Google Introduces "Latest" Results Feed to SERP's
20:01, Wednesday, 06 January 2010
With the new year comes another new addition to the Google Search Engine Ranking Pages. Freshness has been a focus of Google's for some time now, with results deserving freshness being given a certain level of prominence, some times in preference to long-established, but less recent pages.
After partnering with a number of Social Media and newsfeed sites, including Facebook, Twitter, Jaiku, MySpace, Friendfeed and Identi.ca, Google has added a scrollable box, part way down the first page, showing related "real time" posts and content. Here's how it looks, headed "Latest results for snow day" with keyword shown bold:
Our opinion is that the ramifications are 2-fold. Firstly, the organic results in positions 4+ are likely to get pushed further from the searcher's eye. We already knew that position #1 was important; now even more so!
Secondly, it re-emphasises the importance that is being placed on Social Media for the most up-to-date and still-relevant content on the web. Businesses that want to improve their brand exposure, whilst expanding their reach at the same time, are increasingly turning to Facebook, Twitter, and the Social Network sites, such as Linkedin, Plaxo and Ecademy.
Perhaps the day is not far away, when owning your own domain and website is nothing more than a needless expense.
Tags: Google,SEO,Social Medi