Are You Concerned About How Google Instant Might Impact Your Site's Visibility on Google?	Visited: 695 5.0/5.0 (3 votes total) Rate: Select 1 - Terrible 2 - Poor 3 - Average 4 - Good 5 - Outstanding
by Simone Collins September 14, 2010

On September 8, Google announced Google Instant. This is perhaps the biggest shift in the user interface (UI) of search engine results pages since search engines were invented. Google Instant does two things: it returns results more quickly, promising to save users 2-5 seconds per search and it predicts search queries as the user types. Sounds great, doesn't it?

While it's too early to predict the implications of this with any certainty, and what might be its impact on sites' visibility on Google, a few speculations come to mind.

1. Searching on Google becomes a much speedier process for the end user, who may now be less likely to go to the second page of results.

2. Searchers will also be able to refine their search queries on the fly, which could either prove to be good or bad for site owners.

3. With Google Instant, the top three rankings will get even more value.

4. Understanding end user behavior will become crucial for website owners.

According to Avichal Garg, former Product Manager of Search Quality at Google, the impact of Google Instant on SEO and search performance will come as a result of changes in the user experience, not the ranking algorithm itself.

5. Website owners may notice some changes in their search queries data.

The number of impressions for many search queries is likely to increase. In other words, the number of times a given site is displayed in results (whether they're clicked or not) is bound to go up, since users no longer need even finish typing a search query before the results show up.

6. How does it affect paid search?

Google Instant does not affect the underlying algorithm of paid search ads in any way. However, Google says in a blog post that it "changes the way we think about [ad] impressions." An ad impression will be counted if:

• User chooses a query from the suggestions (by hitting enter or clicking the search button).
• User clicks any link on the search results page.
• 'The 3-second rule': AdWords will count impressions for every ad served where the user is inactive, and stops typing, for more than 3 seconds.

7. You can track Google Instant behaviors using web analytics – here is a great guide on How to track Google Instant in Google Analytics.

8. Because users searching vie mobile devices tend to be signed into their Google accounts, there must have a massive increase in the number of mobile ad impressions served.