 2 years. Those same sites lost well over 20% traffic from all search engines, but despite that, they are thriving. How...? I have utilized other methods to pull in traffic.

In today's competitive market, you absolutely need to work very hard; much harder that you ever have before. Social Media stole a huge chunk of my traffic years ago, so I now utilize that Social Media traffic source and pull back that traffic on a daily basis.

Mobile took a lot of my desktop traffic, so I reinvented my site's content to be very mobile friendly and changed the mark-up to responsive. I create linked memes and post directly to groups that use mobile apps to propagate links to my pages. Now I have all that traffic back (more than desktop.)

The day of all our traffic coming from search engines has been over for a long time and continues to get worse. It will never be like it was 10 years ago, never. I think if you just sit and wait for the traffic to come, you will likely see a steady decrease each year until there's not much left.

Bottom line... you have to go out and *get* traffic. That's just the reality we're in now.

[MrSavage]

Just a hunch on my part but I bet the sites mentioned have a long history of thriving and creating authority "back in the day" when it made sense to pursue this as a viable long term business. If a site has been around over a long period of time it's not relevant to what a person might experience with a post Panda Google (just the start of it) startup. Sure it might be possible but at least clarify when authority status was gained. There is no sense floating hope balloons without some type of context. If those sites were launching post Panda and are killing it, then I rejoice that success. I happen to think that isn't the case nor is it the case with 95% of the advice/hope given out around here. Keep at it? Pour more time into it? Invest heavier is not always the best advice. So if you preface by saying these sites are 10 years old, but I've regained traffic by doing X, Y, Z, then it's more beneficial. If your site launched post Panda and have seen the rise, fall, and now rise again during that time, then it's a whole lot more meaningful. Anyone giving me advice based on a 10+ year old site? Meh. Regarding the topic at hand, I would have no issue creating content and having Google publishing it directly, for their consumption. Let's talk compensation, that is all. Google's content is growing by heaps and bounds so it's a bit more honorable having people add it themselves rather than having it scraped by bot. It's slightly more ethical just giving the platform for the content creation and submission so that people can feel part of the process rather than the lost souls of the scraped.

[keyplyr]

My 2 sites are approximately 20 years old. The other has been online 14 years but under control of a few different managers. I took control 6 years ago and turned it around pretty well.

Not every site lost with those updates you often mention. Don't forget the SERP is a zero-sum game. The lossed of some sites are exactly even to the gains of others..

This is why it's so important to stay relevant and keep up with all the changes, not waiting until the last minute.

[MrSavage]

I'm pointing out that Panda signaled a change in Google treatment/concern/partnership. It's when they said it's time to make the money. I point to Panda as a turning point. There were many updates since but the philosophy appeared to change. That's my main point. I'm not trying to disparage you and your achievements. Please don't mistake what I'm saying as showing disrespect. Obviously you have a wealth of knowledge and understanding. Trust me that I haven't given up all hope either. However I'm very realistic about where things are at. Sorry if I sounded disrespectful towards your advice or what you've shared. I feel bad for people who might be like me but are just starting out. If I launch a site nowadays, and I have, these are largely fly by night efforts. Disposable for the most part because the juice is mostly not worth the squeeze. Heck, I'm working on a relaunch of one of my oldest sites. There is a reason for that. It gained value and authority pre Panda Google so I hope to give some TLC and cash out some of that goodwill and status that it gained during that period of time. Yes, I'm getting more desperate to make money and older long standing sites seem to be a wiser choice right now. For me anyways.