uk

Real-time search is fast emerging as a popular way to find information online. Here's how to maximise your use of this new trend.

In a nutshell, real-time search means looking through material that literally is published in real time. In other words, material where there's practically no delay between it being created and being published. Search engines strive to have the most up-to-date relevant content on the web, indexed and ready for display to searchers. They are moving towards that goal quickly, showing fresh, instant content higher in the search results.

The growth of real time search is due in large part to the popularity of sites like Twitter, as well as other social networking and social bookmarking sites. You think of something, post it on Twitter, and your tweet is shared almost as soon as you thought of it.

Shifting sands
The real-time search landscape is changing rapidly as both Google and Microsoft's Bing form real-time partnerships, expanding their scope of searchable content to include the publication of dynamic social web content. We've just seen Google strike a deal to have MySpace deliver its real-time search results and Microsoft's Bing has chosen to partner with the world's biggest social network, Facebook.

According to a recent report (see 'Real-Time Search and Discovery of the Web' by David Spark), it's estimated that as much as 40 per cent of all searches today have a real-time component. The static results generated by traditional search are no longer enough to satisfy users' desire for up to the minute information.

One critical issue for real-time search is the noise or irrelevant content that is generated. Stream everything without any filtering, and a search could bring up a lot of irrelevant chatter. Filter too strongly, and a search might omit important trends that have been picked up in the last hour. It's vital for real time search engines to strike a balance between popularity, relevance and immediacy.

Although it's still relatively early days for real-time search, the battle lines are drawn in the sand: the two Goliaths -- Google and Microsoft -- are squaring up against each other. And as you'd expect with any new market potentially worth billions of pounds both contenders are in it to win. 

The future of real-time search is being shaped by emerging technologies, new players, the evolving incumbent search players and the changing ways web users interact with each other.

What does this mean to marketers?
The integration of real-time results mean that paid search marketing and search engine optimisation (SEO) strategies will have to change.

Real-time search surfaces brand conversations to the masses through Google and Bing, marketers need to become part of these conversations, especially in fast-paced, information-hungry environments like Facebook and Twitter. Communities, forums, status messages, breaking news, groups and other methods are also in the conversation. In the new world of real-time search, marketers need to ensure they touch all the elements that may feed into the search results page.

Marketers will also have to ascertain the affect these search results have on current SEO and paid search investments as they will no doubt lead to increased traffic and brand exposure.

But alongside opportunities there are challenges. Search results will now reveal what's being said in real time about a brand -- good and bad. And with more of us likely to Tweet or post a comment on Facebook or MySpace about a negative experience, that could prove a costly headache for marketers.

Impact on paid search?
The jury is out on the impact real-time search will have on paid search. At this point, it's too early to tell. But marketers should keep an eye on both paid and organic performance as real-time results become more prevalent. 

However, it's likely that some industries will be more affected than others. It's all about context. For example, if I'm looking for places to visit while travelling, real-time search could be beneficial in terms of finding out what's happening while I'm in town. But if I want to invest my savings, I'm less likely to want opinions from someone I don't know. Therefore, real-time search becomes less relevant in this instance.

Don't let real-time make your company seem out of date
Every day search is empowering more and more people to discover products and services on their own. Real-time search has just made it easier and simpler for customers to find out what's going on with your company right now -- but it's not the holy grail and comes with its own set of unique challenges.

Grant Keller is managing director, Acceleration Europe.