Ever since Google started to pre-empt what its users were searching for last month with the launch of Google Instant people have been studying what the impact of this change will be on advertisers.
Some of the emerging trends have been highlighted by in a research presentation produced by Efficient Frontier, the global SEO firm based in California.
Dr Siddharth Shah, the firm's director of analytics, has analysed the performance of Google searches for its clients in the US and found four key trends:
Individual letters seem to be affiliated to brands, suggesting the Google Instant algorithm is primed to suggest brands over generic terms.
Instant has increased the number of clicks, and with brands being prioritised these search terms will increase in cost.
Suggestions seem to be based on search location and the most likely destinations travellers will choose from that location.
Long-tail search terms have seen a particular uplift, and this is particularly true in travel.
Shah produced a table showing which brands Google Instant is most likely to suggest. So typing "a" into the search field first, for instance, will see Amazon, Apple, AOL and AT&T suggested in that order. Here's a look at A-E:
In the travel vertical just airline Jetblue commands a top letter spot. Other examples include Expedia; third for "e", Disneyland; fourth for "d", Kayak; third for "k"; and Southwest, fourth for "s".
To test Google's geo-sensitivity Shah did an experiment in the US inputting the same generic "cheap flights" search for flights on the west coast as on the east coast.
It found India, Florida and Israel were suggested in the east and in the west it suggested India, Hawaii, Vegas and Europe.
Shah said: "Google Instant is already having an effect in the US. It going to make brand key words more expensive, increase impressions volume by 30%-40% but clicks will be lower or the same.
"In the travel vertical I have hard data showing that the long tail has become dramatically more active. Conversions went up two-fold overnight."
Shah said Google Instant allows the search engine to add the dimension of time to search, with results being optimised as the user is inputting their search term.
The findings raise questions as to the extent to which Google does offer unbiased, disinterested access to relevant knowledge on online.
An approach that directs browsers to certain brands might be justifiable on the grounds that brand websites attract the greatest amount of traffic.
But Shah said: "Do we talk in brands? No we do not."
He concludes in his presentation: "Google Instant was built with the user experience in mind but clearly Google had thought through the revenue implications prior to launching."
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