Caffeine Explained: Universal Search Changes
Google’s universal search update has been an undoubted hit with searchers. Google users have responded incredibly well to the update that indexes video and image results either above the traditional paid and natural search results or in the middle of the search page. However, the position of the results has been hurting Google’s pocket by quite often distracting people from the adwords ads which, lest we forget, is the way Google makes almost all of its money.
As a result it’s very likely that we’ll see the position of this feature tweaked as part of the Caffeine update. It’s unlikely that Google will feel bullish enough to get rid of such a popular and useful application entirely, though I wouldn’t be even remotely surprised to see the section moved to the bottom of the results. This would be more of a relief for SEOs than an actual opportunity as it would basically mean that number one position would retain its cache, which has been slightly eroded by Google’s continual insistence on placing its own results, Google base etc., atop the search rankings.
Don’t get too excited though, Google are going to have to balance profitability with user experience here (as they usually do, to be fair to them) so where Universal Search actually ends up will be subject to change for a while.
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