Will Google's Caffeine search change SEO practices?

This new version of Google has been in testing since early August, and is getting a lot of buzz, presumably as Google's reaction to the recent Microsoft Bing - Yahoo deal (that's the way MSNBC spins it).  I suspect this update has been in the works for much longer than that.  But how good is it really? And should you care?

The news is hitting the newswire services and a few lucky folks have already run comparative tests on Google “Caffeine”. Here’s what most observers concur on:

  • The interface is similar for the search and the results
  • Its about twice as fast as “classic” Google
  • It has tighter filter results
  • It includes more “current”/newsy items (important for any searches for stuff that is in the news right now
  • This search has greater reliance on the keywords META tags
  • It incorporates more current links to Twitter, Facebook and RSS feeds

In its beta release, Google Caffeine has no AdWords/AdSense ads, so it shows just the “organic” search results, which can account for part of the apparent speed difference.

The "Caffeine" search accesses the data in Google's massive database, so webmasters and SEO professionals do not have no additional submission work,

For companies we have consulted on their web marketing, and been aggressive with their Keyword META tags, this is all good news. And contrary to the past advice of many SEO professionals.

Until a large number of users use this version of Google, it probably wont; change much. It will be interesting to see if Google tries a "New Coke-Coke Classic"  dual branding approach or just switches to the new search results. In that case, the impact can be much more immediate. Let's wait and see what Google's best and brightest minds decide.

Here are some other people's comments

We'll keep you posted...


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