Preview the Future Of Search Engine Results

Ars Technica did a great review of Google’s “Alternate Views Search Results” experiment. To take some of the new features for a first hand test run visit this page. On a similar note, Yahoo has been testing the integration of delicious social bookmarking into their search results pages.

So what does this mean for searchers?

A few weeks back Ars Technica did another posting title “The ‘Google Generation’ not so hot at Googling, after all” after review of a report published by the British Library and the Joint Information Systems Committee. The short version of the report is that even the generation that has grown up Googling everything and unaware of a world without Google still isn’t very good at formatting their search queries. Current search engine results pages on the top three engines are fairly straight forward and simple. They got a bit more complex with the introduction of universal search, however they are still a basic and static page. If searchers are having trouble finding what they want now, how will searchers be able to handle dealing with more complex search results with timelines and maps thrown into the mix? Maybe it will create a completely new industry in which you will need to hire search professionals that are highly skilled at sorting through the information via the search engines. Maybe training classes that teach people how to maximize the value of search and search engines will run along side Microsoft Word and Adobe Photoshop courses. Either way it is going to require every searcher young and old to learn how to use the more sophisticated searches to find the answers they are looking for.

So what does this mean for the search industry?

My first thought is that this will extend the long tail of search phrases. Search marketers will need to start thinking about more complex queries with dates and locations. Also, dependent on how the suggested searches are displayed (logically it would be by highest search count to lowest?) it will likely drive up the traffic on the suggested terms that are shown first. Secondly, whomever came up with the “SEO is dead”theory, I think the morphing of search results will give new challenges and opportunities to our industry. Lastly, it will force search marketers to focus even more on creating high quality websites with multiple types of content to stay competitive with their search engine visibility.

Yahoo Search Takes A Tasty Next Step

An announcement came today via TechCrunch that Yahoo has begun testing the integration of delicious bookmarking into their standard search results. The posting states that it’s unclear whether the data from delicious is affecting the search rankings as of yet, however it seems like the next logical step. It has always seemed that adding user input into search engine results as a clear next step to improve algorithmic relevance. It appears that Yahoo might actually be a step ahead of Google for once!

Yahoo! Going Universal

With Google Universal Search dazzling searchers around the globe, it’s no surprise that Yahoo! has rolled out a similar service — the New Yahoo! Search, which integrates event listings, photos, videos, and other multimedia into formerly text-reliant search results.

Shining in this new Yahoo! search can be a little tricky, though.

First, gaining visibility in a universal search model like this one — which may put a Flickr image next to a news article next to a plain old site listing — is not just about simple organic success. In this brave new world of search, site owners jostling for top spots need to really embrace social and media hosting online.

What does this mean? Two examples — video and images — will give you an idea.

Yahoo! Video: The new Yahoo Search will pull videos from Yahoo! Videos as well as YouTube. To upload your videos to Yahoo Videos, login using a Yahoo! ID and include important search terms in your listings — not only in the video’s title and description, but in tags.

If you have existing content on YouTube, you’re ahead of the game because YouTube videos are set to appear in Yahoo! search results. With YouTube videos as well, make the most of keyword-rich titles, descriptions and tags.

Flickr Photos and Yahoo! Images: Because Yahoo! owns Flickr, and Flickr is currently the market leader in photo-sharing services, it’s a no-brainer that the new Yahoo Search will pull images from this popular service.

Just like Yahoo! Video, you can logon to Flickr using any Yahoo! ID. Successfully listing photos in Flickr is simple — use keyword-rich titles, description and tags, and organize your photos by theme or subject and organize them into descriptive photo sets (digital photo albums). Following these simple steps will help your photos appear in the New Yahoo! Search.

In addition, the new Yahoo! Search is going to integrate many other elements: Hotels, local businesses, events, restaurants, maps, movies, health, and more. Videos and pictures just scratch the surface, but they are a favorite among users, and an attractive, properly labeled video or image is extremely enticing to users. So get optimizing!