Google Chrome is live. Great for usability. Great for Search?

Google have entered the world of web browsers with one of their latest releases, Google Chrome.

Chrome is a web browser that, on the face of it, seems to be in line with most other browsers.

It's currently in Beta stage so there are certain things it still doesn't do for example, still no Google toolbar!

There are things it does above and beyond all other web browsers though.

It appears to use a fraction of my computer's processing power to run the same web page compared with Internet Explorer, for example. It isolates any issues at tab level and closes down the tab rather than the entire application, something Mozilla Firefox doesn't do. It also uses predictive search, now that's something new for most of us, but what's the impact?

There's a likeliness we become lazier in our search behaviour and, instead of typing the phrase we originally had planned, we may plump for a Google predicted phrase. Seeing a related alternative appear as an option, or even the phrase you were after, after just 3 or 4 letters is a time saving stroke of genius. Well, not really. In fact, not at all. What it’s likely to do is change search behaviour for the foreseeable future.

It’s likely to distract us from our original search query, something which we may return to later. If so, the impact would drive up search volume where the propensity to buy is significantly lower, given this wasn't the original phrase of choice.

If the opposite happens and the predictive phrase is tight enough to your original search, it’s likely this thought-provoking approach to search may spell the end for long-tail keywords.

This could have a serious negative impact on Paid Search, where we know the long-tail phrases help to reduce the average acquisition costs. Could the impact be as telling for SEO; perhaps not.

If your SEO campaign has a number of high-volume, more generic phrases, balanced with a massive amount of longer tailed keywords, we may just see the shift of volume to those general phrases.

Whatever happens, if the take-up of Google Chrome can rival those of other browsers or indeed, Google launches predictive search on its own engine then the face of search will undoubtedly change. For the better? The proof is in the pudding.