Keyword-free search plans floated by Google
Google has given PPC advertisers a glimpse of the future and hinted that keyword lists could eventually be consigned to history.
Nick Fox, business product management director for
Google AdWords, discussed possible changes to the paid search landscape in the next five to ten years during a keynote presentation at Search Engine Strategies San Jose 2009, which ran from August 10th – 14th.
According to PPC analyst Mona Elesseily in a blog posting on Search Engine Land, Mr Fox outlined several reasons why keyword-based paid search is becoming more difficult.
Between January 2008 and January 2009, for example, he noted there was a 10 per cent rise in the number of long-tail search queries over 5 words.
It was also pointed out there has been a significant rise in the number of keyword variations that consumers type into search engines like Google.
PPC relevance 'possible without keywords'
"Nick mentioned that keywords were used as a proxy for relevance," explained Ms Elesseily.
"Down the road, Google wants to state outcomes and have machine-based learning and algorithms come up with the best method of achieving specific outcomes."
He elaborated on this by suggesting search engines could ultimately make decisions on effective ad placement based on details provided by an advertiser, such as product lists and prices.
However, Mr Fox stressed that it will be some time before Google unveils precise product details.
Google recently added a
new Insights for Search feature that tries to anticipate the future popularity of specific keywords.
By identifying and drawing conclusions from historical trends, the tool could help PPC marketers predict what keywords will be searched most frequently in the coming months.
