Google’s At It Again…

Photo courtesy of prdaily.com

Google is always evolving and as a result, we’re always learning so we can keep up. Well, now Google has created a new feature that may have PR professionals left in the darkness. According to Michael Sebastian’s article, “3 Ways to Prepare for the Changes to Google Search .” Google’s revamped “search results, and the changes will likely affect brands.” Now when users search for certain things, the direct answer will show up on the search results page. The new search method is aimed to keep more people on Google’s page rather than sending them to other pages.

So how can PR professionals and their brands survive the change? Follow the three tips from Nick Papagiannis, director of interactive/search at Cramer-Krasselt, below:

1)      Start monitoring search results more closely. Brands should keep a constant eye on where their brand shows up in the search  results. This is important to monitor because Google’s information may begin to crowd out the official websites of brands.

2)      Consider investing more money in paid searches. Paid searches are the results at the side or top of a Google results page. Papagiannis said companies may want to invest more in this component of their search engine optimization (SEO) efforts.

3)      Use the changes as an impetus to build a dedicated search team. The best way to monitor these changes is with a dedicated search team. If the new Google results kick out negative information about a client, or push websites further down the page, this team can respond quickly.

While no word has been said about when the changes will take place, at least now you have a starting point.

So what does this say about Google and their ‘neutral search engine’ title? Is it greedy for Google to want just a little more love?

Let me know!