Although the advent of real-time search could throw the industry into flux, experts say that search marketing techniques like search engine optimization (SEO) are still the biggest business on the web.
Miguel Helft, writing for the New York Times, says that "search advertising is probably the most effective form of marketing ever invented." Because users are clearly demonstrating what they’re interested in, content can be scripted to powerfully appeal to those interests. Search engine optimization (SEO) can help guarantee that natural search results – as well as ads – are advantageous to companies.
However, despite the recent mega-deals that microblogging service Twitter has signed with Google and Microsoft, many are still unclear how real-time search will be monetized. Experts say that real-time queries will be less predictable and more highly specialized. Microsoft has downplayed any expectations of stratospheric profitability, telling the Times’ Helft that "[t]he goal is definitely to drive user value."
A searchable Twitter may also provide search engine optimization (SEO) professionals and other online marketers with valuable trend information, as reported by Brafton last week.
