Search Predictions I Can, And Can’t, Live With
Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Wednesday, 9 of January , 2008 at 2:01 pm
WebPro News ran a story from Lee Odden on search marketing trends:
What will be the big stories in search marketing in 2008?
* Heavier Integration of User Data and Personalized Search in Standard Results (21%)
* Mobile Search Explodes (15%)
* Death of SEO as we know it (13%)
* Social Media Marketing Explodes (12%)
* Social Media Marketing Jumps the Shark (8%)
* Google Winning/Losing Market Share in a Big Way (6%)
* Social Networks as Search Platforms (6%)
* Record Search Marketing Budget Levels (5%)
* Increasing Searcher Sophistication (4%)
* New Paid Search Channels (4%)
* Search Engine Consolidation (3%)
* Death of Universal Search (3%)
* “Real” Solutions to Click Fraud (1%)
* Search Marketing Agency Consolidation (0%)
This is an interesting list. I particularly like “Google Winning/Losing Market Share in a Big Way.” I take it that so many people think Google will gain market share and so many others think it will lose. I really take issue with the people who say Google will lose market share. To whom? There is no other search engine on the horizon who even comes close to having anything that can take share away from Google. Ask.com waged its campaign to get share from Google and ended up taking some away from Yahoo! and MSN. Recently, Google gained and all other lost. Yahoo! has been playing catch up for years. In order for any new start ups to wage war on Google and win, they will have to fight a strong, hard uphill battle against consumer loyalty. Fat chance.
Then there’s the “end of the world as we know it” crowd. SEO will die, SEO will die, SEO will die; so they chant from their front row seats in the bathroom stalls. Funny stuff.
What I agree with most on this list is the social networks as platforms prediction and search engine consolidation. We’ve seen that last one before. MSN Live is struggling, several smaller search engines can’t compete, and Google just keeps pulling out ahead. There will definitely be some acquisitions in search real soon.
But even more interesting than that is the concept of social networks becoming search platforms. If that happens, it will likely happen through partnerships. I can see Yahoo! and MSN partnering with Facebook or LinkedIn to a mutually beneficial and satisfying relationship. Google will likely just buy a social network and turn it into another vertical search to be included in its dominance strategy. At any rate, I believe search is only going to get better.
Category: Search Engines, Search Marketing, Social & Viral Marketing
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