Mediarun Search Marketing News

The impact of blended real-time search so far

March 8th 2010

Social Media Optimisation News

Despite the initial hype surrounding the introduction of blended real-time search into internet search engines, many experts have begun to question its value to website optimisation.

Real time search has been widely criticised as a cause of SERP clutter, making pages appears chaotic and leaving the user struggling to decide which links may actually provide the information they are after.

And a recent survey by One Up Web showed the majority of internet users ignore real-time search results altogether.

Dave Winer, blogger at Scripting News, suggests this is because it is "impossible" to convey much information in 140 characters.

"So when a search hits a tweet you get at most a soundbite, telling you something you probably already knew. When you search you're looking for information you don't have but want," he writes.

Meanwhile, author and blogger Nick Carr has been compiling the Realtime Chronicles blog about attempts to orient the web, and particularly search, around postings on Twitter.

"Web 2.0 was supposed to bring us a creative outpouring of 'social production'," he states. "Instead it's tossed us into the rapids of instant communication."

These 'rapids', according to Mr Carr, have created a plethora of bite-sized updates and alerts, with the internet's search engine giants locked in "a fierce competitive battle to speed up the stream".

However, blended real-time search also has its fans.

The integration of Facebook and Twitter into Google SERPS means users can now find accurate, up-to-the-minute information for many of their search queries, according to Sam Tilston, online marketing director at Zoombits.co.uk.

He added that companies must also step up their game when it comes to website optimisation.

Twitter can be used as part of an effective multimedia strategy, Mr Tilston said, so long as keywords are included in Twitter posts, accounts and descriptions to allow the feed to be "properly optimised for Google".