Google Realtime Search – What does it mean to you?

Written by on August 26, 2010 - 0 Comments
Categories: "Biz Soup"

Google launched realtime search last December, but they have now ‘kicked it up a notch” by giving it its own home page. Basically it is a Google search page that updates in real time. Unlike ‘regular’ Google searches which often have ‘top results’ that are years old, these searches will produce them as they are posted.  While sorting the data based on things like ‘number of people who have clicked on this one’ is believed to be useful based on the assumption that those sites that have been most visited, are more relevant and valuable, that is not always the case.

The world is changing faster than I can type! Some things need to be more current than others. Technology for example. It doesn’t really matter to me if a blog has a gazillion visitors and therefore gets top placement if I am looking for information on facebook for example. Last years ‘how to’ information is likely no longer relevant.  I have been searching for medical information a lot lately and there is another area where I want the very latest [even if it's on a more obscure site] findings, research, etc.

A big part of this real-time search is twitter. Just go look at the results rolling in on the page. That is where a lot of the data is coming from. This again can be very useful! Think about it…

Going back to my medical search. I am searching for the latest greatest content on a condition called Paralytic Ileus.  If by chance, someone happened to be tweeting about that as I was searching, I would be thrilled! Now I have someone that I can reach out to and connect with and learn more from, as opposed to just an article or abstract.

Imagine the person who is thinking of relocating to the area.  Let’s say they are searching Google for family friendly activities in the Raleigh area (where I live) and you happen to post a blog post, or tweet a link about that very thing. Voila! Not only do they get to read whatever you posted, but they get to connect with you!  We all love information, but there is simply something irreplaceable about connecting with PEOPLE.

Now you might be thinking “that only helps me if they search at that exact time”. Perhaps,  depending on the content. People may not be posting new content as quickly as you might think.  But that wasn’t even a possibility before! Your post will still be ‘out there’ in Google land, just as it always would have been. This is just another ‘place’ or ‘way’ that it shows up.

How to use Google Realtime Search?

You can either go to http://www.google.com/realtime

or just type whatever you are searching for into your Google toolbar and then on the results page choose “updates” on the left side!

So, what does it mean to you?

As a business person [or anyone posting content]:

In my opinion, it could mean:

a) it doesn’t affect you in any way because you aren’t contributing anything to the internet pool on a consistent basis, or

b) it can mean that you now a little bit of additional opportunity for people to find you and your content, and a ‘level playing field’ in the land of Google, if even for a brief period of time.

As a ‘consumer’ or person searching for information, it allows you to find up to the minute information and more easily connect with people who are experts in, or interested in the same information that you are looking for.

Of course, like all things new we will have to wait and see how it all pans out.

What do you think? Do you see any other good/bad points that I haven’t mentioned?

(Oh, and you can click here for the Google “how to use Google realtime video”)

 

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