As if 2012 was not noisy enough with all the algorithm updates that were rolled out, search engine giant Google dind't let the year go without one more bang. The search engine giant recently announced its plans of combining desktop and mobile advertising into one single campaign which shook the core of mobile SEO as many marketers know it.
It was Google itself via a research it spearheaded that told the world the fact that three-quarters of mobile surfers prefer to visit websites that are custom made for their mobile devices. Since it came from Google, every mobile SEO company on the planet took this advice as gospel and scrambled to tailor fit their campaigns for the on-the-go audience.
So, why is Google seems to be contradicting its earlier statement? According to Google CEO Larry Page, internet users are not really seeking for a different experience when using the web on their Smartphone compared to the experience if they are browsing using their PCs. With this development, mobile SEO just got more complicated.
Google Will Do the Heavy Lifting for Advertisers
What Google is basically saying to all advertisers is that internet users are looking for a seamless transition of their browsing experience from one device to the next. Unlike today wherein advertisers need to tailor fit their ads based on the intent of the mobile consumer, Google is now saying that everything can be done in one platform and Google will dynamically and automatically update the ads based on the media source of the query.
So, are you ready to unlearn the things Google taught you about mobile SEO and reframe everything in this context?
The Great Ads Migration from Search to Apps
The other thing that makes advertisers become wary of this model is the fact that apps usage across different operating systems is increasing exponentially and rapidly. While Google is in a good position when it comes to Android, any logical mobile SEO company won’t disregard the presence of the other big operating systems such as Blackberry, Ios and the re-emerging Windows.
The question in the mind of every mobile SEO practitioner is – what if, at least in the world of mobile advertising, apps overtakes search in terms of the preeminent advertising medium? If desktop advertising is merged into mobile advertising, where does that leave advertisers or investors in case they want to shift their advertising efforts from a search engine platform to applications?
According to Page, they are still in a very good position even if this happens and that it won’t cause such a dramatic change. However, no one can blame advertisers if they are a bit wary about this matter, especially that Google also changes its position every so often when it comes to internet advertising.
So, What Now?
If there’s one thing that Google has effectively taught marketers, it’s the inevitability of change. And now that mobile SEO is facing yet another major development, it’s really up to marketers to see opportunities rather than challenges and to make informed and wise decisions to make the situation work to their advantage.
