9/6/2007
Google Goes Universal
At the beginning of May, Google announced a revamp of the way they tailor their general search page. The new homepage design is called Google Universal Search (GUS) . According to Google, the change was made in order to “break down the silos of information that exist on the web and provide the very best answer every time a user enters a query.” This move aims to weave together multiple content sources/types into an organized and integrated set of search results.
Changes will be subtle at first and will be more obvious as Google moves forward as they transition to the new format. Why fix what wasn’t broken in the first place? Metamend has interesting thoughts on why Google might have decided to revamp their homepage. One of them is that with all the vertical roll-outs of specific search sub-sets, Google’s home page is still what attracts a good 92% of all users. In short, Google has a vested interest in improving their cash-cow?? and integrating a better mix of formats (e.g.,. images, video, etc.) to their results.
First hand comments from industry specialist have been less than enthusiastic, as seen in this post in PCWorld calling GUS both intriguing and confusing. So how does this shift to universal search affect search engine marketing? Kevin Newcomb from searchenginewatch.com gives a good in-depth analysis on the effects to SEM . In an interview with David Berkowitz, director of emerging media, he says: “The moral for search marketers is they need to take a holistic view of search.” For those who get it, this gives them an unprecedented chance to dominate entire search engine results pages and gain sizable competitive advantages.
Marketers need to consider every digital asset of theirs as an opportunity to gain more visibility in Google, whether it’s an image, video, press release, store listing, blog post, or anything else.” Technorati Tags Google Universal Search search marketing
