The future of search, according to Mediapost’s Kaila Colbin, is in "contextual" and "mobile," and that companies looking to improve their search engine optimization (SEO) should partner with other firms for mutual benefit.
Colbin says that companies have realized this, but are still wary of getting into bed with the biggest search company of them all, Google. While a partnership with Google could carry inestimable benefits to an up-and-coming firm, Colbin writes that companies have grown slightly nervous about the sheer reach of the search giant.
Colbin qualifies that statement by giving the examples of Yelp, which declined to sign a deal with Google at the end of last year; Hewlett-Packard, which switched to Bing as its default search engine; and the continued absence of new Associated Press content in Google news over a contract dispute. It is not yet known when an agreement will be reached between the two parties.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is still likely to be dominated by Google for the foreseeable future, but experts say that chinks have appeared recently in the search giant’s armor.
