Has Real-Time Search Peaked Already?

There is a consensus that Google might have been a little hasty in rolling out real-time search and this could lead to its impact declining in 2010.

It has only been one and a half weeks since Google excitedly launched real-time search but that hasn’t stopped it from being criticised by industry commentators and users alike. One of the main criticisms of real-time results is its ability to negate quality content or relevance in favour of the latest tweet. This glitch is one of the examples that belie Google’s excitement about the success of real-time search.

Even industry experts are seeing through real-time search result listings. In an engaging article for SEOMoz, Randfish also predicts minimal impact of real-time on search results in 2010.

Nowhere Near Ready for Primetime

Upon the launch of the real-time search results, search engines were falling over themselves in excitement but this has now been replaced by bewilderment.

It does feel like it has been rushed onto the market and is only an experimental, early test version of Twitter integration, which is nowhere near ready for prime time. Aesthetically too, it looks messy sandwiched in between organic search results.

Also, because real-time search results can automatically put you at the top of the rankings (if only for a second) it will be targeted by spammers.

In fact it has been described as a spammer’s heaven in some quarters and although Google has the skills to block most of it, it is a dangerous game of cat and mouse.

Due to this, it poses the question of just how far can you trust links from it? For that reason, a lot of people are likely to shirk its results in favour of organic page rankings of websites.

Let’s Not Rule It Out Just Yet

However, it is not all doom and gloom on the real-time search front. The service does have some value and it is interesting to find out what a general consensus think about a certain subject matter.

It is also useful to discover what a particular market are talking about which has the potential to help you shape your social media optimisation.

Danny Sullivan, CEO of Searchengineland, although criticising Google in an article titled Search and Real Time Madness , is a fan of the development: “Make no mistake. I think real time search is indeed one of the most exciting developments that’s happened in the search space in years.”

Google are too stubborn to admit defeat so expect to see real-time search results well into the New Year although there use and value could disappear quicker than your latest tweet!