Form an orderly queue; Google is hiring Autocompleters for its Instant Search tool. If you have psychic tendencies and an average 32,000 WPM typing speed then you could be next in line to work for the search engine super giant: “As a Google Autocompleter, you’ll be expected to successfully guess a user’s intention as he or she starts typing instantly. In a fraction of a second, you’ll need to type in your prediction that will be added to the list of suggestions given by Google. Don’t worry, after a few million predictions you’ll grow the required reflexes.” Except this, of course, is no ordinary job description. This is one of Google’s celebrated April Fools’ Day pranks. Yes, last Friday was April 1st and, whilst the Propellernet team managed to refrain from any Fool-based naughtiness, Google couldn’t resist a few cheeky jokes. Not content with simply advertising a spoof vacancy, Google also introduced its latest Gmail technology - a movement-powered...

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Following Stefan's blog post on grading retailers for search visibility last month, I wanted to go into a bit more detail about the validity of click through rate data for positions on the first page of Google.  Over the past 4 years the statistics that have been referenced, when talking about the amount of clicks a certain position receives, come from an AOL data leak in 2006: Position 1 – 42% Position 2 – 12% Position 3 – 9% Position 4 – 6% Position 5 – 5% These statistics are a bit outdated and do not give a true reflection of the current search behaviour of someone using Google on their search journey. This is because the search results page and user behaviour has changed a lot over the past 4 years, with the brand new Google Instant showing results as you type and universal search incorporating an array of results including maps, news, images, videos and many more.  Most of the available statistics on CTRs also do not take into account the impact of paid...

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"...Brands now have a need to consider every online touch-point and how they can influence purchase decisions beyond the virtual front door of their corporate website" Quote from the "The Search and Social Media Report" from the IAB and Microsoft Advertising In a social media obsessed industry the cold hard fact remains that search engines are still the most influential gatekeepers of links (that you can directly influence!) between your brand and consumers. The brilliance of search engine marketing is that behind every search query is a person that fits into a well defined segment based on their motivation to search at that time. As a refresher it's good to think about the concept of the "intent" behind a search query. Read the rest of this entry...

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I’ve been musing for a while now over the irreversible chain reaction commercial dynamics behind search engines using media hyperlinks to determine authority and order search results.  Search engines, Media owners and brands all have their part to play in this merry dance, but ultimately it is media owners and backward thinking SEO approaches will be left without a chair when the music stops. Google maintains a map of all internet links and uses it to determine webpage authority.  I explore the reasons why this is flawed and how it will have to change in my recent econsultancy blog post: “buying or selling links? Look at the trouble you're causing.” ...Have a read and why not post your thoughts here or on...

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