Google Real-Time Results and Google+ | The Digital Clicks Blog
Google have recently suggested that they will be reinstating their real-time search and feed, which features a stream of social news updates as they unfold on different platforms. This service incorporated updates from various social media and allowed Google search users to stay on top of current events. Google’s first attempt at real-time results was brought to a close last month after they revealed that a deal couldn't be closed with Twitter, which was one of the primary sources of relevant real-time information. The new version of real-time is to include elements of Google+; it appears that Google is confident of its ability to compensate for the lack of tweet updates. Though the service is, as yet, still lacking a keyword search function on it’s social platform, the integration of Plus and real-time may seem slightly ahead of itself without a means of monitoring ‘news’ on Plus itself. This seems to be in the process of being remedied as well, though, as Google has hinted that they are working on the search issue. It will be interesting to see how the real-time search will interact with Google+'s upcoming business service. The real-time feed would seem to offer a way to monitor social discussions about brands, and as it’s also retroactive, brands can look back and see what was said about them in the past. As real-time search is often featured in Google’s default search, it’s likely that, depending on the magnitude of the discussion, brands could begin seeing social entries in the SERPs, which is a further incentive to regulate and optimise their SMO efforts. lus, businesses will be a large part of this if the service is successful. The return of real-time search with Plus isn't just another synergistic move on Google’s part; for anyone in Internet marketing, it potentially brings components of SEO and SMO tactics closer together than they have been before. Brands will have to make sure that their efforts in both areas are complimentary so that they may make the most of increased exposure. Another point of consideration is how Google will guard against spam. Their algorithms will be in check, but one of the main selling points of Plus is its circles feature: being exposed to who and what you want to be exposed to. When opened up to a ‘trend’ level, real-time results would indicate there is increased potential for exploitation. For now, though, we will have to see how Google deals with this issue.