Google Is Probing Me | Google Live Results

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Well They are not actually probing me, but they were testing.

I spend A LOT of time on Google. Search, docs, voice.  Google knows me better than me.  (Hopefully they do not fulfill the Skynet prophecy.) Anyhow, I was searching and noticed that that results listings were highlighted.  Then a few minutes later, I noticed that there were SITE PREVIEWS on rollover.  I thought I was going crazy.  I looked for plugins.  Nothing.  No one else in the office had it either. Then I was forwarded this from Doug Arley of Video Game Remix Fame.

FULL PAGE PREVIEWS IN SERPS!!! Image courtesy blogstorm.co.uk

So I wasn’t crazy or infected with malware, but was part of a highly focused testing.  I can only imagine this was selected by use.

SO WHAT DO GOOGLE LIVE SITE PREVIEWS MEAN TO YOU?

  • Site Previews are going to change analytics.  Most likely they will not be in there near term and there is no data on impressions for sites yet. Less Traffic but more qualified traffic
  • Design takes on a new meaning- This is big because you need to catch attention BEFORE they are on the site.  Above the fold will be less important than a term like “SERP Preview Design”
  • Increased Need For Immediate Relevance- If someone is not committing to your page immediately position will be usurped by relevance.  I can scan the first ten pages more easily
  • Decline in Advertising Returns for Individual Sites- If you are looking for a site and run across one “clean” one or one with multiple ads, which are you going to choose?

All in all this is a game changer that can yield some big rewards for the Web 2.0 prepared.