Are Google Secretly Controlling Us and What We View?

We’re not trying to flirt with conspiracy enthusiasts with this assertion, merely questioning the influence that Google is having on a rapidly changing social-driven Internet.

It sounds like the kind of scenario you will find in the latest sci-fi blockbuster but with Google planning on utilising social media to elicit more information about you, your preferences and important contacts to measure search results, can it be argued they are controlling your online habits? And where does this leave SEO?

In the modern world, especially amongst the Web 2.0 generation, your online profile(s) and online activity is an extension of you. Google seems all too aware of this and as such plan to make the most of it as David Glazer, director of engineering at Google, suggests in an interview with Liz Gannes, stating “everything is better when it knows who I am”.

Google Are Ready To Socialise in 2010

Search engines are forever changing, driven by numerous players but, of course, Google continues to enjoy the lion’s share of the market so it is fair to say that they can hugely influence changes.

At the moment sections of the blogosphere are courting controversy by prophesising the impending doom of SEO, or certainly questioning its future relevance, as Google takes a greater interest in personal habits. The catalyst for this and key factor in most arguments is the inauguration of Google’s personalised search and real time results and their plans for social in 2010.

We already have universal results waiting for our search queries whether we regard them useful or not. With the introduction and expected growth of social media in Google results we are more likely to be presented with content that Google thinks we want to see.

Can SEO Survive in a Google Driven World?

Surely this negates the need for SEO? Well, let’s not jump the gun. SEO as a practice has long evolved to changes in the market and will continue to do so. There is still a need to optimise your site so that, not only will people visit and return, but you continue to rank for searches. If Google wants to take on the approach of giving people what they (Google) think they want then content is going to become a powerful tool. As we all know producing content that is compelling and keyword rich is a fundamental practice of SEO.

It will also mean that businesses will have to be more in-tune with their customers, which can be achieved through targeted SEO and SMO. Plus, no-one likes being told what to do, which is why the opt-out option for Google’s personalised search is active.

So with a post-apocalyptic Google-ruled world looking unlikely our abilities to choose what we want to view, aided by SEO, should only be enhanced by improved content and better access to it. With that in mind we can look forward to some of 2010’s innovations in social media and search with relish! Although I’m not sure that “everything is better when it knows who I am.”