Google’s SearchWiki - a Warning shot to Marketers
Google launched their SearchWiki last week, and caused quite a stir in the blogging community. It’s not really a wiki (as comments left are not editable), but it allows for unprecedented user control over search results.
Users can leave comments on websites returned as search results (and therefore on the Brands themselves) and move search results up or down in the list as they wish. As initially launched the results and functions were only available to signed-in users.
Watch Google’s description here.
It was discontinued a few days later, but the implications are very interesting from a marketer’s perspective.
In the short time it was active, spammers added links to their websites to other, more popular addresses, the posted comments could not be edited (again, not very wiki-like) and users found that they could not opt-out of viewing the searchwiki results along with the content that they requested. (Several of these behaviors were not called out in the Google description of the function.)
The points for marketers are clear. Perhaps this experiment did not succeed, but a form of it is likely to make a return. Users will (and some say must) continue to gain control over their digital experience, and create their own experiences. Given this cultural fuel, how will marketers participate? Search engine optimization must evolve to include real reasons for users to include an organically presented result. Sponsored search links may radically decrease in terms of effectiveness. Those that do not take an active stance on managing their own reputations online will continue to be at the mercy of (possibly) vocal minorities, and their silence can equal guilt in the mind of the digital shopper/surfer. Below is an example of a possible future entry (from www.readwriteweb.com):
I don’t think this is the last we’ll hear about this kind of user empowerment. And marketers will have to stop thinking about search results as ads and start making them Acts.
