Universal Search – it’s been heralded as a revolution in online search marketing, a boon to time-stressed information seekers and a potential gold mine for internet advertisers.

Oneupweb CEO Lisa Wehr says, “Universal search has changed the entire meaning of search engine optimization (SEO). SEO has become all-encompassing; involving, promoting and integrating every aspect of a company’s appearance on the web.”

So, what’s all the fuss about?

Last month Google launched a beta version of its long anticipated universal search model for delivering search results. Under the “old” search system, results were “siloed” by category. To get information on a particular topic you might do a blog search, a news search, videos and images search, etc. With Google’s new one-stop model, all these categories are lumped and ranked into one consolidated series of search engine results pages (SERPs). The details of the algorithms used to find and position results are still a matter of secrecy and conjecture. Those mysteries aside, several questions persist. Here are four worth asking if you’re an online marketer.

1. What Will Be the Impact on Current Website Positions? No one can say for sure. Marketers should be monitoring their website search engine positions daily to see how the increased competition on the results pages from well optimized blogs, press stories, video sites, etc. is impacting their position on the search pages. It will vary by the day and keyword undoubtedly, but how great will the swings be? Will positions naturally bounce back as your website continues to add content and links, or will the drop in positions continue as the new competition grows in popularity? (Consider what will happen to a highly viral blog or video which keeps adding tags and links.) Online marketers and SEO firms will need to be watching this closely and have a strategy in place to address slippage when and if it occurs.
2. How Will Universal Search Impact Search Behavior? Will searchers automatically gravitate to the potentially more entertaining rich media sites (sites containing interactive, digital media such as video, music, and image files)? Will they prefer clicking on a picture which launches a YouTube video, or will searchers continue to seek substance in a recognized brand or authority’s website or ad? If they take that focused approach, will they dig deeper than the first few search pages as they have in the past? How will well-optimized, ill-informed blogs blur the line between documented (and sometimes regulated) informational content on manufacturer websites, and unsubstantiated opinion? Will searchers know and appreciate the difference? Or will marketers need to take aggressive steps to make those differences clear?
3. What Will Be the Impact on Advertising Effectiveness, Placement and Creative? Until Google delivers on its promise to offer more engaging paid search ad formats, PPC advertising faces having short, text-only ads competing for attention with image-rich search results. This may lead to “PPCease” behavior – advertisers abandoning search-based text advertising for site-specific banner or contextual ads, where there are more creative options to add flash animation, sound and/or video. Since such a switch could have a large impact on its potential revenue, expect Google to move fairly quickly in announcing its new search advertising options. Also, expect a more costly pricing structure than the basic Adwords model. What should advertisers be doing today, before Google’s new format changes become fully implemented? And what should the strategy be once the new pricing structure is installed? Some serious ROI trax calculations will need to be done if advertisers are going to remain competitive.
4. The Google Factor – Will Google Algorithms Allow Changes in Big Ad Revenue Pages? Or put more crudely, will Google rig the natural search results on their cash cow ad revenue pages to assure a steady stream of sponsors and advertisers? If so, and those familiar with Google are betting in this direction, how can potential advertisers best address this issue? It may be that more obscure keywords need to be added to the bidding strategy, or that purchasing lower positions on popular pages may offer a better return on investment. Only time and constant monitoring will tell.

Until Further Notice, Crank Up Your Search Engine Marketing Monitoring Efforts

What we at Oneupweb recommend at this stage is, if you haven’t already; increase the frequency and rigor of monitoring your search engine marketing (SEM) positioning efforts. Create your “pre-Universal Search” (before May 16th) baseline and then look at your daily positions, traffic and conversions especially as they compare to that base data. If you don’t like what you’re seeing, contact your online marketing partner or find one more attune to what’s going on in the market. Oneupweb is currently recording aggregate data regarding this information and as trends appear we will be advising you on what we’re seeing and how best to respond. Until then, consider adding to your content delivery vehicles such as doing regular, well-optimized podcasts, press releases and company blogs, and integrate them fully into your other marketing efforts. If you don’t know how or where to start this process, give us a call. In the meantime, be vigilant. Keep your eyes universally open.

As an internationally recognized thought leader in integrated online marketing, Oneupweb authors and maintains an extensive library of original white papers, articles and research. For questions about our services or other resources available at Oneupweb, call us toll free at 877-568-7477 or email info@oneupweb.com. We look forward to hearing from you.