Search Industry Gains Clout
internetnews.comSusan Kuchinskas reports from Search Engine Strategies trade show, Chicago that "Search engines are now recognized as full-fledged media companies and search engine marketing is no longer a cottage industry, according to Danny Sullivan, editor of the Search Engine Watch Web site...
Sullivan warned marketers to get ready for new search technologies that lead searchers away from that first page of natural search results...
Search histories pose a challenge for marketers and publishers, because they reduce the likelihood that a searcher will happen on a site he hasn't visited before. Sullivan said great, useful content remains the best way to encourage users to visit and to return. Great title tags and descriptions will lure searchers; delivering on the promise of the description will encourage them to save the site.
"Personal search means we'll have multiple fronts in the war between marketers and search engines," Sullivan said. "No longer do people get the same results -- and those little differences may start to add up over time."
Sullivan said desktop search, now available free from MSN, Google and Ask Jeeves, already is changing how search results look on the page. Because they appear at or near the top of the results, often followed by local listings, they tend to push most natural results below the screen. For example, on Ask Jeeves, Smart Search results dominate the page.
He said that it remains to be seen whether marketers will buy ads specifically against desktop search results. "Marketers will move here slowly," he said."
posted by Jen @ 8:36 AM
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